WASHINGTON, July 24:  The US has intensified its attack on Russian President Vladimir Putin, holding him responsible for the tragic downing of a Malaysian plane by a missile over a part of Ukraine controlled by Russia-backed separatists.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down using a surface-to-air missile from an SA-11 anti-aircraft battery, killing all 298 people on board. The US intelligence community believes the separatists shot the plane down by accident.
“The Russian separatists we believe fired this, in general, could not be doing what they are doing without the Russians,” State Department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters.
“And responsibility lays at the feet of President Putin, not just for this but for every incident that we have seen throughout this conflict” Harf said.
US officials have earlier said training given by Russia to the separatist on air-defense weapons was a contributing factor for their assessment.
“We have laid out a very detailed case. We have been very open about our assessments here. The Russians have repeatedly lied about what is happening on the ground. They said there weren’t troops in Crimea when there were troops all over Crimea. So there’s just no credibility on their side,” she said.
The White House said the question of who specifically fired the missile is for the investigation to determine.
“The fact that we don’t know that yet does not absolve Russia of its responsibility for creating an environment in which militants were trained, given weapons, and encouraged to fight,” said White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz.
“It is important for us to realise that while we work to determine who is responsible for literally firing this missile, the picture emerging is not in doubt.
“We assessed that it was an SA-11 and that it came from a separatist-controlled area. And we know Russia has provided arming and training for these separatists,” Schultz asserted.
He said the US is concerned by the Russian support for the separatists and hence taken a number of steps to rally around the international community in this regard.
“That is why I think President Putin feels increasingly isolated. That is why I think that people, even in Russia, are starting to question the direction President Putin is taking their country. I think that is why you see an international coalition building consensus around this,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pentagon said Russia continues to support the rebels and it has last week sent a column of over 100 vehicles including tanks, artillery, multiple launch rocket systems.
Pentagon spokesman Army Col Steve Warren said: “There is no question that the Russians are backing these separatists and they bear responsibility…For what happens in eastern Ukraine.” (PTI)

WASHINGTON, July 24:  Appalled by reports that Sikh players from India were asked to remove their turbans at an international basketball match, top US lawmakers have launched a campaign asking FIBA to review the discriminatory policy.
“We are concerned about recent reports indicating that Sikhs are not able to participate in International Basketball Federation (FIBA) games while wearing a turban, which is essential to their faith, and ask you to change this discriminatory policy,” said a letter addressed to Yvan Mainini, FIBA president.
Led by Congressman Joe Crowley, the letter began circulating at the US Congress yesterday. Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera has signed the letter as co-lead.
“We hope that you will carefully re-examine the existing policy with respect to Sikh turbans and support a change when FIBA’s Central Board next meets,” the letter said. It would soon be sent to FIBA headquarters in Switzerland.
The letter says Sikh players participating within FIBA were told that their turbans violate Article 4.4.2 of FIBA’s official rules, which states that “Players shall not wear equipment (objects) that may cause injury to other players.”
There is no evidence showing that a turban has been dangerous during basketball games or other popular sports events, the Congressmen argue.
“In fact, there are many examples of Sikhs who have safely competed in basketball at many levels with their articles of faith intact,” the letter says.
The letter cited the example of Darsh Preet Singh who captained the basketball team at Trinity University while maintaining his turban throughout a successful career at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Singh has become a model of success for Sikhs across America and the world, and has shown that a Sikh turban neither hinders nor endangers NCAA competitors, it said.
Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) recently changed its policies to allow Sikhs to wear turbans while playing soccer.
Secretary General Jerome Valcke said in announcing the decision: “You cannot have discrimination,” the letter noted.
“Basketball is a beloved team sport that has the ability to bring people of all backgrounds together, regardless of history, culture, language, and religion.
“In addition to becoming one of the most popular sports in many countries, basketball has come to exemplify how those of diverse backgrounds can communicate, coordinate, and work together in pursuit of a shared goal,” the letter said.
“We believe that makes the basketball court the perfect venue to showcase the diversity of our world and the ways in which sports bring people together,” the Congressmen said. (PTI)

