Tag: United States (US)

US agency opens probe into over 200,000 Ford vehicles on fuel leak risks

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

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The U.S. auto safety regulator said on Friday it was opening a preliminary evaluation into 210,960 Ford, opens new tab vehicles following complaints alleging diesel fuel leaks that may result in a fire.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said its Office of Defects Investigation has received 27 complaints, including 12 reports of fires and a total of four injuries, and that it would investigate Ford F-250, 350, 450, and 550 Super Duty vehicles equipped with 6.7L diesel engines of model years 2015-2021.

The agency said a fracture in the secondary fuel filter in the vehicles could result in a fire, as the proximity of the filter to high heat sources creates a potential for auto-ignition thermal events and fires.

The NHTSA has contacted the filter’s maker, Allevard Sogefi USA, and said it learned the secondary fuel filter is tested to operate at reduced levels of pressure during the manufacturing process, compared with the possible maximum operating pressure in the fuel system of the vehicle.

Ford said it was working with the NHTSA to support its investigation. Allevard Sogefi USA’s parent Sogefi, opens new tab was not immediately available for a comment.

The agency’s preliminary evaluation is the first step to determine whether the vehicles pose an unreasonable risk to safety. It could close the investigation without taking any potential action.

Separately, the NHTSA said on Thursday it had “significant safety concerns” over Ford’s recall of more than 42,000 SUVs over concerns on fuel leaks that could lead to an engine fire.

While Ford had proposed an engine control software update and installation of a drain, the NHTSA said the company’s plan “does not address the root cause of the issue and does not proactively call for the replacement of defective fuel injectors prior to their failure”.

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 halts weapon shipment to Israel as battles rage around Rafah

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

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Hamas said it was battling Israeli troops on the outskirts of the Gaza Strip’s crowded southern city of Rafah on Wednesday after a U.S. official said Washington had halted a shipment of powerful bombs that Israel could use in a full-scale assault.

The United States, which is seeking to stave off an Israeli invasion of Rafah, said it believes a revised Hamas ceasefire proposal may lead to a breakthrough in an impasse in negotiations, with talks resuming in Cairo on Wednesday.

Israel has threatened a major assault on Rafah to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are holed up there, but Western nations and the United Nations have warned a full-scale attack on the city would be a humanitarian catastrophe.

Hamas said its fighters were battling Israeli forces in the east of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge from combat further north in the enclave. Islamic Jihad said its fighters attacked Israeli soldiers and military vehicles with heavy artillery near the airport east of Rafah.

“The streets of the city echo with the cries of innocent lives lost, families torn apart, and homes reduced to rubble. We stand on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented proportions,” Rafah’s mayor, Ahmed Al-Sofi, said in an appeal to the international community to intervene.

Around 10,000 Palestinians have left Rafah since Monday, said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office put the number at tens of thousands.

A senior U.S. official said President Joe Biden‘s administration paused a shipment of weapons to Israel last week in an apparent response to the expected Rafah offensive. The White House and Pentagon declined to comment.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington had carefully reviewed the delivery of weapons that might be used in Rafah, and as a result paused a shipment consisting of 1,800 2,000-lb bombs and 1,700 500-lb bombs.

This would be the first such delay since the Biden administration offered its “ironclad” support to Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. Washington is Israel’s closest ally and main weapons supplier.

A senior Israeli official declined to confirm the report, “If we have to fight with our fingernails, then we’ll do what we have to do,” the source said. A military spokesperson said any disagreements were resolved in private.

Israeli tanks rolled across the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Tuesday, cutting off a vital aid route and the only exit for the evacuation of wounded patients.

The complex was closed for a second day on Wednesday, according to the Gaza health ministry, but Israel said it was reopening the other crossing in southern Gaza, Kerem Shalom, through which most aid to Gaza has been delivered recently.

The Israeli military said it had uncovered Hamas infrastructure in several locations in eastern Rafah and its troops were conducting targeted raids on the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing and airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.

It has told civilians, many of whom have been uprooted several times already, to go to an “expanded humanitarian zone” in al-Mawasi, some 20 km (12 miles) away.

Armed groups of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah said in separate statements that gunfights continued in the central Gaza Strip, while residents of northern Gaza reported heavy Israeli tank shelling against eastern areas of Gaza City.

