Connect with us

Published

on

Joe Biden has hailed the “extraordinary success” of the US evacuation in Afghanistan, saying he “was not going to extend this forever war”.

The US president has been heavily criticised for his handling of the evacuation of Afghanistan, which saw more than 120,000 people successfully airlifted from Kabul airport, but left between 100 and 200 Americans behind.

Questions have been raised about why the president did not authorise another day of airlifts after the last air force plane departed Kabul at one minute before midnight on Monday.

President Biden had set Tuesday as the deadline for ending the evacuation and getting the remaining US troops out of the country after the Taliban took power.

Speaking at a White House news conference this evening, Mr Biden said his 31 August deadline was not “arbitrary” and was “designed to save lives”.

He added that for Americans left behind “there is no deadline” and he “remains committed to getting them out if they want to get out”.

“The bottom line is that 90% of those who wanted to leave were able to leave,” he said.

More on Afghanistan

He said America had “succeeded in what we set out to do in Afghanistan more than a decade ago and we stayed for another decade”.

The US president said we are now facing new threats in a “new world”.

The last member of the US armed forces to leave Afghanistan. Pic: @18AirborneCorps
Image:
The last member of the US armed forces to leave Afghanistan. Pic: @18AirborneCorps

Addressing ISIS-K (Islamic State Khorasan), the terror group which carried out a devastating suicide bombing at Kabul airport that killed up to 169 Afghans, 13 US military personnel and two Britons, Mr Biden said: “We are not done with you yet.”

He added: “To those who wish America harm, know this. The US will never rest. We will never rest. We will hunt you down to the ends of the Earth and you will pay the ultimate price.”

President Biden also claimed the US has “leverage” to make sure the Taliban’s commitment to the safe passage of Americans is met, adding that the US will continue to support Afghans through diplomacy and international aid.

“I have been clear that human rights will be the centre of our foreign policy,” Mr Biden said. “The way to do this isn’t through endless military deployments.

“My fellow Americans, the war in Afghanistan is now over.”

In a written statement on Monday, Mr Biden said military commanders unanimously favoured ending the airlift instead of extending it.

He said he had asked his secretary of state, Antony Blinken, to coordinate with international partners to hold the Taliban to their promise of safe passage for Americans and others who wish to leave the country in the coming days.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Taliban’s mock funeral for Western nations

The Taliban celebrated their victory over the US and NATO troops on Tuesday by firing guns into the air and enforcing their Islamist rule.

Footage emerged of a fake funeral the Taliban held for US and NATO forces in Khost, following the US withdrawal from Kabul.

Images show hundreds of people gathered around coffins draped with UK and US flags, with the Taliban’s banner strung across a building nearby.

While information about the gathering is scarce, it appears to mock the departure of Western forces.

Taliban special force fighters arrive inside the Hamid Karzai International Airport. Pic: AP
Image:
Taliban special force fighters arrive inside the Hamid Karzai International Airport. Pic: AP

It comes as details emerged of the last call between President Biden and his Afghan counterpart, Ashraf Ghani.

During the call on 23 July, neither of the leaders appeared to be prepared for the Taliban’s surge across Afghanistan and the collapse of its government 23 days later.

“We are going to continue to fight hard, diplomatically, politically, economically, to make sure your government not only survives, but is sustained and grows,” Mr Biden said.

Taliban posing at Kabul airport.
Image:
Taliban posing at Kabul airport. Pic: AP

President Biden also praised the Afghan armed forces, which collapsed amid pressure from the Taliban despite having been trained and funded by the US.

“You clearly have the best military,” he told Mr Ghani. “You have 300,000 well-armed forces versus 70-80,000 and they’re clearly capable of fighting well.”

Continue Reading

US

Former Kentucky police officer Brett Hankison sentenced to three years in prison over Breonna Taylor death

Published

on

By

Former Kentucky police officer Brett Hankison sentenced to three years in prison over Breonna Taylor death

A former Kentucky police officer has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for using excessive force during the botched drugs raid that killed Breonna Taylor.

