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A large number of US lawmakers and advocacy groups expressed shock at the alleged mass shooting attempt at a Hindu temple in Illinois, saying anti-India hatred was turning into violence. A 19-year-old was arrested in Palatine near Chicago for planning a mass shooting at the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Aurora, Illinois on Sunday. The plan failed as the gun carried by the teenager jammed and could not fire. He appeared in court on October 14 and was charged with one count of making a terrorist threat and one count of unlawful possession of weapons. Senators Chuck Schumer, John Cornyn and Jacky Rosen lauded the timely police action in foiling the plot for carrying out mass shooting at the temple. "Anti-Indian and anti-Hindu rhetoric is at an alarming level in America, and now we are seeing that hatred turn into violence," Schumer, the Democratic Senator from New York, said in a post on X. "Bigotry against any community has no place in America, and I remain committed to ensuring that .
A bipartisan group of US Senators have questioned the legality of President Donald Trump's decision to allow diesel imports from Russia, contending that it ran counter to a law banning such trade till Moscow ends the war in Ukraine. On Friday, after a phone call with Putin, Trump announced that he had struck a deal with Russia to immediately supply 300,000 tons of diesel to the US and the global marketplace. "Congress explicitly banned Russian energy imports in 2022 to prevent American dollars from financing Putin's brutal war against Ukraine," US Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Blumenthal, Ron Wyden (all Democrats), Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis, and John Curtis (all Republicans), said in a statement here on Sunday. "President Trump's decision to allow Russian diesel imports to the US runs directly counter to that law," the Senators said. Trump's decision to allow imports of Russian oil to the US and global markets came weeks after the US Congress overwhelmingly pass
Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick has declared that he would bring a bipartisan Bill to block President Donald Trump's move to lift sanctions on Russian diesel after talks with President Vladimir Putin. Fitzpatrick's move has received support from outgoing Congressman Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska, who has decided to co-sponsor the legislation. However, the move appears to be largely symbolic as the US House of Representatives will have a few months to pass as the term of the house expires in January. "We will be introducing bipartisan legislation to block any and all purchases of Russian oil," Fitzpatrick, the co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, said in a post on x. "It will be called the 'Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Act'. It will be forced to the Floor via discharge and it will pass overwhelmingly," he said. "I've already agreed to be an original cosponsor. Congress must make a stand," Bacon said in a post on X. Bacon is not seeking re-election
Racing against time, US lawmakers submitted amendments to the Russia sanctions bill, with one seeking to name its top trading partners -- including India -- in the legislation, and another proposing to scrap the section imposing tariffs altogether. The Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, passed by the US Senate by an overwhelming 86-11 vote last month, seeks to impose sanctions not only on Russia's leadership and energy sector, but also on the "shadow fleet" of vessels that enable Moscow to evade sanctions on oil deliveries. The US believes that Russia's crude oil trade is funding the war against Ukraine. The Bill also seeks to authorise President Donald Trump to impose 100 per cent tariffs on Russia's top oil trading partners, including China and India. The bill passed by the US Senate on August 7 does not name Russia's trading partners, but mentions the five largest importers of oil and gas by volume. The bill must be passed by the House of Representatives before it
Lawmakers worried about the existential risk posed by new artificial intelligence products on Thursday demanded information from OpenAI with separate queries that underscored growing concerns in Washington about the technology's potential to elude human control. Senator Josh Hawley launched an investigation on Thursday into OpenAI for its artificial intelligence system hacking into another AI company on its own. He is seeking more details about the attack on AI startup Hugging Face, which was disclosed by OpenAI in July, and leads a Senate subcommittee with jurisdiction over disaster management. "The American people deserve to know the details of what went on in the Hugging Face incident and other incidents of AI models going rogue," Hawley said in a letter to Sam Altman, OpenAI's chief executive officer. "This investigation will seek those answers." Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland called on Altman to immediately grant federal cybersecurity agencies access to ...
A bipartisan group of US Senators have written to the Trump administration seeking action against three India-based companies that allegedly hacked and stole data from thousands of Americans and US companies. Democratic Senators Ron Wyden and Sheldon Whitehouse, and Republican Pat Harrigan, have urged Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to take action against Sunkissed Organic Pvt Ltd, BellTrox Ltd, and CyberRoot Ltd, contending that they hacked and stole data from thousands of Americans and US companies. "Several India-based cyber-mercenary groups have spent more than 15 years conducting targeted espionage against US citizens, businesses and the lawyers representing them," Wyden, Harrigan and Whitehouse wrote to Lutnick. According to investigations by Reuters and The Citizen Lab, these companies conducted widespread hacking campaigns targeting private equity firms, pharmaceutical companies, and more than 1,000 attorneys across major US law firms to manipulate ongoing litigation, the
Nancy Kassebaum Baker, a Kansas governor's daughter who became the first woman elected to the US Senate without following a spouse into office, has died. She was 94. Kassebaum Baker died Friday of natural causes, according to her son, Bill Kassebaum. "She loved Kansas. She loved people from Kansas and representing Kansas for 18 years in the US Senate," he told The Associated Press. "She was an independent-minded Republican who was willing to stand up for what she thought was right, even if that meant going against the party." She was elected to the US Senate in 1978 and served three terms. Her modest demeanour endeared her to voters of all political stripes, though she shared the moderate, progressive Republican politics of her father, Gov. Alf Landon, the unsuccessful 1936 GOP nominee for president. Even after leaving the Senate early in 1997, she continued taking on public service roles. She married former Sen. Howard Baker, a Tennessee Republican, in 1996. He died in ...
