Month: August 2021

President Joe Biden pledged retaliation after a pair of explosions near Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on Thursday killed 12 U.S. service members and dozens others. The Islamic State-Khorasan Province, a self-proclaimed offshoot of the IS which has denied affiliation with the Afghan-based militant group, has claimed responsibility for the attack. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby confirmed the service members’ deaths, and said another 15 Americans were injured.  He added that Afghan civilians also “fell victim to this heinous attack.”

Biden spoke in the East Room of the White House hours after the attack at the Abbey Gate and a hotel near the airport where the United States and other countries are working to evacuate foreign nationals and Afghan civilians. The United States, Britain and Australia had warned citizens to stay away from the airport due to “credible threats” warning of an impending terrorist attack.

Biden said he has ordered commanders to develop operational plans to strike the IS-K’s assets leadership and facilities, adding that the United States has “some reason to believe” they know the leaders behind the attack and that the United States will find means to “get them wherever they are” without a large military operation.” Biden then warned: “To those who carried out this attack as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive, we will not forget, we will hunt you down and make you pay.”

Biden also said he would grant any additional forces needed to respond to the attack and protect Americans seeking to evacuated, but that military officials remained committed to carrying out the mission as planned. Said the President: “We must complete this mission and we will. And that’s what I’ve ordered them to do. We will not be deterred by terrorists, we will not let them stop our mission, we will continue the evacuations.”

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent out an advisory on Thursday against the use of a drug prescribed to fight parasites in animals, which some believe can also treat those diagnosed with COVID-19. The CDC said it is seeing an alarming number of prescriptions for the drug ivermectin, due to false claims that it can be used to treat COVID-19. Ivermectin is primarily used by veterinarians to deworm large animals like horses and cows, and can be used for lice or parasites in humans. The US Food and Drug Administration had previously cautioned against using ivermectin to treat Covid-19, tweeting over the weekend: “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”

Doctors investigated the possibility of using the anti-parasitic drug to fight COVID, but clinical trials yielded insufficient evidence. The use of Ivermectin is now prompting a huge increase in calls to poison control centers and visits to understaffed emergency rooms and overdoses of the drug can cause stomach problems, nerve damage, seizures, disorientation, coma and even death.

The CDC advisory reiterated that vaccination rather than treatment “is the safest and most effective way to prevent getting sick and protect against severe disease and death” from Covid-19.

On Wednesday, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol requested documents from Trump administration officials and other federal agencies. Wednesday’s request is the panel’s “first round of demands” as part of its task to determine the cause of the attack and prevent such an event from happening again. The committee issued letters to the National Archives and Records Administration and other executive branch agencies for information related to the riots.

In addition to the records administration, the Jan. 6 committee sought records from the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Interior and Justice, the FBI, the National Counterterrorism Center and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The panel said it’s looking for records that include remarks made during the rally at the Ellipse, calendars, schedules, communications and call logs for Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence, and photographs and other media from the rally, march to the Capitol or violence at the Capitol.

The letters also requested documents from Jan. 6 related to a number of people close to Trump, including first lady Melania Trump; his children Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and their spouses,Jared Kushner, Lara Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle; and current and former advisers including Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, Hope Hicks, Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani and Roger Stone.

Editorial credit: Thomas Hengge / Shutterstock.com

President Joe Biden described cybersecurity as a “core national security challenge” as he met with leaders on Wednesday from the private sector to discuss national cyber defenses and form a strategy for how to improve security. The White House summit included chief executives from various industries including technology, financial services, insurance, energy and education and addressed critical infrastructure resilience, building enduring cybersecurity and the cybersecurity workforce.

Biden met with Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, IBM and ADP, and CEOs from JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, TIAA and U.S. Bancorp.  The White House said that Coalition, Vantage Group, Resilience and Travelers insurance companies also attended the summit, along with creative education leaders from Code.org, the University of Texas system, Tougaloo College, Girls Who Code and Whatcom Community College.

Following the meeting, the White House announced the National Institute of Standards and Technology will work with members of the industry to develop a framework to improve the security and integrity of the technology supply chain. The Biden administration also said it will expand the Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Initiative to include natural gas pipelines.