CEASEFIRE TALKS

In Cairo, delegations to negotiations from Hamas, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar reacted positively to their resumption on Tuesday and meetings were expected to continue on Wednesday, two Egyptian sources said.

CIA Director Bill Burns was to travel from Cairo to Israel on Wednesday to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Mossad counterpart, an Israeli government source said.

Israel on Monday declared that a three-phase proposal approved by Hamas was unacceptable because terms had been watered down. White House spokesperson John Kirby said a new text presented by Hamas suggests the remaining gaps can “absolutely be closed.”

The proposal included a first phase with a six-week ceasefire, an influx of aid to Gaza, the return of 33 Israeli hostages, alive or dead, and the release by Israel of 30 detained Palestinian children and women for each released Israeli hostage, according to several sources.

Since a week-long ceasefire in November, the only pause so far, the two sides have been blocked by Hamas’ refusal to free more Israeli hostages without a promise of a permanent end to the conflict and Israel’s insistence on only a temporary halt.

Israel’s offensive has killed 34,844 Palestinians in seven months of war in Gaza, most of them civilians, the Gaza health ministry said.

The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 128 remain hostage in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures.

Al-Sofi, Rafah’s mayor, said 1.4 million people sheltering in the city had nowhere to go. The coastal al-Mawasi area where those in eastern neighbourhoods were being told to move to “lacks the necessities of life”, he said.

Around 200 patients from Rafah’s Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital, in an area designated by the Israeli army as a combat zone, were forced to evacuate to the west of the city after receiving calls warning them to leave, health officials said.

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

Who is Riddhi Patel, the Indian-American protester held for threatening to ‘murder’ lawmakers?

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

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An Indian-American woman was arrested and charged for giving severe threats to a mayor and city council members at a Bakersfield City Council meeting in California on Wednesday. Riddhi Patel’s outburst came during the public comment section of the meeting wherein she threatened to murder Republican Mayor Karen Goh and the council members for not backing a ceasefire resolution against Israel, besides installing increased security measures at the government building in the wake of the ongoing anti-Israel protests.

Who is Riddhi Patel?

The 28-year-old is a pro-Palestine protestor and is facing 16 felony counts. Of these, eight counts are for threatening with intent to terrorise, while the rest of the counts are for threatening the seven City Council members and the mayor, reports said.

Other anti-Israel protesters, who were present along with Patel, tried to distance themselves from her after she was taken into custody.

Patel was seen sobbing with tears after she heard the felony charges.

Videos of the meeting, which have gone viral on social media, feature Patel claiming she hoped oppressed minorities would guillotine city government members, Fox News reported.

The threats were issued by Patel throughout two speeches she made to the city council.

In her first address, Patel noted that she was speaking in support of the ceasefire resolution. She later predicted that the body would decline to support it and said, “…you guys are all horrible human beings and Jesus would’ve killed you himself.”

While referring to those who observe the Chaitra Navratri festival, Patel later said, “These holidays that we practice, that other people in the global south practice, believe in violent revolution against their oppressors, and I hope one day somebody brings a guillotine and kills all of you…”

During her second speech, Patel targetted the mayor and council members for installing extra security measures like metal detectors in the building to ‘criminalise’ protesters.

While concluding her remarks, Patel gave a violent threat to the members and said, “We will see you at your house. We will murder you.”

As she walked away from the podium, the mayor said that she gave a threat and added that officers were “going to escort you out and take care of that.”

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, Japan announce plans to send Japanese astronaut to moon

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

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Japanese astronauts will join future NASA lunar missions, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday, a move meant to signal more robust economic and defense ties between the two nations.

In a news conference at the White House alongside Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Biden said that two Japanese astronauts will join future NASA lunar missions, “and one will become the first non-American ever to land on the moon.”

The pledge marks Washington’s latest move to use the space program to court friendly nations and compete with China in a race to the moon.

The astronaut from Japan will take part in the Artemis program, a NASA-led effort to return astronauts to the moon as early as 2026, more than half a century after the last Apollo mission.

The Biden administration has recorded other big wins in its space diplomacy strategy.

During Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington last September, the two countries announced that NASA would work with India’s space agency on a joint mission to the International Space Station.

New Delhi also agreed to sign the Artemis Accords, a US-backed initiative to establish guidelines for activity on the moon and elsewhere in space.

