List of All Articles with Tag 'son'

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

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Chelsea boss Emma Hayes says she does not intend to watch Sunday’s Manchester derby that could see her side crowned Women’s Super League champions. With two rounds of games to go, champions Chelsea are two points clear of second-placed Manchester United heading into their lunchtime kick-off at Kingsmeadow against Arsenal. If the Blues win, United then failing to in their early evening clash with Manchester City at Leigh Sports Village will mean a fourth successive WSL title – adding to last weekend’s FA Cup success – secured for Hayes’ team. Asked if she would be watching the derby, Hayes told a press conference: “I said (to her son) I promise you Sunday afternoon we’ll take you out, new bike, and I’ll take him and his cousins for a roll around north London. “He will come first Sunday afternoon. Of course, someone will tell me, but I’m pretty certain I won’t be sitting down and watching it at home. It’s nicer, light evenings – I definitely won’t be.” Hayes, who saw Chelsea go top with Wednesday’s 4-0 win at West Ham and has described their efforts in a busy schedule as “unbelievable” given “the hardest part is the games accumulation”, added of Sunday: “We have to be really respectful. “We haven’t won anything. We’ve got to play arguably one of the best teams in Europe this year on Sunday and that will be extremely challenging. I think Arsenal are a top team. So I’m not thinking about the outcome.” We have to be really respectful. We haven't won anything. We've got to play arguably one of the best teams in Europe this year Emma Hayes Arsenal, Chelsea’s fellow Champions League semi-finalists this term, beat them 3-1 in the League Cup final in March, while there has also been a 2-0 FA Cup win for Hayes’ team and a 1-1 draw between the clubs since the turn of the year. The Gunners are third in the table, three points behind United and three better off than fourth-placed City in the race for Champions League places – the top three positions. Boss Jonas Eidevall said: “We play against a very strong Chelsea side and know we have to be at our best. Maybe the best performance of our season in order to get the result we want.” Eidevall also said Switzerland international Lia Walti, who came off injured in Wednesday’s 4-1 win at Everton, will miss the remainder of the campaign but should be able to recover in time for the World Cup. United boss Marc Skinner has described the match against City as “a heavyweight contest – one big punch and the other can be knocked out”. Since their promotion in 2019, United are yet to have beaten City in five WSL meetings. Three of those have been draws, including the last encounter in December at the Etihad Stadium, which finished 1-1 with Gareth Taylor’s side equalising through Laura Coombs. The Red Devils – who were making their Women’s FA Cup final debut when they were beaten 1-0 by Chelsea at Wembley last Sunday – have already achieved their record WSL points haul this term, after coming fourth in each of the last three seasons. City are looking to avoid what would be a first finish outside the European places since 2014, their inaugural WSL campaign. Also on Sunday, relegation battlers Leicester host West Ham and Brighton go to Everton, while Aston Villa entertain Liverpool. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Daniel Levy pledges to bring success to Tottenham Sir Mo Farah preparing to push himself to the limit in Great Manchester Run 10K Eddie Howe says Elliot Anderson is ready to fly with Magpies

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Leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies are being joined by their counterparts from other countries during their summit in Hiroshima, Japan

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has issued a promise to supporters that the summer months will be spent trying to bring “on-pitch success” to the club. Spurs have endured a difficult campaign with boss Antonio Conte departing in March, before Fabio Paratici resigned from his managing director of football position last month following a worldwide ban for allegations of false accounting during his time at Juventus. The club’s trophy drought has also extended into a 15th consecutive season and any hope of another top-four finish has long gone with unrest amongst the fanbase growing amid a perceived lack of direction or transparency from the board. Ryan Mason is the third head coach this season, after Cristian Stellini was sacked following a disastrous four-game spell, and with the managerial search set to extend into a third month next week, Spurs fans’ have repeatedly chanted for Levy to leave the club in recent fixtures. But in his programme notes for the final home match of the season against Brentford, Levy said: “This has been an immensely difficult season. “We made footballing decisions over recent seasons based on ambition and a desire to bring success to our club and they have not delivered what we had hoped. “Your frustration has been understandable and all of us at the club have shared it. “We have undertaken a thorough and rigorous review of our footballing operations. Scott Munn joins us in the summer as our new chief football officer and we look forward to sharing further news with you post-season. “We shall spend the period ahead of next season working relentlessly to position our club for on-pitch success and football you will love to come and watch. “Every element of the club’s operations is geared toward delivering that.” Levy did make similar promises in 2021 with talk of Spurs returning to their “DNA” amid the hunt for Jose Mourinho’s successor. A lengthy managerial search ended with Nuno Espirito Santo being appointed in June, but he was sacked four months later. Feyenoord boss Arne Slot has been installed as the new bookies’ favourite to replace Conte in the current head coach hunt. Earlier this month Julian Nagelsmann was ruled to no longer be a contender while recent weeks have seen Xabi Alonso and Vincent Kompany commit to staying at Bayer Leverkusen and Burnley respectively. Chairman Levy did pay tribute to Mason for stepping up for a second time in interim charge and women’s caretaker Vicky Jepson, who replaced Rehanne Skinner in March. He added: “I should like to thank everyone at the club – all our staff, across all our locations, and our players – for their dedication and hard work during what has been a busy and often challenging season.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Sir Mo Farah preparing to push himself to the limit in Great Manchester Run 10K Eddie Howe says Elliot Anderson is ready to fly with Magpies Sam Allardyce says West Ham game is ‘do or die’ in Leeds’ survival fight

Follow live coverage as Tottenham Hotspur face Brentford in the Premier League today. Manchester City are reigning champions after beating Liverpool to the finish line in a neck-and-neck 2021/22 title race where a comeback win on the final day of the season against Aston Villa secured a fourth title in five years for Pep Guardiola's side. Jurgen Klopp's Reds were on course for a quadruple last season but were forced to settle for just an FA Cup and Carabao Cup win and will return trying to win the title again just as they did in 2020. It was a dramatic season for Chelsea a year ago with Roman Abramovich now replaced by Todd Boehly as owner in west London. He will want an instant return on his hefty investment at Stamford Bridge while Tottenham, back in the Champions League, will want to kick on once more too. It's not all about the action at the top though with Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest promoted to the top tier for 2021/22 and hoping to hold their own against the best English football has to offer and avoid the drop. We will bring you all the action and updates from today's game in the live blog below: