Page 27 - Us Government

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to plead guilty to be out of prison

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will plead guilty to a felony charge in a deal with the U.S. Justice Department that will free him from prison and resolve a long-running legal saga that spanned multiple continents and centered on the publication of a trove of classified documents, according to court papers filed late Monday. Assange is scheduled to appear in the federal court in the Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Western Pacific, to plead guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defense information, the Justice Department said in a letter filed in court. The guilty plea, which must be approved by a judge, brings an abrupt conclusion to a criminal case of international intrigue and to the U.S. government's years-long pursuit of a publisher whose hugely popular secret-sharing website made him a cause clbre among many press freedom advocates who said he acted as a journalist to expose U.S. military wrongdoing.

From Black Sea to US Midwest, extreme climate threatens crop output

Global wheat prices jumped to a 10-month high in May after adverse weather trimmed yields for the maturing crop in Russia, the biggest exporter

Russia, N Korea sign partnership, vows closer ties amid rivalry with West

North Korea is under heavy UN Security Council sanctions over its weapons program, while Russia also faces sanctions by the United States and its Western partners over its aggression in Ukraine

UK inflation at 2% for first time since 2021, underlying pressure persists

Sterling rose modestly against the US dollar after the data

Govt bonds register marginal dip tracking US peers after soft retail sales

US yields eased on Tuesday after data showed retail sales in the world's largest economy was weaker than expected in May

US approves new $360 mn arms sale to Taiwan for drones, related equipment

The Biden administration on Tuesday approved a new USD 360 million weapons sale to Taiwan, sending the island hundreds of armed drones, missile equipment and related support material, the State Department said in a statement that is sure to draw condemnation from China. The announcement was not unexpected but it comes at a time of high tension between Washington and Beijing, which regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to consolidate by force if necessary. The sale includes 291 Altius-600M systems, which are unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, with warheads. It also includes 720 Switchblade drones known as extended-range loitering munitions, the State Department said. It said the sale serves U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient's continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability. It will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, milita

Biden to do what is best for Americans: White House on Tibet policy bill

US President Joe Biden is going to take a decision that he thinks is in the best interest of the United States, the White House has said, after China warned of "resolute measures" if the Tibet policy bill is signed into law. The US Congress passed this month a legislation, the Resolve Tibet Act, calling for a peaceful resolution of the dispute over the status and governance of Tibet. It also calls on Beijing to resume dialogue with the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. "The President is going to do what he thinks is best on behalf of the American people, that's what I can tell you," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference on Tuesday when asked about China's warning. The Resolve Tibet Act is a bipartisan bill to enhance US support for Tibet and promote dialogue between the People's Republic of China and the Dalai Lama toward a peaceful resolution of the long-standing dispute between Tibet and China. The Act enhances US suppor

US Senate passes bill to accelerate advanced nuclear energy deployment

A version of the bill had already passed in the House of Representatives and it will now go to President Joe Biden for a signature to become law. It passed the Senate 88-2 votes

As demand for electric vehicles dwindles, what are startups doing about it?

US EV startups are lowering manufacturing costs, laying off workforce, and racing to develop cheaper models to navigate a slump in demand due to steep borrowing costs

Boeing CEO Calhoun apologises to relatives of 737 Max crash victims

US lawmakers prepared to press Boeing's chief executive Tuesday about the company's latest plan to fix its manufacturing problems, and relatives of people who died in two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jetliners were in the room to remind him of what was at stake. CEO David Calhoun appeared before the Senate investigations subcommittee, which is chaired by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a Boeing critic. Blumenthal opened the hearing by recognising the relatives of the crash victims and the family of a Boeing whistleblower who died by suicide earlier this year. This hearing is a moment of reckoning, the senator said. "It's about a company, a once iconic company, that somehow lost its way." Calhoun's appearance before Congress was the first by a high-ranking Boeing official since a panel blew out of a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. No one was seriously injured in the incident, but it raised fresh concerns about the company's best-selling commercial aircraft. Calho