Brett Hankison’s 10 shots did not hit anyone – but he is the only person at the scene charged over her death in 2020.

The sentence comes despite the US Department of Justice recommending he should not be locked up.

District judge Rebecca Grady Jennings disagreed, arguing that not imprisoning him would minimise the jury’s verdict.

She said she was “startled” people weren’t hurt by his excessive shooting. Hankison’s shots narrowly missed a neighbouring family after they pierced the walls of Ms Taylor’s apartment.

Ms Taylor, 26, was killed in March 2020 when Louisville officers carried out a “no-knock” warrant and broke down her door.

Her boyfriend thought it was someone breaking in and fired a single shot in self-defence, hitting one officer in the leg.

More on Breonna Taylor

Three officers responded with 32 shots, six of which struck and killed Ms Taylor.

She was hit in her hallway by bullets from two officers, but neither was charged after prosecutors said they were justified in returning fire.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Sept 2020 – Breonna Taylor protesters block Brooklyn Bridge

It later emerged police were actually searching for an ex-partner of Ms Taylor – an alleged drug dealer – who did not live at the address.

Her death, along with other killings of black people in 2020 including George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, sparked protests around the US and the world.

Follow the World
Follow the World

Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday

Tap to follow

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Sept 2020 – Breonna Taylor’s family win £9m settlement

On Monday, Hankison, 49, was sentenced to 33 months with three years of supervised probation.

He won’t be locked up immediately and it will be for the US Bureau of Prisons to decide when and where he will be imprisoned.

A statement from Ms Taylor’s family said: “While today’s sentence is not what we had hoped for – nor does it fully reflect the severity of the harm caused – it is more than what the Department of Justice sought. That, in itself, is a statement.”

Three other former police officers who weren’t at the scene have been charged with crafting a falsified warrant but have not gone to trial.

Continue Reading

US

Trump administration releases huge trove of documents about Dr Martin Luther King Jr – as President faces revolt over Epstein files

Published

on

By

Trump administration releases huge trove of documents about Dr Martin Luther King Jr - as President faces revolt over Epstein files

A huge trove of documents relating to the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr has been released by the US government.

The disclosure, which was opposed by many of the civil rights hero’s family, includes more than 240,000 pages of records that had been under court seal since 1977.

Dr King’s two living children, Martin III, 67, and Bernice, 62, said their father’s killing has been a “captivating public curiosity for decades”.

But they emphasised the personal nature of their father’s death and urged that the files be “viewed within their full historical context”.

Gunshots ring out in Tennessee

Dr King was shot and killed on 4 April, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, while headed to dinner with friends.

The night before the assassination, Dr King delivered his famous “Mountaintop” speech on a stormy night.

More on Martin Luther King

James Earl Ray was eventually apprehended after a long manhunt and pleaded guilty to the killing, but he later renounced his plea and maintained his innocence until his death in 1998.

Members of Dr King’s family and others have questioned if Ray acted alone or if he was even involved at all.

FILE - Demonstrators walk to the courthouse behind the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Montgomery, Ala., March 17, 1965, to protest treatment of demonstrators by police during an attempted march. (AP Photo/File)
Image:
Demonstrators walk behind the Dr King in Alabama in 1965. Pic: AP

Keen interest in the files

Historians, journalists and the public have been waiting to study the now-unsealed documents to see what else can be learned about Dr King’s death.

It has long been established that then-FBI Director J Edgar Hoover was intensely interested in Dr King and others he considered radicals.

FBI records previously released show how his bureau wiretapped Dr King’s telephone lines, bugged his hotel rooms and used informants to gather information, including evidence of Dr King’s extramarital affairs.

Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is pictured in an undated portrait. Location unknown. (AP Photo)
Image:
There has been debate over who killed Dr King. Pic: AP

“He was relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign orchestrated by J Edgar Hoover through the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the King children said in their statement.

The Kings said they “support transparency and historical accountability” but “object to any attacks on our father’s legacy or attempts to weaponise it to spread falsehoods”.

Read more:
Ex-police officer jailed over Breonna Taylor death
Trump threatens to block NFL team’s stadium deal

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Trump ignores reporters’ questions on Epstein

Is it a distraction?

