BRIDGEWATER, New Jersey: US President Donald Trump on Friday took away security clearances for former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others in his latest move against his Democratic opponents.
The Republican president, who has also revoked the security clearance for former President Joe Biden, defeated Clinton in the 2016 presidential election and Harris in last year’s election.
“I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information,” Trump said in a late Friday memorandum that also included former Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
While the revocations may not have immediate impacts, it is another sign of the growing political rift in Washington as Trump seeks revenge on his perceived enemies.
The memorandum was issued hours after Trump arrived at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf property for the weekend.
Trump also targeted Republican former Representative Liz Cheney, a sharp Trump critic, former Biden White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Fiona Hill, a Russia expert who served on his National Security Council during his first term.
Mark Zaid, a national security lawyer in Washington who represents whistleblowers, and Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican lawmaker who is a sharp Trump critic, were among several others who had their security clearances revoked.
He had already revoked the security clearance for Biden, denying the former president to the traditional access to US intelligence.
Former US presidents have traditionally received intelligence briefings so they can advise incumbent presidents on national security and foreign policy.
In 2021, Biden revoked the security clearance for Trump, who was then a former president.
Trump pulls security clearances for Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton
https://arab.news/9eez7
Trump pulls security clearances for Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton
China says it has not received any asylum application from Philippines’ Duterte
- Philippines’ former President Rodrigo Duterte’s trip to Hong Kong was for his personal holidays
Duterte’s trip to Hong Kong was for his personal holidays, ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular press conference.
The former president was arrested on March 11 at Manila’s main airport on his arrival from Hong Kong at the request of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as part of its probe into a “war on drugs” that defined his presidency.
UK’s Heathrow defends decision to shut airport amid blame game
- Airport’s 18-hour closure cost airlines tens of millions of pounds and stranded thousands of passengers
- Both National Grid and Heathrow agreed that the failure of the transformer was an unprecedented event
As questions mounted over how such a critical part of Britain’s infrastructure could fail and whether all Heathrow’s four terminals needed to shut, both National Grid and Heathrow agreed that the failure of the transformer was an unprecedented event.
But the airport was forced to defend its closure after the boss of National Grid told the Financial Times that the electricity transmission network remained capable of providing power to the airport throughout the crisis.
Heathrow said the fire at a nearby substation late on Thursday interrupted its operations, forcing it to shut while it reconfigured systems and switched to power from an alternative substation.
“Hundreds of critical systems across the airport were required to be safely powered down and then safely and systematically rebooted,” a Heathrow spokesperson said.
“Given Heathrow’s size and operational complexity, safely restarting operations after a disruption of this magnitude was a significant challenge.”
John Pettigrew, the CEO of National Grid, said there were two other substations able to provide power to Heathrow, showing that the grid was resilient.
“Two substations were always available for the distribution network companies and Heathrow to take power,” he told the FT.
While airlines such as British Airways, the worse affected, add up the bill for the closure, the government and Heathrow have both commissioned reviews into what happened.
“It’s really important that we do learn the lessons from this, and that’s why I think those two reviews...are going to be really critical,” Transport Minister Heidi Alexander told Sky News on Monday.
Asked on LBC Radio about whether she had confidence in Heathrow’s CEO Thomas Woldbye, Alexander said she wanted to see the results of the reviews.
Greenland leaders lambast US delegation trip as Trump talks of takeover
- The delegation will visit an American military base and watch a dogsled race
- Delegation will be led by Usha Vance, wife of Vice President JD Vance
COPENHAGEN/WASHINGTON: Greenlandic leaders criticized an upcoming trip by a high-profile American delegation to the semi-autonomous Danish territory that President Donald Trump has suggested the US should annex.
The delegation, which will visit an American military base and watch a dogsled race, will be led by Usha Vance, wife of Vice President JD Vance, and include White House national security adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
Greenland’s outgoing prime minister Mute Egede called this week’s visit a “provocation” and said his caretaker government would not meet with the delegation.
“Until recently, we could trust the Americans, who were our allies and friends, and with whom we enjoyed working closely,” Egede told local newspaper Sermitsiaq. “But that time is over.”
The Greenlandic government, Naalakkersuisut, is currently in a caretaker period after a March 11 general election won by the Democrats, a pro-business party that favors a slow approach to independence from Denmark.
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, leader of the Democrats, called for political unity and said the visit by the US delegation during coalition talks and with municipal elections due next week, “once again shows a lack of respect for the Greenlandic people.”
Waltz and Wright plan to visit the Pituffik space base, the US military base in Greenland. The White House said they will get briefings from US service members there.
They will then join Vance to visit historical sites and attend the national dogsled race.
