US Navy helicopters fire at Yemen's Houthi rebels and kill several in latest Red Sea shipping attack
Beirut (AP): The US military said Sunday that its forces opened fire on Houthi rebels after they attacked a cargo ship in the Red Sea, killing several of them in an escalation of the maritime conflict linked to the war in Gaza. "We're going to act in a self-defence going forward," a White House official said.
In a series of statements, the US Central Command said the crew of the USS Gravely destroyer first shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired at the Singapore-flagged Maersk Hangzhou late Saturday, after the vessel reported getting hit by a missile earlier that evening as it sailed through the Southern Red Sea.
Four small boats then attacked the same cargo ship with small arms fire early Sunday and rebels tried to board the vessel, the US Navy said.
Next, the USS Gravely and helicopters from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier responded to the Maersk Hangzhou's distress call and issued verbal warnings to the attackers, who responded by firing on the helicopters.
"The US Navy helicopters returned fire in self-defence," sinking three of the four boats and killing the people on board while the fourth boat fled the area, the US Central Command said. No harm to US personnel or equipment, or casualties from the cargo ship, were reported.
The Houthis acknowledged that 10 of their fighters were killed in the confrontation and warned of consequences.
In Washington, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council sidestepped a question about the possibility of a preemptive strike against the Houthis to safeguard commercial shipping in the vital waterway.
"I won't say what's on or off the table right now," John Kirby told ABC's "Good Morning America," adding, "We're going to do what we have to do to protect shipping." He said the United States has "significant national security interests in the region" and "we're going to put the kind of forces we need in the region to protect those interests and we're going to act in self-defence going forward."
He said the US has made it clear to the Houthis that "we take these threats seriously and we're going to make the right decisions going forward".
The events surrounding the Maersk Hangzhou represented the 23rd illegal attack by the Houthis on international shipping since November 19, the Central Command said. It was the first time the US Navy said its personnel had killed Houthi fighters since the Red Sea attacks started.
For over a month, Iran-backed Houthis have claimed attacks on ships in the Red Sea that they say are either linked to Israel or heading to Israeli ports. They say their attacks aim to end the Israeli air-and-ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
However, the links to the ships targeted in the rebel assaults have grown more tenuous as the attacks continue.
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee called on President Joe Biden "to look at what actions need to be taken in Yemen to be able to prevent the Houthis to continue to put commercial and military vessels at risk."
Noting Iran's support for Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told ABC's 'This Week' that the Biden administration should be more aggressive "in responding to escalation by Iran".
The Denmark-based shipping giant Maersk, owner of Maersk Hangzhou, said Sunday it would suspend shipping through the Red Sea again after the two attacks on its freighter.
"In light of the (most recent) incident and to give time to investigate the details of the incident and assess the security situation further it has been decided that all transits through the area will be postponed for the next 48 hours," Maersk was quoted as saying by the Danish public broadcaster DR.
On Saturday, the top commander of US naval forces in the Middle East said Houthi rebels have shown no signs of ending their "reckless" attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea even as more nations join the international maritime mission to protect vessels in the vital waterway and trade traffic begins to pick up.
Earlier this month, Washington announced the establishment of a new international coalition to protect vessels travelling through the waterway. The United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain are also part of the new maritime security mission. However, Spain on December 25 said that said that it decided not to participate in the international coalition.
Since the Pentagon announced Operation Prosperity Guardian to counter the attacks just over 10 days ago, 1,200 merchant ships have travelled through the Red Sea region, and none had been hit by drone or missile strikes, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper told The Associated Press in an interview on Saturday.
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Constitution helped in country's transformation: CJI Khanna
New Delhi (PTI): Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Tuesday said India has emerged as a vibrant democracy and a geopolitical leader, and the Constitution of the country has helped in this transformation.
India has had a transformative journey from a nation, which under the aftermath and horrors of partition saw widespread illiteracy, poverty, lack of robust democratic system of checks and balances, to one which has now become a self-assured leader, the CJI said.
"But at the back of it is the Constitution of India, which has helped this transformation. It is today a way of life that has to be lived up to," Justice Khanna said, while speaking at the Constitution Day function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) at the apex court.
Since 2015, November 26 is observed as Constitution Day to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly in 1949. Earlier, the day was observed as Law Day.
Attorney General R Venkataramani, SCBA president and senior advocate Kapil Sibal also addressed the gathering.
In his address, Justice Khanna highlighted the importance and contribution of the Bar and said, "We often refer to the judiciary as persons in robes, that is, the judges, but judiciary equally represents the Bar".
"I cannot visualise the judiciary where the members of the Bar are not a part and parcel of it. You are as much part of the judiciary as the judges," he said.
The CJI said he was a member of the Bar from 1983 to 2005, when he got elevated as a judge, and his tenure as a member of the Bar is longer than his tenure as a judge.
"Judges come from the Bar and go back to the Bar. We belong to the Bar. The better the Bar, the better the judges," he said.
Justice Khanna said the Supreme Court has had a very strong and good legacy and there are decisions right from environmental law, privacy laws, fundamental rights to the basic structure doctrine.
"Many of these decisions, I do not think would have been possible without the contribution and efforts of the member of the Bar," he said.
Justice Khanna said since he has taken over as the CJI, he has made various attempts to look into the issues and problems faced by Bar members.
He referred to the steps taken, including setting up notice boards outside the courtrooms where physical cause list is shown and improving the Wi-Fi services in the top court.
"I have one request to make and I hope it will be taken in the right spirit. I have been repeatedly getting requests for re-circulation of letters of adjournment. I have looked into the data," Justice Khanna said while pointing out that the data showed there were about 9,000 to 10,000 applications or letters for adjournments being circulated every three months.
"So, it is not going to be possible for us to go back to the earlier system. Whatever system we have now adopted, we can, if you come up with some suggestions for improvements, look into it, but going back to the earlier system may be counter-productive," he said.
The CJI said the apex court received about 1,400 applications in the new system in the last 11 months.
"You can see the difference. From 100 applications a day to about 150 applications a month. That's a huge change and let us, therefore, go with the right spirit," he said.
Justice Khanna said today is the day to introspect, to look into and assess the strong points and weaknesses.
"As the Attorney General has rightly pointed out, it is a day when we look at the scorecard. We don't think the scorecard is blank. We have good scores but there are issues which we have to tackle. And let us unifiedly tackle those issues with the members of the Bar and the judiciary both contributing to this...," he said.
