Message was ‘privately delivered’ to Iran after strikes on Houthi targets, Biden says

 President Biden said Saturday that the United States has “privately” delivered a message to Iran over its backing of Houthis targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

As he was heading to Camp David for the weekend, Biden was asked Saturday what message was being sent to Iran through a pair of attacks targeting dozens of facilities in Yemen controlled by the Tehran proxies. 

“We delivered it privately and we’re confident we’re well prepared,” the president answered.

On Friday, US officials said the Navy destroyer USS Carney fired off Tomahawk land missiles that struck a Houthi radar site being used to target ships in the Red Sea.

The attack was described as a “follow-on action…to degrade the Houthis’ ability to attack maritime vessels, including commercial vessels,” Central Command wrote on X. 

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President Biden said the United States has “privately” delivered a message to Iran over its backing of Houthis targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea.AFP via Getty Images

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Footage taken from an RAF Typhoon PoOD over Yemen shows a targeted strike against Houthi military targets.u k Ministry of Defense/UPI/Shutterstock

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An RAF Typhoon aircraft takes off from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to join the U.S.-led coalition to conduct air strikes against military targets in Yemen on Thursday, January 11, 2024, according to reports.u k Ministry of Defense/UPI/Shutterstock

Friday’s attack followed a wider air raid Thursday led by American and British forces, which blitzed over 60 Houthi targets across 28 locations in Yemen, killing at least five and wounding six others. 

The series of attacks were conducted in response to a missile and drone strike campaign by Houthis targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea. 

Biden said Friday that the American military’s initial strikes on Houthi targets had “already delivered the message to Iran …. They know not to do anything.”

The Houthis, who control most of northern Yemen, have vowed retaliation, with spokesman Nasruldeen Amer telling Al Jazeera that “this new strike will have a firm, strong and effective response.” 

Another Houthi spokesman, Mohammed Abdulsalam, downplayed the strikes’ damage, saying they wouldn’t deter the rebels from continuing their assaults on vessels crossing the Red Sea. 

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People protest following the U.S. and Britain strikes across Yemen against Iran-backed Houthi forces, at a rally in Seattle, Washington, U.S., January 12, 2024.REUTERS

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The series of attacks were conducted in response to a missile and drone strike campaign by Houthis targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea. Getty Images

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On Friday, Biden said that the American military’s initial strikes on Houthi targets had “already delivered the message to Iran …. They know not to do anything.”AP

Iran officials had insisted Thursday’s strikes were “a clear violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and a breach of international laws.”

The escalating Red Sea tensions come amid concerns about a growing regional conflict in the Middle East amid the Israel-Hamas war.

https://nypost.com/2024/01/13/news/biden-says-message-was-privately-delivered-to-iran-after-strikes-on-houthis/

'The Trump voters in swing states who are returning to the fold'

 Donald Trump begins 2024 as the clear frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination despite facing scores of criminal charges, a dynamic that would doom most other candidates and has confounded his political opponents.

Those criminal charges include indictments for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

To try to understand his enduring appeal, Reuters spoke to five Trump supporters in five general election battleground states: Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

Trump currently leads Democratic President Joe Biden in several swing state general election polls, suggesting he will be highly competitive in a likely re-match next November.

Although all five Republicans voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, three began 2023 open to other Republican candidates, including two who said they initially planned to vote for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

As voting in the Republican nomination contest kicks off in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15, four now see Trump as their party's best hope to defeat Biden in November. They cite Trump's isolationist foreign policy, criminal charges, and hard line on immigration as key reasons for their return.

None are full-blown "election deniers" backing Trump's false claims that he, and not Biden, won the 2020 election. But they say the U.S. election system needs greater oversight.

All said they saw Trump as a strong leader and none considered him racist, despite past comments decrying Haiti and some African nations as "shithole" countries which stirred widespread criticism and recent accusations that migrants were "poisoning the blood" of America, language used by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler about Jewish people. The Trump campaign has dismissed criticism of the former president's language as "nonsensical, arguing that similar language was prevalent in books, news articles and on TV.

MARK LIPP, BUSINESS CONSULTANT, NEVADA

A year ago Mark Lipp, 68, knew who he wanted to vote for in the Republican presidential primaries: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, "because there was so much commotion around the name Trump."

