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Biden campaign reveals ‘aggressive’ swing state strategy, admits beating Trump will ‘take relentless effort’

EXCLUSIVE: President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ re-election campaign has revealed its ongoing, “aggressive” strategy to gain the advantage in critical swing states ahead of the November general election, telling Fox News Digital it will “take relentless effort” to defeat former President Trump. Speaking with Fox amid a cross-country tour that will culminate in the president visiting all six of the states in which he narrowly defeated Trump in 2020, Biden-Harris communications director Michael Tyler touted the hawkish approach being taken by the campaign following last week’s fiery State of the Union. “We knew kicking off the year we wanted to have an aggressive posture going into 2024. That’s why the president began the year with speeches in places like Valley Forge and in Charleston, where he laid out what this election was going to be about,” Tyler said. GEORGIA LAWMAKERS REACT TO JUDGE’S RULING ALLOWING FANI WILLIS TO STAY ON TRUMP CASE: ‘WHOLLY INSUFFICIENT’ “Looking ahead to March, we knew we had tentpole moments like Super Tuesday, and State of the Union, where, in the minds of the American electorate, the general election was really going to kick off,” he added.  The day after his State of the Union speech — which avoided any major gaffes Republicans often point to as evidence of cognitive decline — Biden hit the campaign trail with a stop in Philadelphia, followed by another in Atlanta the next day.  Stops in Wisconsin and Michigan followed on Thursday, with more planned in Nevada and Arizona this week, all an effort to demonstrate what Tyler described as “defining the choice” voters have this November. “Joe Biden, who wakes up every single day fighting for the American people, bringing people together to get results, and Donald Trump, who is running a campaign of revenge and retribution, and is focused on himself.” “This is, of course, going to be a very, very competitive general election contest, as all presidential elections are. But we feel good about where we’re at, just given some of the key metrics. And if you look at which candidate is fully consolidating their base of support, Joe Biden is doing that throughout the primary contest, while Donald Trump continues to hit a ceiling in proving an inability to expand beyond the MAGA base,” Tyler said. TEXAS DEMOCRAT COLIN ALLRED FACES 6-FIGURE AD CAMPAIGN FOR CALLING BORDER WALL ‘RACIST’ Concern over Trump’s ability to coalesce the various factions of the Republican Party behind his candidacy has continued to grow following former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s departure from the race the morning after Super Tuesday.  Despite suspending her campaign, Haley still received more than 13% of the vote in Georgia’s primary last week, although it is unclear how much of that was early or absentee votes cast before she dropped out. Recent polls have also suggested large portions of voters who supported Haley in other states were motivated by their opposition to Trump, and that they might not shift their support to him as the Republican nominee.  That does not mean those voters would automatically show up to support Biden, but, as Fox News contributor and Republican strategist Karl Rove said amid Super Tuesday’s results being tallied, “Team Trump ought to be concerned about unifying the Republican Party.” CNN FORCED TO CORRECT STORY AFTER ACCUSATIONS OF ‘SMEAR’ CAMPAIGN AGAINST KATIE BRITT “I just think the ability to expand beyond the MAGA base, look at which candidate is amassing the financial resources and building the infrastructure needed to reach the voters who are going to decide this election — Joe Biden is doing that. Donald Trump is not,” Tyler said, referencing the massive cash advantage the campaign, in conjunction with the Democratic National Committee, holds over their Republican rivals. “We have $130 million in the bank to wage this general election fight, while Donald Trump is … either spending money up to this stage in the race fending off Nikki Haley or spending money on legal fees. None of the money that he’s spending so far is geared towards reaching the voters that are going to, again, decide the pathway to 270 electoral votes in the general election,” he added. According to FEC filings, the $50 million spent by Trump’s fundraising entities on his legal defense last year goes up to north of $90 million if spending in 2022 and 2021 is included. Combining that with Trump’s fundraising costs — which reach nearly half of the $282 million he’s raised — his cash burn rate amounts to a whopping 81%, leaving him just $0.19 per dollar raised. “He’s spending that money screaming into an echo chamber of MAGA extremism. And I think the most important thing is which candidate is running on an agenda that’s actually popular with the American people, and with a proven track record of delivering results for the American people,” Tyler said.  WHO IS NEW TRUMP-BACKED RNC CHAIRMAN MICHAEL WHATLEY? “Joe Biden is clearly doing that, running on a historic record of accomplishment, and running on an agenda that is very popular, versus Donald Trump, who is running on an agenda that is even more extreme than the one that he governed on when he had power, and that he campaigned on in 2020. It’s as dangerous as it is extreme this go around in 2024,” he said. When asked if he felt Biden — who has trailed Trump in recent swing state polls — could get a boost from the former president possibly being required to attend court rather than be on the campaign trail, Tyler did not concede that any aspect of the race would be made easier. “I think it’s going to take a relentless effort on behalf of this campaign to reach the voters,” he said. “We are running on a popular historic record of accomplishment. It is about us doing the work to communicate with the voters who are going to decide this election everything this administration has done to make their lives better over the

Is Elvish Yadav hero of our new system? Why we need to consider real, not reel problems 

I was interrupted four times while writing this article. It was mentioned that a journalist from Ghaziabad has been threatened by Elvish. But if only Elvish has the freedom to speak, should we all start singing “Arjan Vailly,” and remain silent on violence, and cruelty?

Medicaid offices sue for dead people’s homes to cover health care costs without warning, critics say

As Salvatore LoGrande fought cancer and all the pain that came with it, his daughters promised to keep him in the white, pitched roof house he worked so hard to buy all those decades ago. So, Sandy LoGrande thought it was a mistake when, a year after her father’s death, Massachusetts billed her $177,000 for her father’s Medicaid expenses and threatened to sue for his home if she didn’t pay up quickly. “The home was everything,” to her father said LoGrande, 57. SEN. BRAUN DEMANDS FULL AUDIT OF MEDICARE AFTER MASSIVE FRAUD DISCOVERY But the bill and accompanying threat weren’t a mistake. Rather, it was part of a routine process the federal government requires of every state: to recover money from the assets of dead people who, in their final years, relied on Medicaid, the taxpayer-funded health insurance for the poorest Americans. A person’s home is typically exempt from qualifying for Medicaid. But it is subject to the estate recovery process for those who were over 55 and used Medicaid to pay for long-term care such as nursing home stays or in-home health care. This month, a Democratic lawmaker proposed scuttling the “cruel” program altogether. Critics argue the program collects too little — roughly 1% — of the more than $150 billion Medicaid spends yearly on long-term care. They also say many states fail to warn people who sign up for Medicaid that big bills and claims to their property might await their families once they die. LoGrande says that’s how she ended up in a two-year legal battle with Massachusetts after her father died. Several years before he died in 2016, she had turned to a local nonprofit for advice on caring for her elderly father. The group suggested she sign him up for Medicaid. She even remembers asking about the house, but was assured the state would only seek the house if it sent her father to a nursing home. “He never would have signed on with anything that would put his home in jeopardy,” she said. For years, her father got an annual renewal notice from the state’s Medicaid office. She says it wasn’t until after his death, when the state’s demand for $177,000 arrived, that she saw the first bill for his care, which included a brief stint in the hospital for pain from cancer, medications and hospice. “That’s what ripped my guts out,” LoGrande said. “It was dishonest.” The state settled with the LoGrandes in 2019 and released its claim on the house. State policies around this recovery process vary widely, according to a 2021 report from the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, which makes policy recommendations to Congress. Some states will put a lien — a legal right — on a home while others don’t. Meanwhile, some Medicaid offices try to recoup all medical costs from patients, like doctor visits or prescriptions, while others just pursue the costs for long-term care. Alaska and Arizona pursued just dozens of properties in recent years while other states go after thousands of homes, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. New York and Ohio topped the country for such collections, recovering more than $100 million combined in a single year, a Dayton Daily News investigation found. An investigation into the Kansas program, released Tuesday by the Health and Human Services inspector general, found that program was cost effective — yielding $37 million while only spending $5 million to recover the money, but the state didn’t always collect the money from estates that were eligible. Last month, a foundation for one of the industry’s biggest health insurance giants called on Massachusetts to overhaul its process, which includes collecting reimbursement for most Medicaid costs, beyond the federal government’s minimum requirement to recover long-term care expenses. The Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts recommended the state Legislature pass a law that would prohibit those additional collections. Estate recovery “has the potential to perpetuate wealth disparities and intergenerational poverty,” said Katherine Howitt, a Medicaid policy director with the foundation. In Tennessee, which recovered more than $38.2 million from more than 8,100 estates last year, Imani Mfalme found herself in a similar predicament after her mother’s death in 2021. As her mother’s early-onset Alzheimer’s worsened, Mfalme continued to care for her. But in 2015, when Mfalme was diagnosed with breast cancer and needed a double mastectomy, she started looking at other options. She hosted a meeting in her mother’s home with the local Medicaid office. The representative told her to drain her mother’s bank accounts – money Mfalme poured into assisted living facility payments for her mom – so her mother would qualify for the program. She recalls being somewhat offended during the meeting after the representative asked her three times: “This is your mother’s home?” The representative, Mfalme said, made no mention that she could be forced to sell the house to settle her mother’s bill with Medicaid once she died. Now, Tennessee’s Medicaid office says she owes $225,000 and the state is seeking a court order that would require Mfalme to sell the house to pay up. Mfalme, now 42, said she wants to pay what she can, but the house is a particular pain point. Her mother, a Black woman, purchased her dream home in Knoxville after she won a landmark discrimination lawsuit against her former employer, Boeing, for paying her less than her male coworkers. “She fought hard for equal pay and equal rights. Just to see that ripped away just because she was sick and I was sick, it’s just absolutely devastating,” Mfalme said of her mother. TennCare, Tennessee’s Medicaid office, said in an email to The Associated Press that it would not comment on specific cases. The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission’s report recommended that Congress reverse the 1993 law that required states to recover money from estates, instead making it optional. Earlier this month, Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois reintroduced legislation that would end the federal government’s mandate. Schakowsky

