List of All Articles with Tag 'son'

The Tour de France started in Bilbao on Saturday, embarking on a 3,404km race to Paris with the first three of the 21 stages...

Tom Cruise was 'genuinely impressed' with his 'Mission: Impossible' co-star Rebecca Ferguson but he 'would never cross that line'

When the Supreme Court cut affirmative action out of college admissions programs Thursday, it did not outlaw the goal of achieving diversity, but it set a new "race-neutral" standard for considering applicants.

The US State Department released its Afghanistan After Action Review report, detailing the failures of both the Trump and Biden administrations during the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in 2021. The long-awaited report found that the decision by both administrations had detrimental consequences and laid out the shortcomings of a “chaotic and dangerous environment” during the pullout after nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan. “The decisions of both President (Donald) Trump and President (Joe) Biden to end the US military mission in Afghanistan had serious consequences for the viability of the Afghan government and its security,” said the unclassified report. “Those decisions are beyond the scope of this review, but the AAR (After Action Review) team found that during both administrations there was insufficient senior-level consideration of worst-case scenarios and how quickly those might follow,” it added. Out of the 85-page After Action Report, the department made only 24 pages public, keeping the remainder classified. The details emerged more than a year following a 90-day long review of the handling of the evacuation operation and include details of what happened in the final days of US presence in Afghanistan and recommendations to prepare for future events. The finding of the reports also highlighted the shortcomings of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, without naming him. It included the state department’s failure in expanding its crisis management task force as the Taliban advanced on Kabul in August 2021 and the lack of a senior diplomat “to oversee all elements of the crisis response”. Referring to the State Department’s top floor where Mr Blinken and other top diplomats have their office, it said: “Naming a 7th floor principal ... would have improved coordination across different lines of effort.” The report stated that senior Biden administration officials had “not made clear decisions” regarding at-risk Afghans. There were no clear instructions about who would be included in the evacuation operation or about where they would be taken. “That added significantly to the challenges the Department and DoD faced during the evacuation,” it said. The State Department’s noncombatant evacuation operation (NEO) “was hindered by the fact that it was unclear who in the Department had the lead”, it said. The review also stated the concerns about signalling and maintaining confidence in the Afghan government hindered crisis preparation and planning. This inhibition ultimately contributed to the collapse of the Afghan government in mid-August 2021. The report comes as the Biden administration was criticised for its chaotic pullout of US troops and its officials from Kabul after the takeover of the Taliban, toppling president Ashraf Ghani’s government. The unprecedented scenes showed hundreds of thousands of Afghans and other citizens trying to flee Taliban rule and attempting to enter Kabul airport. Videos showed men clinging onto aircraft as they taxied down runways and others trying to climb the big walls of the airport. During the evacuations, an Islamic State suicide bomber killed 13 US servicemembers and more than 150 Afghans outside an airport gate. According to the report, approximately 125,000 individuals, including nearly 6,000 Americans, were evacuated from Kabul prior to the departure of the last US soldiers from Afghanistan on 20 August. Defending Mr Biden’s handling of evacuations, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the decisions were made to end the war. “He had to make a decision,” she told reporters on Friday. The US had poured “billions of dollars into a war with no end in sight” and that “he wanted to stop that, he wanted to end that,” she said. A Trump spokesperson said: “There’s only one person responsible for the disastrous pullout of Afghanistan — Joe Biden.” The State Department’s critical review was not reflected in the White House report which was released in April. Read More Over 1,000 Afghan civilians killed in violence under Taliban rule, says UN Xi undecided on whether to order military unification with Taiwan by 2027, top US official claims Ukraine Russia – live: CIA director William Burns ‘called Kremlin’ after Wagner mutiny Who are Isis-K? Al-Qaeda ‘could regroup in Afghanistan in two years and threaten US’ Biden overruled Blinken and Austin on Afghanistan pullout, book says

Wilfried Zaha continues to weigh up his options after his Crystal Palace contract expired.

Ukrainian officials have reported three people killed and 17 others wounded from Russian shelling in the country’s east and south

Lewis Hamilton will start today’s sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix from a lowly 18th as Max Verstappen took pole position. Defending champion Verstappen raced to top spot for the second day in succession following his qualifying triumph for Sunday’s 71-lap Grand Prix. Sergio Perez joins team-mate Verstappen on the front row for today’s 23-lap dash round the Red Bull Ring, with McLaren’s Lando Norris an impressive third. Norris, who finished nearly six tenths back from Verstappen, lines up one place ahead of Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg. The winner of today’s race will be awarded eight points, but the result has no bearing on Sunday’s main event. Hamilton was eliminated in the opening phase after he had three laps deleted for exceeding track limits. “That was really bad time usage,” said Hamilton over the radio. “Am I out?” “Yes we are,” replied his race engineer Pete Bonnington. It is for a sprint race so it does not really matter Lewis Hamilton Hamilton had been leading the way in Q1 before he had a hat-trick of laps chalked off by race director Niels Wittich for running all four wheels of his Mercedes over the white line at the final bend. Hamilton tumbled down the order and was knocked out at the first hurdle of qualifying for only the second time in the last six years. In Friday’s qualifying session, which determined the grid for Sunday’s main event, Verstappen said Wittich made the drivers look like “amateurs” with his over-zealous refereeing. But Wittich did not hold back in the second qualifying running of the weekend, with Hamilton not the only driver penalised. Verstappen also had multiple laps scrubbed off. Following his early exit, Hamilton said: “It is for a sprint race so it does not really matter. “I wish I was still out there. But there is nothing really to say. We focus on what we can do and we could easily have been much further up. Today I will have some fun from the back.” Hamilton was soon followed out of qualifying by team-mate George Russell after he suffered a hydraulic failure. Russell’s Mercedes mechanics were forced to change his steering rack meaning that he was unable to post a lap in Q2. He starts 15th. Today’s sprint race takes place at 4:30pm local time (3:30 BST). Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Lewis Hamilton to start sprint race from 18th at Austrian Grand Prix Made us look like amateurs – Max Verstappen hits out over raft of deleted laps Lewis Hamilton calls for change, claiming new rule would ensure a ‘real race’

Pride flags are flying over London for today’s annual LGBTQ parade. More than 1.5 million people attended last

Outspoken Rwandan government critic Paul Rusesabagina, who became internationally renowned for his efforts to save people during the 1994 genocide, said Saturday that Rwandans were...

While listening to Lil Uzi Vert's song, Adin Ross lashed out at him for mentioning his ex-girlfriend Pami's name

In Season 2 of 'And Just Like That' so far, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) is yet to rekindle her romance with her ex fiance Aidan Shaw (John Corbett)

By John Kruzel WASHINGTON In its decision permitting an evangelical Christian web designer to refuse service for same-sex