Latest news with #Congres
India Gazette
19-05-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
Foreign Secretary Misri briefs Parliamentary panel on External Affairs; Tharoor says satisfactory responses to various questions
New Delhi [India], May 19 (ANI): The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs had a comprehensive meeting on Monday with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri briefing members on current foreign policy developments regarding India and Pakistan in the wake of Operation Sindoor on May 7 and subsequent understanding reached between the two countries to stop military action and firing. The well-attended meeting lasted nearly three hours. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who heads the Standing Committee on External Affairs, said the members expressed desire to have a resolution expressing solidarity with the Foreign Secretary in the face of the unwarranted attacks or comments. Tharoor said the Foreign Secretary requested that there should be no resolution. Tharoor said there was a unanimous sentiment of the committee, that he Foreign Secretary has performed good service for the nation 'We had a very comprehensive and rich discussion. As you can see, a meeting that normally would have finished by 6 o'clock, has gone on till 7 o'clock. It was a very thorough, wide-ranging discussion. We had 24 members attending, which I think is a record for this committee. The fact is that this was a very thorough discussion. Many of the MPs had thoughtful questions to ask. There was even a desire to have a resolution expressing solidarity with the Foreign Secretary in the face of the unwarranted attacks or comments, he himself requested that there should be no resolution but it was a unanimous sentiment of the committee, that he has performed good service for the nation, we all stand with him,' Tharoor said 'That was not a formal resolution but it was definitely the wish of everyone. I also want to add that the committee has, in many ways, covered a lot of constructive ground and has left with satisfactory responses to various have had a good discussion,' he added. He said a lengthy discussion was held with the MEA in which 24 members took part and 'a lot of people had questions'. 'Detailed and satisfactory responses to those questions were received. All committee members wanted to encourage the Foreign Secretary and announce our solidarity against everything that was said on social media against him and his family. This is absolutely wrong. The entire committee supports him. We would also like to say that he has served the nation well and we are thankful to him for questions were raised in the 3-hour discussion, and detailed answers were received for them,' he said. Earlier, answering a question on the all-party delegation to convey India's message of zero-tolerance against terrorism to the designated foreign countries, he said the briefing for his delegation will be held on Friday. 'So, honestly, I am not going to say anything right now. Some of the teams are leaving earlier and that's why they need to have their meeting tomorrow. But our delegation is leaving a bit later because the US has a big Memorial Day weekend and the Congress in the US is not session until June 2. So, there is no point in arriving there too early. So, we are arriving later and leaving later... May 24, I are going first to Georgetown (Guyana), Panama, Columbia, Brazil and then finally to the US,' he said. TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, who took part in the meeting of Standing Committee, said the party will stand shoulder to shoulder with the central government when it comes to fighting and combating terrorism, protecting sovereignty and national interests. 'As far as the delegation of MPs is concerned, I have said that the Centre cannot unilaterally decide who will go from which party. They have to ask for names. If you ask TMC for five names, then TMC will nominate five members. Now, in the afternoon, I got news that the parliamentary minister has said that they are representing the country. I completely agree with him; they are actually representing the country. So when it comes to representing the country, I think we should agree together and build a consensus and instead of sending MPs, we should send family members of martyrs and victims' families and survivors,' he said. 