Page 6 - United States

US welcomes India's SHANTI Bill as boost to energy security, nuclear ties

SHANTI stands for the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill, 2025. Parliament passed the legislation last week

India at advanced stage of talks on bilateral trade pact with US: Goyal

India is at an advanced stage of negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement with the US, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday. US Deputy Trade Representative Rick Switzer was recently here with his team to take stock of these talks. The two-day talks concluded on December 11. "We are already at an advanced stage in our discussions with the US," Goyal said here while talking to the media about the conclusion of negotiations for the India-New Zealand free trade agreement. He also said that India has so far finalised FTAs with three members of the Five Eyes (FVEY) alliance - Australia, UK and New Zealand. The five countries of the intelligence sharing network are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. India is also in the process of resuming talks for a trade agreement with Canada. "We are soon going to launch discussions for the ToR (terms of reference) with Canada also," Goyal said adding "this reflects the growing strategic importance of Indi

Exim matters: US reform proposals challenge WTO's basic principles

US proposals to reform the WTO question core principles like MFN and special treatment for developing nations, deepening divisions and raising doubts over the future of rules-based trade

Data breach case: US court approves Infosys McCamish's $17.5 mn settlement

A US court has given its final approval for the proposed settlement of class action lawsuits against Infosys McCamish, according to a BSE filing by Infosys on Saturday. Under the proposed terms, Infosys McCamish Systems had agreed to pay USD 17.5 million into a fund to settle all the pending class action lawsuits related to a cybersecurity incident in 2023, which identified the Infosys subsidiary as the main source. If the settlement is not appealed within 30 days, "it will become effective and resolve all allegations made in the class action lawsuits without admission of any liability", Infosys said. In February 2024, Bank of America named Infosys McCamish Systems as the source of a data breach that it said affected 57,028 customers. As per the notification, the breach occurred on October 29, 2023, and was discovered on October 30 that year. The Bengaluru-headquartered IT major said the proposed agreement would settle all the pending class action lawsuits and resolve all allegati

US expands sanctions against Maduro family members, close associates

The sanctions were aimed at disrupting the financial networks supporting Maduro's "illegitimate" regime, according to the Treasury Department

Jordan confirms its air force joined US strikes on Islamic State in Syria

Jordan confirmed Saturday that its air force took part in strikes launched by the United States on Islamic State group targets in Syria in retaliation for the killing of three US citizens earlier this month. The US launched military strikes Friday on multiple sites in Syria to eliminate Islamic State group fighters and weapons in retaliation for an attack by a Syrian gunman that killed two US troops and an American civilian interpreter almost a week earlier. The Jordanian military said in a statement that its air force participated in precise airstrikes... targeting several ISIS positions in southern Syria, using a different abbreviation for the Islamic State group. Jordan is one of 90 countries making up the global coalition against IS, which Syria recently joined. The US military did not say how many had been killed in Friday's strikes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, reported that at least five people were killed, including the leader and members

India to leave US behind in terms of Metro rail network length: Khattar

Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday said that India will soon overtake the US in terms of the length of the Metro rail network. Currently, India is in the third position as far as the total length of Metro rail corridors is concerned, he said. Bhopal has become the 26th city in the country to have Metro trains. In terms of the length of Metro lines, we rank third in the world with a network spanning 1,083 km. With the addition of today's 7 km, it will become a 1,090-km network, he said. China tops the list, followed by the US with a total Metro length of 1,400 km, he said. With 900 km of Metro project in the pipeline, the country will surpass the US with the addition of 300 km soon, Khattar said during a programme to inaugurate the first phase of the Bhopal Metro rail project. Besides Khattar, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav also launched the service in the state capital. The first phase of the Bhopal Metro's Orange Line, the ...

Trump keeps war option open with Venezuela, orders oil tanker seizures

Trump also said there would be additional seizures of oil tankers near Venezuelan waters, according to the interview. The US seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week

Millennials, Gen Z lead 90% of India's outbound travel in 2025: Report

The year 2025 marked a defining shift in India's outbound travel landscape, with millennials and Gen Z leading nine out of 10 international trips, a new report has revealed. The annual travel report, released by travel-banking fintech platform Niyo, highlights how young, digital-first and experience-driven Indians are reshaping global travel trends through smarter planning, solo exploration and cost-conscious decision-making. Gen Z and Millennials accounted for 9 in 10 international trips. Two-thirds of these journeys originated from Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, reflecting the strong influence of India's leading metros in outbound travel, the report findings said. Solo travel emerged as the dominant preference among Indian travellers, with 63.8 per cent of trips undertaken by individuals. Couples accounted for 19.93 per cent of trips, followed by families at 12.26 per cent and groups at 4.01 per cent, indicating a growing inclination towards independent travel. Short-haul Asian ...

