Page 104 - United States

First agreement under Taiwan-US trade initiative to come into force today

United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the first agreement under the 21st Century Trade initiative that will come into force covers areas including anti-corruption

Biden's nod for oil lease sale may permit drilling in Alaska's Arctics

The Biden administration has approved plans for a sale of oil and gas leases in Alaska that leaves open the door for drilling in a portion of the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The sale will be held on January 9, less than two weeks before President Joe Biden leaves office. It will include a fraction of the land total that was available for bidding roughly four years ago in a sale held during the Trump administration. President-elect Donald Trump pledged during his latest run for the White House to expand oil drilling in the US, and he's pointed to the passage of a 2017 law that enabled Monday's announcement as a highlight when it comes to Alaska policy. The 2017 law mandated two lease sales by late 2024, but major oil companies sat out the first sale. The Biden administration reviewed the leasing programme, and seven leases from the first sale ultimately were cancelled. Does this mean there will be drilling in the refuge? It's unclear. A lease sale is one step in a lon

Priority should be lowering Russia's military potential, says Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted that Ukraine's focus should be on reducing Russia's military capabilities and preserving lives

US says terror designation does not hinder talks with Syrian rebel group

The State Department said on Monday it is not actively reviewing the foreign terrorist organisation designation of the main Syrian rebel group that overthrew Bashar Assad's government this weekend. But, it said such designations are constantly under review, and that even while it's in place, the label does not bar US officials from speaking with the group. There is no specific review related to what happened over the weekend, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. That said, we are always reviewing. Based on their actions, there could be a change in our sanctions posture, but we have nothing today. He said a review could be initiated if Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, known as HTS, takes steps to reverse the reasons for its designation. That would be based entirely on its actions, he said. The designation imposes numerous sanctions against those targeted, including a ban on the provision of material support to such groups, although Miller said that would not necessarily ...

US hostage envoy in Beirut to ask details on missing journalist Austin Tice

The US government's top hostage negotiator is in Beirut in hopes of collecting information on the whereabouts of Austin Tice, an American journalist missing in Syria for 12 years, the State Department said on Monday. Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, is talking to officials in the region following the overthrow of Bashar Assad's government to find out where Tice is and get him home as soon as possible, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Monday. Lebanon has been involved for years in mediating talks about Tice. President Joe Biden said on Sunday that his administration believed Tice was alive and was committed to bringing him home, though he also acknowledged that we have no direct evidence of his status. Tice, who has had his work published by The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers and others, disappeared at a checkpoint in a contested area west of Damascus as the Syrian civil war intensified. A video released weeks aft

Trump promises to end birthright citizenship: What is it, could he do it?

President-elect Donald Trump has promised to end birthright citizenship as soon as he gets into office to make good on campaign promises aiming to restrict immigration and redefining what it means to be American. But any efforts to halt the policy would face steep legal hurdles. Birthright citizenship means anyone born in the United States automatically becomes an American citizen. It's been in place for decades and applies to children born to someone in the country illegally or in the US on a tourist or student visa who plans to return to their home country. It's not the practice of every country, and Trump and his supporters have argued that the system is being abused and that there should be tougher standards for becoming an American citizen. But others say this is a right enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, it would be extremely difficult to overturn and even if it's possible, it's a bad idea. Here's a look at birthright citizenship, what Trump has said about

Boeing to lay off 396 employees in Washington 'to align financial reality'

Boeing is trying to get production of its strongest-selling 737 MAX back on track, after a weeks-long strike by more than 33,000 US West Coast workers halted output of most of its commercial jets

TikTok hires ex-Trump admin lawyer ahead of Supreme Court appeal

Noel Francisco, who served as US solicitor general during Republican President-elect Donald Trump's first administration, will represent TikTok along with his partner Hashim Mooppan at law firm Jones

US polygamist religious leader jailed for sexual crimes against minors

A polygamist religious leader who claimed more than 20 spiritual wives including 10 underage girls faces decades in prison at his sentencing on Monday for coercing girls as young as 9 years old to submit to criminal sex acts with him and other adults. Samuel Bateman, whose small group was an offshoot of the sect once led by Warren Jeffs, has pleaded guilty to a years-long scheme to transport girls across state lines for his sex crimes, and later to kidnap some of them from protective custody. His plea agreement called for 20 to 50 years in prison, though each conviction carries a possible life sentence. But first, a federal judge will hear from a doctor who evaluated Bateman's competency. The question could determine whether the sentencing goes forward or Bateman is remanded to state custody for psychiatric treatment until he's deemed mentally fit to assist in his defence, his attorney Brian Russo said. Authorities say that Bateman, 48, tried to start an offshoot of the ...

