Davangere: Lightning strikes four including mother-daughter
Davangere, October 15: Four persons including a mother and her daughter died when lightning struck them during a rain coupled with gusty wind and lightning, in the district on Monday.
The deceased have been identified as Lalitha Bai (28) and her daughter Shwetha (11) of Chennahalli Thanda in Harapanahalli taluk, Shantamma (60) of Gowdikatte and Ajjaiah (38) of Kalenahalli in Jagalur taluk.
Both mother and daughter died on the spot when the lightning struck them while working in the field on Monday afternoon. When Lalitha Bai and Shwetha have gone to the field to pick up cucumber in the field, it started to rain heavily. As it was raining heavily, both of them were having lunch when the lightning struck them. Tahsildar Dr. Madhu, Taluk Panchayat Member Hulikatte Chandrappa visited the spot and assured of getting them the compensation from the government.
Shantamma died on the way to her home from her field due to lightning. In the same way, Ajjaiah also died when the lightning struck him while working in the field.
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Top US counterterrorism official resigns over Iran war, says Iran posed no imminent threat
Washington (AP): Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Centre, announced his resignation on Tuesday, saying he “cannot in good conscience” back the Trump administration's war in Iran.
Kent said on social media Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
There was no immediate comment from the White House.
Kent, a former political candidate with connections to right-wing extremists, was confirmed to his post last July on a 52-44 vote.
As head of the National Counterterrorism Centre, he was in charge of an agency tasked with analysing and detecting terrorist threats.
Before entering President Donald Trump's administration, Kent ran two unsuccessful campaigns for Congress in Washington state. He also served in the military, seeing 11 deployments as a Green Beret, followed by work at the CIA.
Democrats strongly opposed Kent's confirmation, pointing to his past ties to far-right figures and conspiracy theories. During his 2022 congressional campaign, Kent paid Graham Jorgensen, a member of the far-right military group the Proud Boys, for consulting work. He also worked closely with Joey Gibson, the founder of the Christian nationalist group Patriot Prayer, and attracted support from a variety of far-right figures.
During his Senate confirmation hearing, Kent also refused to distance himself from a conspiracy theory that federal agents instigated the January 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, as well as false claims that Trump, a Republican, won the 2020 election over Democrat Joe Biden.
Democrats grilled Kent on his participation in a group chat on Signal that was used by Trump's national security team to discuss sensitive military plans.
Still, Republicans praised Kent's counterterrorism qualifications, pointing to his military and intelligence experience.
Sen. Tom Cotton, the GOP chair of the intelligence committee, said in a floor speech that Kent had "dedicated his career to fighting terrorism and keeping Americans safe.”