Japan and India are among three dozen countries to have signed the Artemis Accords, with Greece and Uruguay signing up in February.

China hasn’t signed, instead seeking support for a proposal to cooperate with Russia to establish a research base on the moon.

Beijing, which has committed to sending its first astronauts to the moon by the end of the decade, has had modest success in winning commitments for the lunar research base, with expressions of support from countries such as Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Pakistan and South Africa.

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 Supreme Court weighs concerns over abortion opponents’ right to sue regarding medication

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

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Supreme Court justices seemed concerned on Tuesday about whether abortion opponents have the right to sue over a medication that was used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the US last year, in the court’s first abortion case since conservative justices overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago.

The justices’ comments in arguments over FDA actions that eased access to the drug, mifepristone, suggest that the court could leave the current rules in place that allow patients to receive the drug through the mail, without any need for an in-person visit with a doctor, and to take the medication to induce an abortion through 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, the Biden administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer, said the court should make clear that the anti-abortion doctors and organisations that challenged the FDA’s relaxation of restrictions on mifepristone don’t “come within 100 miles” of having the legal right, or standing, to sue.

Abortion opponents are asking the justices to ratify a ruling from a conservative federal appeals court that would limit access to mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortions.

The high court’s return to the abortion thicket is taking place in a political and regulatory landscape that was reshaped by the abortion decision in 2022 that led many Republican-led states to ban or severely restrict abortion.

That ruling had immediate political consequences, and the outcome in the new case, expected by early summer, could affect races for Congress and the White House.

The scene outside the Supreme Court was lively Tuesday morning, with demonstrators occupying the streets surrounding the court and groups on both sides of the issue marching and chanting. The police blocked traffic surrounding the court as well.

The practical consequences of a ruling for abortion opponents would be dramatic, possibly halting the delivery of mifepristone through the mail and at large pharmacy chains, reducing the period in pregnancy when it can be used from 10 to seven weeks and ending increasingly popular telehealth visits at which the drug can be prescribed.

President Joe Biden’s administration and drug manufacturers warn that such an outcome also could undermine the FDA’s drug approval process more widely by inviting judges to second-guess the agency’s scientific judgments.

Anti-abortion doctors and medical organisations argue that the FDA’s decisions in 2016 and 2021 to relax restrictions on getting the drug were unreasonable and “jeopardise women’s health across the nation”.

The Democratic administration and New York-based Danco Laboratories, which makes mifepristone, respond that the drug is among the safest the FDA has ever approved.

In one possible resolution, the justices could avoid touching on the more politically sensitive aspects of the case while preserving access to mifepristone. The administration and Danco argue that the challengers lack the legal right, or standing, to sue. If the high court agrees, it would essentially dismiss the case and erase the appellate ruling.

Another abortion case already is on the docket. Next month, the justices will hear arguments over whether a federal law on emergency treatment at hospitals must include abortions, even in states that have otherwise banned them.

The mifepristone case began five months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Abortion opponents initially won a sweeping ruling nearly a year ago from US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump nominee in Texas, which would have revoked the drug’s approval entirely.

The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals left intact the FDA’s initial approval of mifepristone. But it would reverse changes regulators made in 2016 and 2021 that eased some conditions for administering the drug.

The Supreme Court put the appeals court’s modified ruling on hold, then agreed to hear the case, though Justices Samuel Alito, the author of the decision overturning Roe, and Clarence Thomas would have allowed some restrictions to take effect while the case proceeded.

Mifepristone is one of two drugs, along with misoprostol, used in medication abortions. Their numbers have been rising for years. More than 6 million people have used mifepristone since 2000. Mifepristone is taken first to dilate the cervix and block the hormone progesterone, which is needed to sustain a pregnancy. Misoprostol is taken 24 to 48 hours later, causing the uterus to contract and expel pregnancy tissue.

Health care providers have said that if mifepristone is no longer available or is too hard to obtain, they would switch to using only misoprostol, which is somewhat less effective in ending pregnancies.

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

Arunachal Pradesh showdown: US steps in to support India, China’s temper flares

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

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“The United States recognises Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory, and we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims through incursions or encroachments, whether military or civilian, across the Line of Actual Control,” said US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel in a press conference amid China’s protest over Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh.