A US Senate vote to advance tougher sanctions on Russia raises the risk of disruption to Russian crude supplies but is unlikely to immediately alter oil flows to India and China, according to Kpler analyst Sumit Ritolia. The US Senate on Friday passed a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that would give President Donald Trump authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on imports from countries that are among the world's largest buyers of Russian oil and gas. The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026 targets the five biggest purchasers of Russian energy and is aimed at cutting Moscow's revenues from oil and gas sales. The measure still needs to clear the US House of Representatives and faces further legislative and administrative steps before it could take effect. According to Ritolia, the measures still face further legislative and administrative hurdles, while their impact will depend largely on how aggressively the US administration implements them, including wheth
The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general in a vote early Saturday morning, cementing President Donald Trump's former personal attorney's command of a Justice Department the Republican president has sought to bend to his will. The Republican-led Senate voted 50-49 to make Blanche the second confirmed attorney general since Trump returned to the White House last year with a stated desire to use the law enforcement agency to investigate his political enemies. While Blanche has already been leading the department in an acting capacity, his confirmation could free him to pursue the Trump administration's agenda even more aggressively. The vote followed a tumultuous confirmation fight that exposed deep concerns - from some Republicans as well as Democrats - about installing Trump's close ally atop a Justice Department that historically prided itself on its independence from the White House. In the end, Blanche was confirmed by the narrowest of margins, opposed by two ...
The US Senate voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill to punish Russia and key buyers of its petroleum products, such as China and India, claiming that such trade helps fuel the Ukraine war. The bill, renamed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, was approved by the Senate by an 86-11 vote. It allows President Donald Trump to impose 100 per cent tariffs on goods from countries that are top five importers of Russian oil and gas. At present China, India, Azerbaijan, Hungary and Slovakia are top five importers of oil and gas from Russia. In addition to Russia sanctions, the bill would extend till 2031 the expiration date of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996, which penalises companies that invest in Iran's energy sector. The bipartisan bill was championed by Republican senator Lindsey Graham, who passed away on July 11, and Democrat Richard Blumenthal. After Graham's sudden death following a trip to Kyiv, leaders across the aisle moved with renewed vigour to ensu
The Senate has confirmed Jay Clayton to become head of the nation's intelligence agencies, putting a permanent director in place weeks after President Donald Trump sought to delay his nomination. Clayton, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, was confirmed 51-47 along party lines. Republicans had initially hoped to confirm Clayton in June, but Trump delayed his hearing in order to allow his temporary pick for the job, Bill Pulte, to take over for several weeks after former director Tulsi Gabbard resigned. Senators from both parties have expressed concerns about Pulte, a former housing regulator who had no intelligence experience. Pulte was in charge when Trump delivered a speech from the White House earlier this month doubling down on his false claims about the 2020 election, which he lost, and released classified documents that he said were relevant to his arguments. Pulte has also said he has presided over a
The Senate is expected to confirm Jay Clayton on Tuesday to become head of the nation's intelligence agencies, ensuring that a permanent director is in place as the midterm elections approach. Clayton is expected to be confirmed along party lines after a contentious hearing two weeks ago in which he repeatedly refused to say that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Still, Democrats have said they have more confidence in Clayton than they do in Trump's temporary pick for the job, Bill Pulte, who has no known intelligence experience and investigated the president's perceived enemies in his previous post as a federal housing regulator. Senators from both parties have expressed concerns about Pulte, who took over on an interim basis last month after Tulsi Gabbard resigned. Pulte was in charge when Trump delivered a speech from the White House earlier this month doubling down on his false claims about the 2020 election, which he lost, and released classified documents that h
The House adopted a Republican-only USD 95 billion budget proposal Wednesday, a long-shot effort to fund the Iran war and other White House priorities over objections from Democrats and a few GOP holdouts in a final push before the midterm elections. House Republicans were divided over the plan, with conservatives wary because there are no offsetting budget cuts. But Speaker Mike Johnson plunged ahead, viewing the go-it-alone process as the best chance to usher President Donald Trump's priorities through the split Congress, despite scepticism in the Senate. The vote tally was 216-214, with all Democrats opposed. "Just bullets and bombs to finish the job," said Rep Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, the chairman of the Budget Committee. Democrats argued the money should be spent at home, particularly on efforts to lower costs for Americans. "Republicans plan to spend tens of billions of dollars on Trump's failed war in Iran," said Rep Pete Aguilar of California, chairman of the House Democr
A bill seeking to impose 100 per cent tariffs on five countries, including India and China, for buying Russian oil, while exempting European nations purchasing gas from Moscow, was introduced in the US Senate with the support of over 60 lawmakers. The bill, introduced on Thursday, was conceived by Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal and late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. It is designed to deprive Russian President Vladimir Putin of revenue used to finance the war against Ukraine by imposing mandatory sanctions on Russia's political leadership, financial institutions, energy sector, and sanctions evasion networks. Blumenthal had said on Tuesday that the proposed legislation was aimed at imposing 100 per cent tariffs on five major purchasers of Russian oil -- China, India, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan. The text of the bill introduced in the Senate on Thursday imposes tariffs on imports from countries that are the world's top five purchasers of Russian crude oil or natural ga