Page 81 - United States

Trump signs executive order to declassify JFK, RFK, MLK assassination files

Donald Trump's executive order directs the director of national intelligence and the attorney general, once confirmed, to devise a plan within 15 days to release the remaining JFK files

WHO chief plans cost cuts, revised priorities after US exit, document shows

The United States is by far the WHO's biggest financial backer, contributing around 18% of its overall funding. WHO's most recent two-year budget, for 2024-2025, was $6.8 billion

Putin ready to speak to Trump, wants to start nuclear cuts talks: Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also made clear he wants to restart nuclear arms cuts talks as soon as possible

US lawmaker condemns policy for 'ageing out' children of H-1B visa holders

A powerful US lawmaker has criticised the policy affecting children of H-1B visa holders who "age out" their immigration status upon turning 21. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China. Children of H-1B visa holders who turn 21 before their parent secures a Green Card can lose their dependent status and age out of the ability to obtain a permanent resident card. A Green Card allows a non-US citizen to live and work permanently in America. The extensive Green Card backlogs for high-skilled workers mean that H-1B visa holders must wait decades and even centuries before a Green Card is available to them, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, senior Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee, said during a Congressional hearing on restoring ..

US lawmakers introduce bill to repeal China's preferential trade status

China is the US's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade hitting a record $690.6 billion in 2022

Indian man gets 30-month prison term in US for customs duty evasion

An Indian man who ran jewellery companies in New York has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for evading customs duty for importing jewellery worth more than USD 13.5 million and for illegally processing over USD 10.3 million through an unlicensed money transmitting business, a US attorney said. Acting US Attorney Vikas Khanna said Monishkumar Kirankumar Doshi Shah (4O) of Mumbai and Jersey City, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before US District Judge Esther Salas to a two-count information, charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and operating and aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business. In addition to the prison term, the judge ordered restitution in the amount of USD 742,500 for the wire fraud scheme and forfeiture of USD 11,126,982.33 for the wire fraud and unlicensed money transmitting schemes. Additionally, the court imposed a two-year term of supervised release. According to court documents, from around December 2019

On immigration, India has good reason to help shore up Donald Trump's wall

US leaders might be surprised at how unbothered most Indians or even Indian Americans are likely to be about the proposed repatriations

Trump signs executive order on developing AI 'free from ideological bias'

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order on artificial intelligence that will revoke past government policies his order says act as barriers to American AI innovation." To maintain global leadership in AI technology, "we must develop AI systems that are free from ideological bias or engineered social agendas, the order says. The new order doesn't name which existing policies are hindering AI development but calls for the development of an AI action plan within 180 days. Just hours after returning to the White House on Monday, Trump repealed former President Joe Biden's guardrails for fast-developing AI technology, a sweeping executive order signed in 2023. Until Thursday, it wasn't clear if Trump planned to replace Biden's signature AI policy with his own order. Trump had also signed executive orders on AI in his previous term, which are still on the books. Much of Biden's 2023 order set in motion a sprint across government agencies to study's AI impact on everything f

Immigrant detention beds may be maxed out as Trump moves to deport millions

President Donald Trump's inauguration-day executive orders and promises of mass deportations of millions and millions of people will hinge on securing money for detention centres. The Trump administration has not publicly said how many immigration detention beds it needs to achieve its goals, or what the cost will be. However, an estimated 11.7 million people are living in the US illegally, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement currently has the budget to detain only about 41,000 people. The government would need additional space to hold people while they are processed and arrangements are made to remove them, sometimes by plane. The Department of Homeland Security estimates the daily cost for a bed for one adult is about $165. Just one piece of Trump's plan, a bill known as the Laken Riley Act that Congress has passed, would require at least $26.9 billion to ramp up capacity at immigrant detention facilities to add 110,000 beds, according to a recent memo from DHS. That bill na

Barclays sees heightened competition in India from Japan's biggest banks

Japanese banks including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. are targeting India and the US for expansion

Saudi leader offers $600 bn investment pledge in call with Donald Trump

The crown prince, known as MBS, spoke to the American president in a congratulatory phone call on Wednesday

Over 50K under evacuation orders as wildfire imperils homes north of LA

Nearly 20,000 people on Wednesday were ordered to evacuate as a huge and fast-moving wildfire swept through the rugged mountains north of Los Angeles, as parched Southern California endured another round of dangerous winds and two major previous blazes continued to smolder. The Hughes Fire broke out in the late morning and within hours charred nearly 21 square km of trees and brush, sending up plumes of dark smoke near Lake Castaic, a popular recreation area about 64 km from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires that are burning for a third week. A 48 km stretch of Interstate 5, a major north-south artery, was closed as flames raced along hilltops and down into wooded canyons. Crews on the ground and in water-dropping aircraft tried to prevent the wind-driven fire from moving across the interstate and toward Castaic, where most of the 19,000 residents were ordered to evacuate. Another 15,000 people in the area were warned to prepare to leave at a moment's notice, according to t

Pentagon sending up to 1,500 active-duty troops to secure US-Mexico border

The Pentagon on Wednesday said it has begun deploying 1,500 active duty troops to help secure the southern border in the coming days, putting in motion plans US President Donald Trump laid out in executive orders shortly after he took office to crack down on immigration. Acting Defence Secretary Robert Salesses said the Pentagon will provide military aircraft to support Department of Homeland Security deportation flights for more than 5,000 detained migrants and the troops will assist in the construction of barriers. The number of troops and their mission may soon change, Salesses said in a statement. "This is just the beginning," he said. It remains to be seen if they will end up doing law enforcement, which would put American troops in a dramatically different role for the first time in decades. The active duty forces will join the roughly 2,500 US National Guard and Reserve forces already there. There are currently no active duty troops working along the roughly 3,219-km ...

Trump administration's stance may open doors for bilateral FTA with India

Govt holding inter-ministerial consultations following new US policies

India's 6% equalisation levy on ads may face US scrutiny under Trump memo

The equalisation levy was introduced at 6 per cent in FY17 for digital advertising services

US President Donald Trump's anti-climate diktat opens more doors for India

Green initiatives in India unaffected, experts flag India's chance to occupy climate leadership role

Rice exports steady in 2024 despite curbs; basmati shipments surge

The country's rice exports in 2024 stood at 17.8 million metric tons, marginally down from 17.86 million tons shipped a year earlier

Trump finds new ways to flex presidential power after White House return

President Donald Trump is swiftly breaching the traditional boundaries of presidential power as he returns to the White House, bringing to bear a lifetime of bending the limits in courthouses, boardrooms and politics to forge an expansive view of his authority. He's already unleashed an unprecedented wave of executive orders, daring anyone to stop him, with actions intended to clamp down on border crossings, limit the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship and keep the popular Chinese-owned TikTok operational despite a law shutting down the social media platform. Democrats and civil rights organisations are rallying to fight Trump in court, but legal battles could drag on before slowing the president down. Meanwhile, Trump is drafting a new blueprint for the presidency, one that demonstrates the primacy of blunt force in a democratic system predicated on checks and balances between the branches of government. He's going to push it to the max, said Sen. Tommy Tuberville,

Beauty Industry in flux after TikTok braces for an uncertain future in US

On Jan 18, TikTok went dark for users across the US just days after the Supreme Court ruled that it would uphold a law forcing ByteDance to either sell its American platform by Jan 19 or be banned

TikTok owner ByteDance plans to spend $12 billion on AI chips in 2025

This move comes as the Chinese company faces pressure from Washington to sell its popular video-sharing app in the United States