Biden’s last-minute emissions goal could be quickly reversed when Trump takes office
President Biden is increasing the United States’ emissions reduction goal for the next decade, but the green energy push could be hindered by the incoming administration under President-elect Trump. In 2021, Biden set a climate target for the U.S. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 50-52% from 2005 levels by 2030. However, under the Paris climate agreement, which the U.S. is currently enrolled in, each country is required to submit their contribution to reducing global emissions every five years under the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). In his final contribution to the global climate change agreement under the NDC, Biden on Thursday set a new goal to reduce even more emissions within the next decade – but Trump has suggested initiating a potential withdrawal from the global climate treaty. SIX HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES THAT HAVE TAKEN HEAT FROM BIDEN’S CRACKDOWN ON REGULATIONS Biden’s new target, which was formally submitted to the United Nations Climate Change secretariat, seeks to reduce emissions 61-66% by 2035. A POTENTIAL SECOND WITHDRAWAL FROM PARIS CLIMATE TREATY UNDER TRUMP COULD LOOK DIFFERENT THAN FIRST US EXIT During his campaign, Trump told Politico that he would be in favor of withdrawing from the treaty when he assumes office, which could impact the new climate goal. The Paris climate agreement was established at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in 2015 as a legally binding treaty among nearly 195 parties committed to international cooperation on climate change. The U.S. first entered into the agreement under former President Barack Obama in 2016, but was withdrawn under Trump in 2020. If Trump chooses to withdraw from the agreement a second time, it could occur at a faster pace than the first. Trump also has the option to submit the treaty to the Senate for advice and consent, which would require a two-thirds vote for the U.S. to rejoin the climate agreement – creating a potential hurdle for future administrations seeking to reenter the accord.
House report accuses Matt Gaetz of paying women for sex, using illegal drugs, accepting improper gifts
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., allegedly paid multiple women for sex, including a 17-year-old high school girl, and used illicit drugs like cocaine and ecstasy, according to a House Ethics Committee report. The 37-page report released Monday morning concluded that Gaetz violated multiple Florida state laws related to sexual misconduct while in office. “The Committee concluded there was substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, the provision of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the report states. Gaetz has consistently denied any accusations of wrongdoing, and an earlier federal investigation into the allegations ended without charges against him. Earlier Monday, Gaetz filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block the release of the report. MATT GAETZ REPORT BY HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE TO BE RELEASED The committee’s report stated that Gaetz “continuously sought to deflect, deter, or mislead the Committee in order to prevent his actions from being exposed.” The report alleges that despite Gaetz’s denials, he made tens of thousands of dollars in payments to women “likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use” from 2017 to 2020. In one alleged sexual encounter, Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old minor at a summer 2017 party, according to the committee’s report. The report concluded that the act violated Florida’s statutory rape law even though the girl, identified in the report as “Victim A,” said she never told Gaetz her age. “The Committee received testimony that Victim A and Representative Gaetz had sex twice during the party, including at least once in the presence of other party attendees,” the draft report alleged. The 17-year-old girl claimed to have received $400 in cash from Gaetz, “which she understood to be payment for sex,” according to the report. She said she was under the influence of ectasy at the time of the sexual encounter, while alleging that she saw Gaetz use cocaine. JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’ The committee’s report stated that it did not receive any evidence indicating Gaetz was aware the girl was a minor when he allegedly had sex with her. The report also alleges Gaetz refused to comply with a subpoena demanding an interview and “intentionally withheld information” about a trip to the Bahamas with women. The committee said it obtained text messages Gaetz allegedly sent to women, asking them to bring drugs “to their rendezvous,” referring to drugs as “party favors,” “rolls” or “vitamins.” In interviews with the committee, witnesses said they observed Gaetz using marijuana, the report states. The House Ethics Committee’s multi-year investigation into Gaetz, involving allegations of sex with a minor and illicit drug use, came to an abrupt halt last month after he resigned from Congress hours after President-elect Trump tapped him to be his attorney general. Gaetz later dropped out of consideration for the post amid quiet but steady GOP opposition. The House Ethics Committee lost its jurisdiction to continue its investigation into the accusations against Gaetz after his resignation from Congress. While the committee “has typically not released its findings after losing jurisdiction in a matter,” as noted in the report, a majority of committee members determined that the findings should be released as they were in the public interest. Gaetz had filed a lawsuit on Monday in an attempt to block the release of the committee’s report.