The Indian PM was in the northeastern state, which Beijing refers to as Zangnan, to inaugurate the world’s longest bi-lane tunnel, named Sela Tunnel. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang claimed that the southern part of Xizang, the Chinese name for Tibet, is an inherent part of China, and what is called Arunachal Pradesh is ‘illegally established’ by New Delhi.

Chinese anxiety usually arises whenever an Indian official enters this northeastern state. But this time, the apprehension was higher than ever due to the military significance of the tunnel.

Situated at an elevation of 13,000 feet, the tunnel is built on the road connecting Assam’s Tezpur to Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang, providing all-weather connectivity to the region closer to the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Dug beneath the 4,200-meter (13,800-foot) high Sela Pass, the tunnel links the Tawang district to the rest of Arunachal Pradesh and enhances the operational capabilities of the Indian Army in the region.

The Indian government has relocated over 10,000 soldiers from the country’s western borders to the eastern border to reinforce its military power, as reported by Bloomberg earlier this month.

“In addition, an existing contingent of 9,000 soldiers, already designated to the disputed Chinese border, will be brought under the newly created fighting command. The combined force will guard a 532 km (330.57 miles) stretch of border that separates China’s Tibet region from India’s northern states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh,” Bloomberg reported.

“India’s move to strengthen military deployment along the border with China is counterproductive to the two countries’ efforts to ease the situation at the border and is not conducive to safeguarding peace and tranquility in the border areas,” complained Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning in a recent press conference.

Chinese media, serving as echo chambers for official viewpoints, linked the prime minister’s visit to the upcoming general election in India. Global Times published an article titled ‘India’s recent acts, remarks over China’s Zangnan serve election purpose’ and didn’t hesitate to offer unsolicited advice, stating that the consequences of sparking military conflict in the border region are ‘too grave for New Delhi‘.

“The Indian government’s recent acts and remarks regarding the Chinese territory of Zangnan are in the interests of helping Prime Minister Narendra Modi win re-election, as he and his party seek to shape a hawkish image for their nationalist voters,” wrote the author of the article. While the Global Times might be waving the flag of peace, China seems to be juggling territorial disputes with more than 15 countries, turning the diplomatic arena into a geopolitical circus.

The Five Fingers of Tibet Theory

The Five Fingers of Tibet Theory, attributed to Mao Zedong, underpins Chinese claims to Arunachal Pradesh. It considers Tibet as China’s right-hand palm, with five fingers – Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, and Arunachal Pradesh. This theory is not only preached to bridge cultural linkages but also to underline China’s responsibility to ‘liberate’ these areas.

In conclusion, the geopolitical tensions surrounding Arunachal Pradesh underscore the complex dynamics between India and China, with historical, territorial, and strategic considerations intersecting in the region.

As both nations continue to assert their interests and consolidate their positions, the ramifications of these actions extend beyond mere territorial disputes, impacting regional stability and global geopolitics.

The Five Fingers of Tibet Theory, deeply ingrained in Chinese strategic thinking, further complicates the situation, emphasising China’s perceived responsibility to assert control over territories it considers integral to its sovereignty. As such, the situation in Arunachal Pradesh remains a focal point of contention, reflecting broader power struggles and historical narratives in the region.

Also read: Tibet’s $400,000 Offer: College admission in exchange for investment

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 to send new weapons package worth $300 million for Ukraine

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

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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

How Indian-origin student Akul Dhawan froze to death in US after nightclub denied entry

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

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A teenage Indian-origin student at Illinois University in the United States, was frozen to death last month on West Nevada Street near a club that refused him entry.

The Champaign County Coroner’s Office in Illinois revealed this week that Akul Dhawan, 18, died of hypothermia following “acute alcohol intoxication and prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures, which significantly contributed to his death.”

The revelation in a Tuesday release comes a month after the incident.

The student was found dead on 20 January after his body was found on the back porch of a building near the university campus.

‘Denied re-entry in club’

Akul Dhawan was on a night out for drinks with friends on Saturday, 20 January, as per NDTV.

According to the preliminary investigation, police said that Dhawan met his friends at the Busey-Evans Residence Hall at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign around 9 pm on 19 January and consumed alcohol there.

He and his friends went to an event at the Canopy Club, which is located at S Goodwin Ave. in Urbana, at around 10 pm. He went to Green Street around 10:45 pm. with them, and according to authorities, security footage that was later retrieved showed him drinking more alcohol before the group headed back to Canopy Club.