Yet Lipp - who sold his fiber-optic cable business in 2014 and lives in an 8-bedroom, 12-bathroom mansion in Las Vegas - is today all in for Trump.

Lipp says his return to Trump began with Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In March 2023, DeSantis downplayed the invasion, calling it a "territorial dispute".

"That really made me wonder about DeSantis's knowledge of international politics and how it affects the United States. It really concerned me," Lipp said.

Lipp, an observant Jew who grew up in the Bronx and who has an Israeli wife, said that as 2023 progressed he came to see Trump as the only presidential candidate capable of dealing with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and growing friction with China.

When the Palestinian militia group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing over 1,200 Israelis and triggering a war in Gaza, Lipp said that sealed the deal for him.

"Trump has a business background and he's a great negotiator. He has a strong personality. These conflicts can be resolved through negotiation, and Trump is the right man at the right time."

CAMILLA MOORE, RETIRED CITY MANAGER, GEORGIA

When Trump's mugshot lit up news broadcasts last August after he was booked on felony charges related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia, Camilla Moore said she was bombarded with calls and messages from other Black people who said they could relate to the former president.

"The Black community can really sympathize with what Trump is going through because this is (our)history," said Moore, 64, who lives outside Atlanta. "Black people know about trumped-up charges, someone who's been unfairly targeted by the law."

Trump's legal woes differ greatly from the historic inequities Black Americans have experienced in the criminal justice system.

As chair of the Georgia Black Republican Council, Moore says she is required to stay neutral in the primary but would happily vote for Trump if he is the nominee. She liked Trump's record on the economy and said the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts made her appreciate his "unpredictable" approach to foreign leaders, believing it would have averted those wars.

Moore said Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who brought the charges against Trump in Georgia, is overstepping her jurisdiction in prosecuting a federal election matter.

Moore views the federal prosecution of Trump for election subversion differently, saying she would accept a verdict if the evidence was overwhelming and the trial conducted fairly.

With talk of compromise and civility, Moore sounds like a Republican from another era. The hallway of her home is adorned with pictures of presidents from both parties, including a framed invitation to former Democratic President Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration, which she attended as a member of the Georgia Republican Party's executive committee.

"I always respect the office of the president, regardless of who sits in it," she said. "Because we are Americans, right?"

CARLOS RUIZ, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER, ARIZONA

Carlos Ruiz sells custom-cut raw material to manufacturers including aircraft and medical device makers. The MBA and metallurgy graduate founded his Tucson-based company 21 years ago and runs it with his wife and three other employees.

Ruiz, 60, began 2023 supporting DeSantis, impressed by his record in Florida and his landslide re-election as governor in 2022, at a time when many Trump-backed Republicans lost.

"Early on, I thought Trump's had his four years, and there's other candidates like DeSantis emerging," Ruiz said from his office in a business park on the outskirts of Tucson.

Then two issues rallied Ruiz behind Trump again.

The first was the increase in migrants crossing the Mexican border, 60 miles south of Ruiz's home. Since Biden took office, arrests of migrants at the border have reached record highs.

"We don't know who these people are," Ruiz said, adding many are young men, some of whom could be terrorists. Despite Trump's hard line rhetoric on immigration, there is no evidence that potential terrorists have crossed the border.

Ruiz praised policies introduced by Trump when he was president including building some new sections of border wall, and keeping asylum seekers in Mexico.

"Trump introduced common-sense policies that changed the attraction for all of these people coming into the country. He's already proved he can do it and the policies were working."

The second issue that swung Ruiz back behind Trump was the multiple criminal charges against him. Ruiz likened the indictments to Biden and the Democrats using "banana republic" tactics against Trump.

"That gives the green light to every tyrant at all levels of government to do the same thing to anybody," Ruiz said, echoing the words of Trump in campaign speeches.

The Biden administration has denied any involvement in pursuing cases against Trump.

MEGAN CHUDEREWICZ-ADAMS, SALES MANAGER, PENNSYLVANIA

Megan Chuderewicz-Adams, 43, had been a staunch Trump supporter when COVID-19 hit and school shutdowns caused her to question whether he was deferring too much to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease official who became the face of America's pandemic response under Trump.

