Page 80 - United States

IRS plans to lay off 7K probationary workers across US starting today

The IRS will lay off roughly 7,000 workers in Washington and around the country beginning on Thursday, a person familiar with the plans told AP. The layoffs affect probationary employees with roughly one year or less of service at the agency and largely include workers in compliance departments, according to the person, who was not authorised to disclose the plans and spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday. Compliance work includes ensuring that taxpayers are abiding by the tax code, filing their returns and paying their taxes, among other duties. The layoffs are part of the Trump administration's intensified efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce through the Department of Government Efficiency by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who have not yet gained civil service protection. They come despite IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season being told earlier this month that they would not be allowed to accept a buyout offer from the ...

US has given up lead role on resolving war in Ukraine: Zelenskyy's advisor

A Ukrainian presidential advisor claimed on Wednesday that the US has weakened its position and relinquished the diplomatic lead to Russia ahead of any possible peace talks on Ukraine, following a meeting in Saudi Arabia between top American and Russian diplomats. The remarks by Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, came a day after President Donald Trump falsely suggested that Kyiv was to blame for the war, which is entering its fourth year next week. The US-Russia talks in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, were held without Ukraine and its European allies. "Why should dominance be handed over to a country that is an aggressor, a violator of international law, and the author of aggression against Ukraine?" Podolyak said. "We still do not understand this strategy." Podolyak said Ukraine was neither briefed on the talks ahead of them or on their outcome. "To me, the concept of 'peace through strength', which the American administration promotes, sounds

Watch: Trump questions $21 million fund for India's 'voter turnout'

President Donald Trump questioned the purpose of providing $21 million to India for voter turnout as he reiterated that the US "can hardly get in there" because of high Indian tariffs.

PM Modi declared Adani issue personal matter, will he oblige US SEC: Cong

The Congress on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already declared the Adani issue to be a personal matter and asked whether he would oblige the US Securities and Exchanges Commission's (SEC) request in the ongoing probe against the business group. The opposition party's assertion came after the SEC told a federal judge in New York that its efforts to serve its complaint on Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani in the alleged bribery scheme are ongoing. This included a request for assistance to the Indian authorities. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the SEC has just informed a New York district court that it has sought the assistance of the Modi government to serve complaints on the violations of US laws by Gautam Adani and some of his colleagues. "The PM has already declared the Modani issue to be a personal matter. Will he oblige the SEC?" Ramesh said on X. To a question on whether the issue relating to Adani figured in the talks, Modi

TCS accused of visa violations by former staffers, company rejects claims

TCS has firmly rejected the accusations, saying, 'we strongly refute these inaccurate allegations by former employees, which have previously been dismissed by multiple courts'

US invokes Hague Service Convention in Adani bribery probe: What is it?

The US SEC has invoked the Hague Service Convention to serve legal documents to Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani. Here's you need to know about the convention

Trump explains why he couldn't find anyone 'smarter' than Musk to lead DOGE

Since Musk took over, DOGE has targeted wasteful spending in federal agencies, backing Trump's push to restructure the government - an effort that has also led to thousands of job cuts

Nearly 300 US deportees held in Panama as officials arrange their return

Panama is detaining in a hotel nearly 300 people from various countries deported under US President Donald Trump, not allowing them to leave while waiting for international authorities to organise a return to their countries. More than 40 per cent of the migrants, authorities say, won't voluntarily return to their homeland. Migrants in the hotel rooms held messages to the windows reading Help and We are not save (sic) in our country. The migrants hailed from 10 mostly Asian countries, including Iran, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and others. The US has difficulty deporting directly to some of those countries so Panama is being used as a stopover. Costa Rica was expected to receive a similar flight of third-country deportees on Wednesday. Panama's Security Minister Frank Abrego said Tuesday the migrants are receiving medical attention and food as part of a migration agreement between Panama and the US. The Panamanian government has now agreed to serve as a ..

Efforts to serve complaint on Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani ongoing: US SEC

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has told a federal judge here that its efforts to serve its complaint on Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani in the alleged bribery scheme are ongoing, including through a request for assistance to the Indian authorities. The SEC submitted a status update Tuesday to Judge Nicholas Garaufis at the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York regarding its efforts to serve its complaint on Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani. The SEC said that both Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani are located in India, and the SEC's efforts to serve them there are ongoing, including through a request for assistance to the Indian authorities to effect service under the Hague Service Convention for Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters. The SEC said that its complaint dated November 20 last year alleges that Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani violated the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws by knowingly

DOGE effort has saved estimated $50 billion so far, says US treasury secy

He added the cost-cutting effort could eventually lead to several percent of GDP that we are saving