Trump taps attorney Alina Habba to serve as counsellor to president

President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he is appointing one of his defence attorneys in the New York hush money case as counsellor to the president. Alina Habba, 40, defended Trump earlier this year, also serving as his legal spokesperson. Habba has been spending time with the president-elect since the election at his Florida club Mar-a-Lago. She has been unwavering in her loyalty and unmatched in her resolve standing with me through numerous trials, battles and countless days in Court," Trump posted on his social network Truth Social. Few understand the Weaponisation of the Injustice System better than Alina. Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes when a New York jury in May found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex. In Trump's first term, the position of counsellor was held by Republican strategist Kellyanne Conwa

Donald Trump's EV skepticism threatens $54 billion in Korean investments

Trump has long criticised President Joe Biden's efforts to subsidize EVs through his landmark energy bill

Lockton aims to double business outside US in 4 Years, says CEO Chris Brown

The insurance broker recently entered the Indian insurance market and acquired Arihant Insurance Brokers as a strategic initiative to gain entry into the broking market in the country

Russia's abandonment of Syria's President Assad led to his downfall: Trump

Trump, who has said he will seek to halt the Ukraine war rapidly, met Ukraine's President Zelenskiy on Saturday in Paris where they were both attending a ceremony to reopen Notre-Dame Cathedral

Search for UnitedHealthcare CEO's killer yields evidence, but few answers

They have seen him smiling on a hostel security camera, but don't know his name. They found the backpack he discarded while fleeing, but don't know where he's gone. As the search for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's killer goes on, investigators are reckoning with a tantalizing dichotomy: They have troves of evidence, but the shooter remains an enigma. Police don't know who he is, where he is, or why he did it though they are confident that it was a targeted attack instead of a random act. The net is tightening, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Saturday. Hours after he spoke, police divers were seen searching a pond in Central Park, where the killer fled after the shooting. Officers have been scouring the park for days for any possible clues and found his bag there Friday. Retracing the gunman's steps using surveillance video, police say, it appears he left the city by bus soon after the shooting Wednesday morning outside the New York Hilton Midtown. He was seen on video

US announces nearly $1 bn more in longer-term weapons support for Ukraine

The United States will provide nearly USD 1 billion more in longer-term weapons support to Ukraine, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday as the Biden administration rushes to spend all the congressionally approved money it has left to bolster Kyiv before President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month. The latest package will include more drones and munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, that the US has provided. While these weapons are critically needed now, they will be funded through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which pays for longer-term systems to be put on contract. The weapon systems purchased are often intended to support Ukraine's future military capabilities, not make an immediate difference on the battlefield. The USD 1 billion package is on top of an additional USD 725 million in US military assistance, including counter-drone systems and HIMARS munitions, announced on Monday that would be drawn from the ...

Post-election power struggles spark concerns over democracy across US

While the election was over a month ago, voters in some parts of the country are discovering that having their say at the ballot box is not necessarily the final word. Lawmakers in several states have already initiated or indicated plans to alter or nullify certain results. Republican lawmakers in North Carolina are moving to undercut the authority of the incoming Democratic governor, Republicans in Missouri are taking initial steps to reverse voter-approved abortion protections, and Democrats in Massachusetts are watering down an attempt by voters to hold the Legislature more accountable. The actions following the Nov. 5 election continue a pattern that has accelerated in recent years and has been characterized by critics as undemocratic. I think certainly when you're a voter and you're voting on the issue, you're not thinking about whether someone's then going to overturn or just ignore the things that you voted on, said Anne Whitesell, an assistant professor of political science

US Congressman Krishnamoorthi calls on B'desh to end anti-Hindu violence

He urged the Bangladeshi government to uphold human rights, guarantee legal protections, and end the wave of violence

Trump travels to Paris for Notre Dame Cathedral's reopening, to meet Macron

Donald Trump is off on his first international trip as president-elect, ready to join world leaders and dignitaries in Paris for a Saturday celebration of the renovation of Notre Dame Cathedral after a devastating fire in 2019. Trump wrote when he accepted the invitation earlier this week that French President Emmanuel Macron had done "a wonderful job ensuring that Notre Dame has been restored to its full level of glory, and even more so. It will be a very special day for all! Macron, who has had an up-and-down relationship with Trump, has made a point of cultivating a relationship with the president-elect since he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris last month. But his office nonetheless played down the significance of the invitation, saying that other politicians who do not currently hold office had been invited as well. Trump was invited as president-elect of a friendly nation, Macron's office said, adding, This is in no way exceptional, we've done it before." President Joe Bi

Police find bag carried by gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare's CEO

The gunman who killed the CEO of the largest US health insurer likely left New York City on a bus soon after the brazen ambush that has shaken corporate America, police officials said Friday. But he left something behind: a backpack that was discovered in Central Park. Three days after the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, police still did not know the gunman's name or whereabouts or have a motive for the killing, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters. Investigators were looking at whether the shooter may have been a disgruntled employee or client of the insurer, he said. The FBI announced Friday night it was offering a USD 50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Video of the gunman fleeing Wednesday's shooting showed him riding a bicycle into Central Park and later taking a taxi to a bus terminal that offers commuter service to New Jersey and Greyhound routes to Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, DC, according to Kenny. Police

TikTok inching closer to potential ban in US: Here's all you need to know

TikTok's future in the US appeared uncertain on Friday after a federal appeals court rejected a legal challenge to a law that requires the social media platform to cut ties with its China-based parent company or be banned by mid-January. A panel of three judges on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled unanimously that the law withstood constitutional scrutiny, rebuffing arguments from the two companies that the statute violated their rights and the rights of TikTok users in the US. The government has said it wants ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, to divest its stakes. But if it doesn't and the platform goes away, it would have a seismic impact on the lives of content creators who rely on the platform for income as well as users who use it for entertainment and connection. Here are some details on the ruling and what could happen next: What does the ruling say? In their lawsuit, TikTok and ByteDance, which is also a plaintiff in the case, had challen