North Korea’s military fired four shots around 7:20 a.m. (2220 GMT on Saturday) for about an hour toward its west coast from an unidentified location in South Pyongan Province…reports Asian Lite News
North Korea appeared to have fired a short-range multiple rocket launcher on Sunday, South Korea’s military said, amid heightened military tensions on the peninsula after a spate of larger missile launches by the nuclear-armed North.
While they garner much less attention than the massive intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), North Korea has displayed several new types of multiple launch rocket systems in recent years, adding to an already large arsenal of artillery and rockets ideal for potentially striking targets in the South.
“This morning there was firing in North Korea which is assumed to be multiple rocket launcher shots, and our military was monitoring the related situation and maintaining a readiness posture,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, without elaborating.
North Korea’s military fired four shots around 7:20 a.m. (2220 GMT on Saturday) for about an hour toward its west coast from an unidentified location in South Pyongan Province, Yonhap news agency reported.
South Korea’s National Security Council held an emergency vice-ministerial meeting over the launches.
Last year South Korea approved plans to pursue a $2.6-billion artillery interception system, similar to Israel’s “Iron Dome,” designed to protect against North Korea’s arsenal of long-range guns and rockets.
About half of South Korea’s 52 million people live in the capital Seoul and the surrounding areas, within range of the neighbor’s long-range guns and multiple rocket launchers.
Pyongyang has conducted an unusually high pace of missile launches this year.
South Korea and the United States warn that the North could resume test-firing its largest ICBMs for the first time since 2017 amid stalled denuclearization talks. North Korea also appears to be preparing to launch a spy satellite, and new construction has been spotted at its shuttered nuclear test site.
The attack came several days after Iran said it would retaliate for an Israeli strike near Damascus that killed two members of its Revolutionary Guard….reports Asian Lite News
The exchange of missile strikes by Iran and Israel in Iraq and Syria puts US forces at risk, the top US commander for the Middle East said, just days after an Iranian missile barrage struck near the US Consulate complex in northern Iraq.
Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie told Pentagon reporters that over the past six months Iran has attacked US forces and facilities a number of times, but “very good action on the part of commanders on the ground” had thwarted any US casualties.
“Had US casualties occurred, I think we might be in a very different place right now,” said McKenzie.
McKenzie and other US officials said this week the missile strikes on Sunday that hit close to the consulate were not aimed at the US And Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said on its website that it had attacked what it described as an Israeli spy center in Irbil.
The attack came several days after Iran said it would retaliate for an Israeli strike near Damascus that killed two members of its Revolutionary Guard.
“I think it’s obvious that Israel is going to take steps to defend itself when it’s confronted with Iranian actions. And of course, Iran is dedicated to the destruction of Israel,” McKenzie said.
“I do worry about these exchanges between Iran and Israel, because many times our forces are at risk, whether in Iraq or in Syria. So that, in fact, does concern me.”
McKenzie, who is retiring after about three years as head of US Central Command, was speaking at what was expected to be his final press briefing. He said that as he prepares to turn over the job to incoming Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, his message to his successor is that Iran continues to be his biggest challenge.
“My central problem in my three years of command was Iran,” said McKenzie, who also oversaw the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and commando raids to kill Daesh leaders.
“There were other problems, other huge problems, but the headquarters as a whole … focused on the Iranian problem and everything attendant to that.”
The US presence in Iraq has long been a flash point for Tehran, but tensions spiked after a January 2020 US drone strike near the Baghdad airport killed a top Iranian general. In retaliation, Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Al-Asad air base, where US troops were stationed. More than 100 service members suffered traumatic brain injuries in the blasts.
More recently, Iranian proxies are believed responsible for an assassination attempt late last year on Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi. And officials have said they believe Iran was behind the October drone attack at the military outpost in southern Syria where American troops are based. No US personnel were killed or injured in the attack.
Last year, US forces in Iraq shifted to a non-combat role, but Iran and its proxies still want all American troops to leave the country.