The release of the documents comes at a time when President Trump is facing an increasing revolt from the MAGA faithful over what is seen as his reluctance to release files relating to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Following the release of documents relating to her father, Bernice King took to Instagram and posted a a black-and-white photo of Dr King, looking annoyed, with the caption: “Now, do the Epstein files.”

Continue Reading

US

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who played The Cosby Show’s Theo, drowns in Costa Rica

Published

on

By

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who played The Cosby Show's Theo, drowns in Costa Rica

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who played The Cosby Show character Theo, has drowned in Costa Rica, according to authorities.

The country’s Judicial Investigation Department said the 54-year-old actor drowned on Sunday afternoon off a beach on the Caribbean coast.

It is understood he was swimming at Playa Grande de Cocles in Limon province when he was pulled underwater by a current.

“He was rescued by people on the beach,” according to the department’s early report, but emergency workers from Costa Rica’s Red Cross found him without any signs of life and he was taken to the morgue.

Warner was on holiday with his family at the time, according to US celebrity news site People.

The Cosby Show aired from 1984 to 1992 on NBC in the US and is regarded as a groundbreaking show for its portrayal of a successful black middle-class family. It was also shown on Channel 4 in the UK at around the same time.

 Malcolm-Jamal Warner in September 2017
Image:
Malcolm-Jamal Warner in September 2017. Pic: Reuters

Its star, Bill Cosby, played a doctor named Cliff Huxtable, with Warner in the role of Theo, his only son.

The NBC sitcom was the most popular show in America for much of its run between 1984 and 1992.

Warner played the role for eight seasons in all 197 episodes, winning an Emmy nomination for supporting actor in a comedy in 1986.

For many, the lasting image of the character, and of Warner, is of him wearing a badly-botched mock designer shirt sewn by his sister Denise, played by Lisa Bonet.

Warner ‘proud’ of show despite Cosby claims

The legacy of The Cosby Show has been tarnished after Cosby was jailed in 2018 following a conviction for sexual assault.

He was released in 2021 after his conviction was overturned.

Dozens of women had accused Cosby of sexual assault or rape before the trial.

Pic: Getty
Image:
Warner, back centre, with some of the cast of The Cosby Show. Pic: Getty

Following his release from prison, Cosby was found liable for sexually assaulting a woman at the Playboy Mansion in 1975 when she was a teenager.

Warner told the Associated Press in 2015: “My biggest concern is when it comes to images of people of colour on television and film… We’ve always had ‘The Cosby Show’ to hold up against that. And the fact that we no longer have that, that’s the thing that saddens me the most because in a few generations the Huxtables will have been just a fairy tale.”

In 2023, Warner told People in an interview: “I know I can speak for all the cast when I say The Cosby Show is something that we are all still very proud of.”

Read more entertainment news:
Danny Dyer on Mr Big Stuff
Scuffle breaks out on Royal Opera House on stage

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, left, on stage with singer Stevie Wonder, centre, and Bill Cosby, at awards show in 2011. Pic: AP
Image:
Warner (left) on stage with Stevie Wonder and Bill Cosby at an awards show in 2011. Pic: AP

Warner wins a Grammy

Following his career on The Cosby Show, Warner later appeared on the sitcom Malcolm & Eddie, co-starring with comedian Eddie Griffin in the series on the UPN network from 1996 to 2000.

In the 2010s he starred opposite Tracee Ellis Ross as a family-blending couple for two seasons on the BET sitcom Read Between The Lines.

He also had a role as OJ Simpson’s friend Al Cowlings in American Crime Story and was a series regular on Fox’s The Resident.

Films he has appeared in include the 2008 rom-com Fool’s Gold with Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson.

A poet and a musician, Warner won a Grammy for best traditional R&B performance for the song Jesus Children with Robert Glasper and Lalah Hathaway. He was also nominated for best spoken word poetry album for Hiding In Plain View.

Warner was married with a daughter, but chose to not publicly disclose their names.

Continue Reading

Trending