WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has agreed to testify publicly at a House of Representatives committee hearing on the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, the panel said on Tuesday, after a long dispute with the Republican-led committee.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said Blinken had committed to appear at a public hearing on Dec. 11 to discuss the committee’s investigation of the withdrawal three years ago.
The committee and the State Department have been wrangling over Blinken’s appearance for months. Panel Republicans voted in September to recommend Blinken be held in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena.
The State Department had contended that the panel was provided with large amounts of information, with Blinken testifying before Congress on Afghanistan more than 14 times and the department providing nearly 20,000 pages of records, multiple high-level briefings and transcribed interviews.
McCaul released a report on Sept. 8 on the committee Republicans’ investigation of the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal, blasting Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration for failures surrounding the evacuation.
The issue had become intensely politicized before the presidential election on Nov. 5. In his successful bid for a second term, Republican former President Donald Trump drew criticism for shooting video for his campaign at Arlington National Cemetery where he appeared at a ceremony honoring troops killed in the evacuation.
Trump also sought to pin blame for the withdrawal on Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent.
Democrats have insisted some blame for the messy end of the war — less than seven months into Biden’s presidency — should be laid at the feet of Trump, who began the withdrawal process by signing a deal with the Taliban in 2020.
The issue could become even more politicized after Trump returns to the White House on Jan. 20, after he spoke during his campaign of firing those responsible for the pullout from Afghanistan.
After long wrangling, Blinken to testify in Congress on Afghanistan
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After long wrangling, Blinken to testify in Congress on Afghanistan
- Donald Trump drew criticism for shooting video for his campaign at Arlington National Cemetery where he appeared at a ceremony honoring troops killed in the evacuation
- Democrats have insisted some blame for the messy end of the war should be laid at the feet of Trump, who began the withdrawal process by signing a deal with the Taliban in 2020
Tesla stock plunges as Musk’s feud with Trump over GOP tax bill spooks investors
- The drop on Thursday wiped out nearly $150 billion from Tesla’s market value
Shares of Elon Musk’s electric vehicle maker fell sharply Thursday as investors feared his dispute with President Donald Trump will hurt the company.
Tesla plunged closed down more than 14 percent as a disagreement over the US president’s budget bill turned nasty. After Musk said that Trump wouldn’t haven’t gotten elected without his help, Trump implied that he may turn the federal government against his companies, including Tesla and SpaceX.
“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” Trump wrote on his social messaging service Truth Social. “I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”
The drop on Thursday wiped out nearly $150 billion from Tesla’s market value, partially reversing a big runup in the eight weeks since Musk confirmed that Tesla would testing an autonomous, driverless “robotaxi” service in Austin, Texas, this month.
Investors fear Trump might not be in such a rush to usher in a future of self-driving cars in the US, and that could slam Tesla because so much of its future business depends on that.
“There is a fear that Trump is not going to play Mr. Nice Guy when in come to autonomous,” said Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives. “The whole goal of robotaxis is to have them 20 or 25 cities next year. If you start to heighten the regulatory environment, that could delay that path.”
Trump’s threat to cut government contracts seem targeted more to another of Musk’s businesses, SpaceX, his privately held rocket company that received billions of dollars to send astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station, provide launches and do other work for NASA. The company is currently racing to develop a mega rocket for the space agency to sent astronauts to moon next year.
A subsidiary of SpaceX, the satellite Internet company Starlink, appears to also have benefited from Musk’s once-close relationship with the president.
On a trip with Trump to the Middle East last month, Musk announced that Saudi Arabia had approved his satellite service for aviation and maritime use. Though its not clear how much politics has played a role, a string of other recent deals for the company in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and elsewhere has come as Trump has threatened tariffs and sent diplomats scrambling to please the president.
One measure of SpaceX’s success: A private financing round followed by a private sale of shares recently reportedly valued it at $350 billion, up from an estimated $210 billion just a year ago. Tesla shares initially got a lift from his support of Trump. In the weeks after Trump was elected, Tesla shares soared, hitting an all-time high on Dec. 17. But they gave back those gains during Musk’s time as head of a government cost-cutting group as Tesla’s reputation took a hit. They’ve recently popped higher again after Musk vowed to focus much more on Tesla and its upcoming launch of driverless taxis.
Trump and Musk in stunning public divorce
- US president launches televised Oval Office diatribe saying he is 'very disappointed' with his top donor's criticism of spending bill
- Tesla boss hits back Musk hit back saying Trump would not have won election without him and posting: Trump 'is in the Epstein files',
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s unlikely bromance imploded in spectacular fashion Thursday as the US president and his billionaire former aide tore into each other in a very public, real-time divorce.