McKenzie said the Iranian leaders believe that they can launch a certain level of attacks against the US without affecting the ongoing negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Diplomats trying to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal appear to be near the cusp of an agreement that would bring the US back into the accord and bring Iran back into compliance with limits on its nuclear program.
Congressional opponents of the deal peppered McKenzie with questions this week about the impact of an agreement on Iranian aggression and whether sanctions relief will only provide Iran funding for other malign behavior.
McKenzie said the US has gotten better at countering potential strikes by Iranian drones and other defensive measures, which contributed to the lack of American casualties. But he and others have noted that the Iranian ballistic missile strikes have gotten more precise.
“We don’t want Iran to have a nuclear weapon, and the best way to get to that is probably through a negotiated solution,” he said, adding that such a deal won’t likely solve other problems, such as Iranian conventional attacks in the region.
“I don’t think anybody in the United States government is blind to that fact, but … if you can take nuclear weapons off the table, that’s a powerful capability that you don’t have to worry about.”
Once that is done, he said, then the US could move on and deal with other problems, including Iran’s increasing ballistic missile and drone threats.
“What you’d like to do is negotiate that, but if you can negotiate that, that’s where US Central Command comes in. It’s our job to demonstrate to Iran the concept of deterrence — that the things they want to pursue are too painful for them to achieve. We work at that every day.”
US questions New Delhi’s neutrality and said that the world was watching India’s stand on its support for Russia as Moscow was illegally invading Ukraine, reports Asian Lite News
In a very message, the United States questioned New Delhi’s neutrality and said that the world was watching India’s stand on its support for Russia as Moscow was illegally invading Ukraine.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said while interacting with the media that Washington is in touch with Indian leaders at various levels over the issue of India’s decision to buy oil from Russia at a discount.
“We have been in touch, of course, with Indian leaders at a range of levels, (however) not through the president,” Psaki said.
Psaki was responding to a question on the US’s stand with respect to India’s decision to buy Russian oil, despite the severe sanctions imposed on Russia by most of the Western countries.
“But what we will project and convey to any leader around the world is that the rest of the world is watching, where you are going to stand, as it relates to this conflict, (and) whether it is support for Russia, in any form as they are illegally invading Ukraine,” Psaki further said in a veiled reference to India’s neutrality in the ongoing conflict so far.
Earlier, on Tuesday, the United States said India would not be violating US sanctions by purchasing discounted Russian oil but added that such a move would put the world’s largest democracy on the “wrong side of history”.
India has been under tremendous pressure to take a side in the ongoing conflict, particularly from the US, which has imposed severe sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in late February this year.
India has not condemned the invasion of Ukraine and has abstained from voting at the United Nations calling out Russia’s aggression. US officials have said in recent weeks they would like India to distance itself from Russia as much as possible, while also recognizing its heavy reliance on Moscow for everything from arms and ammunition to missiles and fighter jets.
Last week, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told Indian Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri in a phone call that the country is keen to increase its oil and petroleum product exports to India along with Indian investments in the Russian oil sector, according to a statement issued by Moscow.
A Russian government release last week had said that Russia’s oil and petroleum product exports to India have approached $1 billion, and there are clear opportunities to increase this figure.
“We expect to continue cooperating in the development of peaceful nuclear power, in particular, in building the nuclear power units at Kudankulam,” Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak was quoted as saying in the statement following a phone conversation with Indian Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
According to some media reports on Monday, India’s largest refiner, Indian Oil Corp, purchased 3 million barrels of Russian crude oil, the first such transaction since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February.
India, the world’s third-largest oil consumer and importer and one of the few countries not to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, currently imports 80 per cent of its oil, but only about 2 per cent to 3 per cent of those purchases come from Russia.
The administration came under criticism for its response to Omicron, particularly in terms of its failure to provide for adequately and timely testing infrastructure…reports Asian Lite News
US President Joe Biden has appointed Ashish Jha, an Indian-American physician and academic who shot to prominence as a key scientific voice in the debate around the pandemic, as the new White House Covid-19 response coordinator.