Brian Hughes, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said the US team is “confident that this visit presents an opportunity to build on partnerships that respects Greenland’s self-determination and advances economic cooperation.”
“This is a visit to learn about Greenland, its culture, history, and people and to attend a dogsled race the United States is proud to sponsor, plain and simple,” Hughes said.
Trump has made US annexation of Greenland a major talking point since taking office for a second time on January 20. Greenland’s strategic location and rich mineral resources could benefit the US It lies along the shortest route from Europe to North America, vital for the US ballistic missile warning system.
The governments of both Greenland and Denmark have voiced opposition to such a move.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a written comment reacting to news of the visit that “this is something we take seriously.” She said Denmark wants to cooperate with the US, but it should be cooperation based on “the fundamental rules of sovereignty.”
She added that dialogue with the US regarding Greenland would take place in close coordination with the Danish government and the future Greenlandic government.
WHO calls for immediate action as report shows 10% rise in child TB infections in European region
- WHO’s European region reported more than 7,500 cases among children under 15 years of age in 2023
- Children under 15 years of age made up 4.3 percent of all TB cases in the European Union
Tuberculosis (TB) infections among children in the European region rose 10 percent in 2023, indicating ongoing transmission and the need for immediate public health measures to control the spread, the World Health Organization said on Monday.
WHO’s European region, which comprises 53 countries in Europe and Central Asia, reported more than 7,500 cases among children under 15 years of age in 2023, an increase of over 650 cases compared to 2022.
“The worrying rise in children with TB serves as a reminder that progress against this preventable and curable disease remains fragile,” said Hans Henri Kluge, WHO’s Regional Director for Europe.
Askar Yedilbayev, regional TB adviser for WHO’s European region, said in an interview that a rise in overall cases might indicate improved diagnoses. However, it could also result from increased cross-border movement due to the Russia-Ukraine war, the two countries with the highest disease burden in the region.
Children under 15 years of age made up 4.3 percent of all TB cases in the European Union, a joint report by the WHO and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control showed.
This shows an increase in cases in this age group for the third consecutive year, which Yedilbayev said was a “worrisome scenario.”
WHO has previously warned that funding cuts from global donors will undo progress in controlling TB infections across low- and middle-income countries. These cuts can hurt TB programs in non-EU countries, fueling a rise of hard-to-treat strains, the agency said.
Several local, on-ground workforces have been hurt from the funding cuts, and the supply of diagnostics and treatments remains at risk, said Yedilbayev.
TB, among the top 10 causes of death worldwide, is a potentially fatal bacterial infection that mainly affects the lungs and spreads through coughing or sneezing.
South Korea authorities deploy choppers, troops to battle wildfire
- Four people have been killed so far, with officials warning that high winds and rising temperatures were hindering efforts to put out the blazes
- The government declared a state of emergency in the affected regions, citing ‘the extensive damage caused by simultaneous wildfires across the country’
SEOUL: South Korean authorities said Monday they would deploy dozens of helicopters and thousands of firefighters and soldiers as they struggle to control multiple wildfires in the southeast, which have been burning for days.
Four people have been killed so far, with officials warning that high winds and rising temperatures were hindering efforts to put out the blazes.
In Uiseong, nearly 7,000 hectares (17,000 acres) of land has been affected and around 600 people evacuated, Lim Sang-seop, head of the Korea Forest Service, told a press briefing.
“A total of 57 wildfire fighting helicopters are to be deployed to extinguish the fire,” he said, adding that more than 2,600 firefighting personnel – including soldiers – would be mobilized “to respond with all their might.”
The fire had been partly contained but was still burning as of Monday afternoon.
The forest agency has issued “severe” fire warnings, its highest level, in multiple locations, including North and South Gyeongsang provinces, Busan and Daejeon.
A major wildfire claimed four lives over the weekend in Sancheong county, in South Gyeongsang province, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) southeast of Seoul.
That fire was also partly contained by Monday – but still burning.
The government declared a state of emergency in the affected regions, citing “the extensive damage caused by simultaneous wildfires across the country.”
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was reinstated as acting president earlier Monday, visited the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, urging authorities to work together “until the wildfires are completely extinguished.”
“It is a truly heartbreaking incident,” he said, adding that he would meet people affected by the fires later Monday.
The leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, urged authorities to “mobilize all means at their disposal to quickly and safely suppress the fires” and take further measures to prevent any additional wildfires.
Some types of extreme weather have a well-established link with climate change, such as heatwaves or heavy rainfall.
Other phenomena such as forest fires, droughts, snowstorms and tropical storms can result from a combination of complex factors.
