Elon Musk denies selling Starlink to Russia after Ukraine claims use in war
Moscow says SpaceX’s internet service ‘cannot be officially used here in any way’. Elon Musk has denied selling his Starlink internet service to Russia after Ukraine claimed the terminals were being used by Russian troops on the front lines of the war. “A number of false news reports claim that SpaceX is selling Starlink terminals to Russia. This is categorically false,” Musk, who leads SpaceX and several other companies including Tesla, said in the post on X on Monday. “To the best of our knowledge, no Starlinks have been sold directly or indirectly to Russia.” Moscow also rejected Kyiv’s claim that Starlink terminals had been smuggled into Russia and were being used on a “systematic” basis in Russian-occupied Donetsk. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Starlink is not certified for use in Russia. “It cannot be officially supplied here and is not officially supplied here,” Peskov told reporters on Monday. On Sunday, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency GUR said that intercepted conversations among Russian forces revealed that Starlink terminals had been deployed among troops operating near the towns of Klishchiivka and Andriivka. GUR spokesman Andriy Yusov said on state TV that Starlink terminals were entering Russia through parallel importing, not official channels. Starlink said in a post on X last week that it “does not do business of any kind with the Russian Government or its military” and the service “will not work” in the country. Ukraine’s military has credited Starlink for allowing its forces to communicate, gather intelligence and coordinate attacks more quickly and securely than would be possible using radio or phone communications. Last year, Musk came under scrutiny after it emerged that he had refused a request by Ukraine to activate Starlink to assist in a surprise attack on Russia’s fleet in Crimea’s port of Sevastopol. Musk said he had refused the request, which was first reported in extracts of Walter Isaacson’s biography about the billionaire because it would have made him “explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation”. Adblock test (Why?)
US House speaker blasts Israel, Ukraine aid package as Senate advances bill
Republican Mike Johnson says the bill does not address the ‘most pressing’ issue of security at the US-Mexico border. United States House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson has cast doubt on the fate of a $95.3bn aid package for countries including Ukraine and Israel as the Senate voted to advance the legislation aimed at reassuring Washington’s allies. Johnson, the top Republican in the House, said the Senate had “failed to meet the moment” by not addressing security on the US-Mexico border, which he described as the “most pressing issue facing our country”. “The mandate of national security supplemental legislation was to secure America’s own border before sending additional foreign aid around the world,” Johnson said in a statement on Monday. “It is what the American people demand and deserve.” Johnson previously said that an earlier version of the bill would be “dead on arrival” as curbs it placed on unauthorised migration did not go far enough. Last week, a majority of Senate Republicans voted to kill a bipartisan bill that included the most comprehensive immigration reforms in years amid opposition by former President Donald Trump, who has led his party to adopt more sceptical stances towards immigration and intervention overseas. After stripping out the immigration provisions from the legislation, the Democratic-led Senate on Monday voted 66-33 to bring the military aid package closer to a final vote that could come as soon as Wednesday. Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said the deal reflected “our security, our values, our democracy” and would be a “down payment for the survival of Western democracy and the survival of Western values”. “The entire world is going to remember what the Senate does in the next few days,” Schumer said. US President Joe Biden has urged Congress to quickly approve additional military aid for Ukraine, Israel and Asia Pacific allies including Taiwan. Conservative Republicans in the House have resisted Biden’s calls, insisting on measures to tackle “illegal” immigration at the southern border and questioning the need to continue support for Ukraine. Senator JD Vance, an Ohio Republican, on Monday blasted the push to support Ukraine as a “fetish”. “There are some Republicans for whom Ukraine is the most important issue confronting the country,” Vance said in an interview with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. “And I just say, even if you’re pro Ukraine funding, and obviously I’m not, don’t we have 10 more important issues confronting this nation, between the border problem, the debt problem? Why are we so obsessed with this?” Adblock test (Why?)