“Dr Jha is one of the leading public health experts in America, and a well-known figure to many Americans from his wise and calming public presence. And as we enter a new moment in the pandemic – executing on my national Covid-19 preparedness plan and managing the ongoing risk from Covid – Dr Jha is the perfect person for the job,” Biden said in a statement on Thursday.
Jha, who was born in Madhubani in Bihar, completed his medical degree from the Harvard Medical School and also did a masters in public health from Harvard TH Chan School of Public health, where he went on to serve as a professor. In 2020, he became the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.
He will replace Jeff Zients, who Biden hailed for formulating and executing a plan to build the infrastructure to deliver vaccines, tests, treatment and masks to hundreds of millions of Americans.
A #Bihar-born global health expert has been appointed by US Prez #JoeBiden (@POTUS) to the White House position of overseeing the nation's response to the #COVID19 pandemic.
"I am excited to name Dr Ashish Jha as the new White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator", Biden said. pic.twitter.com/CP1SgInEyc
In the past year, the US ramped up its Covid response strategy, focusing on vaccination. “Today, almost 80% of adults are fully vaccinated; over 100 million are boosted; virtually every school is open; and hundreds of millions of at-home tests are distributed every month. In addition, the US leads the global effort to fight Covid, delivering more vaccines to other countries than every nation on earth,” Biden said.
The administration came under criticism for its response to Omicron, particularly in terms of its failure to provide for adequately and timely testing infrastructure.
Earlier, the Russian Embassy in the US had demanded that the United States must immediately disclose information about its military biological activities in Ukrainian laboratories….reports Asian Lite News
Accusing the United States of developing components of biological weapons in labs in Ukraine, Russia on Friday supported China’s demand at the UNSC asking the Americans to disclose information about the activities of 360 labs in the world that are allegedly controlled by the country.
“Over the past week, we have discovered new details indicating that components of biological weapons were being developed in Ukraine,” said the Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Vassily Nebenzia, adding later that, “we fully support China’s demand to the United States to disclose information about activities of 360 US-controlled labs in the world.”
The Russian representative gave details of financial aid channelled to select labs in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv and said that the Ukrainian authorities were in cahoots with the Americans to carry out dangerous biological experiments on Ukrainian territory.
“Simply speaking, Ukrainian authorities gave Pentagon a carte blanche and let them carry out dangerous biological experiments on the territory of Ukraine,” Permanent Representative Nebenzia said.
“We would not be surprised should similar facts come to light regarding the activity of US-sponsored labs in other parts of the globe. We call on states who provide their areas to Pentagon for such experiments to read carefully contract documents regarding their cooperation with the United States in the biological area,” Nebenzia further said.
The Russian representative went on to allege that the US and Ukraine had violated the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), adding that, the implications of the dangerous biological research “could have ‘spilled’ beyond the borders of Ukraine and even the entire region at any point.”
Earlier, the Russian Embassy in the US had demanded that the United States must immediately disclose information about its military biological activities in Ukrainian laboratories.
“We demand that the US Side disclose information about military biological activity in laboratories on the territory of Ukraine as soon as possible. What kind of peaceful research we are talking about if the Pentagon stands behind these projects,” the embassy wrote on its Telegram channel.
India had noted the remarks made by the UN Under-Secretary-General of Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu regarding biological activities relating to Ukraine and said that “India attaches high importance to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) as a key global and non-discriminatory disarmament Convention, prohibiting an entire category of weapons of mass destruction.”
R Ravindra, Deputy Permanent Representative at UNSC briefing said, “It is important to ensure full and effective implementation of the BTWC in letter and spirit. We also believe that any matter relating to obligations under the BTWC should be addressed as per the provisions of the Convention and through consultations and cooperation between the parties concerned.” (ANI)
Earlier in March, the Russian Defense Ministry unveiled new findings after analyzing documents obtained from experts from Ukrainian laboratories.
Igor Kirillov, the chief of the Russian armed forces’ radiation, chemical, and biological defence, said that Pentagon created a network of over 30 biological laboratories in Ukrainian territory.