Trump said in a televised Oval Office diatribe that he was “very disappointed” with criticisms from his top donor of a “big, beautiful” spending bill before Congress, before threatening to tear up the tycoon’s multi-billion-dollar US government contracts.
The South African-born Musk hit back live, saying that the Republican would not have won the 2024 election without him and slamming Trump on his X social media platform for “ingratitude.”
As the spat got increasingly bitter, Musk also posted that Trump “is in the Epstein files,” referring to US government documents on disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in jail while awaiting trial for sex crimes.
Shares in Musk’s Tesla electric vehicle manufacturer plummeted about 15 percent as the astonishing row escalated — wiping off more than $100 billion of the company’s value.
Questions had long swirled about how long the extraordinary alliance could last between the world’s richest person and the most powerful.
The world got the answer from Trump in a 10-minute rant after he was asked about Musk calling his tax and spending mega-bill a “disgusting abomination.”
“I’m very disappointed in Elon. I’ve helped Elon a lot,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, as visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz looked on.
“Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore.”
His comments came less than a week since Trump held a grand Oval Office farewell for Musk as he wrapped up his time leading the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
A wistful-sounding Trump took reporters through the break-up with Musk on live television Thursday, in what at times sounded more like a therapy session than a meeting with a foreign leader.
The Republican suggested that Musk had “Trump derangement system,” missed working at the White House and had become “hostile” after his departure.
Tesla and Space X boss Musk, who has criticized Trump’s bill on the grounds that it would raise the US deficit, hit back in a series of rapid-fire social media posts.
He branded Trump’s claims “false” before doubling down on the sensitive issue of Trump’s election win. Musk was the biggest donor to Trump’s 2024 campaign, to the tune of $300 million.
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” said Musk.
“Such ingratitude.”
Musk then posted a poll on whether he should form a new political party — a possible threat to Republican support, even if the foreign-born tycoon himself is barred from becoming president under the US Constitution.
As the row moved to social media, Trump doubled down by threatening Musk’s massive government contracts, including for launching rockets and for the use of the Starlink satellite service.
US media have put the value of the contracts at $18 billion.
“Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform, adding that Musk had gone “crazy” about a plan to end electric vehicle subsidies in the spending bill.
He then dropped the bombshell: “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.”
Trump’s decision to tap Musk to head DOGE was one of the most controversial of his second presidency. Musk’s young “tech bros” cut tens of thousands of government jobs and slashed US foreign aid.
Trump and Musk’s whirlwind relationship initially blossomed, with the tech tycoon appearing in the Oval Office with his young son on his shoulders, flying with Trump aboard Air Force One and staying at the White House and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
But the 53-year-old lasted just four months on the job, becoming increasingly disillusioned with Washington’s slow pace, while clashing with some of Trump’s cabinet members.
The only winner from the public Trump-Musk spat? Germany’s Merz.
Merz, who sat mutely while Trump bashed Musk, had prepared to avoid a repeat of the ambushes that Trump unleashed on the Ukrainian and South African presidents in the Oval Office.
But in the end it was Musk who took the president’s fire.
US slaps sanctions on four ICC judges over Israel, US cases
- The four judges, all women, will be barred entry to the United States
- Two of the judges took part in proceedings that led to an arrest warrant issued in November for Israel's Netanyahu
WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on four judges at the International Criminal Court including over an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ramping up pressure on The Hague-based body.
The four judges, all women, will be barred entry to the United States and any property or other interests in the world’s largest economy will be blocked — measures more often taken against policymakers from US adversaries rather than judicial officials.
“The United States will take whatever actions we deem necessary to protect our sovereignty, that of Israel, and any other US ally from illegitimate actions by the ICC,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
“I call on the countries that still support the ICC, many of whose freedom was purchased at the price of great American sacrifices, to fight this disgraceful attack on our nation and Israel,” Rubio said.
Two of the judges, Beti Hohler of Slovenia and Reine Alapini-Gansou of Benin, took part in proceedings that led to an arrest warrant issued in November for Netanyahu.
The court found “reasonable grounds” of criminal responsibility by Netanyahu and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant for actions that include the war crime of starvation as a method of war in the massive offensive in Gaza following Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
The two other judges, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru and Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, were part of the court proceedings that led to the authorization of an investigation into allegations that US forces committed war crimes during the war in Afghanistan.
Neither the United States nor Israel is party to the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court.
