Vivek Ramaswamy withdraws from the Republican presidential race

Vivek Ramaswamy, the candidate for president of the United States of America, announced the suspension of his campaign for the 2024 elections, after a disappointing end to the Republican caucuses in Iowa.

Ramaswamy, 38 years old and born in Ohio to immigrant parents from southern India, was one of the surprises in the 2024 Republican race dominated by former President Donald Trump.

Ramaswamy, a fierce Trump defender throughout the campaign, may have secured a place for himself in Republican politics with his youthful demeanor, deep pockets, fast talk and feisty campaigning. However, Trump turned on him in the final days before the Iowa caucus, calling him a "fraud" and asserting that a vote for Ramaswamy was a vote for "the other side."

Despite this, Ramaswamy announced that he supports Trump, saying that Trump is an "America First" candidate and will have his full support.

"There is no path for me to be the next president," Ramaswamy told supporters in Iowa's capital, Des Moines, after partial caucus results in the state showed that there was no way for me to be the next president.

In his victory speech, Trump took a softer tone toward Ramaswamy. “I also want to congratulate Vivek, because he did a great job,” Trump said.

Ramaswamy, who was educated at Harvard University, gained fame in right-wing circles thanks to his 2021 best-selling book “Woke, Inc,” which denounces the decisions of some major companies to base their business strategy around social justice and climate change concerns.

His competitive debate performance and intense focus on the media, especially social media, earned him headlines, but also alienated some voters, and the hype around him subsided in the fall.

By the end of 2023, his national poll numbers with likely Republican primary voters had fallen to the low single digits.

The US Central Command announced on Tuesday that it had seized, on January 11, a ship carrying advanced Iranian conventional weapons that was destined for the Houthis.

The US Army Central Command said in a statement: “On January 11, 2024, US Central Command Marine forces seized a vessel illegally transporting advanced lethal aid from Iran to resupply Houthi forces in Yemen as part of the Houthis’ ongoing campaign of attacks against International commercial shipping.

The statement pointed out that “US Navy forces operating aboard the ship USS LEWIS B PULLER (ESB 3), supported by helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles, carried out a complex boarding operation of the vessel near the coast of Somalia in the international waters of the Arabian Sea, and seized components of Iranian ballistic missiles.” Manufacture and cruise missiles, including propulsion, guidance and warheads for medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) and anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs), as well as components associated with air defence.

According to the statement, "The Houthis used these same weapons to threaten and attack innocent sailors on board international commercial ships crossing the Red Sea."

The statement stressed that “this is the first confiscation of advanced lethal conventional weapons that Iran has supplied to the Houthis since the beginning of the Houthi attacks on commercial ships in November 2023, and the first confiscation of advanced Iranian-made ballistic missiles and cruise missiles since November 2019,” noting that “the supply or sale of weapons Or transferring it directly or indirectly to the Houthis in Yemen violates UN Security Resolution No. 2216 and international law.”

US Central Command confirmed that " two US Navy Seals who were previously reported missing at sea had directly participated in this operation. General Michael Eric Kurella, Commander of US Central Command, said: "We are conducting a comprehensive search for our missing colleagues."

The US Navy deemed the confiscated boat unsafe and sank it. The disposition of the boat's 14 crew members was determined in accordance with international law.

“It is clear that Iran continues to ship advanced lethal aid to the Houthis,” General Michael Eric Kurella said, adding, “This is another example of how Iran is sowing instability throughout the region in direct violation of UN Security Resolution 2216 and international law.” .

The US military official stressed that his forces “will continue to work with regional and international partners to detect and intercept these efforts and restore freedom of navigation,” as he put it.

USCENTCOM Seizes Iranian Advanced Conventional Weapons Bound for Houthis

On 11 January 2024, while conducting a flag verification, US CENTCOM Navy forces conducted a night-time seizure of a dhow conducting illegal transport of advanced lethal aid from Iran to resupply Houthi.