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Members of Afghan girls robotics team arrive in Mexico

AFP

Five members of a girls robotics team in Afghanistan were welcomed to Mexico Tuesday after fleeing their Taliban-controlled country.

The team members, none of whom were identified for security reasons, were received at the Mexico City airport by Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcelo Ebrard, and four of them gave a press conference shortly after landing. 

“They have not only saved our lives, but they have also saved our dreams,” one of the group said of host Mexico. 

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“Our stories will not sadly end because of the Taliban,” she added through a translator, while her face was hidden by a Covid-19 mask. 

“Under this regime, we women will face difficulties…that is why we are grateful to be here,” she said. 

Mexico has granted the girls and one of their partners humanitarian visas valid for up to 180 days with the right to renew or apply for a change of status in the future. 

“We want to tell them from the bottom of our hearts that they are home,” said Ebrard.

Part of a larger group of high-achieving high school girls known “Afghan Dreamers”, the robotics team consists of about 20 members, most of whom are still in their teens. 

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The girls made headlines in 2017 after being denied visas to take part in a robotics competition in Washington — before then-president Donald Trump intervened and they were allowed to travel.

Last year, they worked to build a low-cost medical ventilator from car parts hoping to boost hospital equipment during the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Taliban’s seizure of power a little over one week ago has fueled a chaotic mass exodus as many Afghans fear a repeat of the brutal interpretation of Islamic law implemented during the militants’ 1996-2001 rule. 

During that earlier regime, girls were excluded from school, women confined to their homes and offenses punishable by public stonings and executions. 

Though the Taliban have vowed a softer, more inclusive regime this time around, offering assurances of women’s rights within what they consider Islamic bounds, many Afghans are skeptical.

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The United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said Tuesday she had received credible reports that the Taliban were already restricting women, and warned them not to cross that “red line”.

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International

Colombian Foreign Minister on the accusation of Diosdado Cabello: To foolish words, deaf ears

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Luis Gilberto Murillo, said that “to foolish words, deaf ears” in reference to the accusations made against him by the Chavista leader Diosdado Cabello, who accused him of “working” for the United States Government.

“That doesn’t make sense, to foolish words, deaf ears,” the chancellor told journalists in Suriname, where he participated in a Ministerial Meeting of the Association of Caribbean States.

Murillo added that he met in Suriname with his Venezuelan counterpart, Yván Gil, to whom he expressed his “concerns.”

“We have always maintained a very fluid diplomatic dialogue, and that is the official voice of the Government of Venezuela. That’s why we don’t want to respond or give in to any provocation from other actors on both sides that sometimes what interests them is to generate conflict,” he said.

Cabello accused Murillo of working for the United States after the chancellor claimed that his country seeks a “quiet transition” in Venezuela after the presidential elections on July 28.

“Who sent it to you to declare that? Your president of Colombia or your president of the United States? Who do you work for? Who gives you the right to talk about transition in Venezuela? (…) Here the only transition that is coming is the transition to socialism, there is no other,” he said in his weekly television program ‘Con el mazo dando’, broadcast by the state channel VTV.

Cabello, first vice president of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), said that Murillo “works for the Government of the United States” and that that recent statement is “very rude” and “unfriendly.”

At the 54th Annual Washington Conference on the Americas, Murillo said that Colombia hopes that the upcoming Venezuelan elections “will be fair, obviously, competitive… free.” And that it is, “at least, an acceptable process.”

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International

Brian Wilson, of The Beach Boys, is under the tutelage of his manager because of his dementia

A judge in a Los Angeles court accepted the request of Brian Wilson’s family to put the founding musician of The Beach Boys under guardianship because of the dementia he suffers.

At a hearing, Judge Gus T. May determined that the tutelage of the creator of ‘Surfin’ the U.S.A.’ will be in the hands of his lifelong publicist and manager, Jean Sievers, and his business manager, LeeAnn Hard, American media reported.

“From clear and convincing evidence, I conclude that guardianship is necessary,” May declared at the hearing and ordered the new guardians to consult with Wilson’s children “all material decisions related to health care.”

The petition – presented after the death of Wilson’s wife, Melinda Ledbetter, at the beginning of the year – argued that the 81-year-old musician suffers from an “important neurocognitive disorment” that has taken away his ability to properly take care of his basic personal needs.

In February, Wilson’s relatives posted a post on Instagram in which they explained that they had made the decision to request the guardianship of the musician after consulting his seven children, the doctors, members of his staff and Wilson himself.

They also specified that the musician’s cognitive ability had regressed severely since the death of Ledbetter, who was in charge of his personal care.

Wilson is known for being one of the founders of the group The Beach Boys – one of the most important bands in the United States – and was responsible for immortalizing “the Californian dream” in the 1960s.

One of his most relevant works as a composer was the creation and production of the album ‘Pet Sounds’ (1966), considered one of the best albums of all time by the specialized press, in addition to being the one that impressed The Beatles.

In 1988, Wilson began his solo career and in 2008 Rolling Stone magazine placed him at number 52 on the list of the 100 best singers in history.

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International

Trump criticizes pro-Biden Jews: “If you vote for him, be ashamed”

Former President Donald Trump criticized Jewish American voters of the Democratic Party on Thursday, after the Joe Biden Administration confirmed on Wednesday that it will withhold the shipment of weapons to Israel while studying how it proceeds in the Palestinian enclave of Rafah.

“If you are Jews, don’t vote for Biden. They are doing a lot of damage to their country. (Biden) Now he is totally on the other side. He has abandoned Israel. If you are Jewish and you vote for it, I tell you to be ashamed,” Trump said in an interview with Spectrum News 1.

He also assured that he would not have made Biden’s decision and spoke of “loyalty.”

“I wouldn’t do what Biden did. He has just left Israel. I’ve never seen anything like it. They have to do it (attack Rafah)… They were attacked sacily on October 7. They had scenes that no one has ever seen,” he said, when asked if he would clarify to the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that the escalation of aggressions in the Gaza Strip has a limit.

The former ruler had already repeatedly charged against American Jews who vote for Democratic candidates, both before and after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas. In fact, in 2019, he said that Jewish Democrats were “very disloyal to Israel.”

Likewise, he has assiduously stressed that this conflict would never have been unleashed if he remained in the White House, due to his diplomatic skills with power leaders in the Middle East region.

According to CNN, the US arms blockade of Israel would have about 3,500 bombs: 1,800 of 2,000 pounds (907 kilos) in weight and 1,700 of 500 pounds (226 kilos). The United States would be especially concerned about Israel’s use of the heaviest in densely inhabited areas of Rafah.

Since October 7, 2023, the Biden administration has given the go-ahead to more than a hundred arms sales operations to Israel without the approval of Congress, according to The Washington Post.

Of these, it has only made public 2: 14,000 projectiles for tanks worth 106.5 million dollars and 155 mm type artillery projectiles worth 147.5 million dollars. In addition, the transfer approved by Congress of the 2,000 and 500 pound bombs, as well as 25 F-35A fighter planes, was pending.

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