According to Kirillov, the United States removed all materials necessary for further research from Ukraine after the beginning of Russia’s special military operation. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow may launch a consultation mechanism under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) to discuss Washington’s non-compliance with the document.
However, a US Defense Department official denied the accusations saying the United States is not assisting Ukraine with biological weapons in its war with Russia and there are no indications that biological weapons are being used by Ukraine.
Russia had started a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24 in response to calls from the Ukrainian breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics for protection against intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops.
The Russian Defence Ministry said the special operation was only targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure and the civilian population was not in danger. Moscow has repeatedly said it has no plans to occupy Ukraine and only seeks to “demilitarize” and “denazify” the country.
Western nations have imposed severe sanctions on Russia following the invasion and have raised an outcry over Russian “war crimes” and the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, at least 6,623 people have been evacuated via humanitarian corridors from besieged Ukrainian cities on Saturday, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a senior official in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, CNN reported.
Among the besieged cities, Mariupol is witnessing some of the most severe fighting with almost constant bombardment and increasing civilian casualties.
A theatre sheltering civilians was bombed in Mariupol a few days ago which drew widespread condemnation. The bombing led to more than 1300 people getting trapped under debris, and one person receiving severe injuries.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Saturday (local time) that Russia continues to make “incremental gains” in Ukraine’s south and has used “brutal, savage techniques” in the way it has targeted civilians, CNN reported. (ANI)
US President Joe Biden's Spokesperson Jen Psaki briefs reporters on Tuesday, March 15, 2022. (Photo: White House)
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said US officials have been in touch “with Indian leaders at a range of levels” but Biden has himself not reached out to them on the issue, reports Arul Louis
The US may show understanding of India’s plans to buy discounted oil for economic reasons from Russia, US President Joe Biden’s spokesperson Jen Psaki has indicated.
Asked at her daily briefing on Friday about “largest democracy” India buying oil from Moscow, she said that while the US has banned Russian oil import, “every country has not made that decision. And we recognise that and they have different economic reasoning as to why different countries do including some in Europe”.
She said that US officials have been in touch “with Indian leaders at a range of levels” but Biden has himself not reached out to them on the issue.
A senior-level US delegation headed by Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland is starting a South Asia tour from Saturday during which it is scheduled to hold meetings with Indian officials.
“What we would project or convey to anyone around the world is that the world, the rest of the world, is watching where you’re going to stand as it relates to conflict, whether its support for Russia in any form,” she said.
Psaki had said at her briefing on Tuesday that India would not be violating US sanctions if it imported oil from Russia.
While some major Russian petroleum companies have been put under US sanctions, Washington has not banned the buying of oil, gas or coal because of the devastating impact that would have on its close European allies that depend on Moscow for a sizable part of their energy needs.
Because of the impact of soaring oil prices on the economy, India’s Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said that “discussions are underway” for buying oil from Russia, but “there are several issues to be gone into like how much oil is available”, as well as payment for it and transportation.
Accounting for under 3 per cent, Russia is not a major supplier of oil to India, which gets most of it from the Middle East, while the US is also emerging as an important source for it.
India’s proposal to buy oil from Russia has come under criticism in the US.
Indian-American member of the House of Representatives, Ami Bera, who heads the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, said that if it decided to buy the cheap Russian oil, “New Delhi would be choosing to side with (Russia’s President) Vladimir Putin at a pivotal moment in history”.
But European countries like Germany that are continuing energy purchases from Russia have not met with similar criticism.
The Biden administration and India are evolving a delicate balance at the centre of which is China on how New Delhi reacts to the Russia invasion of Ukraine.
Washington needs New Delhi as a counterpoise to Beijing and it recognises India’s existential dependence on Moscow for its weapons to defend against China.
And, India because of the need to continue arms supply from Russia has to avoid antagonising it.
India has abstained on three resolutions in the UN Security Council on Ukraine and another in the General Assembly, while also continuing its economic ties to Russia.
