List of All Articles with Tag 'it'

HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) -India will host the United States, Australia and Japan next year for a summit of the group

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to make his presidential campaign official next week. Here's what CNN's Steve Contorno, who is based in Florida and covers DeSantis, has to say about what to expect from his campaign and what kind of candidate he could turn out to be.

The collapse of Afghanistan’s government at the hands of the Taliban forced thousands of the nation’s people to flee their homeland, including many of those who served as translators and other aides to US military forces. But in the more than a year and a half since, the United States has failed to offer immigration assistance to most Afghans who helped American forces, which would allow them to stay in the country on a more permanent basis. According to International Rescue Committee, the US admitted 76,000 Afghans as part of Operation Allies Welcome. In the United Kingdom, the government pledged to allow Afghans who assisted British forces to build a life in safety and security. Instead, many who have made the dangerous trip from Afghanistan to Britain have been told they face deportation. One pilot who served with distinction fled Afghanistan even as his wife and young family stayed behind, arriving in Britain in a small boat because there was no safe and legal route to escape the Taliban, since British and Nato forces left him and his squadron behind. Now he has been told by UK authorities that he faces being sent to Rwanda under a controversial immigration policy. “Everyone knew that one day the American and British armies would leave as they had supported us for a long time. But when the withdrawal came, our territorial leaders failed us,” the pilot, who is not named in order to protect his family, told The Independent earlier this year. The Independent is campaigning for the British government to give a home to those who fought with the UK against the Taliban. It has been backed by politicians of all parties, as well as religious leaders, senior military figures and celebrities including Sting and director Guy Ritchie. But the United Kingdom is not alone in its failure to fulfil the pledges made to those who assisted the war efforts. Despite broad bipartisan support in both houses of US Congress and from president Joe Biden, Congress has failed to live up to its commitments to Afghans despite supportive rhetoric. Most Afghans who came to America after the withdrawal of US military forces from the country, arrived on what is called humanitarian parole, wherein people who may be otherwise ineligible for admission into the United States are allowed to enter for humanitarian reasons. “And those folks have two years of parole, which is about to run out,” Shaun VanDiver, the founder of #AfghanEvac and a US Navy veteran, told The Independent. “The issue with the parolees is that for every other population, where there's been a big influx like this, Congress has passed Adjustment of Status.” Adjustment of Status would allow people who were given humanitarian parole to adjust their status to that of a permanent resident. In the months following the collapse of the Afghan government and more Afghans entering the United States, a bipartisan group led by Democratic senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota sponsored the Afghan Adjustment Act. “It’s strongly supported by veterans [so] it should be must pass,” senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, told The Independent. “But there are all kinds of time pressures, a lot of competing issues.” Those competing interests meant the bill was not included in must-pass legislation like last year’s omnibus spending bill, the National Defense Authorisation Act, and an aid package to Ukraine, which means that many of the people given humanitarian parole risk losing their status by August, which marks two years since the Taliban took control in Afghanistan. Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York told The Independent that the United States has had a double standard when it comes to Afghanistan and other nations enduring conflict. “I feel like we saw even in the outbreak of Ukraine, the difference between how things were expedited depending on country of origin,” she said. “And I believe that translators and many folks ... we should be really filling up the visa allotments that we have, and we have not yet.” Mr VanDiver explained that the Trump administration weakened parts of the immigration system like Special Immigrant Visas and created massive backlogs by weakening the resettlement programmes. “The impact that Afghans are feeling right now can be attributed to Stephen Miller and Donald Trump, the way that they purposely deconstructed the system for welcoming vulnerable people into our country and cares for their inaction,” he said. The legislation would need to pass through the judiciary committees in the US House and Senate. Senator Chuck Grassley, who last year served as the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, opposed the legislation. Mr Grassley told The Independent that at the time he led the GOP on the committee, he was speaking for the concerns of other Republican senators. “I think it would be based on this issue of vetting,” he said. “I think that’s very important. You know, when we have 98 people across the border that haven’t been vetted and they’re on the terrorist watch list, I think we have to be very careful.” Since then, senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of the co-sponsors of the Afghan Adjustment Act, has stepped up to ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He said lawmakers may act on the Afghan Adjustment Act towards the end of the year when Congress must fund the government. “I think it’s important we keep our commitment to those who helped us in Afghanistan,” Mr Graham told The Independent, adding that he is not concerned about missing the August deadline. “I just want to try to rally the House and Senate around the concept that we need to do better, and that's very important,” he said. Since 2022, Republicans have taken control of the House of Representatives, making it much harder to pass the legislation in the era of hyper-polarised government. While Mr Graham is the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, representative Jim Jordan, a hardliner on immigration, now leads the House Judiciary Committee, making it even tougher for the bill to pass. “But that's okay,” Mr VanDiver said. “So long as we could get [house majority leader Steve] Scalise and [house speaker Kevin] McCarthy to be supportive, then we could do it.” Until then, Mr VanDiver has helped launch an Afghanistan Community Ambassadors Programme so any Afghan in the United States can sign up and get direct information about immigration. “It’s meant to ensure that every Afghan here has access to the same information,” he said. “So it’s not like you have to know somebody.” Read More Britain’s faith leaders condemn ‘heartless’ threat to send Afghan war hero to Rwanda Our government is blinded by an obsession that is morally repugnant Minister roasted over claim ‘hundreds of thousands’ of Afghans want asylum in UK Minister roasted over claim ‘hundreds of thousands’ of Afghans want asylum in UK Rail strikes could see injured veterans miss ‘vital’ reunion G7 urges China to press Russia to end war in Ukraine, respect Taiwan's status, fair trade rules