WASHINGTON, July 24:  The annual India-US bilateral Malabar naval exercise which kicked off today in the Asia Pacific region is not aimed at containing China, the Pentagon has said.
“It has absolutely no relations anything to do with China. If anything it is strengthening the US naval presence in the Pacific Ocean region…And maritime partnership with our allies,” a Pentagon official told reporters.
“It is totally a routine exercise with no relations to China,” the official said.
The wargames this year has Japan as an special invitee. China had in the past raised objections over Japan’s participation in the drills held mainly between US and India.
The last exercise involving Japan was held in 2009.
The official said the participating countries are working with specific training exercises such as communication, search and rescue, helicopter cross deck evolutions and anti-submarine welfare.
Over 7,000 American defence personnel are participating in the exercise and also includes nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington, Ticonderoga-class destroyer USS Shiloh, Arleigh Burke-class destroyer John S McCain and nuclear submarine USS Columbus.
It also includes P-3 Orion aircraft and MH-60R helicopters.
India has sent its three warships — INS Ranvijay and Shivalik along with fleet support tanker ship INS Shakti.
Responding to a question on Japanese participation, the official said it strengthens the partnership with them.
“It also promotes India’s growing navy as they expand beyond their own areas of influence, in the Pacific Ocean and not just their own home area of the Indian Ocean,” she said.
India and the US have held 17 editions of the Malabar-series wargames since 1992 and had involved Japan, Australia and Singapore in 2007 in the Pacific Ocean after which the Chinese government raised objections.
India had stopped involving others but last year after the visit of Indian Prime Minister to Japan and the reciprocal visit by the Japanese Prime Minister, India agreed to have Japan in these drills.
The three Indian warships taking part in the wargames earlier held exercises with the Russian Navy in Vladivostok last week. (PTI)

WASHINGTON, July 24:  Noting that his country has bounced back from its worst ever recession, US president Barack Obama has said America is now the top place for investors to do business.
“When I came into office, investors around the world thought that China was the top place to do business. Today they think that America is the top place to do business,” Obama told a Democratic Party luncheon in California.
This is in part because the US recovered faster than most industrialised nations and in part because some of the energy policies that US administration has put in place means that for the first time in over 20 years the country is now producing more oil than it imports, he said.
Obama said when he came into office America was going through the worst ever recession.
“We doubled clean energy, tripled the amount of wind energy that we produce, increased by 10 times the amount of solar energy that we’re producing, and we have reduced carbon pollution by the largest factor of any industrialised nation.
“High school dropout rates have gone down; college attendance is up,” he said.
Manufacturing, he noted, has emerged stronger than any time since the 1990s.
“An auto industry that was on the verge of collapse now fully recovered and stronger than ever and producing cars that not only people want to buy but also are slated to double fuel efficiency by the next decade — it’s no wonder then that a lot of people outside of the United States would say we’ve got the best cards out there,” he said.
“There’s no country that wouldn’t gladly trade places with us in terms of our strategic position.
“And part of that is also because we continue to have a culture of innovation and dynamism that Silicon Valley represents better than anyplace else on Earth,” Obama said.
“In fact, the contraction was actually larger by some measures than the Great Depression. In part because of the incredible resilience of the American people, but in part because we actually put some smart policies in place, the record over the last five years is some pretty remarkable progress,” he said.
“There’s almost no economic measure by which we are not better off today than we were when I came into office — that 52 straight months of job growth; 10 million jobs created; this past year, the biggest drop in unemployment in 30 years,” he argued.
“Unemployment now is lower than it was before Lehman’s. We’ve seen the deficit cut by more than half. Millions of people have health care that didn’t have it before and health care inflation is the lowest that it’s been in 50 years,” Obama said.
“The stock market, obviously, has more than recovered and that’s important for Wall Street but, more importantly, it’s important for Main Street,” he added. (PTI)