Massive fire at Pennsylvania aerospace plant prompts evacuation orders

Schools were closed and residents ordered to shelter-in-place on Tuesday after a large fire broke out at an aerospace manufacturer's facility in a town north of Philadelphia, officials said. The fire broke out at SPS Technologies in Jenkintown around 9:30 pm on Monday. Witnesses said there was an explosion and flames could be seen inside the warehouse, the Abington Township Police Department said in a statement on social media. The building was evacuated, all employees were accounted for and no injuries were reported. SPS Technologies describes itself as a developer, manufacturer and global supplier of a line of aerospace fasteners and precision components. The Abington and Jenkintown school districts and all private and parochial schools were closed on Tuesday. The shelter-in-place order initially was in effect until the incident was under control because smoke and particulates from the fire were filtering across the area, officials said. But residents and businesses in the immedi

No kings on Presidents Day: Protestors denounce Donald Trump, Elon Musk

Protesters against President Donald Trump and his policies braved frigid temperatures to demonstrate on Monday at rallies corresponding with the Presidents Day holiday. Dubbed "No Kings on Presidents Day" by the 50501 Movement, the latest protests came less than two weeks after a similar nationwide event on February 5 drew participants in dozens of cities. Both protests denounced Trump and billionaire advisor Elon Musk, the leader of Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency, an outside-government organisation designed to slash federal spending. Nearly 1,000 people marched in the snow from the Statehouse in Boston to City Hall, chanting "Elon Musk has got to go" and "No kings on Presidents Day!" The temperature was below freezing with wind chills in the teens. Boston protesters, some dressed in Revolutionary War-style clothing from the 1700s, carried signs saying such things as "This is a Coup" and "Cowards Bow to Trump, Patriots Stand Up". One sign had a depiction of Uncle S

US 'backstop' needed before committing forces to Ukraine: UK PM Starmer

At the conclusion of a summit in Paris, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his willingness to commit British forces on the ground alongside other nations if a lasting peace agreement is reached

European leaders want say in talks to end Russia's war; US brushes them off

European leaders insisted on Monday their governments must have a say in talks between the US and Russia to end the war in Ukraine, as both Moscow and Washington said there was no role for Europe in the negotiations that could shape the future of the continent. Leaders of Germany, the UK, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, NATO and the European Union met for over three hours at the Elysee Palace in Paris for emergency talks on Europe's security quandary after a US diplomatic blitz on Ukraine which has thrown a once-solid alliance into turmoil. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for US backing while reaffirming he's ready to consider sending British forces on the Ukrainian ground alongside others "if there is a lasting peace agreement". "There must be a US backstop, because a US security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again," Starmer said after the meeting. Many EU nations are still undecided about whether to send troops .

US reciprocal tariff may impact India exports only by 3-3.5%: SBI Research

US President Donald Trump last week announced his plans to impose country-specific reciprocal tariffs to address "unfair and unbalanced" aspects of bilateral trade

India, US to finalise broad contours of trade agreement: Commerce Ministry

India and the US will sit together in the next couple of weeks to decide on the nature of the proposed trade agreement and finalise its broad contours, a senior official said on Monday. During the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington, India and the US announced to more than double the two-way commerce to USD 500 billion by 2030 and negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by fall of 2025. "Give us a couple of weeks to decide what is the level of ambition in the first tranche (of the agreement) that we are looking at and what is the nature of the agreement that we will be arriving at. The two sides will need to sit together and try to finalise the broad contours," Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce Rajesh Agrawal told reporters here. The two countries have also agreed to collaborate to enhance bilateral trade by increasing US exports of industrial goods to India and Indian exports of ...

US deportees: 2 flights with 33 Guj natives land in Ahmedabad from Amritsar

Two flights with 33 natives of Gujarat deported from the US for illegal stay landed at Ahmedabad airport from Amritsar on Monday, officials said. They are part of a group of 112 Indians on board a US military aircraft that landed at the Amritsar airport late on Sunday. The arrival of the 33 deportees took the number of Gujarat residents sent back from the US to 74 so far since February 6. "Soon after they arrived at the Ahmedabad airport, the 33 immigrants, including children, were transported to their respective native places in Gujarat in police vehicles," said Airport Police Station inspector SG Khambhla. While three immigrants - two from Mehsana and one from Gandhinagar district - arrived at around 12 noon, 30 others landed on another flight at around 2 pm, said Khambhla. Police vehicles were deployed at the airport to transport the deportees to their native places. On February 16, a plane carrying eight persons from Gujarat, who were among 116 Indians sent back home from the

Presidents Day 2025: What's open and closed on Washington's birthday?

This year, Presidents Day 2025 falls on Feb 17. Originally dedicated to George Washington, it now honors Lincoln as well as Washington. Federal offices and banks are closed, however, shops are opened

Ukraine, Europe will be part of 'real' peace talks to end war, says Rubio

Rubio said a negotiation process had not yet begun in earnest, and if talks advanced, the Ukrainians and other Europeans would be brought into the fold.

Third batch of Indian deportees from US being sent to respective states

The third batch arrived just after a day the second batch landed in Amritsar