The US also recently banned oil and gas imports from Russia, although they accounted for less than 10 per cent of US energy imports….reports Asian Lite News
US House of Representatives has voted to suspend normal trade relations with Russia, paving the way for the US government to impose higher tariffs on Russian goods.
The lower chamber on Thursday approved the measure by vote of 424-8, with a few Republicans voting against, sending the legislation to the Senate, Xinhua news agency reported.
The House vote came just a few days after US President Joe Biden announced that the administration would revoke Russia’s most-favored nation trade status amid the Ukraine crisis, along with Group of Seven (G7) countries and the European Union.
Biden also signed an executive order banning Russian seafood imports, as well as alcohol and certain diamonds. In addition, it bans the sale of US luxury goods to Russia, including high-end vehicles, luxury watches and top-shelf jewelry.
The US also recently banned oil and gas imports from Russia, although they accounted for less than 10 per cent of US energy imports.
Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and senior United Nations advisor, recently told Xinhua that sanctions, which cause considerable damage, are “unlikely” to succeed in their political aims.
“The US and EU are very energetic in the imposition of sanctions, trade barriers, technology barriers, and financial barriers towards Russia… I do not agree with this,” Sachs said.
Negotiation and compromise would be “much wiser”, he said.
India urged to speak out against Russia
Congressmen Ro Khanna and Joe Wilson held talks with the Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu urging India to “speak out against Putin’s targeting of civilians in Ukraine”.
“Appreciated the opportunity to join @RepJoeWilson in a bipartisan call with Ambassador @SandhuTaranjitS, urging India to speak out against Putin’s targeting of civilians in Ukraine. On both sides of the aisle, friends of India are urging India to use its influence for peace,” Ro Khanna of the Democratic party said in a tweet.
“Grateful to join my colleague in a bipartisan call with the Ambassador of India to the U.S. It is critical that world leaders condemn the atrocities being committed by Putin in Ukraine,” Joe Wilson of the Republican Party said quoting Ro Khanna’s tweet.
US President Joe Biden during a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. (Photo-Twitter@POTUS)jpg
The development comes amidst an escalation in rhetoric by the US administration against the Russian actions in Ukraine, with US President Joe Biden calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” on Wednesday, and further calling him a “murderous dictator” and a “pure thug” on Thursday.
“Engaging discussion with Congressmen @RepSteveChabot @RepJoeWilson and @RepRoKhanna on India US strategic relations. Also explained India’s position on current global developments,” Ambassador Sandhu said in a tweet.
Earlier today, India had reiterated its earlier calls for a complete cessation of hostilities in Ukraine at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
“We reiterate our call for the immediate cessation of hostilities across Ukraine. Our Prime Minister has reiterated this on several occasions and called for immediate ceasefire and emphasized that there is no option but the path of dialogue and diplomacy,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN TS Tirumurti said.
Russian ministry’s spokesperson Zakharova noted that these laboratories in Ukraine have worked directly “in conjunction with the Pentagon.”…reports Asian Lite News
The Russian Foreign Ministry has asked Washington to provide all information on the activities of alleged “US-linked biological laboratories” in Ukraine.
“The nervous and unjustified reaction of the United States to Moscow’s concerns only confirms the extremely dangerous and illegal activities carried out in these facilities,” the ministry’s spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a briefing.
“We can see the stubborn silence, the reluctance to talk about the issue on international platforms, the concealment of facts, and the destruction of evidence,” she was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
Zakharova noted that these laboratories in Ukraine have worked directly “in conjunction with the Pentagon.”
Due to the absence of a verification mechanism under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), it is impossible to monitor the degree to which these laboratories are involved with US programs, she said.
Washington has been opposing a verification mechanism since 2001, the diplomat stressed.
“This suggests that the Americans are not just carrying out prohibited activities, but also blocking all possibilities for specialized international institutions to verify their prohibited activities in the field of biological weapons,” she said.
Moscow is proposing to resume work on a legally binding protocol on an effective verification mechanism within the BTWC, Zakharova said.
Last week, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland testified before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Ukraine, admitting “Ukraine has biological research facilities.”
“We are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces should they approach,” she said.