Vermont sees community engagement in politics through annual ‘Town Meetings’

Julie wants more donations to the food pantry. Kipp is busy knitting a sweater. Shorty is ready to ask: Why is so much being spent on a truck? The coffee, fresh-baked bread and donuts have been laid out. Eighty-seven voters have squeezed into the Elmore Town Hall. Town Meeting is about to begin. Moderator Jon Gailmor stands up. “Good morning, everyone, and welcome to democracy,” he says. “This is the real thing, and we should all be proud that we’re doing this.” ‘VERMONT DELIVERED ON ALL FRONTS’: RESIDENTS AND BUSINESS OWNERS REVEAL WHY PEOPLE ARE FLOCKING TO THE STATE Across the United States, people are disgusted with politics. Many feel powerless and alienated from their representatives at every level — and especially from those in Washington. The tone long ago became nasty, and many feel forced to pick a side and view those on the other side as adversaries. But in pockets of New England, democracy is done a bit differently. People can still participate directly and in person. One day each year, townsfolk gather to hash out local issues. They talk, listen, debate, vote. And in places like Elmore, once it’s all over, they sit down together for a potluck lunch. Town Meeting is a tradition that, in Vermont, dates back more than 250 years, to before the founding of the republic. But it is under threat. Many people feel they no longer have the time or ability to attend such meetings. Last year, residents of neighboring Morristown voted to switch to a secret ballot system, ending their town meeting tradition. Not so in Elmore, population 886. Its residents are used to holding tight to traditions. They’ve fought to keep open their post office, their store and their school, the last one-room schoolhouse in the state. Last fall, Elmore residents voted 2-1 in favor of keeping their town meetings. Elmore calls itself the beauty spot of Vermont. The town borders a lake, which in early March is dotted with people ice fishing. Beyond, a mountain rises. At night, steam floats up from sugarhouses, where maple sap is being boiled down into syrup. The heartbeat of the town is the store. “I’ve always said it’s a live, living, breathing creature. I don’t own it; she owns me,” says Kathy Miller, 63, a longtime former owner who still helps out at the store. People would come in not only to buy milk and pick up the mail, Miller recalls, but to use the fax machine, find a plumber or just to swap gossip. After joining the state grocers’ association in the 1980s, Miller testified before Congress about the impact of credit card fees. Back then, she believed that little people could have a voice in national politics. But these days, she says, Washington has gotten away from the basics. Too big, she says. Too messed up. Tilted off its axis. Miller describes herself as a Republican who hasn’t drunk the Kool-Aid. But at Town Meeting, she says, political differences don’t mean a thing. “There’s no animosity,” she says. “People can talk about things. You shake hands with your neighbor when you leave.” At Town Meeting, she’s successful in pushing for an increase to the town’s library funding from $1,000 per year to $3,000. Gailmor, 75, is a singer-songwriter who describes himself as an independent voter. He first moved to Elmore in 1980 and says he found the town meeting tradition nothing short of miraculous. It wasn’t some politician spouting off but real people taking part. He was so inspired that he even wrote a song about it. “Greet the old town folks, hear the gossip and the jokes, dip a donut in a good strong cup of Joe,” Gailmor sings. “Find your favorite chair, plant your buttocks there — we’re getting down to business, don’t you know.” At town meetings, people sometimes go beyond voting on local issues and decide to take a stand on national issues of the day. At home, Gailmor holds a photograph of his late wife, Cathy Murphy, when she was speaking out against nuclear weapons at an Elmore Town Meeting in the 1980s. This year, Elmore decides to take a stance on another broader issue by adopting a declaration of inclusion. It states the town will welcome all people regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity. Frank Bryan, a retired University of Vermont professor who wrote a book about town meetings, coined the term “forced civility” to describe the way people dealing with disagreements in person are compelled to recognize each other’s common humanity in a way that larger-scale political interactions do not allow. But just having voters show up for hours on a weekday morning is challenging. Morristown is one of many Vermont towns to end the tradition of town meetings. Richard Watts, the director of the Center for Research on Vermont at UVM, says people in larger towns tend to feel less sense of connection. There’s a key downside when a town moves to secret ballot, also known as an Australian ballot because states there were the first to adopt such a system in the mid-19th century: It’s usually a straight up-or-down vote. That means people can’t make tweaks or debate issues. And for some, the open, collegial debate is the genius of the entire system. Elmore’s Town Meeting has been going for nearly four hours. What has unfolded represents a cross-section of democracy, of people choosing for themselves how to live and work and govern. An impassioned speech by Julie Bomengen secures an extra $500 for the Lamoille Community Food Share, raising Elmore’s annual contribution to $750. VERMONT RESIDENT MAKES ‘UNSETTLING’ DISCOVERIES ON PROPERTY AS MIGRANT CRISIS HITS NORTHERN BORDER Several people have been criticizing the town’s spending habits. Others argue that replacing equipment like the road maintenance truck will only end up costing more if the can is kicked down the road. “We have just spent two-and-a-half million on this new garage, and then we go out and put

