Tag: The United States (US)

US forces hit Houthi anti-ship missiles in Yemen, Officials say

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The US hit four Houthi missiles in Yemen in a preemptive strike on Tuesday local time, American defense officials said.

“US forces struck and destroyed four Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles,” Central Command said in a statement. “These missiles were prepared to launch from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and presented an imminent threat to both merchant and US Navy ships in the region.”

The drone strikes against the Iran-backed Houthis came after two commercial ships in the Red Sea were hit by missiles in the space of 24 hours. On Tuesday, the Greek-owned commodity carrier Zografia was hit by a missile while sailing in the south of the waterway. A day earlier, a US-owned bulk freighter called the Gibraltar Eagle was struck.

The latest US action came as the Biden administration seeks to balance the need to deter further attacks in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels against its desire to avert a wider Mideast war. It was a far more limited attack than the extensive airstrikes that the US and UK launched against targets in Yemen last week. President Joe Biden has said that military action sent a “clear message” to the Houthis.

At the White House, John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, acknowledged the large-scale US airstrikes didn’t completely stop the Houthi attacks and said that hadn’t been expected. “We have seen some additional lower-scale retaliatory strikes by the Houthis in the last few days, much smaller than what we had seen before and none of them effective.”

Addressing the US attacks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Jake Sullivan, the White House national security advisor, said “we are not looking for regional conflict.” But he said “we reserve the right to take further action” because the Houthis can’t be permitted to “basically hijack” world trade.

Still, since Friday, the US navy has advised vessels to stay away from the southern Red Sea, effectively closing off the Suez Canal for those who follow the guidance.

The move prompted a fresh round of trade disruptions as everything from container ships to oil and gas carriers embark on a detour thousands of miles around the coast of Africa.

The latest company to avoid the Red Sea is London-headquartered oil major Shell Plc, which suspended shipments amid fears of a further escalation in the conflict, according to the Wall Street Journal. Japanese shipping giant Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd., with a fleet of about 800 vessels, also halted transits, a spokesperson said Tuesday.

Mideast analysts said that strikes on the Houthis may not be enough alone to deter further attacks, given Iran’s role in backing the group.

“Until Washington can come up with a cohesive policy and strategy that holds Iranian decision-makers responsible for enabling all of these regional chaos agents, we’re going to see more of the same,” said Jonathan Lord, director of the Middle East security program at the Center for a New American Security and a former Pentagon official.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

China’s military and government acquire Nvidia chips despite US ban

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Chinese military bodies, state-run artificial intelligence research institutes and universities have over the past year purchased small batches of Nvidia semiconductors banned by the US from export to China, a Reuters review of tender documents show.

The sales by largely unknown Chinese suppliers highlight the difficulties Washington faces, despite its bans, in completely cutting off China’s access to advanced U.S. chips that could fuel breakthroughs in AI and sophisticated computers for its military.

Buying or selling high-end US chips is not illegal in China and the publicly available tender documents show dozens of Chinese entities have bought and taken receipt of Nvidia semiconductors since restrictions were imposed.

These include its A100 and the more powerful H100 chip – whose exports to China and Hong Kong were banned in September 2022 – as well as the slower A800 and H800 chips Nvidia then developed for the Chinese market but which were also banned last October.

The graphic processing units – a type of chip – that are built by Nvidia are widely seen as far superior to rival products for AI work as they can more efficiently process huge amounts of data needed for machine-learning tasks.

The continued demand for and access to banned Nvidia chips also underlines the lack of good alternatives for Chinese firms despite the nascent development of rival products from Huawei and others. Prior to the bans, Nvidia commanded a 90% share of China’s AI chip market.

Purchasers included elite universities as well as two entities subject to US export restrictions – the Harbin Institute of Technology and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, which have been accused of involvement in military matters or being affiliated to a military body contrary to U.S. national interest.

The former purchased six Nvidia A100 chips in May to train a deep-learning model. The latter purchased one A100 in December 2022. Its purpose was not identified.

None of the purchasers mentioned in this article responded to requests for comment.

The Reuters review found neither Nvidia nor retailers approved by the company were among the suppliers identified. It was not clear how the suppliers have procured their Nvidia chips.

