Tag: Washington DC

  • Heatwave melts Abraham Lincoln’s statue in Washington DC

    Heatwave melts Abraham Lincoln’s statue in Washington DC

    An intense heat wave in the American capital, Washington DC, did not spare a wax statue of former American President Abraham Lincoln.

    The statue of Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, had been placed at Camp Barker, an American Civil War-era refugee camp.

    As the heat intensified, the head melted first, then one of his legs dropped off from the torso, and a foot turned into a blob. The chair sank into the ground.

    At one point, the head of the statue melted and hung backwards, after which the administration separated the head from the statue and preserved it for later re-installation.

    However, the head from the 6ft wax sculpture of the Lincoln Memorial is now under repair, leaving behind a wire sticking out of the 16th president’s neck.
    The statue was installed at the same location last September, but the first version of the wax monument included over 100 wicks that were prematurely lit, melting a significant portion of the art installation ahead of its dedication ceremony.

    The new version was installed in February with fewer wicks, but the heat melted it as the DC-metro area was under a heat alert over the weekend.

  • PIA by June, then all major airports, privatisation will mark 2024

    PIA by June, then all major airports, privatisation will mark 2024

    Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced on Saturday that the process of privatization of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will be completed by June this year. Islamabad airport might also be privatized shortly after.

    “The government has no business being in business,” the minister declared at a Saturday afternoon news briefing, explaining the government’s plan to divest from state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

    “We expect the bids for PIA to come in the next two to three weeks, and by the end of June or early July, we can move it to the investors,” he said. “The Islamabad airport would be the next,” he added, “followed by the airports in Karachi and Lahore.”

    The finance minister didn’t respond on a question when asked if Pakistan is selling its skies to prospective buyers.

    Mr Aurangzeb didn’t give an explanation when a journalist asked if the government will keep some shares in PIA after privatisation or sell all its shares.

    The minister wrapped up his visit to Washington DC on Sunday with 62 meetings in a week. During these meetings, he explained decisions, made pledges, and sought understanding from both multilateral and bilateral donors.

  • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cori Bush join Ilhan Omar in boycotting Modi’s Washington address 

    Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cori Bush join Ilhan Omar in boycotting Modi’s Washington address 

    Congresswoman Cori Bush and member of the U.S. House of Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have joined Congresswoman Ilhan Omar in boycotting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Washington speech. 

    Both politicians announced their decision via Twitter. The development came shortly after Omar announced that she would be boycotting Modi’s speech, citing human rights abuse.

    Both Ocasio-Cortez and Bush have made their decision to boycott for the same reasons. In her statement on Twitter, Ocasio-Cortez pointed out how Modi had been denied a U.S. visa in 2005 due to his alleged complicity in the 2002 Gujarat riots. 

    She goes on to explain that a joint address to Congress is among the most prestigious invitations the U.S. can extend, and it should not be done so to individuals with a record of human rights violations. 

    Bush also alleges Modi’s history of committing human rights abuses, undermining democracy, and targeting journalists. 

    In February this year, BBC offices in India had been raided by tax department officials, just weeks after the release of a documentary revealing evidence of Modi’s responsibility in Gujarat riots. The documentary was later blocked by the government.

    Modi had been invited by top U.S. lawmakers to join Biden in a joint address to Congress on June 22nd. As China’s influence grows in the Indo-Pacific region, the U.S. is anxious to secure India’s cooperation as a counterbalance.

  • VIDEO: Justin Bieber reveals he is suffering from facial paralysis

    VIDEO: Justin Bieber reveals he is suffering from facial paralysis

    Canadian popstar Justin Bieber revealed that he is suffering from facial paralysis after cancelling a series of shows on his latest tour. He was on his Justice tour in North America but cancelled performances in New York, Washington DC and Toronto.

    In a video posted on his Instagram page, the 28-year-old singing sensation said he had been diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome after a virus had damaged the nerves in his ear.

    Justin Bieber revealed: “As you can see, this eye is not blinking. I can’t smile on this side of my face. This nostril will not move, so there’s full paralysis on this side of my face.”

    According to the BBC, the Ramsay Hunt syndrome is when a shingles outbreak affects the facial nerve near someone’s ears.

    Bieber asked his fans to understand as he will be using this time rest and relax.

    “I hope you guys understand, and I’ll be using this time to just rest and relax and get back to 100 per cent so I can do what I was born to do. But in the meantime, this ain’t it.”

    READ MORE: By 20 I made every bad decision you could have thought of: Justin Bieber

    Bieber’s last album, Justice, released in March 2021, has been certified platinum in the US, and got to second in the UK album charts. Bieber’s Justice World Tour began in February.

  • Joe Biden to host granddaughter’s wedding reception at White House

    Joe Biden to host granddaughter’s wedding reception at White House

    United States (US) President, Joe Biden and first lady, Jill Biden will host their eldest granddaughter, Naomi Biden’s wedding reception at the White House. The ceremony will take place this November 19, reports CNN.

    Naomi Biden, 28, was engaged to Peter Neal,24, in September 2021. The fiancé proposed to Ms Biden near his childhood house as the White House official reported. The couple has been in a relationship for about four years. They both met for the first time through a mutual friend.

    Naomi Biden is currently working as a lawyer in Washington, DC whereas Peter Neal is in the final semester of law school at the University of Pennsylvania.

    This is not the first time that a wedding reception is being held at the White House. There is a long history of conducting marriage ceremonies at the White House. The first wedding ceremony was held at the White House in 1812 when the sister of the first lady Dolley Madison, was wed to Thomas Todd. Dolley Madison was the wife of 4th US President James Madison

    The last wedding reception which took place at the White House was for the daughter of George W Bush in 2008. She celebrated a month after she tied a knot in Texas.

  • ‘Cannot defend a nation whose leaders gave up and fled’: US President

    ‘Cannot defend a nation whose leaders gave up and fled’: US President

    United States (US) President Joe Biden blamed the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan on Afghan political leaders who fled the country and the unwillingness of the US-trained Afghan army to fight the militant group.

    In his speech, Biden said that the US troops could not defend a nation whose leaders “gave up and fled”, as did Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

    “I stand squarely behind my decision. After 20 years, I have learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw US forces,” Biden said in a televised address from the White House.

    While Biden said he took responsibility for the fate of the US mission, he lashed out at the former Afghan government and military commanders who were put in place, organised, and supported by Washington over the last 20 years.

    Instead of standing up to the advancing Taliban — a highly experienced guerrilla force but more lightly armed than the US-supplied Afghan army — the government fled.

    “We gave them every chance to determine their own future. We could not provide them with the will to fight for that future,” Biden said, adding he could no longer ask US soldiers to risk their lives in the country, 20 years on.

    “Our mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to have been nation-building. It was never supposed to be creating a unified, centralised democracy.”

    “American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves,” said the US president.

    “We gave them every chance to determine their own future. We could not provide them was the will to fight for their future,” added Biden.

    “If Afganistan is unable to mount any real resistance at the Taliban now, there is no chance that one more year, five more years or 20 more years the US military boots on the ground would have made any difference,” said Biden.

    Biden said that the political leaders were unable to stand for their own people. He said that the leaders were unable to negotiate for the future of their people when the chips were down.

    Biden acknowledged that the Taliban’s speed in retaking the country was unexpected.

    “The truth is: This did unfold more quickly than we anticipated. So what’s happened? Afghanistan’s political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military gave up, sometimes without trying to fight,” Biden said.

    “Our true strategic competitors, China and Russia, would love nothing more than the United States to continue to funnel billions of dollars in resources and attention into stabilizing Afghanistan indefinitely,” he said.

    Biden said he was “left again to ask of those who argue that we should stay: how many more generations of America’s daughters and sons would you have me send to fight Afghans — Afghanistan’s civil war — when Afghan troops will not?”

    “I will not repeat the mistakes we made in the past,” said Biden.

    President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan fled the country as the Taliban entered Kabul, amidst severe criticism from his opponents, saying that now is not the time for him to leave his country as the dreaded Taliban come back to rule once more.

    The Taliban declared that the war in Afghanistan was over after its fighters swept into the capital, Kabul, and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday.

  • ‘Coup attempt’: Four dead after Trump supporters storm US Capitol

    ‘Coup attempt’: Four dead after Trump supporters storm US Capitol

    At least four people were killed and scores were arrested after supporters of outgoing US President Donald Trump breached the Capitol last night to stop the electoral vote count that would certify the victory of President-elect Joe Biden.

    The protestors pushed through barriers and occupied the building for hours, where lawmakers had gathered to certify that Joe Biden had won the election. Lawmakers were evacuated from the building by the police following the chaos that, reports say, was a result of a speech by Trump calling the election stolen.

    In hours-long episode of violence, there were clashes between the protesters and the police officers and the police were called “traitors” as well. A BBC report described the scene at the Capitol as Trump loyalists waving placards with “show us the ballots” inscribed on them. “All we want is for the Capitol police to stand down, and surrender the building to us,” it quoted a Trump supporter.

    Rioters were seen marching through the building chanting “We want Trump” and one was photographed in the Senate president’s chair, as per a BBC report. Reports said there was an armed confrontation at the doors of the House of Representatives.

    CBS News reported that one woman was shot and killed by police after breaching the Capitol and attempting to enter the House chamber. “Three others died as a result of medical emergencies,” it quoted the Metropolitan Police Department.

    In order to quell the unrest, the US authorities had called in troops from neighbouring states, Maryland and Virginia in addition to the National Guard. However, it took them hours to secure the Capitol. The US media reported 52 arrests: four related to weapons charges after the recovery of six firearms.

    “Two pipe bombs, one near the Republican National Committee and one near the Democratic National Committee, were also recovered, along with a cooler filled with Molotov cocktails,” the media outlet reported.

    TRUMP BLOCKED ON TWITTER:

    Meanwhile, Trump has been blocked on Twitter and Facebook for 12 and 24 hours for instigating violence as he called upon his supporters to go home while still calling the election “stolen”. “I know your pain, I know you’re hurt,” he said. “You have to go home now, we have to have peace… we don’t want anybody hurt.”

    Visuals from inside the Chamber show that the protesters and the police are engaged in a standoff.

    President-elect Joe Biden, however, said the demonstration “borders on sedition and it must end now”. “At this hour our democracy is under unprecedented assault,” he reacted to the news of the assault on the Capitol. While another lawmaker said it was a ‘coup’ attempt.