But almost all Western allies of the United States, as well as Japan and South Korea, the vast majority of Latin America and much of Africa are parties to the statute and in theory are required to arrest suspects when they land on their soil.
Putin ready to ‘help resolve’ Iran nuclear stand-off
- Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that abandoning uranium enrichment was “100 percent” against the country’s interests
MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin told US President Donald Trump that he was ready to use Russia’s close partnership with Iran to help with negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, the Kremlin said.
Trump said after a phone call with Putin that time was running out for Iran to make a decision on its nuclear program and that he believed Putin agreed that Iran should not have nuclear weapons.
Putin, according to Trump, suggested that he participate in the discussions with Iran and that “he could, perhaps, help get this brought to a rapid conclusion,” though Iran was “slowwalking.”
“We have close partner relations with Tehran and, naturally, President Putin said that we are ready to use this level of partnership with Tehran in order to facilitate and contribute to the negotiations that are taking place to resolve the issue of the Iranian nuclear dossier,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
Asked when Putin could join the negotiations, Peskov said that dialogue with Tehran and Washington continued through various channels.
“The president will be able to get involved when necessary,” Peskov said.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that abandoning uranium enrichment was “100 percent” against the country’s interests, rejecting a central US demand in talks to resolve a decades-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
The US proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on Saturday by Oman, which mediated talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.
After five rounds of talks, several hard-to-bridge issues remain, including Iran’s insistence on maintaining uranium enrichment on its soil and Tehran’s refusal to ship abroad its entire existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium — possible raw material for nuclear bombs.
Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state, said nothing about halting the talks, but said the US proposal contradicts Iran’s belief in self-reliance and the principle of “We Can.”
Majority of Labour Party’s Muslim representatives unhappy with UK government’s Gaza policy
- Survey finds 82% of Muslim MPs, councillors and mayors belonging to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s party think his handling of conflict is ‘fairly’ or ‘very’ bad
- Almost all of those polled want immediate, official UK recognition of the State of Palestinian
LONDON: Muslim political representatives who belong to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party are overwhelmingly unhappy with the British government’s approach to the war in Gaza, a survey reveals.
The study by the Labour Muslim Network found that 82 percent of the Muslim MPs, councillors and mayors that were polled described Starmer’s handling of the conflict as “fairly bad” or “very bad.”
Three‐quarters supported the suspension of all UK arms exports to Israel, and nearly all of the respondents backed immediate, official recognition by the UK of the State of Palestine. More than 80 percent favored sanctions on Israel.
The results of the survey will add to the pressure on Starmer over the issue, with large sections of his party increasingly voicing anger over the UK’s lack of action against Israel over the war in Gaza.
In recent weeks the prime minister has stepped up his criticism of the Israeli military campaign in the territory, which has killed more than 54,000 people since October 2023. The UK last month joined France and Canada in calling on Israel to end the fighting and resume deliveries of humanitarian aid. All three countries threatened “concrete measures” if Israel failed to halt the slaughter. Britain also paused negotiations with Israeli authorities for a free-trade agreement.
In September 2024, the UK suspended 30 of 350 export licenses to Israel for weapons used in military operations in Gaza, after a review of Israeli compliance with international humanitarian law.
However, many members on the left wing of the Labour Party want much stronger action, including an end to all arms sales and tougher sanctions. There have also been growing demands for the UK to join the majority of UN member states in officially recognizing the Palestinian sate.
The issue of the war in Gaza featured heavily during campaigning for the UK parliamentary elections last year, and independent candidates running on pro-Palestinian platforms took five seats from Labour.
There are 25 Muslim MPs in the UK Parliament, 19 of whom belong to the Labour Party. The survey was sent to 477 party members who are elected representatives, and 221 responded.
In addition to the dissatisfaction with Labour’s policy on Gaza, many voiced concern about discrimination within their own party.
Two-thirds said they were not treated equally to other Labour representatives, and more than a half said they did not believe the party takes Islamophobia seriously enough.
In its report on the survey results, the Labour Muslim Network said the figures “tell the story of a growing chasm between the Labour Party and its Muslim representatives.”
It added: “The party must urgently address the structural issues identified in this report or face the moral and political consequences to come.”
A Labour spokesperson told The Guardian newspaper: “The Labour Party is proud of the diversity of our party, including the increase in the number of Muslim MPs in the parliamentary Labour party and having the first Muslim lord chancellor in Shabana Mahmood, and the first Muslim mayor of London in Sadiq Khan.
“We take any complaints of discrimination, including Islamophobia, seriously.”