In the wake of US curbs, however, an underground market for such chips in China has sprung up. Chinese vendors have previously said they snatch up excess stock that finds its way to the market after Nvidia ships large quantities to big US firms, or import through companies locally incorporated in places such as India, Taiwan and Singapore.

Reuters sought comment from 10 of the suppliers listed in tender documents including those mentioned in this article – none of them answered.

Nvidia said it complies with all applicable export control laws and requires its customers to do the same.

“If we learn that a customer has made an unlawful resale to third parties, we’ll take immediate and appropriate action,” a company spokesperson said.

The US Department of Commerce declined to comment. US authorities have vowed to close loopholes in the export restrictions and have moved to limit access to the chips by units of Chinese companies located outside China.

Chris Miller, professor at Tufts University and author of “Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology”, said it was unrealistic to think US export restrictions could be watertight given that chips are small and can easily be smuggled.

The main aim is “to throw sand in the gears of China’s AI development” by making it difficult to build large clusters of advanced chips capable of training AI systems, he added.

The review includes more than 100 tenders where state entities have procured A100 chips and dozens of tenders since the October ban show purchases of the A800.

Tenders published last month also show Tsinghua University procured two H100 chips while a laboratory run by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology procured one.

The buyers include one unnamed People’s Liberation Army entity based in the city of Wuxi, Jiangsu province, according to tenders from a military database. It sought 3 A100 chips in October and one H100 chip this month.

Military tenders in China are often heavily redacted and Reuters was not able to learn who won the bids or the reason for the purchase.

Most tenders show the chips are being used for AI. The quantities of most purchases are, however, very small, far from what’s needed to build a sophisticated AI large language model from scratch.

A model similar to OpenAI’s GPT would require more than 30,000 Nvidia A100 cards, according to research firm TrendForce. But a handful can run complex machine-learning tasks and enhance existing AI models.

In one example, the Shandong Artificial Intelligence Institute awarded a 290,000 yuan ($40,500) contract for 5 A100 chips to Shandong Chengxiang Electronic Technology last month.

Many of the tenders stipulate suppliers have to deliver and install the products before receiving payment. Most universities also published notices showing the transaction was completed.

Tsinghua University, dubbed China’s Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a prolific issuer of tenders and has purchased some 80 A100 chips since the 2022 ban.

In December, Chongqing University published a tender for one A100 chip that explicitly stated it could not be second-hand or disassembled but had to be “brand new”. The delivery was completed this month, a notice showed.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US, China resume in-person military policy coordination talks

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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US and Chinese defense officials held policy coordination talks at the Pentagon on Monday and Tuesday — the first such in-person meetings since before the coronavirus pandemic.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia Michael Chase met at the Pentagon with Major General Song Yanchao, deputy director of China’s Central Military Commission Office for International Military Cooperation, according to a Defense Department spokesman.

Chase emphasized the importance of maintaining contacts between Washington and Beijing to avoid potentially dangerous miscalculations, according to Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Martin Meiners.

He stressed the need for safe operations in the Indo-Pacific region and said “the United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate safely and responsibly wherever international law allows” and affirmed American commitments to regional and global allies.

According to the Pentagon’s summary of the talks, Chase also urged respect for international law governing freedom of navigation “in light of repeated PRC harassment against lawfully operating Philippine vessels in the South China Sea,” a reference to the People’s Republic of China, the country’s formal name.

Chase and Song discussed Russia’s war on Ukraine and North Korea’s “recent provocations,” and Chase restated the US commitment to its one-China policy and “peace and stability across” the Taiwan Strait.

The policy coordination talks are meant to be held annually, but were canceled by Beijing following then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022.

The January conversation follows a December 21 video call between General Charles Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his Chinese counterpart, Chief of the Joint Staff Department General Liu Zhenli.

The two countries’ defense officials have pledged to restore military-to-military contacts, following through on an agreement struck by President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping when they met in California in November.

Pentagon officials said last month that coordination is underway for further engagements between senior American and Chinese officials. A round of maritime consultations is slated for the spring.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Iran sends warship to Red Sea after US sinks Houthi boats

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Iran dispatched a warship to the Red Sea after the US Navy destroyed three Houthi boats, a move that risks ratcheting up tensions and complicates Washington’s goal of securing a waterway that’s vital to global trade.

