No indication Afghan refugees in Pakistan have engaged in extremism -White House
By Trevor Hunnicutt and Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON There is no indication that Afghan refugees in Pakistan or along
2023-07-18 05:16
White House condemns RFK Jr’s ‘vile’ antisemitic Covid conspiracy claim
The White House on Monday condemned anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F Kennedy Jr’s claim that the virus which causes Covid-19 was somehow engineered to target white and Black people while sparing Asians and Jews of Eastern European descent as an example of antisemitism that puts Americans at risk. During a press event in New York City on 11 July, Mr Kennedy baselessly stated that “there is an argument to be made” that the disease is “ethnically targeted” and claimed that the Sars-CoV-2 virus was “targeted to attack Cucasians and Black people” even as “those who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese”. Mr Kennedy later falsely claimed that he had made the remarks at an off-the-record event and attacked the New York Post who had reported on his offensive comments, accusing him of trying to “to discredit [him] as a crank — and by association, to discredit revelations of genuine corruption and collusion.” His comments were widely condemned by numerous Jewish groups including the Anti-Defamation League, which called them “deeply offensive” pointed out that they “feed into sinophobic and antisemitic conspiracy theories”. Speaking at the White House daily press briefing on Monday, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to respond to Mr Kennedy directly, citing his status as a 2024 presidential candidate. But Ms Jean-Pierre said the anti-vaccine activist’s comments were insensitive to the “countless” American families with empty seats at the dinner table because they’ve lost people to the virus since it began spreading across the globe in March 2020. Continuing, Ms Jean-Pierre said the claims Mr Kennedy made on a tape which was published by The New York Post were “false” as well as “vile,” and said they “put our fellow Americans in danger”. “if you think about the racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories that come out of saying those types of things, it’s an attack on our fellow citizens, our fellow Americans and so it is important that we ... speak out when we hear those claims made more broadly,” she said. “This President and this whole administration is going to stand against ... those false claims against ... Asian Americans, against Jewish Americans,” she said. “We’re going to continue to speak out and we believe ... it’s important to protect the dignity of our fellow Americans”. Read More RFK Jr revives antisemitic conspiracy theory that Covid-19 was ‘ethnically targeted’ to spare Jewish people RFK Jr press dinner screaming match over climate crisis ends with columnist launching his own natural gas Robert F Kennedy Jr calls interviewer ‘unfair’ for spelling out his laundry list of conspiracy theories Editor apologises for publishing RFK Jr anti-vaxx screed: ‘I should have been fired’
2023-07-18 04:57
Turning Point Action's student activists were torn between Trump and DeSantis last year. Not anymore
Student activists who assembled in Florida last year for Turning Point Action’s annual summit were torn, wrestling with whether former President Donald Trump or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was the Republican Party’s best hope for 2024
2023-07-18 04:53
New York City appoints its first Latino police commissioner Edward Caban
New York City has appointed its first Latino police commissioner as authorities work to diversify leadership of the country's largest department and curb the city's crime rate.
2023-07-18 04:51
Exclusive-Head of engineering for Trump’s Truth Social app resigns
By Helen Coster NEW YORK The head of engineering for the company that operates former U.S. President Donald
2023-07-18 04:49
Disney heiress cut from pipe and arrested in climate protest over private jets in the Hamptons
Abigail Disney, the granddaughter of Disney co-founder Roy O Disney, was arrested on Friday for blocking the entrance to a private plane airport during a climate protest in East Hampton, New York. Ms Disney, 63, joined climate activists from New York Communities for Change the Sunrise Movement and Reclaim Our Tomorrow to protest wealthy individuals’ use of private planes. Using what appears to be PVC piping, activists, including Ms Disney, stuck their arms in the piping and tapped them together to form a human chain, preventing people from entering or leaving the private airport. Police warned protesters to disperse twice before breaking out a power saw to separate each protester and arrest them. Videos and photos posted to social media showed Ms Disney lying on the ground as officers from the East Hampton Police Department cut her from the PVC pipe to arrest her. She was placed in handcuffs and taken into a white van where she says she was fingerprinted and issued a mug shot. “At 63 I still had not popped my fingerprint/mug shot cherry so I did this,” Ms Disney tweeted. “Because the last thing this planet needs is billionaires spewing greenhouse gases to get to their palatial beach homes. Just so wrong.” Over the last few years, affluent people’s use of private jets has come under scrutiny for contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Several high-net-worth celebrities, including Taylor Swift and Kylie Jenner, have been criticised for using private planes. Planet Over Profit organiser Teddy Ogborn said in a statement, “As long as the 1 per cent continues to needlessly poison our air and heat our Earth, we will continue to escalate our actions against them.” East Hampton is a wealthy suburb located on Long Island that is a well-known summer vacation spot for affluent people. “As a person who has been privileged enough to use private jets, I know it’s hard to give up a luxury that is special," Ms Disney said in a statement obtained by Fox News. "But I also know that the time has passed for spewing greenhouse gasses like this merely for our personal comfort." Ms Disney cited several recent weather-related events like the floods in Vermont and New York, fatal heat in the South and ocean temperatures around Florida as evidence of the climate crisis. "The wealthiest 1 per cent uses as much greenhouse gas as the entire bottom 50 per cent. It is time for real change and this is the most obvious place to start,” Ms Disney added. According to the East Hampton Star fourteen people including Ms Disney were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Read More Just Stop Oil supporter disrupts own graduation ceremony at University of Exeter Vermont starts long road to recovery from historic floods, helped by army of volunteers Floods, fires and deadly heatwaves are the alarm bells of a planet on the brink Police arrest five for ‘breach of peace’ after climate protest at Ineos oil refinery
2023-07-18 04:18
Japan PM Kishida in Abu Dhabi for energy, green tech talks
By Rachna Uppal ABU DHABI Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Monday
2023-07-18 04:17
Matthew Jordan recounts Tiger memories ahead of hitting opening tee shot at British Open
Matthew Jordan has been given the honor of hitting the first tee shot at the 151st British Open and he’ll know exactly where to put it
2023-07-18 03:55
Chip CEOs to Meet Brainard, Sullivan Over China Restrictions
National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan are joining a White House meeting
2023-07-18 03:53
US orders deployment of fighter jets and Navy destroyer to Middle East in response to Iranian activities
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered F-35 and F-16 fighter jets deployed to the Middle East, as well as the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, in response to Iranian activities in the Strait of Hormuz.
2023-07-18 03:53
Macron decides to keep French PM in role despite pension unrest, riots
PARIS (Reuters) -French President Emmanuel Macron has decided to keep Elisabeth Borne in her role as prime minister, an official
2023-07-18 03:52
Smartmatic subpoenas Trump allies Flynn and Bannon in defamation lawsuits against Fox News and Newsmax
Trump allies Michael Flynn and Steve Bannon have been subpoenaed by Smartmatic as part of the voting technology company's massive defamation lawsuits against Fox News and Newsmax over their promotion of 2020 election lies.
2023-07-18 03:23