But ultimately Chuderewicz-Adams, the married mother of a five-year-old son in a Pittsburgh suburb, decided the blame for what she viewed as overly restrictive COVID policies shouldn't lie with Trump, but with her state's governor.

"I think we suffered more in Pennsylvania than we would have living in another state," said Chuderewicz-Adams, a sales and marketing manager for a property developer.

While she says DeSantis did a "great job" running Florida, where he came out against many COVID restrictions, she doesn't think he is worthy of unseating Trump.

Chuderewicz-Adams ran successfully for the Plum Borough School District board in November 2021. She campaigned on "parental choice" and against "indoctrination," part of a wave of conservative women who sought school board seats to contest mask and vaccine mandates and to curtail the instruction of sexuality and racial identity in public schools.

Chuderewicz-Adams likes that Trump speaks without a filter, dismissing the uproar over his "poisoning the blood" comments as alarmist. And she thinks it wrong to single Trump out for the Jan. 6 attack. "It wasn't a good day," she said. "But I don't hold one man responsible."

RANDY JOHNSON, TOWNSHIP SUPERVISOR, MICHIGAN

As the supervisor of Adams Township, a section of rural Michigan of about 2,300 mainly working-class residents, Randy Johnson is the person you call if you have a zoning complaint or a problem with a neighbor.

Johnson, 65, looks around the township and doesn't like what he sees: Families that don't have enough to eat, who can't afford reliable cars or to heat their homes. He worries about military veterans. "We're in a downward spiral," he said.

To Johnson, migrants crossing across the U.S. southern border deserve some of the blame. He said they are soaking up government resources that could be better used somewhere else.

"Why is it our government would help somebody who isn't an American, isn't sitting here and hasn't grown up here their whole life?" he said.

Johnson likes Trump's tough stance on migration, and believes Trump will slow the crossings and deport as many migrants as feasibly possible.

Like many of Trump's supporters, Johnson said he wishes Trump would tone down his rhetoric, but he's not ready to abandon him for DeSantis, whom he also admires.

Johnson stops short of calling the 2020 election rigged but harbors suspicions about Biden's victory. Press Johnson harder and he will tell you those who stormed the U.S. Capitol were simply "voicing their opinion."

Johnson can't foresee any way Trump could legitimately lose again to Biden. He fears violence should the Republican fail to return to the White House.

It's why the Second Amendment - the right to bear arms - is in the Constitution, he said: "Not to protect yourself from your neighbor but to protect yourself from your government."

https://news.yahoo.com/trump-voters-swing-states-returning-113304607.html

Democrats Bring Bill To Prohibit Armed Citizen Militias

 by Ryan Morgan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Democrat lawmakers are advancing legislation intended to prevent privately organized paramilitary and militia group activities within the United States.

Introduced by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Thursday, the bill dubbed the “Preventing Private Paramilitary Activity Act” would prohibit privately organized groups from “publicly patrolling, drilling, or engaging in harmful or deadly paramilitary techniques,” “interfering with or interrupting government proceedings,” or “interfering with the exercise of someone else’s constitutional rights,” according to Mr. Markey.

Their bills defines a “private paramilitary organization” as “any group of 3 or more persons associating under a command structure for the purpose of functioning in public or training to function in public as a combat, combat support, law enforcement, or security services unit.” The bill states acting with or on behalf of such a private paramilitary organization while armed with a firearm, explosive, incendiary device, or other dangerous weapon, and engaging in patrolling, training, interfering with government or constitutional rights, or assuming the functions of law enforcement without official authority.

The bill makes exceptions for members of the National Guard and other military reserve components, state guard forces, and members of other federal or state-organized groups to train in and apply paramilitary, law enforcement, and security service activity. The bill also allows for the organization of groups formed solely to conduct military reenactments, “bona-fide veterans organization with no intent to engage” in the aforementioned prohibited activities, and students in government or state-authorized educational institutions that teach military science.

Lawmakers Bring Bill in Response to Capitol Breach

Mr. Markey and Mr. Raskin introduced their legislation just days after the three-year anniversary of the breach at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a point they repeatedly referenced in a press release announcing the bill.