Delhi Weather Update: Drizzle in national capital fails to improve ‘severe’ air quality, AQI recorded at…
Foggy conditions were observed early in the day, with humidity levels ranging from 79 per cent to 95 per cent.
Biden admin lifts $10M bounty on the head of leader of Islamist group now in charge in Syria
The Biden administration has lifted a $10 million bounty on the head of Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of the group that overthrew Bashar al-Assad in Syria. In exchange, al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, agreed to a U.S. demand not to allow terrorism groups in Syria to threaten the U.S. or Syria’s neighbors. “We had a good, thoroughgoing discussion on a range of regional issues,” Barbara Leaf, the U.S.’s top envoy to the Middle East, told reporters of her Friday meeting with al-Sharaa. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) drove Assad out of Damascus earlier this month. While other rebel factions remain throughout the country, HTS has amassed control over much of Syria. HTS was founded as an offshoot of al Qaeda but broke away from the group in 2016. It evolved from the Nusrah Front, which was designated as a terrorist group in 2012, and in 2018 the U.S. added HTS’ terrorism designation. FALL OF ASSAD, RISE OF TRUMP: WHY 2024 WAS A VERY BAD YEAR FOR IRAN “It was a policy decision… aligned with the fact that we are beginning a discussion with HTS,” Leaf explained. “So if I’m sitting with the HTS leader and having a lengthy detailed discussion about the interests of the US, interests of Syria, maybe interests of the region, it’s suffice to say a little incoherent then to have a bounty on the guy’s head.” The group has been trying to shake its extremist reputation and the designation, with al-Sharaa claiming he does not want Syria to become the next Afghanistan and he believes in education for women. “We’ve had universities in Idlib for more than eight years,” Sharaa told BBC, referring to Syria’s northwestern province that HTS has held since 2011. “I think the percentage of women in universities is more than 60%.” “He came across as pragmatic,” Leaf said. “It was a good first meeting. We will judge by deeds, not just by words.” U.S. officials have visited Syria to push for a pragmatic government and to find information on the whereabouts of detained U.S. journalist Austin Tice. TENSIONS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND TURKEY ESCALATE OVER SYRIA: ‘IT’S TIME TO PAY ATTENTION’ The U.S. has had a mixed relationship with HTS due to its militant Islamist roots. Al-Sharaa has said HTS is not a terrorist group because it does not target civilians or civilian areas, and they consider themselves to be the victims of the crime of Assad’s regime. The U.S. has launched an aggressive campaign of airstrikes in northeastern Syria to take out ISIS militants, fearing a resurgence amid the upheaval in Syria which could lead to the release of more than 8,000 IS prisoners, “a significant security concern,” according to the Pentagon. The Pentagon revealed on Thursday that the U.S. doubled the number of its forces from 900 to roughly 2,000 to fight IS before Assad’s fall.
‘Squad’ Dem applauds Biden for sparing murderers from ‘racist’ death penalty in 11th-hour clemency move
A leading progressive House Democrat is commending President Biden’s sweeping commutation order for people on the federal death row, calling the death penalty itself “racist.” “The President’s decision to commute the death sentences of 37 individuals on federal death row is a historic and groundbreaking act of compassion that will save lives, address the deep racial disparities in our criminal legal system, and send a powerful message about redemption, decency, and humanity,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., said in a statement on Monday. “The death penalty is a racist, flawed, and fundamentally unjust punishment that has no place in any society.” BIDEN SETS RECORD WITH FIRST-TERM CLEMENCY GRANTS, HERE’S HOW OTHER PRESIDENTS RANK Pressley argued the death penalty has overwhelmingly targeted Black and Brown communities “and failed to make America any safer.” The Massachusetts lawmaker, a member of the hardline-left group of House Democrats dubbed the “Squad,” has been on the forefront of the progressive push to abolish the death penalty. Biden’s clemency order affects nearly everyone on the federal death row in the United States. Just three of 40 inmates remain – Dylann Roof, who murdered nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina in 2015; Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was found guilty for carrying out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing; and Robert Bowers, who killed 11 worshipers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018. TRUMP EXECUTION RESTART TO PUT BOSTON MARATHON BOMBER, CHARLESTON CHURCH SHOOTER, MORE KILLERS IN HOT SEAT Among those whose sentences were commuted to life imprisonment are Thomas Sanders, who kidnapped and killed a 12-year-old girl; Jorge Avila-Torrez, who sexually assaulted and stabbed two young girls to death and strangled a 20-year-old female Naval officer four years later; and Anthony Battle, who murdered an Atlanta prison guard with a hammer 30 years ago. Democrats had been mounting pressure on Biden to use his clemency powers after the controversial and broad pardon he granted to his son, Hunter Biden, just weeks before he was expected to be sentenced on federal gun charges. Biden heeded that pressure earlier this month when he commuted the sentences of roughly 1,500 Americans in the largest such single-day order. It comes as President-elect Trump has touted plans for months to expand the death penalty to drug traffickers, child rapists and illegal immigrants who kill U.S. citizens. At the tail end of his first term, Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) performed the first federal executions in 20 years, carrying out sentences for 13 federal prisoners on death row. BIDEN COMMUTES 1,500 JAIL SENTENCES, GRANTS PARDONS FOR 39 OTHERS: ‘LARGEST SINGLE-DAY GRANT OF CLEMENCY’ CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., a top Trump ally, blasted Biden for his order on Monday. “Once again, Democrats side with depraved criminals over their victims, public order, and common decency,” Cotton wrote on X. “Democrats can’t even defend Biden’s outrageous decision as some kind of principled, across-the-board opposition to the death penalty since he didn’t commute the three most politically toxic cases. Democrats are the party of politically convenient justice.”
Know IAS Ria Dabi’s love story and all about husband IPS Manish Kumar
IPS Manish Kumar and IAS Tina Dabi first met at Mussorie Academy. They became friends first and then love blossomed between them.
Govt allows schools to fail classes 5 and 8 students, abolishes ‘no-detention policy’
The central government in its new notification allowed schools to fail students of classes 5 and 8. It has scrapped the no-detention policy in an amendment to the Right to Education Act (RTE) 2009.
Gaetz sues to block release of Ethics Committee report
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., is suing to block the release of a House Ethics Committee report on his alleged behavior. In a complaint filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., the Republican’s attorneys maintain Gaetz’s innocence, say that the conduct detailed in the report is untrue, and claim the committee does not have jurisdiction over him because he is no longer in office. The House Ethics Committee’s multi-year investigation into Gaetz, involving allegations of sex with a minor and illicit drug use, came to an abrupt halt last month after he resigned from Congress hours after President-elect Trump tapped him to be his attorney general. Gaetz later withdrew his nomination. “The anticipated statements and release of information by Defendants is expected to include reference and make conclusions that Plaintiff engaged in conduct amounting to ‘misconduct’ or was otherwise unethical,” the complaint says. “The anticipated statements and information is false, factually incorrect, and untrue because Plaintiff did not violate any criminal code or other standard of ethics within the jurisdiction of Defendants.” “Once released, the damage to Plaintiff’s reputation and professional standing would be immediate, severe and irreversible, particularly because: a. The Committee’s findings would carry the imprimatur of official Congressional action; b. Media coverage would be immediate and widespread; c. The allegations would permanently remain in the public record; d. No adequate remedy exists to retract or correct information once released,” it adds. MATT GAETZ REPORT BY HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE TO BE RELEASED The report could be released by the House Ethics Committee as early as Monday. The filing says “After Plaintiff’s resignation from Congress, Defendants improperly continued to act on its investigation, and apparently voted to publicly release reports and/or investigative materials related to Plaintiff without proper notice or disclosure to Plaintiff.” “The Committee’s apparent intention to release its report after explicitly acknowledging it lacks jurisdiction over former members, its failure to follow constitutional notions of due process, and failure to adhere to its own procedural rules and precedent represents an unprecedented overreach that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections,” it also states. Last week, after the Committee voted to release the report, Gaetz wrote on Z that “”I was charged with nothing: FULLY EXONERATED.” GAETZ WITHDRAWS AS ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE “Not even a campaign finance violation. And the people investigating me hated me. Then, the very ‘witnesses’ DOJ deemed not-credible were assembled by House Ethics to repeat their claims absent any cross-examination or challenge from me or my attorneys. I’ve had no chance to ever confront any accusers. I’ve never been charged. I’ve never been sued,” Gaetz said. “In my single days, I often sent funds to women I dated — even some I never dated but who asked. I dated several of these women for years. I NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18,” he continued. “Any claim that I have would be destroyed in court — which is why no such claim was ever made in court.” “My 30’s were an era of working very hard – and playing hard too. It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life,” Gaetz concluded. “I live a different life now.” The House Ethics Committee did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment by Fox News Digital. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
‘Stand by our Syrian brothers’, says Jordan FM after meeting al-Sharaa
Jordan’s foreign minister has held talks with Syria’s de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus as regional leaders move to engage with the new administration following the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago. “We stand by our Syrian brothers as they start the rebuilding process,” Ayman Safadi told Al Jazeera on Monday. “We want a stable, secure, safe Syria that guarantees the rights of its people through a transitional process consistent with the aspirations of Syrian people,” Safadi added. Mohammed al-Khulaifi, minister of state at Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also arrived in the Syrian capital, days after Doha opened its embassy in Damascus after 13 years. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said al-Khulaifi will hold a series of meetings with Syrian officials “to embody Qatar’s firm position in providing all the support to the Syrian people”. Monday’s high-profile diplomatic visit came a day after Turkiye’sr foreign minister promised help with the political transition and rebuilding the war-torn country after meeting the new administration. Advertisement Hakan Fidan and al-Sharaa on Sunday stressed the need for unity and stability in Syria, as they called for the lifting of all international sanctions against the war-ravaged country. Turkiye backed the Syrian opposition fighters led by al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which spearheaded the offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad’s 54-year rule. Safadi also pointed out that the security and stability of Syria are key to Jordan and the region. “We share a 375km [230-mile] border with Syria. We want that border to be stable, free from terrorist organisations, free from drugs and weapon smuggling,” he told Al Jazeera. In recent years, Jordan has tightened border controls in a crackdown on drug and weapon smuggling along its border with Syria. One of the main drugs smuggled is the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon, for which there is huge demand in the oil-rich Gulf. “We are working out the challenges and discussed the security of our common border with Mr Sharaa today,” Safadi said. The Jordanian foreign minister also condemned Israel’s attacks on Syria in recent days and said, “It’s an encroachment of Syria’s sovereignty.” “Israel should withdraw from Syrian territory respecting the 1974 agreement,” he added. Jordan also hosted a summit earlier this month where top Arab, Turkish, EU and US diplomats and called for an inclusive and peaceful transition after more than a decade of war. Reporting from Damascus, Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra said the new authorities in Syria are eager for more recognition from neighbouring countries. Advertisement “As far as [the meeting with] Jordan is concerned, this is going to be a significant boost for al-Sharaa. He wants to build bridges with Jordan. There are many tribal connections along the border between Jordan and Syria,” Ahelbarra said. Jordan also hosted hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, some of whom have returned home after al-Assad’s fall. Jordan claims it hosts some 1.3 million refugees but the United Nations says 680,000 Syrian refugees were registered with it. Al-Sharaa has hosted Arab, as well as Western diplomats, as he aims for formal diplomatic recognition. Al Jazeera’s Ahebarra noted that al-Sharaa met Turkiye’s foreign minister yesterday and later met with a top adviser of Saudi Arabia’s king, to discuss the future of Syria. Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia is expected to send a delegation soon, according to Syria’s ambassador in Riyadh. Besides neighbouring Arab countries, al-Sharaa has also received a host of foreign delegations since coming to power. On Friday, the United States’s top diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, had a meeting with Syria’s de facto leader. Leaf said she expected Syria would completely end any role for Iran in its affairs. A handful of European delegations have also visited in recent days. Sultan Barakat, from the Hamad bin Khalifa University based in Doha, told Al Jazeera: “I think the Jordanians, as well as the neighbouring countries, have been encouraged by Americans visiting [Syria] first … Practically all the regional forces, aside from Iran are very happy the regime change has taken place.” Advertisement “They understand the Syrian people have been suffering for over 50 years, particularly the last 13 years it has caused a lot of instability in the region. So everyone is welcoming the stability in Syria,” he said. Separately, on Monday, Iran affirmed its support for Syria’s sovereignty and said the country should not become “a haven for terrorism” after the fall of President al-Assad, whom Tehran backed militarily. “Our principled position on Syria is very clear: preserving the sovereignty and integrity of Syria and for the people of Syria to decide on its future without destructive foreign interference,” Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said in a weekly news briefing. Adblock test (Why?)
Germany debates migration and motives after deadly Christmas market attack
Magdeburg has been enveloped in grief since an attack that killed a nine-year-old boy and four women at a Christmas market on Friday evening. About 200 people were also injured when a car rammed into the busy market in the eastern German city. Authorities have charged Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a 50-year old, Saudi-born psychiatrist who has lived in Germany since 2006, with murder and attempted murder. Political parties across the spectrum have expressed sorrow for the victims and promised to step up security. In a statement shared with Al Jazeera, Greens party leader Robert Habeck said he wished the city “comfort, strength and confidence”. Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the incident a “terrible and insane” act. Nicole Anger, a lawmaker and co-chairwoman of Die Linke (The Left) party in Magdeburg, said the city remains quiet and people are still stunned. “There are candlelight vigils, services and just a lot of moments of people standing together in solidarity. The salesmen from the Christmas market, which is closed for the rest of the year, have been giving away fruits and vegetables for free,” she told Al Jazeera. Advertisement But while many are united in grief, tensions are growing. Alongside vigils, more than 2,000 far-right supporters bearing banners and chanting slogans against migration gathered in the city on Saturday. Further rallies are reportedly planned for Monday. Anger, who was born and raised in Magdeburg, said the atmosphere reminded her of the mid-1990s when one man was killed after far-right agitators chased a group of Black men through the city in what has come to be known as Himmelfahrtskrawalle, or the Magdeburg Ascension Day riots. “At the moment, children and people with a migration background are scared to be out on the streets,” she said. The attack took place as Germans prepared to close off a heated political year. After the coalition led by Scholz collapsed in November, the chancellor then lost a confidence vote in mid-December, triggering snap elections. Germans will head to the polls on February 23. Meanwhile, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party continues to gain political ground after successes in state elections this year. The day before the attack, US billionaire Elon Musk stirred controversy by posting on the X social media platform he owns: “Only the AfD can save Germany.” Observers have described a sense of fear and concern, saying a blame game over the Magdeburg attack could distract from the main issues facing the German electorate. “We still have to be very cautious about what the attacker’s real motives were. But what is obvious is that if there is an extremist force in the political discourse which is actually not only Islamophobic but generally phobic against any foreigners, if this is articulated in this strong way as the AfD is constantly doing, it trickles down,” said Justus von Daniels, editor of the German publication Correctiv, which in January broke the news of a meeting between the AfD and neo-Nazi activists to discuss a migrant deportation “master plan”. Advertisement He said how Germany acts now in terms of increasing security will be telling. In the run-up to the elections, political parties should avoid playing into the hands of the AfD’s antimigration narrative and focus on issues affecting the electorate, von Daniels said. “The economy is a big part of this election, and a case like Magdeburg shifts the public discourse to migration issues. If the AfD will try to push the migration issue further, I worry that the other political parties will respond to that, and this is not healthy to the political debate.” The suspect and his possible motives have puzzled authorities and the public. Al-Abdulmohsen described himself as an ex-Muslim activist on social media. His posts showed disdain for Islam and support for right-wing ideologies. He said he supported women fleeing Saudi Arabia, but a journalist at Correctiv who was in contact with him has challenged that claim, reporting that several women blocked him because he was “behaving problematically”. Some alleged they felt sexually harassed by him. Saudi Arabia said it had warned Germany about the doctor in November 2023. Germany has acknowledged receiving the tip but ultimately decided al-Abdulmohsen did not appear to be a threat at that time. Tahir Abbas, an associate professor in Islamophobia and political violence at Leiden University in the Netherlands, said the suspect seems to have become “a bit of a fanboy of populist ethno-nationalist ideals”. “What I think this does is align this particular perpetrator’s motivations more broadly with far-right practices and ideologies, including in relation to the treatment of women,” he said. Advertisement “The far right is so hypernormalised across Europe and North America at the moment that there are tremendous challenges that have emerged and will continue to emerge, particularly as President Donald Trump takes the helm in the US again.” The suspect made clear on social media his admiration for Europe’s hard-right leaders, such as the Dutch politician Geert Wilders. Since the attack, the far right in Germany and across Europe has been quick to weaponise the attack to promote their antimigrant agenda, observers said. Jorinde Schulz, an activist and member of The Left party, said the “extreme right is allowed to mobilise almost unhindered”. “For them, this attack is a stepping stone to gain more support, which is all the more disturbing since they are the ones who are going to attack people of colour in the street and intimidate political activists.” On Sunday, police in Bremerhaven, a port city in northern Germany, detained a man who took to TikTok to threaten violence. The man is alleged to have warned he would stab any person of Arabic appearance in the city on Christmas Day, the German news agency dpa reported. Adblock test (Why?)