A year ago, the Biden administration laid out the red carpet for a state visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Yet, during the visit last June, an Indian intelligence officer was giving orders to hire a hit team to assassinate a leading Sikh activist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun at his home in New York. The intelligence agent, Vikram Yadav, has been involved in several plots to murder Sikh dissidents in both Canada and the U.S. The plot to kill Pannun was foiled by U.S. authorities.
(“An Assassination Plot on American Soil Reveals a Darker Side of Modi’s India,” Washington Post, April 29, 2024; “Canadian Police Arrest 3 in Slaying of Sikh Leader,” New York Times, May 3, 2024)
Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose received more than $3 billion in Saudi financing is seeking to build a new “Riviera” in Albania, in an environmentally sensitive area known as “Europe’s Last Wild River.” For decades, the Vjose River and delta region has remained undeveloped, but now Albania is eager to open-up the area to western financed development, with little regard for protecting this unspoiled eco-system that supports endangered birds, turtles and frogs.
(“Jared Kushner Has Big Plans for Delta of Europe’s Last Wild River.” Yale Environment 360, April 9, 2024)
In April, the Biden administration approved the final rule which now requires background checks in private gun sales, the most important expansion of gun safety laws since passage of the Brady Bill in 1993. Private firearms dealers now need to conduct background checks on prospective gun buyers, ensuring that guns sold won’t be transferred to felons or domestic abusers.
(“Gun Bans Gear Up at Polling Places,” American Prospect, April 18, 2024)
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Anna Manzo.
