World

U.S. veep Kamala Harris breaks silence on Texas migrant deaths

Published

9 months ago

June 30, 2022

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has broken her silence on 53 Texas migrant deaths

Kamala Harris hit out at Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s response to the news that at least 53 migrants had died after being left in an abandoned semitruck in San Antonio, Texas.

“How the governor of that state responded really highlights part of the problem because his response when there are 50 dead bodies in his state is to go straight to politics,” Harris said in an interview with NPR.

“Instead of dealing with the realities of the issue.”
kamala harris

Officials are investigating what appears to be one of the deadliest human smuggling cases in modern U.S. history.

**Body bags lie at the scene where a tractor trailer with multiple dead bodies was discovered, Monday, June 27, 2022**

Republicans are blaming the horrific incident on the Biden administration’s immigration policies.

“These deaths are on Biden,” Abbott tweeted on Monday night. “They are a result of his deadly open border policies. They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law.”

Biden says he's doing everything possible to stop human smuggling.

That's a lie.

What happened in San Antonio is a tragedy & it's not going to stop until Biden enforces our immigration laws.

As he does nothing, Texas will continue to secure our border.https://t.co/hViG5zGql6
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 29, 2022

President Joe Biden hit back at the governor and accused him of “political grandstanding”.

Harris argued the administration is taking “seriously” the issue of human smuggling.

“There have been over 2,000 arrests just in the last three months. I think there are at least eight indictments that have happened,” she said.

“We need to deal with that, right, in terms of the consequences of criminal behavior that results in death.”

“We also need to take seriously the fact that we have a broken immigration system that was decimated by the last administration,” she continued.

“And we’ve been trying, and we are on the path doing it, to fix that broken system.”

Harris was deemed the “border czar” by Biden upon entering office.

World

TikTok CEO testifies as U.S. considers nationwide ban

Published

2 days ago

March 24, 2023

Veronica Dudo

FBI says TikTok threatens U.S. national security

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified in Washington D.C. on Thursday.

The hours-long fiery hearing on Capitol Hill was incredibly tense as Chew was grilled by both Republicans and Democrats.

With bipartisan support, both parties are pushing for a nationwide ban on the app which the FBI has said threatens the national security of the United States.

TikTok says it has 150 million America users – almost half the country.

The CEO gave testimony to try and reassure lawmakers and Americans that TikTok is not an agent of the Chinese Communist Party, but critics aren’t convinced.

Chew was bombarded with questions from representatives from both sides of the aisle about the company’s ties to the CCP, security, data storage, well-being, and mental health.

Many lawmakers are growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of answers from the company.

Congress is now weighing a nationwide ban on the popular social media platform amid concerns that it is used to harvest Americans’ information and harm children online.

World

Protests continue across France over pension reforms

Published

2 days ago

March 24, 2023

ticker NEWS

Protestors blocked a terminal at an airport and sat on train tracks

The ongoing nationwide protests in France over plans by the government to raise the retirement age by two years saw another day of disruption – events which President Emmanuel Macron has recently compared to the storming of the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump supporters two years ago.

Protestors blocked a terminal at Paris’s Charles De Gaulle airport.

Protesters also sat on train tracks, and reportedly triggered a brief fire in the yard of a police station in once city.

Protests have been mostly peaceful, but tear gas has been used against them on occasions.

The plan is to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

For comparison, the U.S. is slowly raising its retirement age to 67 and the UK plans to go to 68.

Polls have long shown that a majority of voters in France oppose the move.

Macron earlier in the week said he was standing firm on the law and that it would come into effect by the end of the year.

The government says the change is needed to keep pension budgets from running a deficit – failure would create an annual deficit of about $14 billion by 2030.

World

Prosecutors allege Donald Trump misled people on potential arrest

Published

2 days ago

March 24, 2023

ticker NEWS

The move prompted Republicans in Congress to interfere with the course of justice

Manhattan prosecutors say Donald Trump has misled people to expect he would be arrested, prompting Republicans in Congress to interfere with the course of justice.

A probe is currently under way into his alleged hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

On Saturday, the former President said he would be arrested on Tuesday.

This saw three Republicans launching an offensive against the District Attorney, who is a Democrat.

They accused him of abusing authority, while also seeking communications, documents and testimony.

A grand jury hearing evidence in the Stormy Daniels case is yet to issue an arrest warrant for Trump.

The attorney’s office has since sent the committee chairmen a letter.

It says the lawmakers’ accusations “only came after Donald Trump created a false expectation he would be arrested”.

It also confirms the attorney’s office is “investigating allegations that Donald Trump engaged in violations of New York State penal law.”

If indicted, Trump would be the first U.S. President to face criminal charges.