The West is giving Israel weapons while discussing delivering aid to Gaza

As lawmakers across much of the West debate the extent to which Israel may be hampering the passage of lifesaving aid into Gaza, the weapons exports that underpin much of Israel’s war on the besieged enclave continue to flow. Since the war began, the volume of weapons entering Israel has increased as huge volumes of ordinance are used to flatten areas of Gaza as well as kill, maim and displace its civilian population. “On the one hand, we have this dire humanitarian need, on the other hand, we have this continual supply of weapons to the country Israel, [which is] creating that need,”  Akshaya Kumar, the director of crisis advocacy at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said. International law  When it comes to arming another country, international law has rules and conventions to control who arms whom and what the weapons are used for. Under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide – which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in January may plausibly be under way in Gaza – states are legally bound to prevent genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The United States declined to sign the convention until 1988. Under the terms of the internationally binding Arms Trade Treaty – to which the US is not a signatory – a country is prohibited from exporting weapons to any state it suspects might use them for “genocide, crimes against humanity… attacks directed against civilian objects or civilians protected as such”. More than 31,000 Palestinians have died due to Israel’s war on Gaza so far, mostly women and children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, and some 73,000 have been injured. Health facilities, also under attack and siege, ceased being able to deal with the wounded and the dying months ago. The enclave is teetering on the brink of humanitarian catastrophe. The European Union’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, told the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday that Israel is using hunger as a weapon of war and manufacturing disaster by stopping aid from entering. Israel has also shot at people gathering to get what little aid is allowed in. While “Western states have recently been going to great lengths to have Israel recognise its role in creating the suffering we’re seeing in Gaza,” HRW’s Kumar said, “we’re not seeing any corresponding reduction in the flow of weapons from states such as the US, Germany and beyond”. Israel’s principal arms suppliers have focused on getting aid into Gaza to reach the Palestinians being attacked with many of the weapons they sold to Israel. US President Joe Biden used his State of the Union address this year to announce the creation of a maritime corridor by which he claims it would be possible to bypass Israel and deliver aid to Gaza. [embedded content] Reality on the ground While some countries have suspended arms exports to Israel in light of its war on Gaza, some significant suppliers remain. The US’s annual contribution of about $3.8bn to Israel’s military budget has continued, on top of which is a further $14bn for Israel the US approved in February, reportedly with an eye to preparing Israel for a “multi-front war” – which many read as opening another front against the armed group Hezbollah in Lebanon. According to the Stockholm Institute for Peace, the US provides 69 percent of Israel’s arms imports but recent confidential briefings to the US Congress, reported on by the Washington Post, suggest this may not be the full picture. A legal loophole in the US Arms Export Control Act – which governs the export and end-use of weapons shipped from the US – means only packages of a certain value need Congressional oversight, meaning “bundled packages” below that value are being slipped through regularly. So far, it was reported, about 100 arms shipments have taken place without any public record, causing an uproar among civil society groups. “With under-threshold sales and arms transfers, we have little insight into what munitions are being shipped – it’s a black hole,” Ari Tolany, the director of the Security Assistance Monitor at the US-based Center for International Policy said. “Similarly, while the Israeli government claims they can assure Biden these arms are used in compliance with IHL [international humanitarian law], evidence from Gaza shows that’s not the case.” The US maintains it is acting within the provisions of the law. Germany’s arms exports to Israel have increased too, with Berlin shipping some $350m worth of weaponry, a tenfold increase on 2022 exports, most of which was approved after the Hamas attack on Israel. Other countries, such as Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom, were all named in a UN report in February as maintaining their supplies. In response to a query by Al Jazeera as to the responsibility attached to arming Israel as it devastates Gaza, a US State Department spokesperson wrote that there “has been no determination that Israel has committed genocide, including in the ICJ”. In recent weeks, the UK and others are understood to have adopted a similar position over the well-reported and mounting humanitarian crisis in Gaza, maintaining business as usual while expressing concern that the weapons they continue to supply may be used in an impending assault on Rafah, where 1.4 million civilians are sheltering. [embedded content] Pushing back  However, while many countries in the West continue to provide Israel with weapons, other former exporters appear alive to the legal hazards of licencing weapons to a state the ICJ has found may plausibly be committing genocide. In addition to the Antwerp police being condemned by Belgium’s Labour Party for its decision to import antiriot weapons from Israel, there are wider, longstanding bans on weapons sales to Israel. Shortly after the assault on Gaza began in October, Italy and Spain halted arms shipments to Israel, though the latter continues to provide ammunition for “display”. Belgium’s Walloon regional government, as well as the Japanese Itochu Corporation, have also announced that

Is­rael’s war on Gaza: List of key events, day 164

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the raid on the hospital – Israel’s fourth since October – has resulted in deaths and injuries. Here’s how things stand on Monday, March 18, 2024: Fighting and humanitarian crisis Israeli forces stormed Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital, with a military spokesman claiming Hamas fighters have regrouped inside the medical facility. Gaza’s Ministry of Health said the raid on the hospital – Israel’s fourth since October – has resulted in deaths and injuries. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, some 30,000 people – including displaced civilians, wounded patients and medical staff – are trapped inside the hospital amid Israel’s onslaught. Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to go ahead with a ground assault on Rafah in Gaza after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned against it. In Gaza, 19 aid trucks arrived safely in Jabalia as the first convoys to travel from the south to the north of the Gaza Strip without incident in four months bring desperately needed aid. Israel’s air and ground campaign since October has killed more than 31,600 people, Gaza health authorities said. It has also driven most of the population from their homes, and brought people to the brink of famine, aid agencies added. Diplomacy and regional tensions The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of pro-Iran armed groups, has said it launched a drone attack at an Israeli airbase in the occupied Golan Heights. Meanwhile, the Jordanian army has announced detecting suspicious aerial movements from an unknown source along the border with Syria, according to the Reuters news agency. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned Israel’s Netanyahu on Sunday against his plans for a ground offensive in Rafah, while EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen echoed his sentiments during a visit to Cairo. Violence in the occupied West Bank The Wafa news agency is reporting that Israeli forces detained at least 25 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, including a woman from Gaza, a child and former prisoners. The woman from Gaza has cancer and was arrested as she was heading to Jerusalem to complete her treatment, the agency said, citing a joint statement from the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees. Adblock test (Why?)