'We should send brave armed forces officers who led Operation Sindoor, who devoted their lives for the country. How many such members are actually part of the delegation? Can the Union Minister answer? So this is not the time to do politics. Politics can take a backseat...I am the general secretary of the party. No one has been contacted...I believe that the whole world should know how Pakistan has helped terrorism in the last 5-6 decades and the world needs to come together and fight it collectively. But who will go from my party will not be decided by the BJP. The party will decide,' he added. In the context of Operation Sindoor and India's continued fight against cross-border terrorism, seven all-party Delegations are set to visit key partner countries, including members of the UN Security Council. The all-party delegations will project India's national consensus and resolute approach to combating terrorism in all forms and manifestations. They would carry forth to the world the country's strong message of zero-tolerance against terrorism. Members of Parliament from different parties, prominent political personalities, and distinguished diplomats will be part of each delegation . The MPs, who will lead the delegations are Shashi Tharoor (INC), Ravi Shankar Prasad and Baijayant Panda (BJP), Sanjay Kumar Jha (JD-U), Kanimozhi Karunanidhi (DMK), Supriya Sule (NCP) and Srikant Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena). India had carried out Operation Sindoor on early on May 7 and launched precise strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoJK. India responded effectively to subsequent Pakistan's aggression and pounded its airports. The countries have reached an understanding for stopping military action following a call made by Pakistan's DGMO to his Indian counterpart. (ANI)
Sky News AU
19-05-2025
- Health
- Sky News AU
Cancer diagnosis renews spotlight on ‘cover up' Joe Biden's health while in office as new book reveals decline in mental capacity
Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis has increased scrutiny on the former US president's health while in office. Condolences and well-wishes have flooded in since it was revealed that President Biden has been diagnosed with an 'aggressive' form of prostate cancer which has metastasised to the bone. But the news has increased the spotlight on whether there was a 'cover up' by White House staff and the US media to conceal the true state of the former president's health when he was in office. Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told Sky News Australia that Mr Biden 'absolutely' would have had regular health checks while he was president, but this didn't mean they would have known about the cancer. 'Presidents are, as you can imagine, very closely watched in so many ways, by their medical teams and so forth, because of the importance of what they do for a living,' Mr Mulvaney said. 'But that being said, just because you're checked regularly doesn't mean that you can't get cancer in a hurry. 'Keep in mind, this is a very aggressive form of cancer … it wouldn't be at all unexpected to have regular checkups as a president, which you do, and then still have this pop up relatively quickly.' However Mr Mulvaney, who served as White House Chief of Staff during President Trump's first term in office, said there were already plans for a congressional investigation into the state of Biden's health when he was president and whether there was a 'cover up' to conceal his declining mental capacity from the American people. This follows the release of a new book, 'Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again', co-authored by CNN host Jake Tapper. 'The book is tough. It just is,' Mr Mulvaney said, before pointing out it was written by someone who appeared to have participated in the cover up. 'Keep in mind that one of the gentlemen who wrote this is a CNN news presenter, and he's essentially writing a story about how the media covered up for Joe Biden when he was one of the leading voices doing it. 'I mean, you could go on the internet and find that dozens of clips where he literally attacked Republicans on his show for questioning Joe Biden's mental capability. "So he was part of the cover up. 'And it's not lost on a lot of Republicans that, you know, how is it that this guy has now sort of found religion and decided to come forward and talk.' Mr Mulvaney said that while international media outlets were talking about the former president's mental capacity for years, it was almost completely absent from mainstream American news outlets. 'It's not comfortable. I mean, Americans don't want to talk about the fact that the president might be limited in some fashion. Sometimes you do have to rely on the international press to sort of get a perspective from outside looking in,' he said. 'But now that the book is out, I do not think this, this cancer diagnosis today, will have any impact on the investigation that Congress will do. 'There's a great deal of sympathy for the former president … But that doesn't change what the media did, perhaps the White House did, and we'll get to the bottom of that here in the next several months.'