The Alborz destroyer traversed the Bab El-Mandeb strait, a narrow choke point between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, on Monday, Iranian state media said without providing further information on the vessel’s mission.

Iran’s foray into the Red Sea a day after the US action compounds a highly volatile situation in the channel that handles about 12% of the world’s commerce. The move could be seen as a challenge to the US-led maritime task force established last month to halt attacks on ships by the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels who control a swath of Yemen’s northwest, including the capital Sanaa and the Red Sea port of Al-Hudaydah.

A Houthi delegation met with officials in Tehran after the US killed several members of the militant group during an attack on a Danish-owned container ship. AP Moller-Maersk A/S suspended all Red Sea transit for 48 hours to assess the situation.

The Houthis, in November, began attacking vessels they claimed were headed to or owned by entities in Israel in a bid to end an Israeli offensive in Gaza, after Hamas, a US-designated terrorist group, staged a shock attack inside Israel on October 7.

In one month, the Houthis hijacked one container ship and launched over 100 drone and ballistic missile attacks, targeting 10 merchant vessels involving more than 35 different nations, according to the Pentagon.

Operation Prosperity Guardian, involving the navies of the US and nine other nations, swung into action from December 19 and had a fierce encounter with the militants on Sunday.

Helicopters aboard two US destroyers in the Red Sea, the USS Eisenhower and the USS Gravely, responded to a distress call by the Maersk Hangzhou as Houthis in four speedboats tried to board the vessel, according to the US military. Houthi fighters ignored verbal warnings, fired at the aircraft and triggered a lethal response in which three of the boats were sunk.

It was the Houthis’ second major shipping attack in less than 24 hours and came after Denmark announced it was sending a frigate to the Red Sea to join the US-led maritime coalition.

The US has accused Iran of being “deeply involved” in the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, which Tehran has denied, but said that it understood the reason for their actions. Iran hasn’t denied supporting the Houthis since the group ousted the internationally recognized government of Yemen in 2014.

A Houthi spokesperson, Yahya Saree, confirmed the incident and said 10 of the group’s fighters were dead or missing. He called on Yemenis, Arabs and Muslims to be “ready for all options in confronting the American escalation.”

Iran’s show of force in the Red Sea coincided with a visit to Tehran by Mohammed Abdulsalam, a Houthi movement spokesperson and chief negotiator. On Monday, he met with officials at Iran’s foreign ministry following talks with Ali Akbar Ahmadian, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, according to Iran’s Nour News.

On Sunday Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian denounced what he called double standards by the US and some Western governments after a telephone conversation with the UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who urged Iran to rein in the Houthis. “Israel can’t be allowed to massacre women and children and carry out a genocide in Gaza and set fire to the region, but consider stopping an Israeli ship in the Red Sea as endangering the security of this economic waterway,” said Amirabdollahian.

Tehran’s moves are ultimately in the service of its own agenda of projecting power and driving Washington out of the region, says Joel Rayburn, a former US diplomat and military officer.

“This is what the Iranian regime has always been intending to do with their outpost in Yemen,” said Rayburn. Iran thinks it can establish itself as “a great power sitting astride the region and its waterways.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Israel, Hamas extend Gaza truce as 11 more hostages freed

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Israel and Hamas agreed Monday to extend a cease-fire in their devastating war until Thursday morning, as 11 more freed hostages arrived in Israel.

The current halt, which began Friday after intense negotiations brokered by Qatar, with the help of Egypt and the US — was originally due to end Tuesday. It was the first since the conflict erupted in early October when Hamas attacked Israel, which retaliated by bombing Gaza and reducing much of it to rubble.

The two sides will pause fighting for an additional two days, Qatar’s foreign ministry said on X, while Hamas said in a statement that a deal was reached to “extend the temporary humanitarian ceasefire for an additional two days, under the same conditions as the previous ceasefire.” The White House confirmed the agreement.

On Monday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that “the government of Israel warmly welcomes our 11 abducted citizens who returned today to Israel.” A Qatari spokesman said the 11 hostages were being freed from Gaza in exchange for Israel’s release of 33 Palestinians. With many Israelis holding dual citizenship, the Qatari government said the hostages freed included three French citizens, two Germans and six Argentinians.