Netanyahu blames Biden for withholding weapons, slowing Israel's offensive

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday claimed the United States is withholding weapons and implied this was slowing Israel's offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where fighting has exacerbated the already dire humanitarian situation for Palestinians. President Joe Biden has delayed delivering certain heavy bombs to Israel since May over concerns about the killing of civilians in Gaza. However, the administration has gone to lengths to avoid any suggestion that Israeli forces have crossed a red line in the deepening Rafah invasion, which would trigger a more sweeping ban on arms transfers. Netanyahu, in a short video, spoke directly to the camera in English as he lobbed sharp criticisms at Biden over bottlenecks in arms transfers. It's inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel, Netanyahu said, adding, Give us the tools and we'll finish the job a lot faster. Netanyahu didn't elaborate

State-run Coal India exploring lithium assets in Argentina with US company

India and the United States said on Monday they were co-investing in a lithium resource project in South America and a rare earths deposit in Africa to diversify critical minerals supply chains

Nato targets AI, robots and space technology in $1.1 billion fund

On Tuesday, the Nato Innovation Fund (NIF) confirmed it had directly invested in four European tech companies

Boeing's CEO to face questions about plane safety from US senators

US lawmakers are expected to press Boeing's chief executive on Tuesday about the company's latest plan to fix its manufacturing problems, and relatives of people who died in two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jetliners plan to be in the room, watching him. CEO David Calhoun is scheduled to appear before the Senate investigations subcommittee, which is chaired by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a Boeing critic. The hearing will mark the first appearance before Congress by Calhoun or any other high-ranking Boeing official since a panel blew out of a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. No one was seriously injured in the incident, but it raised fresh concerns about the company's best-selling commercial aircraft. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are conducting separate investigations. From the beginning, we took responsibility and cooperated transparently with the NTSB and the FAA, Calhoun said in remarks prepared for the

US suspends inspections of avocados in Mexico over security concerns

The United States government has suspended inspections of avocados and mangoes in the Mexican state of Michoacan due to security concerns, an official said on Monday. A US government spokesperson, whose name could not be used under agency policy, said the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is pausing inspections in Michoacan, which is Mexico's biggest exporter of avocados, until the security conditions are resolved. Inspections in other Mexican states are not affected, the spokesperson said. In February 2022, the US government suspended inspections of Mexican avocados until further notice after a US plant safety inspector in Michoacan received a threatening message. The halt was lifted after about a week. Later that year, Jalisco became the second Mexican state authorized to export avocados to the US. The pause in inspections won't block shipments of Mexican avocados to the United States, because Jalisco is now an exporter and there are a lot

Putin vows trade, security deals with North Korea beyond reach of West

Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said Russia and North Korea may sign a partnership agreement during the visit that would include security issues

Pannun case: Democratic senators in US want strong diplomatic response

A group of powerful Democratic senators on Monday sought a strong diplomatic response from the Biden administration to the allegations of the Indian government's involvement in a foiled plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist on US soil. The two-page letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken was signed by Senators Jeff Merkley, Ron Wyden, Tim Kaine, Bernie Sanders, and Chris Van Hollen. "We urge a strong diplomatic response to ensure that all of those who were involved are held accountable, and request a briefing on the status of the administration's engagement with the Indian government on this matter, the senators wrote. It comes as an Indian national Nikhil Gupta, accused of being involved in a murder-for-hire plot against Sikh extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil, on Monday, pleaded not guilty in the case at a federal court here. Pannun holds dual American and Canadian citizenship. Gupta was produced before a federal court in New York on Monday, where h

Biden's new policy to give deportation protection to spouses of US citizens

President Joe Biden is planning to announce a sweeping new policy Tuesday that would lift the threat of deportation for tens of thousands of people married to US citizens, an aggressive election-year action on immigration that had been sought by many Democrats. Biden was hosting a White House event to celebrate an Obama-era directive that offered deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants and will announce the new programme then, according to three people briefed on the White House plans. The policy will allow roughly 490,000 spouses of US citizens an opportunity to apply for a parole in place programme, which would shield them from deportations and offer them work permits if they have lived in the country for at least 10 years, according to two of the people briefed. They all spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the announcement publicly. The White House on Monday declined to comment on the announcement. Families who would

India, US release fact sheet on MQ-9B deal, co-production initiatives

The drone deal is part of the broader efforts to strengthen defence ties between the United States and India

Indian suspect in plot to kill Sikh separatist Pannun extradited to US

Nikhil Gupta has been accused by US federal prosecutors of plotting with an Indian government official to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun