Day: March 8, 2023

Newly released footage of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots have sparked controversy among US lawmakers who criticized the current House of Representatives Speaker for sharing it with Fox News.

Kevin McCarthy gave 44,000 hours of security footage of the riots to Fox News host Tucker Carlson three weeks ago and the first recordings were released late Monday.

The footage shows Jacob Chansley, also known as "QAnon Shaman," walking around the building unhindered and escorted by police on the Senate floor.

"Thank you heavenly father for taking the inspiration needed to these police officers to allow us into the building," he said in the Senate chamber, according to the footage.

Carlson, known for his support of former President Donald Trump, claims the media misled the public by spreading images of the clashes on Jan. 6 and federal agents might be those inciting violence.

Carlson said of the footage Monday that "the footage does not show an insurrection or a riot in progress."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized McCarthy for sharing the footage with the Fox News host and condemned Carlson for airing the scenes.

"With disregard of the risks and knowing full well he was lying, lying to his audience, Fox News host Tucker Carlson ran a lengthy segment last night, arguing the January 6 Capitol attack was not a violent insurrection," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "To say January 6 was not violent is a lie, a lie pure and simple.”

Rep. Bennie Thompson, the former chairman of the Jan. 6 Committee, denounced McCarthy for providing Carlson with access to the videos.

It was a “dereliction of duty for Kevin McCarthy to give Tucker Carlson carte blanche access to sensitive U.S. Capitol security surveillance footage from one of the darkest days in the history of our democracy," Thompson said in a statement.

McCarthy defended his decision and said he worked with Capitol Police to make sure "security is taken care of" in response to security concerns.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments around the world.

Special forces in Georgia's capital Tbilisi began dispersing people who had gathered near the parliament building to protest the adoption of a bill on foreign agents, local media reported early Wednesday.

A 26-year-old Palestinian man was shot and critically injured in the chest and later pronounced dead. Five others were also injured, according to a statement by the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Türkiye late Tuesday strongly condemned the increasing attacks and violence by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank.

The US threw its support Tuesday behind a deadly Israeli military raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday welcomed Sweden's new anti-terror legislation which includes the PKK, describing it as a step up in the country's fight against terrorism.

Last month's earthquakes could cost Türkiye more than $100 billion, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimated.

A total of 16 countries have set up 34 field hospitals in southern Türkiye after powerful earthquakes shook the region last month, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Tuesday with his Sierra Leonean counterpart Julius Maada Wonie Bio in the capital Ankara for talks.

British Home Secretary Suella Braverman said a new bill that will be brought to the House of Commons on Tuesday will “stop the boats” carrying migrants across the Channel.

If it was passed, the UK asylum legislation "would amount to an asylum ban," the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Tuesday, expressing concern over the matter.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad on Tuesday on an unannounced visit.

The State Department said Tuesday that two of four Americans who survived a kidnapping in Mexico have been repatriated to the US.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the deputy head of the country’s security services amid the continued purge of top government officials accused of corruption.

China on Tuesday warned against a “Ukraine-style” crisis in Asia, urging unity in the face of difficulties in pursuing security and development.

Croatia supports Kosovo's participation in all international organizations including the EU, the Croatian foreign minister said Tuesday.

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the central bank's rate hikes are "likely to be higher" than previously expected.

Source: Anadolu Agency

A bipartisan pair of high-ranking US senators introduced legislation Tuesday that would give federal authorities the power to ban TikTok and other technology companies over their alleged threats to national security.

Mark Warner, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and John Thune, the top ranking Republican on the Commerce Committee, are leading a coalition of 12 bipartisan senators in support of the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT) Act.

The legislation would enable the secretary of commerce to review and take action against information technologies, products and services from foreign adversaries -- listed in the bill as China, Cuba, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela -- that "pose undue risk to our national security," the lawmakers said in a statement.

"The threat that everyone is talking about is TikTok, and how it could enable surveillance by the Chinese Communist Party, or facilitate the spread of malign influence campaigns in the U.S. Before TikTok, however, it was Huawei and ZTE, which threatened our nation’s telecommunications networks. And before that, it was Russia’s Kaspersky Lab, which threatened the security of government and corporate devices," Warner said.

"We need a comprehensive, risk-based approach that proactively tackles sources of potentially dangerous technology before they gain a foothold in America, so we aren’t playing Whac-A-Mole and scrambling to catch up once they’re already ubiquitous," he added.

The bill is not an outright ban on TikTok, but it could lead to the action should federal regulators deem it necessary.

A similar measure was approved in the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee last week.

Thune, the Republican who is introducing the legislation alongside Warner, said the bill was necessary because past efforts amount to "a piecemeal approach when it comes to technology from adversarial nations that pose national security risks."

The RESTRICT Act, he said, represents a "holistic, methodical approach to address the threats posed by technology platforms – like TikTok – from foreign adversaries."

The White House was quick to lend its full-throated support for the nascent legislation, saying it "would empower the United States government to prevent certain foreign governments from exploiting technology services operating in the United States in a way that poses risks to Americans’ sensitive data and our national security."

"This will help us address the threats we face today, and also prevent such risks from arising in the future. We look forward to continue working with both Democrats and Republicans on this bill, and urge Congress to act quickly to send it to the President’s desk," said National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The head of Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group urged journalists Tuesday to stop publishing reports on Russian troops’ seizure of the strategic Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

In a post on Telegram, Yevgeny Prigozhin also told journalists to stop using the word "cleared" (the territory), noting that if "to clear" means "to kill," than the killing overnight of the 12,000-20,000 troops that by various estimates are fighting in the city is only possible in movies.

According to Prigozhin, his fighters are doing "everything" to take Bakhmut under their control, but “we are still not given ammunition, military equipment, weapons and vehicles.”

"Sapper shovels after almost a month, by the way, were given (to us)," he said.

Commenting on remarks by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu, who said Bakhmut has almost been taken, Prigozhin said he has not seen him in the city and does not know why he is saying that.

"Perhaps in order to please the Russian audience. Perhaps to annoy (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy…And we feel Zelenskyy's anger on us in full," he said.

According to Prigozhin, "the heaviest battles are going on day and night, but the Ukrainians are not fleeing anywhere."

"Zelenskyy does not run out of people. More and more thousands are thrown into the 'meat grinder,'" Prigozhin said, adding the Ukrainian army in contrast to the Wagner group has ammunition and other supplies in abundance.

He claimed that some 11,000 Ukrainian troops died in battles over the past month.

"Attention again! Ukrainians don't run away anywhere. They die en masse for Bakhmut and surrender only as a last resort. Stop thinking of them as cowards. They are the same as us, and they have the same blood flowing in them," he added.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Russia stressed Tuesday that there are no preconditions for the transition to peace in Ukraine.

"A special military operation continues. There are no preconditions for a transition to some kind of peaceful course in this situation. And that is why Russia is implementing its tasks to achieve its goals by further conducting a special military operation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press briefing in Moscow.

Commenting on China's peace plan for Ukraine, Peskov said Russia "attentively" considers all ideas voiced in Beijing.

Referring to a recent comment by Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang that "an invisible hand is directing the conflict in Ukraine," Peskov said: "You know what the joke is? This hand is not invisible. This hand is visible. This is the hand of the United States of America. This is the hand of Washington."

"Washington does not want this war to end. Washington wants and will do everything to continue this war. This is the visible hand," he stressed.

Asked about a possible date for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia, Peskov promised to provide the information and what will be on the agenda "in a timely manner.”

Regarding the oil price cap imposed by Western countries, Peskov said Russia does not recognize any "cap" and is working to nullify its effect on Russia's interests.

He pointed out that due to the cap's “high bar" on the one hand and the limits that exist on the other hand, the current level of prices is much lower than the price cap, and therefore, it does not affect them.

The European Union’s ban on Russian seaborne oil products as well as a price cap of $100 per barrel on premium Russian oil products such as diesel and a price cap of $45 per barrel on discounted products such as fuel oil went into effect on Feb. 5.

Nearly a month into the ban, Russia will now begin enacting plans to cut crude oil production by 500,000 barrels per day.

Source: Anadolu Agency