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion: The Worst First 100 Days of Any Administration in History
Let's be clear: The primary reason Donald Trump gets an 'F' for his first 100 days in office is because in our system of education—at least while there still is a system of education—there is no lower grade to give. If there were, he would deserve it. That is not to contradict the White House's assertion that it has been a record-breaking first 100 days. Indeed, it is inarguable that no administration has done more damage, more quickly, to the U.S. economy, to the rule of law, to America's standing in the world and to important institutions at home and abroad than Trump's second tenure has. What is more, it is fair to say that few administrations (if any) have had fewer constructive achievements to show at the equivalent point in time than this one. Look at Trump's campaign promises. Ending the war in Ukraine in 24 hours? No. Revitalizing the economy? No. Beating inflation? No. Restoring America's standing in the world? No. No. Making sure we no longer have an addled old man in the White House? No. In fact, in each of these areas—and many more still—Trump has made matters worse. The U.S. has switched sides in Ukraine, becoming a propaganda arm and errand boy for the Kremlin. We are no closer to a lasting end to that war than we ever were; rather, we have strengthened the aggressor and made the world more dangerous. Trump's erratic trade policies and huge tariffs have brought the world to the brink of recession, trashed financial markets and weakened us by every conceivable metric. Our standing in the world hasn't been lower since America emerged as a global power. Trust in the U.S., a great source of our strength, is broken. Our role as an example and a champion of democracy is broken. The international system—not to mention numerous international alliances—we helped build is broken. Our system of justice is, if not quite broken yet, breaking. Even as the Trump is barely keeping up with President Biden's pace of deportations (and remains far behind the statistics seen during the Obama years), his administration has, through its contempt for the law, the courts and the rights of Americans and visitors to our country, attacked fundamental freedoms from the right to due process to freedom of expression. Trump is eliminating vital government services, the jobs of tens of thousands, the economic vitality of communities and critical means of support for tens of millions of the most vulnerable Americans. He is gutting the American education system at every level. He has rejected science and taken steps that will put every American at risk of suffering and diseases, setting back our leadership in science and technology by ending vital funding, advocating anti-science positions on climate and healthcare, and alienating millions of brilliant minds that would once have brought their talent and brains to the U.S. and now will not. And he has done all this while passing zero—zero—major pieces of legislation despite his party controlling both houses of Congress. The executive orders by which Trump has instead chosen to govern have often been illegal, regularly promoted vile ideas founded in bigotry and ignorance, and are now, as they should be, bogged down in the courts. The senior appointees to his administration have ranged from embarrassing to national security risks. Chaos and dysfunction across the government are now the rule. Efforts to cut spending will, it is already clear, actually only end up increasing costs—costs that will then be compounded adding to our massive deficits when the administration finally advances through the Congress its primary legislative objective: tax cuts for the rich and powerful that will add perhaps as much as 10 trillion dollars in red ink to our books over the decade ahead (many many times the 'savings' produced by eliminating often vital government functions). But, as all of us know now, none of the above represents the worst of this administration. That is manifest in the efforts to strip away our rights and turn these United States into a police state, with the very future of our democracy in grave doubt. Since this country was founded, we have never faced such a threat from without or within—and there is every reason to expect that the past 100 days or so are just prologue to much worse to come. So, sadly, perhaps the failing grade Trump has earned, certainly not his first, may actually end up being a high water mark for this administration over the next three years and nine months.
Express Tribune
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Trump mocks Elizabeth Warren as ‘Pocahontas' during Congress speech
Listen to article President Donald Trump took aim at Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) during his joint address to Congres, reviving his long-standing nickname for her—'Pocahontas.' Warren later dismissed Trump's speech as 'a fantasy,' brushing off the insult and criticising his overall message. During his address, Trump turned his attention to Warren, using the nickname he has frequently deployed in past years to mock her. Warren responded with a grin, clapping as Trump made his remarks, unfazed by the insult. Trump has previously attacked Warren over her past claims of Native American ancestry, a controversy that has followed her since 2012 when reports surfaced that she listed herself as Native American in a national law school directory. When asked by reporters about being singled out, Warren shrugged off Trump's comments, saying she was not surprised. "No," she said. "The whole speech was a fantasy that Donald Trump tries to construct." She did not address the insult directly, instead focusing on what she saw as Trump's misleading rhetoric throughout his speech. Other Democrats also criticized Trump's mockery of Warren, including Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who called it 'low-rent' and unpresidential.' "That's kind of a low-rent thing you don't expect from a president of the United States," Durbin said. Trump has mocked Warren as 'Pocahontas' for years, referencing the controversy surrounding her Native American ancestry claims. In 2018, Warren took a DNA test, revealing that while she had some Native American ancestry dating back six to ten generations, the results confirmed that her heritage was predominantly European. Trump and Republicans seized on the findings, accusing Warren of exaggerating her ancestry for career advancement. The controversy resurfaced during the 2020 presidential campaign, when Warren attempted to put the issue to rest, but Trump continued to use the nickname in speeches and debates. Warren, a prominent politican, has long been one of Trump's most vocal critics, frequently clashing with him over policy and his leadership style.