Dhawan stayed outside Canopy Club between 11:25 and 11:29 pm, while the others went back in.

The club staff refused to let him in. He tried to enter the club “multiple times,” according to surveillance footage, but staff members kept denying him entry, according to the investigators.

Two separate rideshare vehicles arrived at midnight to pick up Dhawan outside Canopy Club, but he turned down both rides despite requests from venue employees and a passerby, the police said, the report said.

Went missing for hours

Around midnight, Dhawan left the bar, and his friends’ calls and texts went unanswered. At 1.23 am, he was reported missing.

As per The Kansas City Star, the police said that while driving “at a walking pace” close to the “likely path” Dhawan would have taken back to the university, an officer searched for him but was unable to locate him.

On 29 January, at around 11:08 am, a university staff member who was leaving Bevier Hall noticed Dhawan laying on the concrete steps behind 1203 W Nevada Street in Urbana and dialled the emergency number 911.

Police said that he was “dead at the time he was found.”

Late January brought frigid temperatures and severe cold, with wind chills of -20 to -30 degrees throughout Illinois and most of the Midwest.

According to weather.com, the temperature that evening dropped to 27 degrees Fahrenheit (-2.7 degrees Celsius).

The coroner’s office announced last month that there was no evidence of serious trauma in the preliminary report. “There was no foul play involved and the death is initially believed to be accidental.”

University police accused of negligence

Akul’s parents, Ish and Ritu Dhawan, residents of the San Francisco Bay area in California, have filed a complaint against the university’s police department for negligence in the way the search was conducted.

The family wrote in an open letter published in The News-Gazette, “We have been asking why Akul was found 10 hours later, rather than immediately after he was reported missing, when could still be saved. The locations where he was reported missing and where he was found are less than 200 feet apart. 200 feet!”

Dhawan’s family expressed frustration that “the police never searched for our son,” as per The Kansas City Star.

Officials assert they responded promptly to the situation based on available information. After Akul reported missing, school police “searched the area where the student was last seen, the student’s residence hall and the likely path between the two locations, including the main Quad and streets.” Police also looked into nearby hospitals and made phone calls to the student.

About Akul Dhawan

Akul Dhawan was a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign freshman. He was enrolled in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering to study robotics, as per NBC.

Despite the objections of his parents, who wanted him to attend college closer to home, he had enrolled at Illinois University.

Dhawan, who turned 18 in September last year, graduated from Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, California, with a high school diploma, reported NDTV.

He attended the College of San Mateo to pursue computer science.

His untimely death occurred during his first week back at college after winter break. His family mourned the loss of a “promising young man with his entire future ahead of him”.

“We were so proud of our son for completing his semester and thriving at the university. He was a very smart kid who had his whole life before him,” the letter said, adding, “We will never be the same.”

The parents of Dhawan, who had written to The News-Gazette expressing their grief over the news, were there at the vigil on 11 February to pay tribute to their son, as per Hindustan Times.

“We have a big massive hole left in our family; we will never be the same,” they stated in the letter.

Seven deaths in a month

Seven young students of Indian and Indian American descent have passed away unexpectedly in 2023 due to a variety of causes, including violent crimes, alleged overdoses, and suicides.

Last week, an Indian-origin family from Kerala was found dead at their home in California with the police investigating the case as a murder-suicide. Anand Henry, a 37-year-old former Meta software engineer, is suspected of killing his wife Alice Benziger, 36, and their four-year-old twin sons before turning a gun on himself.

Student Sameer Kamath from Purdue University was found dead in Warren County on 5 February. Neel Acharya who had been missing in the US was confirmed dead by the same university authorities last month.

The most horrific death was that of Vivek Saini . A resident of Haryana, he died after he was hammered 50 times in Georgia’s Lithonia on 16 January.

White House official John Kirby denounced attacks on Indian students last week and said that there is “no excuse for violence based on race, gender, or any other factor.”

“The president and this administration have been working very, very hard to make sure we’re doing everything we can to work with state and local authorities to try to thwart and disrupt those kinds of attacks and make it clear to anybody who might consider them that they’ll be held properly accountable,” Kirby said amid a slew of attacks on Indian and Indian American students in various parts of the US.