On March 11, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video post on his facebook account that “no chemical or any other weapons of mass destruction were developed on my land.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry has asked Washington to provide all information on the activities of alleged “US-linked biological laboratories” in Ukraine.
“The nervous and unjustified reaction of the United States to Moscow’s concerns only confirms the extremely dangerous and illegal activities carried out in these facilities,” the ministry’s spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a briefing.
“We can see the stubborn silence, the reluctance to talk about the issue on international platforms, the concealment of facts, and the destruction of evidence,” she was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
Zakharova noted that these laboratories in Ukraine have worked directly “in conjunction with the Pentagon.”
Due to the absence of a verification mechanism under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), it is impossible to monitor the degree to which these laboratories are involved with US programs, she said.
Washington has been opposing a verification mechanism since 2001, the diplomat stressed.
“This suggests that the Americans are not just carrying out prohibited activities, but also blocking all possibilities for specialized international institutions to verify their prohibited activities in the field of biological weapons,” she said.
Moscow is proposing to resume work on a legally binding protocol on an effective verification mechanism within the BTWC, Zakharova said.
Last week, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland testified before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Ukraine, admitting “Ukraine has biological research facilities.”
“We are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces should they approach,” she said.
On March 11, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video post on his facebook account that “no chemical or any other weapons of mass destruction were developed on my land.”
Emergency UNSC meeting
Russia halted its call for a vote on its draft resolution on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine over lack of support and will instead call for an emergency meeting to address the US bio-laboratories in the war-torn country.
“We decided, on this stage, not to ask for a vote on our draft, but we are not withdrawing the draft resolution. Instead, tomorrow morning, we will ask for an emergency meeting to discuss again the issue of US bio laboratories in Ukraine, using the new documents we obtained in the course of the special military operation,” Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said during a Security Council meeting on Thursday.
The Russian UN Security Council resolution had called for a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine to enable the safe evacuation of civilians, Sputnik reported citing a draft text of the resolution released on Tuesday.
The two leaders’ first phone call since a video summit in November 2021 will be a chance to air differences as the US spearheads an unprecedented pressure campaign on Russia, placing China in a geopolitical bind, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk
US President Joe Biden will warn his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, that he will face “costs” if Beijing rescues fellow authoritarian ally Russia from intense western sanctions aimed at punishing Moscows invasion of Ukraine, the Guardian reported.
The two leaders’ first phone call since a video summit in November 2021 will be a chance to air differences as the US spearheads an unprecedented pressure campaign on Russia, placing China in a geopolitical bind.
It’s “an opportunity for President Biden to assess where President Xi stands”, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said of the call scheduled for Friday.
The Biden-Xi call comes after Moscow was accused by the UK, the US, France, Albania, Ireland and Norway of war crimes, and Paris claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin was only pretending to be interested in negotiating a peace deal.
US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who has warned repeatedly that Putin will turn to the use of chemical weapons, said the Biden administration was gathering evidence of war crimes and appeared to dismiss hopes of a resolution through diplomacy.
Amid signs of a faltering Russian invasion, the Pentagon reportedly assessed that Putin may resort to threats to use nuclear weapons as sanctions and setbacks on the ground “slowly weaken Russian conventional strength”, the Guardian reported.
On March 15, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met Chinese Communist Party Political Bureau Member and Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission Yang Jiechi in Rome.
Sullivan raised a range of issues in US-China ties, with “substantial discussion” of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“Sullivan raised a range of issues in US-China relations, with substantial discussion of Russia’s war against Ukraine. They also underscored the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between the United States and China,” the White House said.
Prior to that, US had warned China of the consequences of helping Russia bypass sanctions.
China ‘bears responsibility’
Secretary Blinken earlier said that China “bears responsibility” to use its influence with President Putin to stop the war in Ukraine.
“We continue to call on all nations, especially those with direct influence with Russia, to use whatever leverage they have to compel Moscow to end this war of choice. We believe China, in particular, has a responsibility to use its influence with President Putin and to defend the international rules and principles that it professes to support,” Blinken said.
“Instead, it appears that China is moving in the opposite direction by refusing to condemn this aggression while seeking to portray itself as a neutral arbiter. And we’re concerned that they’re considering directly assisting Russia with military equipment to use in Ukraine. President Biden will be speaking to President Xi tomorrow and will make clear that China will bear responsibility for any actions it takes to support Russia’s aggression and we will not hesitate to impose costs,” he said.
There is a lot of conjecture about the strategic relationship between China and Russia, and the degree of knowledge that Chairman Xi Jinping had before President Vladimir Putin launched his lamentable invasion of Ukraine.
This war is proving to be fraught with risks for China, putting Beijing in an awkward nexus as it tries to juggle support for its ally while pretending to be neutral.
China has tried hard to portray itself as neutral in this conflict, but it is patently obvious that it is not easy walking such a tightrope.
Russian talking points are blithely repeated by Chinese officials, one example being the ridiculous notion that the USA has biological warfare laboratories in Ukraine. (ANI)
Jha, who is the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, is one of the most popular experts that the media reaches out to for explaining the Covid pandemic and the efforts to control it….writes Arul Louis
A Bihar-born global health expert has been appointed by US President Joe Biden to the White House position of overseeing the nation’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I am excited to name Dr Ashish Jha as the new White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator”, Biden said on Thursday announcing the appointment.
“Dr Jha is one of the leading public health experts in America, and a well-known figure to many Americans from his wise and calming public presence.”
Jha, who is the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, is one of the most popular experts that the media reaches out to for explaining the Covid pandemic and the efforts to control it.
“For all the progress we’ve made in this pandemic (and there is a lot). We still have important work to do to protect Americans’ lives and well being. So when @POTUS asked me to serve, I was honoured to have the opportunity,” Jha said in a tweet.
I am excited to name Dr. Ashish Jha as the new White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator. Dr. Jha is one of the leading public health experts in America, and a well known figure to many Americans from his wise and calming public presence. https://t.co/3NPvG5lAE9
He will be joining Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, National Drug Control Policy Director Rahul Gupta, and Center for Medicare Director Meena Seshamani at the higher echelons of US health care system.
Jha succeeds Jeff Zients, who is leaving the White House after 14 months during which two variants, Delta and Omicron, fuelled a surge in Covid cases that the US struggled to contain.
Zients leaves office with 65 per cent of Americans having received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine and nearly 77 per cent have been fully vaccinated with the seven-day average of infections plummeting from 806,851 in mid-January to 30,570 in mid-March.
Jha was born in Pursaulia in Bihar in 1970 to parents who were educators.
The family moved to Canada in 1979 and to the US in 1983.
He did his BA in economics at Columbia University and switching to medicine, he got his MD and master’s in public health from Harvard University.
He came to Brown from Harvard, where he was the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute and the dean for Global Strategy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
There was nothing inevitable about getting 215m Americans fully vax'ed, or schools opened, or 2/3 of seniors boosted, or a robust supply of COVID treatments.
America owes a debt of gratitude to Jeff Zients.
And we are grateful that @ashishkjha is taking on this vital role!
He had also served as the co-chair of the Independent Panel on the Global Response to Ebola, which examined the failure of the international community’s response to the disease.
Even while he was heading the Brown University’s School of Public Health, he continued to practice medicine at a hospital for ex-military members.
During the Covid pandemic, he made frequent appearances on TV, wrote op-eds for leading newspapers and was often quoted by reporters.
The medical news website, STAT, called him “network TV’s everyman expert on Covid” with the qualities of a “telegenic phenom” and a “great communicator”.
Zients was a businessman and a bureaucrat, unlike Jha who is a doctor.
He is a former CEO of an investment company and a member of Facebook’s board of directors.
Before that, he had served as a special assistant to former President Barack Obama and as the director of the National Economic Council.
The changeover to a doctor marks an inflexion point in the pandemic where the logistics of mass vaccination and testing are in place and the future task is to monitor and prepare for new variations or other developments.