Families of detained Palestinian Americans decry US government’s silence
Washington, DC – “Confirmed receipt.” That is the only message Yasmeen Elagha received from the United States government after two of her cousins — both Palestinian Americans — were detained by Israeli forces as they sheltered near Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Now, she is calling on the administration of US President Joe Biden to do more to assure their safety and secure their release. Elagha said her two cousins, 18-year-old Borak Alagha and 20-year-old Hashem Alagha, are being held without charge. “We’ve pleaded with the US government,” Elagha, a law student at Northwestern University in Chicago, explained. “The administration is fully failing in its duty.” Hers is one of several families pushing for the protection of Palestinian Americans taken into Israeli custody, as the war on Gaza stretches on. They gathered in Washington, DC, for a news conference on Monday to press for action. From the podium, Elagha explained that she learned of her cousins’ abduction in a February 7 phone call with her aunt in Gaza. Through tears, her aunt recounted how Israeli soldiers broke into their shelter in al-Mowasi, near Khan Younis, and tied up the women and children. The men met a different fate. Elagha’s aunt described how the two cousins, along with their father, their uncle and two other male relatives were all taken away. The soldiers left the shelter trashed and the family’s car tyres slashed, according to Elagha’s aunt. None of the men have been heard from since. In the days since, Elagha has sent a flurry of emails, to US embassies in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Cairo, as well as a US task force on Gaza. She has received only the one reply confirming her appeal had been received. The wait for information has been excruciating, she said. “The minutes feel like hours, so it feels like it’s been already a month since they’ve been gone.” Allegations of trumped-up charges Suliman Hamed, a Louisiana resident, shared a similar experience at the event, hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). He said his Palestinian American mother, 46-year-old Samaher Esmail, was taken into Israeli custody in the occupied West Bank last Monday, and he has not been able to speak with her since. He explained he has only received one call from an embassy official in the aftermath of her detention. Days have passed, but still, consular staff have not visited her where she is being held at the Damon prison in Haifa, Hamed explained. “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and now Monday again. Nobody from the US embassy has visited or spoken with my mother, a US citizen,” he said. While she waits in prison, Hamed worries about his mother’s health. Her lawyer told him that she has not received her medication since she was arrested. “It’s been seven days and she still has not received a single medication. This has resulted in her condition worsening greatly,” Hamad said. “We have repeatedly asked the US embassy to send a consular officer to my mom, so we can get an update on her condition.” His mother was arrested on allegations of “incitement on social media”, he explained. Hamed and his brother Ibrahim fear she was targeted in retaliation for a lawsuit she filed against the Israeli military, after allegedly being beaten during a traffic stop in 2022. Rights groups have long accused Israeli authorities of using trumped-up charges of “incitement” to crack down on Palestinians and suppress free speech. But arrests overall in the occupied West Bank have surged since the start of the war on October 7. The Palestinian Prisoners Club, an advocacy organisation, has documented 6,870 detentions as of last week. “Israel is trying to use my mother as an example,” said Hamed. “They’re trying to scare Palestinians and Palestinian Americans. If this can happen to a Palestinian American woman, this could happen to you.” Ibrahim Hamed and Suliman Hamed, the sons of American Samaher Esmail, speak about her ongoing detention in Israeli prison [Joseph Stepansky/Al Jazeera] Reports of beatings, humiliating treatment Since the start of the war in Gaza on October 7, allegations of enforced disappearances, abuses and torture at the hands of Israeli forces have also been rampant. In January, Ajith Sunghay, the head of the United Nations Human Rights office for the occupied Palestinian territories, published a report where he collected accounts of detainees being “beaten, humiliated, subjected to ill-treatment and to what may amount to torture”. Many were held between 35 and 55 days, Sunghay wrote. His report, and others, have sparked fears among the families of those in custody. “With everything we’ve learned happens to Palestinian men when they’re detained by Israel, especially since October 7, we’re just imagining the torture that they are facing,” Elagha said of her cousins. Hamed, meanwhile, recalled how his mother’s lawyer described bruises on her arms and back. He and his brother believe she was beaten by Israeli forces. The lawyer told them that Esmail even lost consciousness twice during a prison interview. Not following protocols When asked about the US citizens detained overseas, the State Department said it is working to ensure their fair and humane treatment. “As you know, we have no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens overseas,” spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters on February 8. But Maria Kari, an immigration lawyer, told Al Jazeera the State Department’s stance does not go far enough. She is working with the family of Borak and Hashem Alagha to file a lawsuit against the government. She told Al Jazeera the Biden administration appears to have not followed the proper protocol for situations where a US citizen is taken hostage or forcibly disappeared, either by a non-state or state actor. “Here, we have Israeli soldiers having wrongly detained [the Alagha siblings] in an enforced disappearance, all very illegal and in direct contravention of both domestic US laws and international laws,” she said. That situation should “require consular access right away”, she explained. “The president’s
Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to be freed: Reports
Justice minister says Thaksin was one of 930 inmates given parole on Tuesday with release expected after February 17. Thailand’s jailed former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is set to be freed, according to local media reports. Thaksin, 74, who was jailed for eight years for abuse of power before a royal pardon reduced the term to one year, was granted release on the basis of his age and health, Thai media reported on Tuesday, citing Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong. The politician and business tycoon was transferred to hospital after a single night in jail as a result of high blood pressure and has been there ever since. He was among 930 inmates given parole on Tuesday, Tawee told reporters, and is expected to be released after February 17. Thailand returned to Thailand last August following more than 14 years in exile. Thaksin swept to power in 2001 on a populist platform that appealed to rural Thais who had long been neglected by the country’s ruling elites. He was returned in a landslide five years later but, in September 2006, when Thaksin was in New York preparing to address the United Nations, the military seized power in a coup. Thaksin – who was also accused of serious human rights abuses amid a violent conflict in the country’s mostly Muslim southern provinces and a “drugs war”, which left thousands dead – was later convicted of abuse of power and went into exile, mostly in Dubai. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Ahlan Modi’: PM Modi’s mega event in UAE ahead of inauguration of first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi, check full schedule
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will host Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13-14, 2024.
Farmers protest: Here’s why farmers from Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh are protesting again
The Delhi police went into planning mode, declaring several diversions for Monday and Tuesday and putting bans on everything in the North East due to farmers protest.
Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi hold meeting on Lok Sabha polls, seat sharing in INDIA bloc
According to the sources, the meeting was attended by AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal, and AICC Treasurer Ajay Maken to discuss the preparations of Loksabha polls and alliance formulation with INDIA bloc parties.
Weather update: IMD predicts rains in these states on Feb 13-14, check full forecast here
“Rainfall with thunderstorm activity likely over Central India during 11th-13th February, 2024”, read IMD official statement.
Trump endorses new RNC chair, announces daughter-in-law’s run for vice chair
Former President Donald Trump, on Monday, announced his recommendations for changes within the Republican National Committee, proposing leadership positions for North Carolina GOP chair Michael Whatley, daughter-in-law Lara Trump and campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita. Last Week, Trump recommended Whatley replace RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel after the South Carolina Primary. A source familiar with the change told Fox News Digital at the time that Trump was pushing for Whatley to replace McDaniel because he was “so powerful on election fraud” in 2020. On Monday, Trump officially announced that he believes Whatley should be the RNC’s next leader. “Michael has been with me from the beginning, has done a great job in his home state of North Carolina, and is committed to election integrity, which we must have to keep fraud out of our election, so it can’t be stolen,” Trump said. TRUMP RECOMMENDS NORTH CAROLINA GOP CHAIR WHATLEY TO REPLACE MCDANIEL AT RNC: SOURCE Whatley has served as the North Carolina GOP chair since 2019. Whatley also serves as the general counsel for the Republican National Committee. Prior to his work with the Republican Party, Whatley served as a federal law clerk, a senior official in the President George W. Bush administration and as the chief of staff for former Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C. Whatley also served as a senior adviser to the Bush-Cheney campaign, Florida Recount and Transition Teams, as well as the Trump-Pence campaign and transition teams. Along with looking to get Whatley into the top leadership position in the committee, Trump announced plans for his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to run as co-chair of the RNC. RNC CHAIR RONNA MCDANIEL TO STEP DOWN AFTER SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARIES: REPORT “Lara is an extremely talented communicator and is dedicated to all that MAGA stands for,” the former president said. “She has told me she wants to accept this challenge and would be GREAT!” The third position Trump hopes to have influence on within the committee is chief operating officer. He’d like to see Chris LaCivita in that role. “Chris will manage the RNC’s day-to-day operations, so it will become a fighting machine for 2024 and use all the tools available to win for the American people,” Trump said. TRUMP MEETS WITH RONNA MCDANIEL – THEN CALLS FOR CHANGES AT REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE The 45th president also said the three individuals are “highly talented, battle-tested, and smart,” adding they have his “complete and total endorsement” to lead the RNC. As Trump seeks reelection to serve as Commander in Chief for another four years, he stated on Monday how crucial it was for the RNC to be a good partner during the election. “That means helping to ensure fair and transparent elections across the country, getting out the vote everywhere – even in parts of the country where it won’t be easy – and working with my campaign, as the Republican presumptive nominee for President, to win this election and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” he exclaimed. FIRST ON FOX: RNC REBOUNDS WITH STRONG FUNDRAISING MONTH Last week, Trump met with McDaniel at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, and after the meeting, he posted on his Truth Social that McDaniel was a “friend” but that he would be urging changes at the RNC after the South Carolina presidential primary. The former president pointed to McDaniel’s previous tenure as chair of the Michigan GOP. “I think she did OK, initially, in the RNC. I would say right now, there’ll probably be some changes made,” he added. When she won reelection last year, McDaniel said in an interview with Fox News that it would be her last two-year term steering the national party committee. If McDaniel does resign, her replacement would need approval from the 168 RNC committee members. McDaniel addressed the speculation last week in a letter to RNC members, reassuring them that she was still hard at work as RNC chairwoman, “building a machine that will elect Republicans up and down the ballot in November.” Brooke Singman and Paul Steinhauser of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
One person killed, five injured in New York subway shooting
DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY, 34-year-old man killed after gunfire breaks out following argument between groups of teenagers at station in the Bronx. One person has been killed and five others injured in a shooting at a subway station in New York City, authorities in the United States’s biggest city have said. Gunfire broke out after an argument between two groups of teenagers at a train platform in the Bronx on Monday as office workers and students were beginning their evening commute, according to authorities. Police said a 34-year-old man was killed, with the wounded including a 14-year-old girl, a 15-year-old boy and a 71-year-old. Police said they were searching for at least one shooter, although they had not ruled out the possibility that more than one person was involved. “We don’t believe this was a random shooting. We don’t believe this was just an individual shooting indiscriminately onto a train. We believe this shooting all stemmed from a dispute between two groups that started on a train,” police transit chief Michael Kemper said during a news conference. Television news earlier showed a major emergency response at the elevated Mount Eden Avenue subway station, about 14km (9 miles) north of Manhattan’s Times Square, and a subway train stopped at the station. Witness Efrain Feliciano, 61, told Daily News there were “bullets flying everywhere”. “I saw sparkles as the bullets hit the wall,” Feliciano was quoted as saying. “A woman was holding a child screaming.” Gun violence is common in the US compared with other developed countries, although New York City is safer than other major urban centres and shootings on the city’s subway system are rare. Adblock test (Why?)