John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, said earlier on CNN that “we do not believe that there are Americans in this group coming out today.”

The extended cease-fire is expected to sustain the daily ratio of hostages and prisoners released by both sides, which has been aiming for one hostage from Gaza in exchange for three Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Israel has so far allowed more aid into Gaza and was set to release about 150 Palestinians from jail. Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union, has so far freed more than 50 hostages, including foreigners.

The new extension of the accord was announced after Israel came under increasing pressure to agree to an extension. President Joe Biden has said he wanted to prolong the pause in the war, which has killed thousands of people and inflamed tensions in the Middle East and beyond.

Kirby said in a briefing that the White House welcomed the announcement of the truce extension, adding that Biden spoke with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday about the situation.

Despite disputes and delays, the truce has held for three exchanges of hostages through Sunday, totaling 58 people, including non-Israelis. Those freed by Hamas on Sunday included a four-year-old girl — a US-Israeli dual national — whose parents were killed in the group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

The war started when Hamas militants swarmed into southern Israeli communities from Gaza, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 240. More than 15,000 have died in Gaza amid air strikes and a later ground assault by Israel.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

No sign of terrorism seen in car blast on US-Canada border

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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New York Governor Kathy Hochul said there was “no sign” of terrorism so far in the vehicle explosion that killed two people at the Rainbow Bridge, which connects the US to Canada at Niagara Falls, New York.

Hochul said the assessment is based on briefings she has received from experienced law enforcement with the FBI, Homeland Security and the Customs and Border Protection. The investigation will determine if was an intentional or accidental crash, she said.

“There is no sign of terrorist of activity with respect to this crash,” Hochul said a news briefing in Niagara Falls.

A video of the incident at 11:27 AM local time on Wednesday shows the vehicle was moving at a high rate of speed, crashed into the median that sent the vehicle airborne, and sailed over an 8-foot-high fence, Hochul said.

Rainbow Bridge, which bans commercial traffic, mainly serves tourists.

Canadian Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc said it is “simply not responsible” to speculate on the origin of the explosion until more accurate information becomes available. He declined to speculate on whether the vehicle was coming from the US or Canadian side of the border, saying there had been “contradictory information.”

“We are taking this extraordinarily seriously,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday in Canada’s House of Commons. “It’s a very serious situation, but we will remain engaged for the entire day.”

President Joe Biden has been briefed on the explosion and is monitoring the situation with members of his team, according to a White House official.

All border crossings in the Niagara region are closed to traffic, the Ontario Provincial Police said. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said provincial law enforcement was assessing the situation and providing support as needed.

In addition to the Rainbow Bridge, the Peace Bridge, the Lewiston-Queenston and the Whirlpool Bridge are closed at the direction of federal authorities, according to the New York State Department of Transportation. Remaining international crossings are on heightened alert status but are open.

Ahead of the US Thanksgiving holiday, Buffalo Niagara International Airport said it was operational with additional security checks of cars, though it said travelers can expect additional screenings. The Federal Aviation Administration said on its website that the airport is closed to departing and arriving international flights.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he was “closely monitoring” the incident. In a statement, the mayor said he sent NYPD officers upstate to help support law enforcement officials there, and also warned New Yorkers to expect increased security around the city, including at entry and exit points.

About 1.5 million passenger vehicles crossed the Rainbow Bridge in the first 10 months of this year, according to data from the Bridge and Tunnel Operators Association. The busiest bridge in the region is Peace Bridge that connects Buffalo with Fort Erie, Ontario, and which saw 2.9 million vehicles in the same period.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US, China to begin nuclear arms talks before Joe Biden-Xi Jinping meeting

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The US is set to hold rare nuclear arms control talks with China amid growing concerns over Beijing’s accelerated push to build up its arsenal of atomic weapons, according to an administration official.

The objective of the low level discussions, scheduled to begin next week, is not to reduce the size of China’s arsenal. Instead, their purpose is to give the Biden administration a better understanding of China’s plans weeks after the Pentagon issued a report saying that the country was manufacturing nuclear weapons faster than expected.