Tensions high after Pakistan launches cross-border attacks into Afghanistan

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan has launched overnight air attacks inside Afghanistan, while the Taliban claimed hours later to have fired across the border. Tensions flared on Monday between Islamabad and Kabul following the overnight raids. Pakistan said the attack had targeted armed groups hiding out in border regions. The Taliban said eight women and children were killed. The Afghan defence ministry claimed later on Monday to have fired across the border at Pakistan positions. Islamabad has not yet commented on the claim. Pakistani military and foreign ministry sources confirmed to Al Jazeera that the “retaliatory” attacks had targeted the hideouts of commanders of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban, due to “terrorist activities being sponsored and conducted from across border”. They offered few details. However, on Saturday, a group of suicide bombers targeted a military check post in Pakistan’s North Waziristan district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which neighbours Afghanistan, killing seven soldiers. Afghanistan’s interim government said the Pakistani jets had hit the houses of “ordinary people” in Paktika and Khost provinces. They reported that at least eight people were killed; five women and three children. In a statement issued on X, government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the individual Pakistan claimed to have targeted continues to live in Pakistan. Kabul “strongly condemns” the “reckless action” which is a violation of Afghanistan territory, he continued. “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which has a long experience of freedom struggle against the superpowers of the world, does not allow anyone to invade its territory,” the post read. په افغانستان باندې د پاکستاني الوتکو د تجاوز په اړه د اسلامي امارت د ویاند څرګندونې https://t.co/pbCqKiJF36 pic.twitter.com/OZYsWWojLh — Zabihullah (..ذبـــــیح الله م ) (@Zabehulah_M33) March 18, 2024 Tension has risen between Pakistan and Afghanistan since the Taliban government seized power in 2021. Islamabad claims that hostile armed groups carry out regular attacks from across the border. Afghanistan reported in April 2022 that Pakistani air strikes in the east of the country killed 47 people. Analysts suggest that Monday’s strike can be linked to the suicide attack two days ago, which was claimed by a newly formed group, Jaish-e-Fursan-e-Muhammad, which is led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, leader of a Pakistani Taliban faction based in North Waziristan. In response, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif repeated the claim that armed groups are using Afghan soil from which to launch terrorist attacks inside Pakistan. “Terrorism against us is mostly being conducted from Afghanistan,” he said on Sunday. It’s a charge the Afghan Taliban has repeatedly denied. “We reject the presence of any … foreign groups in Afghanistan and they are not allowed to operate on Afghan soil. In this regard, we have made our utmost effort and continue to do so; but one thing we must accept is that Afghanistan shares a very long border area with Pakistan, and there are places with rugged terrain including mountains and forests, and places that might be out of our control,” Mujahid said in response. Bloody year Last year was bloody in Pakistan, with more than 650 attacks reported across the country, resulting in the deaths of nearly 1,000 people, most of whom were security personnel. Most attacks targeted the western provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, which border Afghanistan. While there have been various armed groups which have conducted acts of violence in Pakistan, the state’s main adversary has been the TTP, which is ideologically aligned with the Afghan Taliban. Since its founding in 2007, the TTP has targeted civilians and law enforcement personnel in Pakistan, resulting in thousands of deaths. The group demands the imposition of their hardline interpretation of Islamic laws, as well as a reversal of Pakistan’s decision to merge their tribal areas with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Abdul Sayed, a Sweden-based researcher on armed groups in South and Central Asia, says Pakistan’s air strikes on Monday appear to be a response to the suicide attack two days previously. “The attack in North Waziristan was extraordinarily large, reportedly involving six suicide bombers and a large truck bomb. The presence of top Pakistani officials, including the president and army chief, at the funerals, suggested potential future cross-border actions by Pakistan,” he told Al Jazeera. Muhammad Amir Rana, an Islamabad-based security analyst and director of the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS) says it is not unusual for the TTP or other armed groups to launch attacks during the month of Ramadan. “The state institutions have now adopted a tit-for-tat response to any threats. The Taliban are known to support the TTP, and there have been instances of their own members being involved in attacks in Pakistan,” he told Al Jazeera. It has also been noted that the sharp response of Pakistan against targets in Afghanistan is similar in nature to its reaction to January’s cross-border attacks by Iran. However, Rana suggests that the possibility of retaliatory attacks on targets in Pakistan following Monday’s air raids cannot be dismissed. “Unless diplomatic channels are activated, tensions between the two countries are likely to escalate in the coming weeks,” he cautioned. Adblock test (Why?)

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: EC orders removal of Bengal DGP, home secretaries of 6 states

The action comes days after the announcement of schedule for Lok Sabha elections 2024.

Why some Texas cities are getting rid of their minimum parking rules

Most cities require homes and businesses to have parking. Critics say they drive up housing costs, foster car dependency and raise carbon emissions.

Texas and the feds are at odds over the state’s new immigration enforcement law. Here’s what it would do.

Senate Bill 4 seeks to make illegal immigration a state crime and give Texas police the authority to arrest migrants suspected of illegally crossing the border.