WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 12, 2023--

The White House has said it will “make sure” Afghan veterans who supported the US are taken care of – while the British government continues to stall in the case of an Afghan pilot who has been threatened with deportation to Rwanda. The pilot, who risked his life on combat missions in support of coalition forces, has been left in limbo and has been threatened with removal after he arrived in Britain on a small boat because of the lack of safe legal routes. After the UK rejected his first application to remain, Washington is now considering his case after his US supervisor made a personal recommendation and described him as a “true patriot to his nation”. President Joe Biden’s spokesperson was asked about the speed at which Afghans were being brought to the US, especially from third countries, in light of The Independent’s campaign on behalf of Afghan veterans. Karine Jean-Pierre replied: “Our commitment continues to stand. To make sure that we take care of the folks who helped us during the longest war in this country that we have, we have seen that we have supported and the work continues.” The intervention turns up the heat on the UK which has still not removed the threat of deportation to Rwanda, despite the UK’s Court of Appeal ruling that the government’s agreement is illegal. Without the notice being removed, the pilot’s application for asylum cannot progress and he is still being refused safe haven. Dozens of military chiefs, politicians, diplomats and celebrities have joined in The Independent’s call for him to be given safe refuge after the sacrifice he made. The Afghan air force airman, whose wife and child are still in hiding in Afghanistan, served alongside coalition forces in the run up to the fall of Kabul two years ago. He described how he flew in missions coordinated and supported by British and US commanders to take out terrorists and eliminate drug production networks. When the coalition troops left in August 2021, the pilot was among those dangerously exposed. The Taliban took over their offices and uncovered every detail about him – his email address, his phone number and where he lived. He waited in hiding in Afghanistan for several months before making the heart-breaking decision to leave his family and find safe refuge. A long journey over land and sea culminated in a dangerous journey across the Channel last November. Thinking he would be welcomed and thanked for his sacrifice, the pilot was appalled to discover that he was threatened with deportation to Rwanda. He told The Independent: “I am really disappointed. We weren’t carrying out simple tasks in Afghanistan - we were doing your missions. Without our Afghan forces, the UK and US wouldn’t have been able to do their activities. “If the UK are abandoning us again, I hope the US may help. Many former Afghan pilots are even flying in the US, they are using their skills, unlike what the UK are doing with me. Maybe if I get to the US, I can work as a pilot again and have a future – which helps my family, who are still in danger in Afghanistan.” The pilot is not allowed to work in the UK while his asylum claim is paused and receives around £8 a week to live on while he is in government-funded hotel accommodation. He is being considered for possible sanctuary in the US under the P1 resettlement scheme, to which you have to be personally referred by a US official. His application to the Ministry of Defence’s Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy was rejected because the government said that his pilot role was not one in which “the UK’s operations in Afghanistan would have been materially less efficient or materially less successful if a role of that nature had not been performed”. Defence minister James Heappey had said that members of the Afghan air force would not qualify “in principle” for the scheme because they were not embedded with the British. Sign The Independent’s petition calling for UK to support Afghan war heroes who served alongside Britain He is among thousands of other asylum seekers who have arrived in Britain on small boats, and who could face removal to Rwanda by the UK Home Office. The notice of intent letter, issued by the government, said his asylum claim was “inadmissible” because he had travelled through a number of European countries before arriving in Britain. The £140m deal to deport asylum seekers from UK to Rwanda was ruled unlawful at the end of June, but the Home Office have refused to remove the pilot’s notice of intent – meaning his asylum claim cannot be processed. Prime minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to appeal the court’s unlawful ruling in the Supreme Court. The former head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, has previously described the Rwanda plan as an “unpopular policy”, and blamed the home secretary Suella Braverman for “continuing to run down the remaining political capital of Rishi Sunak’s government” by pursuing it. A government spokesperson said: “Whilst we don’t comment on individual cases, we remain committed to providing protection for vulnerable and at-risk people fleeing Afghanistan and so far have brought around 24,500 people impacted by the situation back to the UK. “We continue to work with like-minded partners and countries neighbouring Afghanistan on resettlement issues, and to support safe passage for eligible Afghans.” Read More US pledges to investigate Afghan pilot’s case as UK stalls on offer to help Democrats and Republicans say they want to help Afghan veterans. So why haven’t they done anything? Afghanistan withdrawal may have left members of armed forces with ‘moral injury’ Biden arrives in UK to meet Sunak and King Charles amid Ukraine concerns Joe Biden to meet with the King at Windsor Castle Biden touches down in UK ahead of meeting with Sunak

PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 13, 2023--

Ten years after publishing her book “Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead,” Sheryl Sandberg will launch a girls leadership program Thursday through her foundation to respond to what she calls stubborn gender inequities