North Carolina plane crash: Retired NASCAR driver Biffle, 6 others killed

A business jet with six people aboard crashed Thursday at a regional airport in North Carolina used by NASCAR teams and Fortune 500 companies, erupting in a large fire and killing multiple people, authorities said. Flight records show the plane was registered to a company run by retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle. There were six people on the Cessna C550 that crashed while landing at Statesville Regional Airport, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Charlotte, the Federal Aviation Administration said. I can confirm there were fatalities," Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell said. Golfers playing next to the airport were shocked as they witnessed the disaster, even dropping to the ground at the Lakewood Golf Club while the plane was overhead. The ninth hole was covered with debris. We were like, Oh my gosh! That's way too low,' said Joshua Green of Mooresville. It was scary. The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA were investigating. AccuWeather says there was so

Lines from Lolita, Bill Gates, Chomsky: What new Epstein photos show

House Democrats released 68 photos from Jeffrey Epstein's estate showing Bill Gates, Noam Chomsky, passports and Lolita excerpts, ahead of a wider Trump-era file release deadline

US Coast Guard removes references to swastikas, nooses being 'divisive'

References in US Coast Guard policy calling hate symbols potentially divisive" were removed Thursday, and a US senator said she was lifting a hold she had placed on a nomination for the service's top job. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose agency oversees the Coast Guard, said on social media that the latest changes were made so no one can misrepresent the branch's position. The pages of superseded and outdated policy will be completely removed from the record so no press outlet, entity or elected official may misrepresent the Coast Guard to politicize their policies and lie about their position on divisive and hate symbols, Noem said. The move appears to cap off back-and-forth revisions to Coast Guard policy on swastikas, nooses and other hate symbols, which has sparked an uproar. The Department of Homeland Security has said there was never a downgrade' in policy language. Noem's announcement came a day after Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada said she was holding u

Britain appoints new ambassador to US, replaces Epstein-linked diplomat

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer appointed a new UK ambassador to the United States on Thursday, replacing a diplomat who was fired over his over his links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Christian Turner, currently the UK's permanent representative to the United Nations, will replace Peter Mandelson, who was sacked in September because of his friendship with Epstein. The appointment comes as US President Donald Trump has been critical of Europe and at a time when Starmer and his European peers are pushing to make sure that a US brokered peace plan between Russia and Ukraine does not leave Kyiv vulnerable. The United Kingdom and United States have a very special relationship, and Christian's extensive experience as an outstanding diplomat will support this uniquely close bond and ensure it continues to flourish," Starmer said. Turner, a veteran diplomat, will take on the role after US agreement. He was previously political director of the Foreign, Commonwealth and

Furious Minds: The MAGA intellectuals and the rise of extremist ideas

How ideas that used to be the arcane obsessions of nerdy young men and buttoned-up tenured professors have become 'an engine and accelerant' for extremism

Outbound shipments from India to China surge to $12.22 bn in Apr-Nov

Trend indicates Beijing is shifting its sourcing away from US, say officials

Why Asim Munir's third US trip may cost him support of Pakistanis

Pakistan's military chief Asim Munir is expected to travel to Washington for a third time in six months, amid discussions on a proposed US-backed force to stabilise Gaza

Rubio speaks to Australian FM as US condemns 'heinous' Bondi Beach attack

Rubio had a call with Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong to discuss the antisemitic terrorist attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach

Historic rains and flooding trigger dramatic rescues in Washington state

When Eddie Wicks and his wife went to bed in their house next to the Snoqualmie River on a Washington state farm known for its sunflower mazes and Christmas trees, they weren't too worried about the flooding heading their way. After 30 years living in the city of Duvall, northeast of Seattle, their family had plenty of experience with floods and always made it through largely unscathed. But as they moved their two donkeys to higher ground and their eight goats to their outdoor kitchen, the water began to rise much quicker than anything they'd experienced before. It was hours, not days," he said. In four hours, it had to come up 4 feet. As the water engulfed their home on Thursday afternoon, deputies from the King County Sheriff's Office marine rescue dive unit were able to rescue them and their dog, taking them on a boat the half mile (800 metres) across their field, which had been transformed into a lake. They were among the thousands forced to evacuate as an unusually strong ...

House Democrats release photos of Trump, Clinton from Epstein's estate

House Democrats released a selection of photos from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, including some of Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the former Prince Andrew. The 19 photos released by Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee were a small part of more than 95,000 they received from the estate of Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting sex trafficking charges. The photos released Friday were separate from the case files that the Department of Justice is now compelled to release. The photos were released without captions or context and included a black-and-white image of Trump alongside six women whose faces were blacked out. The committee did not say why their faces were blacked out. Several of the photos have already circulated in the public. Democrats pledged to continue to release photos in the days and weeks ahead, as they look to pressure Trump over his Republican administration's earlier refusal to release documents in the Epstei

Historic floods in Washington wash away homes, leave families stranded

Days of torrential rain in Washington state has caused historic floods that have stranded families on rooftops, washed over bridges and ripped at least two homes from their foundations, and experts warned that even more flooding expected Friday could be catastrophic. Washington is under a state of emergency and evacuation orders are in place for tens of thousands of residents. Gov Bob Ferguson on Thursday urged everyone to follow evacuation instructions as yet another river neared record levels. I understand that many in our state have experienced significant floods in the past," he said on the social platform X. "However, we're looking at a historic situation. About 78,000 residents of a major agricultural region north of Seattle were ordered to evacuate the floodplain of the Skagit River, which was expected to crest Friday morning. The floods were impacting large parts of the state, with several bridges flooded and some major roads inundated or washed out. Some roads had no ...