“Patrolling neighborhoods, impeding law enforcement and storming the U.S. Capitol, private paramilitary groups like the Oath Keepers, the Three Percenters and the Proud Boys are using political violence to intimidate our people and threaten democratic government and the rule of law,” Mr. Raskin said. “Our legislation makes the obvious but essential clarification that these domestic extremists’ paramilitary operations are in no way protected by our Constitution.”

Though rioters and demonstrators did not use firearms or other deadly weapons during the events at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, many did use blunt objects and pepper spray in clashes with police officers that day. Some individuals have also been charged for having firearms and other deadly weapons on their person while on Capitol grounds that day. In trials against members of the Oath Keepers and other defendants, prosecutors made note of members of the group moving through the crowds in an apparent practiced and organized fashion frequently described as a “stack” formation, as well as wearing tactical gear, and using portable communication devices to stay in contact and coordinate their actions.

“Three years ago, white supremacists affiliated with paramilitary organizations stormed the U.S. Capitol, shattering windows, walls, and the families of five U.S. Capitol police officers,” said Mr. Markey. “Private paramilitary actors, such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, pose a serious threat to democracy and the rule of law, and we must create new prohibitions on their unauthorized activities that interfere with the exercise of people’s constitutional rights. The forces of bigotry, hatred, and violent extremism must be stopped for the sake of our democracy.”

Prior to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, members of the Proud Boys had organized at conservative and right-leaning gatherings and demonstrations and clashed with violent counter-demonstrators—often members of the Antifa extremist group—intent on disrupting those gatherings.

Other Armed Organizations and Incidents

Following the death of George Floyd, a black man, in Minneapolis police custody in 2020, many left-wing groups organized in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and engaged in protests and riots throughout the summer of 2020. At various demonstrations, members of these groups often clashed with police officers. For weeks, rioters also threw fireworks, incendiary devices, and rocks at federal officers guarding a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon.

During a political rally in support of President Donald Trump in Portland on Aug. 29, 2020, Trump supporters were met with violent counterprotesters. Trump supporter Aaron Danielson was shot and killed while walking to a parking garage following the event. In an interview with Vice News while evading law enforcement, self-described Antifa activist Michael Reinhoel described shooting Danielson while claiming he acted in self-defense. Reinhoel was charged with murder but was shot and killed during a confrontation with federal law enforcement officers attempting his arrest.

Mr. Markey and Mr. Raskin made no mention of any left-leaning organizations while announcing their bill on Thursday. Mr. Raskin told The Washington Times that the legislation was not written with a particular ideological viewpoint in mind.

During the civil unrest in the summer of 2020, some armed groups organized to protect private property from looting and vandalism. Several armed individuals organized to prevent property destruction at a gas station and used car lot in Kenosha, Wisconsin, amid rioting and arson in the city in August of 2020. It was during that incident that an individual who had joined the armed organized group, then-17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, shot and killed two people and wounded a third. Mr. Rittenhouse was charged with murder, but was acquitted after arguing he had acted in self-defense after he had been attacked by several individuals who‘d targeted private property and who’d chased after him, struck him, and pointed a firearm at him.

Individuals have also engaged in non-violent protest events while exercising their rights to carry firearms in public under relevant state and local laws.

NTD News reached out for comment from Mr. Markey and Mr. Raskin, with questions as to whether their legislation would impact organized groups of individuals guarding private property, participating in neighborhood watch groups, or attending nonviolent public demonstrations while armed. They did not respond by press time.

This week, U.S. Circuit Judge Florence Pan, an appointee of President Joe Biden, raised the hypothetical scenario of a president ordering the military to assassinate political rivals. NTD News asked Mr. Markey’s office whether groups that organize and train to respond to that scenario and other hypothetical scenarios involving tyrannical government action would be punished under his proposed legislation.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/democrats-bring-bill-prohibit-armed-citizen-militias

World reactions to Taiwan election

 Following are reactions by some foreign leaders and other officials to the result of Saturday's election in Taiwan, won by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) presidential candidate Lai Ching-te. Lai's party champions Taiwan's separate identity and rejects China's territorial claims.

CHINA'S TAIWAN AFFAIRS OFFICE

China's Taiwan Affairs Office said Lai's win would not change the basic landscape of cross-strait relations.

In a statement carried on China's state Xinhua news agency, Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the office, said the results showed the Democratic Progressive Party cannot represent mainstream public opinion on the island.