Silverstone, 2022. That was the moment a goal within touching distance for so long was finally grasped by Carlos Sainz. Fittingly, his first pole position of his career was duly followed by a first Formula 1 race win, in his 150th grand prix. Ferrari were back among the top contenders and Sainz, this time, was the leading man ahead of his team-mate Charles Leclerc. The Scuderia were a force at the front once more. Or so we thought. Despite producing a race-winning car, Ferrari failed to capitalise last year amid strategy and reliability clangers. Red Bull leapfrogged the calamitous prancing horse – and have not looked back. Now, Ferrari have not won since Austria last year, just a week after Sainz’s inaugural triumph. They are fourth in the Constructors’ Championship at the halfway stage this season. Sainz has not even finished on the podium. “I thought we’d be fighting for more podiums and wins but unfortunately it’s a very competitive team called Red Bull who are dominating,” Sainz tells The Independent. “It’s been a challenging season. All of us at Ferrari expected more from this year’s car and performance. We haven’t done the best job. “I’m happy with my own performance and the way I’m driving. But for one reason or another the results are not coming.” 2023 marks Sainz’s ninth-straight season in a sport he has devoted his life to. You can only wonder his thoughts as Max Verstappen – the driver he entered the sport alongside at Toro Rosso in 2015 – steamrolls to a third consecutive world championship at Red Bull. Via Renault, McLaren and now the scarlet red of Ferrari, Sainz’s progression through the ranks has been steady, if a bit slow. “I saw from very early on [as a junior] when I was winning that I was very good,” the 28-year-old says. “But I was naïve to believe that just by winning I was going to be an winning F1 driver. “I started to understand that everything needed to align. There needed to be a space for me in F1 and then I would need to be good enough to stay on. There’s always challenges.” An initial challenge, no doubt, was coping with the pressure which naturally came with being Carlos Sainz Jr. His father won the World Rally Championship twice and still competes in Extreme E at the age of 61. But Sainz Jr. is quick to point something out: his dad was not a pushy parent throughout his upbringing in Madrid. “My dad never got me into it, it was just me and something inside me that wanted to drive,” he insists. “It was just the genes, I’m not going to lie. “I happened to fall in love with F1 as a sport. It coincided with racing in go-karts and since the age of two, I’ve always been on top of a car.” His adoration for the sport is palpable. Time spent away from the paddock – whether it be golf, eating tapas or time with his family and dogs – is attuned to his return to the racetrack. Despite being the right side of 30, only three current drivers have completed more consecutive seasons in the sport than him. And unlike his first team-mate Verstappen – who despite his success is adamant he will not race deep into his 30s like Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton – Sainz is not interested by other competitions or opportunities at the moment. Not even the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which Ferrari won this year? “Yes I would, one day,” he says. “But I don’t think about it yet. Why? Because I’m so focused on F1.” Instead, while the ultimate dream is still attainable with a contract at Ferrari until the end of the 2024 season, Sainz will continue down the same road. And that road is currently one of recovery, which starts this weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix before the summer break. “I want to be a world champion one day,” he states. “I want to be winning more races. My brain is only thinking about that and I don’t even think about the other possibilities. Now, my target is to help the team to develop the car and go faster. That will allow me to fight for podiums and wins. “And that’s what I’m here at Ferrari for.” Carlos Sainz is a brand ambassador for Estrella Galicia 0.0. Read More Daniel Ricciardo is back - and this time he wants to go out on top F1 Juniors broadcast an admirable idea – but a reminder that all kids want to be is grown up Max Verstappen making Red Bull rivals ‘look like F2 cars’, says Toto Wolff F1 Academy announces radical team change for 2024 season How to win new fans for a growing sport and rival racing championship F1 2023 race schedule: When is the Belgian Grand Prix?

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK As Treasuries wobble ahead of the outcome of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy

The situation for Japan and Samoa at the Rugby World Cup could hardly be tighter before they meet on Thursday in Toulouse

The Atlanta Braves are still trying to find answers for the rotation and the trade market could heat up with superstars and budget options both available.It's frankly somewhat remarkable that the Atlanta Braves have been as dominant in the 2023 season given the issues they've had with ...

Julie Fujishima admits for the first time that rampant sexual abuse took place in her uncle's agency.

Olivia Dunne said that a security guard travels with the LSU gymnastics team

Jordan Peterson has labelled a brown man a “Caucasian”, and has unsurprisingly been slammed for doing so. British-American broadcaster and author, Mehdi Hasan, responded to the outrageous statement made about him by Peterson yesterday. Peterson, the rightwing celebrity psychology professor, posted on X/ Twitter, on 27 August. He said that Hasan was “not really brown. More like a light tan. Just like ‘white’ people.” He added: “Plus you're a Caucasian. By definition. Buddy.” In response, Hasan posted: “Nothing to see here, just Jordan Peterson, a white man, telling me I’m not brown, I’m actually white. Also, how am I a Caucasian, ‘by definition’?” Hasan is a Brit who was born to Indian parents from Hyderabad in the south of the country. They emigrated to the UK before he was born. In 2021, he tweeted that he was "tired of people telling me that I shouldn't take any pride in my south Asian heritage today, or that it has any relevance to my political views". "There's a word for this and it starts with R," he added. Hasan moved to America in 2015 to work as a producer and presenter on news TV. Now, he hosts his own show on MSNBC. It is unclear what definition of the word "Caucasian" Peterson is referring to. The Cambridge Dictionary defines the word as “belonging to the races of people who have skin that is of a pale colour”. Peterson’s bizarre attack on Hasan’s heritage was a response to a monologue by the presenter on his TV show. Hasan criticised white American conservatives’ attitudes in the wake of a mass shooting in which a white person killed three black people with an assault rifle. “Tonight, this brown Muslim is asking the white conservative community to do the same: get your house in order, crack down on the hate preachers... condemn the right of white supremacist ideology,” he said. Peterson did not respond to Hasan’s most recent post. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter 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.

Liverpool make Anfield request to Premier League.