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 confronts dangers from Iran-backed militants, vows to protect troops

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

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More than a month before a deadly drone strike that killed three US soldiers in Jordan, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sought to reassure US troops about the military’s ability to withstand attacks by Iran-backed militants.

Austin, in previously unpublished remarks to sailors aboard the Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier on December 20, said the number one reason the militants had failed to that point was that “they’re not very good at what they do.”

“Every day, Iranian proxies are shooting at our troops that are in Iraq and Syria. They haven’t been effective at all because (of) two reasons: Number one, they’re not very good at what they do,” Austin told the crew.

“But number two, we’ve done a lot of things to ensure that we have the adequate force protection… Eventually, as we all know, they may get lucky one day and cause injury to one of our troops. But we will stay on the balls of our feet and make sure that that doesn’t happen.”

In the wake of the drone attack, President Joe Biden‘s administration is vowing to do whatever it takes to protect US troops from an escalating cycle of violence in the Middle East, where Iran-aligned militants are firing at them in Iraq, Syria, Jordan and off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea.

But current and former US officials tell Reuters the militants’ periodic success in attacks may be unavoidable, given the sheer number of drones, rockets and missiles fired at US troops and the fact that base defences cannot realistically be completely effective 100% of the time.

Experts also caution against underestimating the Iran-backed militants, even if most of their attacks fail.

Charles Lister of the Washington-based Middle East Institute recalled former President Barack Obama’s description of Islamic State as a junior varsity team in 2014 even as the group was gathering strength.

“To suggest, Obama-style, that ‘well, they’re just a JV team’ and we can chuckle along and take the hits and know that nothing serious is happening is just profoundly naive,” Lister said. “These groups have conducted sophisticated transnational strikes, and they have a very deadly history against American troops.”

Still, US commanders have a long history of putting on a brave face before their troops. Austin is a retired four star general who served on the ground in Iraq, himself coming under fire.

Asked for comment, Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder said Austin was outraged and deeply saddened by the soldiers’ deaths in Jordan and had “no higher priority than protecting our forces and taking care of our people.”

Tragic, but predictable

As of February 7, there have been more than 168 attacks against US troops in Iraq, Syria and Jordan since Middle East tensions surged in October with the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. That has caused injuries among 143 US service members, with two sustaining very serious injuries and nine suffering serious injuries.

The worst attack occurred on January 28, when a drone slammed into a US base called Tower 22 on Jordan’s border with Syria, killing Sergeant William Jerome Rivers, Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett.

One senior US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called that attack “tragic, unlucky – but predictable.”

“Because that’s the nature of combat. It’s not an antiseptic environment where you can attain perfection” in defending yourself, the former official said.

General Daniel Hokanson, the head of the US National Guard, which had troops stationed at Tower 22 who were wounded, told reporters on Thursday that the military works hard to ensure troops have defences to drive down the risk.

“Sadly, no system is 100% successful in anything,” Hokanson said.

Not a sophisticated strike

While a US military investigation continues, US officials have told Reuters several factors may have contributed to the failure of American defences at the remote base in Jordan.

Most notable, they say, was the low altitude that the drone was flying as it approached Tower 22.

But officials say it does not appear the militants did anything particularly sophisticated that Sunday morning, like intentionally timing the approach of the drone to coincide with the arrival of an American drone to confuse US defences.

Instead, some US officials have concluded that the success of the January 28 strike came down to probability – throw enough munitions at well-defended targets and eventually some will get through.

The militant strike – which the Pentagon says had the “footprints” of the Iraq-based Kataib Hezbollah – has led to a wave of US retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and militias it backs. That includes a drone strike in Baghdad on Wednesday that killed a commander of Kataib Hezbollah.

Ryder, the Pentagon spokesperson, told Reuters the US military continued to “take necessary steps to safeguard our forces who serve in harm’s way, and continuously reevaluate our force protection measures.” He did not offer details on any adjustments to US defenses, citing operational security.

Critics of the Biden administration’s approach caution that the retaliatory strikes do not amount to enough pressure on Tehran, which supports these groups and, some current and former officials believe, could instruct them to stop. Some Republicans in Congress have pushed for US strikes on Iranian forces, including on Iranian soil, which the Biden administration has resisted over fears of drawing Iran directly into a broader war.

“Iran can stop these attacks if they want to,” the former US military official said.

But, the official added: “Why should they? They’re not being hurt by our response.”

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