Foreign News
House votes to impeach homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
The House of Representatives has narrowly voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, making him the first cabinet member to face impeachment in nearly 150 years.
Many Republicans blame Mayorkas for an unprecedented influx of migrants at the US-Mexico border.
The Republican-led chamber voted 214 to 213 for the measure, after the first attempt failed last week. The issue now heads to the Democratic-led Senate, where it is likely to fail.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday called the vote a “blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship” and a “political stunt”.
Opponents of Mr Mayorkas accused him of not living up to his oath to “well and faithfully discharge the duties” of his office by failing to do more to secure the border.
The vote was largely divided along party lines, with 210 Democrats voting against the impeachment, along with three Republican representatives: Tom McClintock of California, Ken Buck of Colorado and Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin.
The three defectors also voted against the first attempt to impeach Mr Mayorkas, saying that impeaching someone who had not committed a serious crime would weaken the constitutional penalty and do little to address the crisis at the border.
More than 6.3 million migrants have entered the US illegally since 2021, making immigration a divisive and politically contentious issue ahead of the November election. The issue is a major focus of Donald Trump’s campaign to oust Mr Biden from office.
In a statement released shortly after the vote, Mr Biden defended Mr Mayorkas, calling him “an honourable public servant”. “He has upheld the rule of law faithfully and has demonstrated a deep commitment to the values that make our nation great,” the president said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, Mia Ehrenberg, accused Republicans of spending their time “trampling on the constitution” instead of “working to solve the serious challenges at our border”.
Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said Mr Mayorkas “deserves to be impeached”. Over the course of two hearings in January, Republicans charged Mr Mayorkas with failing to enforce immigration policies and lying about the border’s security.
Democrat Al Green, of Texas, appeared unexpectedly after being wheeled into the chamber wearing hospital scrubs to vote against the impeachment. He had been in an emergency room having surgery.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise also cast his vote after missing the last vote because of cancer treatment. His return gave Republicans the margin needed to secure the vote.
Impeachment – a process outlined in the US Constitution – marks the first step in removing a federal official for high crimes or misdemeanours. It requires a simple majority in the House, then a trial in the Senate. A two-thirds majority is needed for that to succeed.
The impeachment effort is unlikely to pass as the Senate is narrowly controlled by the Democrats.
The House is due to present the impeachment articles to the Senate on 26 February.
The last cabinet secretary to be impeached was Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876, although he resigned shortly ahead of the vote.
A January poll conducted by CBS – the BBC’s US partner – suggests that nearly half of Americans view the situation at the border as a crisis, with 63% wanting “tougher” policies at the border.
The US Customs and Border Protection agency on Tuesday said border crossings were down 50% in January, attributing the dramatic drop to “seasonal trends, as well as enhanced enforcement efforts”.
US President Donald Trump has said he will slap a 35% tariff on Canadian goods starting 1 August, even as the two countries are days away from a self-imposed deadline to reach a new deal on trade.
The missive came as Trump also threatened blanket tariffs of 15% or 20% on most trade partners, and said he would soon notify the European Union of a new tariff rate on its goods.
Trump announced the latest levies on Canada on Thursday in a letter posted to social media and addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The US has already imposed a blanket 25% tariff on some Canadian goods, and the country is feeling the pain of the Trump administration’s global steel, aluminium and auto tariffs.
The letter is among more than 20 that Trump had posted this week to US trade partners, including Japan, South Korea and Sri Lanka.
Like Canada’s letter, Trump has vowed to implement those tariffs on trade partners by 1 August.
The US has imposed a 25% tariff on all Canadian imports, though there is a current exemption in place for goods that comply with a North American free trade agreement.
It is unclear if the latest tariffs threat would apply to goods covered by the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
Trump has also imposed a global 50% tariff on Aluminium and steel imports, and a 25% tariff on all cars and trucks not build in the US.
He also recently announced a 50% tariff on copper imports, scheduled to take effect next month.
Canada sells about three-quarters of its goods to the US, and is an auto manufacturing hub and a major supplier of metals, making the US tariffs especially damaging to those sectors. Trump’s letter said the 35% tariffs are separate to those sector-specific levies.
“As you are aware, there will be no tariff if Canada, or companies within your country, decide to build or manufacture products within the United States,” Trump stated.
He also tied the tariffs to what he called “Canada’s failure” to stop the flow of fentanyl into the US, as well as Canada’s existing levies on US dairy farmers and the trade deficit between the two countries.
“If Canada works with me to stop the flow of Fentanyl, we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter. These Tariffs may be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship with Your Country,” Trump said.
President Trump has accused Canada – alongside Mexico – of allowing “vast numbers of people to come in and fentanyl to come in” to the US.
According to data from the US Customs and Border Patrol, only about 0.2% of all seizures of fentanyl entering the US are made at the Canadian border, almost all the rest is confiscated at the US border with Mexico.
In response to Trump’s complaints, Canada announced more funding towards border security and had appointed a fentanyl czar earlier this year.
Canada has been engaged in intense talk with the US in recent months to reach a new trade and security deal.
At the G7 Summit in June, Prime Minister Carney and Trump said they were committed to reaching a new deal on within 30 days, setting a deadline of 21 July.
Trump threatened in the letter to increase levies on Canada if it retaliated. Canada has already imposed counter-tariffs on the US, and has vowed more if they failed to reach a deal by the deadline.
In late June, Carney removed a tax on big US technology firms after Trump labelled it a “blatant attack” and threatened to call off trade talks.
Carney said the tax was dropped as “part of a bigger negotiation” on trade between the two countries.
The Prime Minister’s office told the BBC they did not have immediate comment on Trump’s letter.
[BBC]
A school principal and an attendant have been arrested in India after allegations that female students were stripped naked to check if they were menstruating after blood stains were found on a toilet wall.
The police action came after the mother of one of the “10 to 15 girls” who were put through the alleged humiliation lodged a complaint.
The incident took place on Tuesday in a village not far from Mumbai city. On Wednesday, parents protested at the school, demanding strict punishment against the authorities.
In a video, the school principal is seen arguing with angry parents – she denies that she ordered a strip-search or that it took place.
Senior police official Milind Shinde told the BBC on Thursday that they were investigating the allegations. The arrested women would be produced in court later in the day, he said.
The police complaint names four other teachers and two trustees of the all-girls school in Thane in the western state of Maharashtra. BBC has reached out to the school authorities for a response.
In their complaint, police have invoked sections of the law that deal with assault and intent to outrage modesty of women. They have also added sections from the stringent Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act.
The parents have alleged that all the students from 5th to 10th classes – who would be between the ages of 10 and 16 – were summoned to a hall by the school principal on Tuesday. There, they were shown photos from the toilet on a projector, including that of a hand stain, and those who had their periods were asked to raise their hands. A teacher collected hand prints of all those who did.
At least 10 to 15 girls who said they weren’t menstruating were then taken to the toilet, forced to strip and went through an inspection.
The child whose mother lodged the police complaint has alleged that her daughter, who didn’t have her period, was scolded and asked why she wasn’t wearing a sanitary pad. Her hand print was also collected. She said her daughter “felt very ashamed” because of what had happened.
Some of the parents told the BBC that their daughters were traumatised.
“The incident raises serious questions about the safety of our children. Our girls are very afraid. The government should take strict action against the school,” one parent said.
The mother of one of the students told BBC Marathi that when confronted, the principal denied everything. “But the school didn’t have an answer when we asked them whether so many girls could be lying,” she said.
Periods have long been a taboo in India where menstruating girls and women are considered impure and excluded from social and religious events.
Incidents of shaming female students have been reported in the past too. In 2017, 70 students were stripped naked at a residential school in Uttar Pradesh by the female warden after she found blood on a bathroom door.
In 2020, 68 students living in a college hostel in Gujarat were strip searched after they stopped reporting their periods to authorities to avoid restrictions which barred them from entering the temple and the kitchen or touching other students.
At meal times, they had to sit away from others, and in the classroom, they were expected to sit on the last bench.
The regressive ideas are being increasingly challenged by urban educated women, but success has been patchy and women in many parts of the country continue to face discrimination.
[BBC]
At least 150 people are still missing in a single Texas county five days after deadly and devastating flash floods hit parts of the state, state officials said, as hope fades for survivors to be found.
The missing in the hard-hit Kerr County include five campers and a counsellor from Camp Mystic, a Christian all-girls summer camp located on the banks of the Guadalupe River.
At least 119 people have died in the disaster, according to the latest county-by-county tolls. Authorities confirmed 95 were in the Kerrville area.
Texas is not alone. Neighbouring New Mexico saw a flash flood emergency on Tuesday as well, causing the deaths of at least three people. Up to 8.8cm (3.5in) of rain fell there, causing river waters to inundate the village of Rudioso, officials said. That flood has now receded.
In Texas, frantic search and rescue efforts continue, with Governor Greg Abbott vowing emergency crews “will not stop until every missing person is accounted for”. Abbott added that it was very likely more missing would be added to the list in the coming days, and urged people to report anyone they think was unaccounted for.
General Thomas Suelzer from the Texas National Guard said search efforts were using Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters with rescue hoists. He said there were 13 Black Hawk helicopters helping in the search effort, including four that arrived from Arkansas. Authorities have also been using reaper drones.
Responders from various agencies are working together on rescue efforts. They include agents from border patrol, the FBI and the National Guard.
More than 250 responders from various agencies have been assigned to the Kerrville area alone to help with search and rescue.
One of those rescue volunteers, named Tim, told the BBC he had never seen any destruction at this scale before.
“I’ve done the floods down in East Texas and Southeast Texas, and hurricanes, and this is a nightmare,” he said.
Another rescue volunteer, named Justin, compared the effort to “trying to find a single hay in a haystack”.
“There’s a wide trail of destruction for miles, and there’s not enough cadaver dogs to go through all of it,” he told the BBC. “It’s hard to access a lot of it with heavy machinery. Guys are trying to pick at it with tools and hands, and they’re not even putting a dent in it – not for lack of effort.”
Questions have been raised about whether authorities provided adequate flood warnings before the disaster, and why people were not evacuated earlier.
Experts say there were a number of factors that contributed to the tragedy in Texas, including the extreme weather, the location of the holiday homes and timing.
Abbott, who had spent part of the day surveying the flood zone, said authorities had issued a storm warning and knew about a possible flash flood, but “didn’t know the magnitude of the storm”.
No-one knew it would lead to a “30-foot high tsunami wall of water”, he said.
[BBC]
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