U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN

"We do not support independence..." Biden said, when asked for reaction to Saturday's elections. Hours ahead of the polls opening, Washington had warned "it would be unacceptable" for "any" country to interfere in the election.

BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER DAVID CAMERON

Cameron congratulated Lai on his win and said he hoped Taiwan and China would renew efforts to resolve their differences peacefully.

"The elections today are testament to Taiwan's vibrant democracy," he said in a statement. "I hope that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait will renew efforts to resolve differences peacefully through constructive dialogue, without the threat or use of force or coercion."

JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER YOKO KAMIKAWA

Japan offered congratulations for Lai's election and the smooth vote, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said in a statement.

"We expect that the issue surrounding Taiwan will be resolved peacefully through dialogue, thereby contributing to the peace and stability in the region," the statement said.

"For Japan, Taiwan is an extremely crucial partner and an important friend, with which it shares fundamental values and enjoys close economic relations and people-to-people exchanges," it said, repeating Japan's usual lines about Taiwan.

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, commenting after the vote, said Moscow continued to view Taiwan as an integral part of China.

https://www.marketscreener.com/news/latest/Factbox-World-reactions-to-Taiwan-election-45736989/

AI in recovery mode: China dismantles Nvidia GeForce gamers

 To make up for the lack of powerful chips for artificial intelligence, China is resorting to scavenging. The Financial Times reveals that companies are buying Nvidia graphics cards dedicated to video games and stripping them of their main components, in order to recycle the chips.

This cobbled-together solution provides chips with high computing power, even if they are far less powerful than those specifically dedicated to AI, especially when high-precision computing is required. It's also easy to imagine that this should help Nvidia 's order books stay weightless.

The FT relays comments from industry specialists revealing that demand for PC graphics cards "exploded" in December. A workshop manager in China explained that his workers boned more than 4,000 Nvidia gamer cards last month, four times as many as in November. Customers are mainly state-owned enterprises and small AI players who were caught short by the entry into force of US export controls, having previously overstocked.

Less powerful cards

Nvidia's most powerful gaming graphics card, the GeForce RTX 4090, was one of the most popular models to be reassigned, but its sale in China is now prohibited. Nvidia does, however, sell a slightly less powerful GeForce RTX 4090 D in China.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang with the 4090

The current semiconductor star explained to the FT, however, that these cards are not a panacea for AI, and that their use, even in clusters, is insufficient to achieve good performance on complex models.

Nvidia will soon have a range of three chips for the Chinese market, compatible with US restrictions.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/NVIDIA-CORPORATION-57355629/news/AI-in-recovery-mode-China-dismantles-Nvidia-GeForce-gamers-45712881/

Biden: US does not support Taiwan independence

 U.S. President Joe Biden said on Saturday the United States does not support the independence of Taiwan, after Taiwanese voters rebuffed China and gave the ruling party a third presidential term.

Earlier in the day, the Taiwanese ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) presidential candidate Lai Ching-te came to power, strongly rejecting Chinese pressure to spurn him, and pledged both to stand up to Beijing and seek talks.

"We do not support independence..." Biden said, when asked for reaction to Saturday's elections.

Hours ahead of the polls opening, Washington had warned "it would be unacceptable" for "any" country to interfere in the election.

Taiwan, a neighbouring island China claims as its own, has been a democratic success story since holding its first direct presidential election in 1996, the culmination of decades of struggle against authoritarian rule and martial law.

The United States is Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties with the island.

The Biden administration has feared that the election, transition and new administration would escalate conflict with Beijing.

Biden has worked to smooth relations with China, including agreeing to talk through differences on security matters at a California summit with President Xi Jinping in November.

Taiwan's government expects China to attempt to put pressure on its incoming president after the vote, including staging military maneuvers near the island this spring, two senior government officials said. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.

In a show of support for the government, Biden plans to dispatch an unofficial delegation to the self-governed island, according to a senior Biden administration official.

The delegation is likely to include some former high-ranking American officials, according to the official, who said the names have not been finalized. Similar delegations have been sent to Taiwan in the past.

China was angered in 2016 when then-President-elect Donald Trump spoke by phone with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, the first such conversation between U.S. and Taiwan leaders since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979.

https://www.marketscreener.com/news/latest/Biden-US-does-not-support-Taiwan-independence-45736962/