North Carolina Republicans jumped out on a limb this week when they passed a controversial new abortion ban. Democrats are now rushing to saw it off.

Champions League ticket prices for the final between Manchester City and Inter start at £61

(Fixes typo in the first paragraph) CAIRO/DUBAI Air strikes hit outer areas of the Sudanese capital Khartoum overnight

The musician spotted the far-flung fan's appeal to raise money for the trip and stepped in to help.

Tom Grennan has helped a Coventry fan from Argentina by covering his expenses and allowing him to watch his team's Championship play-off final next weekend. The singer-songwriter made the offer to Lauti, a passionate Coventry supporter who planned to sell his car in order to be able to fly over to watch the crucial match live. Speaking to BBC Sport Coventry & Warwickshire, Lauti described his feelings about the upcoming play-off match against Luton Town on May 27, which could result on the side returning to the Premier League for the first time in 22 years if they win the game. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter "What happened is just unbelievable. I have no words to describe what I am feeling now," the Argentine said. "When I started to support Coventry we were playing at Wembley too, but we were playing against Exeter in League Two so I never expected this. He added: "This is more than a dream come true. I am selling my car. I think my girl is not happy because I am selling it to go to Wembley. "We are one game away from our dream, from playing again in the Premier League so vamos Sky Blues." Soon, the video caught the attention of Grennan who tweeted out his generous offer (and saved Lauti from selling his car) as the singer noted he will not be able to attend the match because he's got to perform at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend. "I WILL PAY FOR THIS LAD!!!! I can’t go to the final as I’m performing at BBCR1 weekend in Dundee," Grennan wrote. "Devastated to miss the game, but instead I’ll pay for this lad to come over for the game. Does he have a ticket? Someone let me know." In a follow-up tweet, Grennan replied to another Coventry fan who set up a GoFundMe page for Lauti and was keen to send the money over. Grennan proved to be a man of his word as the footy fan shared an image of the £2,000 transaction that the singer donated, calling him an "absolute legend." Previously, Grennan trained to be a professional footballer as a youngster and was on the books at Luton (who Coventry are up against in the play-offs) and also took part in Soccer Aid last year. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Speedy from 'Queer Eye' is inspiring many TikTok users and might be a new sensation on the app

A new Tesla ad shared on social media claiming to feature Ryan Reynolds has come to the attention of Elon Musk – only, it’s not real and instead it's completely fabricated through the use of deepfake technology. Tesla CEO Musk replied to Twitter user @meetRealKevin after he posted a video that jokingly claimed to feature Reynolds as the new face of the company. "How much do you think it would cost to own a car that’s this f***ing awesome?!” the fake Reynolds says in the clip. He then adds: “Whose balls do I have to fondle to get a Tesla instead of a s*** Corolla?” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Musk replied to the clip by commenting with the word “nice”, simultaneously bringing it to the attention of his millions of followers. It wasn’t long until the shoe was on the other foot, though. Digital marketing agency Maximum Effort, which was been co-founded by Reynolds, then posted a deepfake video which sees an artificial version of Musk promoting Reynolds’ company Aviation Gin. Reynolds’ response? The actor simply added the comment “nice”. It’s not the first time stories about Musk and deepfakes have made headlines over recent times. Photos of Elon Musk kissing a female humanoid robot has gone viral, but everything is not as it seems. In fact, four AI-generated images of Musk kissing three different “wife” robots and dancing with one other female-looking humanoids have been shared far and wide online. It comes after Reynolds appeared to troll celebrity pal Taylor Swift over recent rumours that she's dating The 1975's Matty Healy. In a post to his Instagram Stories, the 'Deadpool' actor shared a selfie of himself and chose to include The 1975’s hit song "Chocolate," for the music. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Erik ten Hag has been asked about why Marcus Rashford's contract talks are taking so long to finalise. His deal expires in 2024.

If you already spend hours scrolling through TikTok -- let's face it, who doesn't? -- then you might have just found your dream job.