Talks will occur as President Joe Biden prepares to meet China’s leader, Xi Jinping, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco in less than two weeks. The sessions also highlight how the US and China are gradually resuming a range of exchanges that had been cut short amid tensions over Taiwan, trade and other matters since both leaders met at a Group of 20 summit in Bali a year ago.

The State Department and the National Security Council declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on the talks. The newspaper said the US would be represented by Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Mallory Stewart and China would send Sun Xiaobo, who leads the Chinese foreign ministry’s arms control department.

In October, the Pentagon issued a report saying China had about 500 nuclear warheads this year and plans to have more than 1,000 by 2030, a buildup that was faster than expected. The US has some 3,700 nuclear warheads.

The US is also anxious to head off a three-way nuclear arms race with Russia and China, especially with talks over extending the New Start treaty, which expires in 2026, stalled over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in June that the Biden administration was prepared to engage with Russia on nuclear arms control, but the buildup of China’s arsenal was complicating those efforts and had to be taken into account as the US modernizes its force.

Sullivan said China’s plan to have as many as 1,500 warheads by 2035 marked “one of the largest peacetime nuclear buildups in history.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

The US, along with 40 other countries, to vow not to pay ransom to cybercriminals

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Forty countries in a US-led alliance plan to sign a pledge never to pay ransom to cybercriminals and to work toward eliminating the hackers’ funding mechanism, a senior White House official said on Tuesday.

The International Counter Ransomware Initiative comes as the number of ransomware attacks grows worldwide. The United States is by far the worst hit, with 46% of such attacks, Anne Neuberger, US deputy national security adviser in the Biden administration for cyber and emerging technologies, told reporters on a virtual briefing.

“As long as there is money flowing to ransomware criminals, this is a problem that will continue to grow,” she said.

In ransomware attacks, hackers encrypt an organisation’s systems and demand ransom payments in exchange for unlocking them. Often they also steal sensitive data and use it to extort victims and leak it online if the payments are not made.

While hundreds of companies fall victim every year, high-profile US attacks occurred in the last two months at casino operator MGM Resorts International and cleaning products maker Clorox. Both companies have not yet fully recovered from the disruptions.

The new initiatives by the alliance aim to eliminate the criminals’ funding through better information sharing about ransom payment accounts, Neuberger said. Two information-sharing platforms will be created, one by Lithuania and another jointly by Israel and the UAE.

Reuters reported details of this initiative on Monday.

Partner countries will share a “black list” through the US Department of Treasury that will include information on digital wallets being used to move ransomware payments, Neuberger said.

She added that the effort will use artificial intelligence to analyse blockchain with a view to identifying illicit funds.

The volume of crypto payments to ransomware attackers is on track for its second-biggest annual total on record, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis said in July.

Also Read: Massive dark web data leak exposes India to digital identity theft and financial scams, warns Resecurity

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

The US sanctions 10 Hamas members and its financial network over the surprise Israel attack

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The United States on Wednesday sanctioned a group of 10 Hamas members and the Palestinian militant organization’s financial network across Gaza, Sudan, Turkey, Algeria and Qatar in response to the surprise attack on Israel that left more than 1,000 people dead or kidnapped.

Targeted for sanctions by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control are members who manage a Hamas investment portfolio, a Qatar-based financial facilitator with close ties to the Iranian regime, a Hamas commander and a Gaza-based virtual currency exchange.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. “is taking swift and decisive action to target Hamas’s financiers and facilitators following its brutal and unconscionable massacre of Israeli civilians, including children.”

“The U.S. Treasury has a long history of effectively disrupting terror finance and we will not hesitate to use our tools against Hamas,” she said in an emailed statement.

The sanctions are financial penalties meant to block access to funds held in the U.S. and to prevent the people and entities from doing business with American people and firms.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted that the sanctions are “directed at Hamas terrorists and their support network, not Palestinians.”

“Hamas alone is responsible for the carnage its militants have inflicted on the people of Israel, and it should immediately release all hostages in its custody,” Blinken said. “The United States will not relent in using all the tools at our disposal to disrupt Hamas terrorist activity.”

A Hamas financier and several operatives were sanctioned, the Treasury Department said. Also, a Qatar-based Hamas operative and a Hamas military relations commander, who is believed to have been killed in an airstrike on Tuesday, were sanctioned for having acted on behalf of Hamas, the U.S. said. Additionally, a Gaza-based company that provides money transfer and virtual currency exchange services was hit with sanctions, as was its owner.

The Treasury Department highlighted that Hamas relies on small-dollar donations, including through cryptocurrency. The cryptocurrency tracking firm Elliptic said that “to the extent that Hamas has used crypto in the past, it is a relatively small and alternative source of funding” and has proved vulnerable to detection and disruption.

The White House has said it has yet to uncover information that Iran, the principal financial and military sponsor of Hamas, was directly involved in the multipronged Hamas operation — the biggest attack on Israel in decades. U.S. officials have said their intelligence does not show a direct role by Iran and have not pointed blame at Tehran.

Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo told reporters on Wednesday that Treasury officials will be traveling to the region in the coming days to further their sanctions work.

Brian Nelson, U.S. Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and illicit finance, said at a Deloitte anti-money laundering conference on Tuesday that the U.S. is renewing its plans to pursue Hamas funding streams and made a call for American allies and the private sector to do the same or “be prepared to suffer the consequences.”

“We cannot, and we will not, tolerate money flowing through the international system for Hamas’ terrorist activity,” Nelson said.

“We want to partner with all willing countries and financial entities to stop Hamas financing,” he said, “but to the extent that any institution or jurisdiction fails to take appropriate action, they should then be prepared to suffer the consequences.”

The shadowy leader of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, said the Oct. 7 assault on Israel was in response to the 16-year blockade of Gaza, Israeli raids inside West Bank cities over the past year, increasing attacks by settlers on Palestinians and the growth of settlements, among other reasons.

“Enough is enough,” Deif, who does not appear in public, said in the recorded message. He said the attack was only the start of what he called Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, and he called on Palestinians from east Jerusalem to northern Israel to join the fight.

President Joe Biden, who arrived in the Middle East early Wednesday to show support for Israel, has tried to tamp down tensions in the escalating war between Israel and Hamas, but those efforts have faced massive setbacks, including an explosion at a Gaza hospital that killed about 500 people.

There were conflicting claims of who was responsible for the hospital blast. Officials in Gaza quickly blamed an Israeli airstrike. Israel denied it was involved and released a flurry of video, audio and other information that it said showed the blast was instead due to a missile misfire by Islamic Jihad, another militant group operating in Gaza. The Islamic Jihad dismissed that claim. The Associated Press has not independently verified any of the claims or evidence released by the parties.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

United States will tighten curbs on China’s access to advanced chip tech

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Biden administration will tighten sweeping measures announced last October to restrict China’s access to advanced semiconductors and chipmaking gear, as the US seeks to prevent its geopolitical rival from developing cutting-edge tech that could lend a military edge.

The new rules aim to refine and close loopholes from last year’s curbs, according to people familiar with the matter. The Biden administration will add Chinese chip design firms to a trade restriction list, forcing overseas manufacturers to gain a US license to fill orders from those companies, as well as strengthen controls on selling advanced chipmaking equipment and graphics chips to Chinese firms, the people said.

US technology companies ranging from Nvidia Corp. to Applied Materials Inc. have suffered hundreds of millions of dollars of lost orders since the initial restrictions were announced last year. Investors have expressed concern that escalations in the trade standoff will further weigh on revenue at those US companies as China is the biggest market for semiconductors, personal computers and smartphones.

The administration will also impose additional checks on Chinese firms attempting to avoid country-specific restrictions by routing shipments and manufacturing elsewhere. Specifically, the rules will continue to restrict shipments of certain chips to Chinese companies’ overseas subsidiaries and affiliates, and begin requiring a license to export prohibited technologies to countries that could be used as intermediaries.

The updated restrictions will be published early this week, people familiar with the internal deliberations said. A spokesman for the National Security Council declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security.

Last year’s curbs were an aggressive step by the US to curtail China’s technological prowess, as advanced chips — particularly those with military applications — have become a key geopolitical battleground between Washington and Beijing. China has bristled at the restrictions and accelerated investments in building its own domestic capabilities.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow