Page 37 - Us Government

Significant human rights abuses in Manipur after ethnic violence: US report

There were significant human rights abuses in Manipur after the outbreak of ethnic conflict, the US State Department said on Monday in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described the incident as shameful and urged action on the case, it said. In its annual report of the State Department, which is mandated by the US Congress, it also mentions the raids by tax authorities on the office of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the conviction and sentencing to two years of prison to Rahul Gandhi by a court in Gujarat. Released by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the report mentions some of the positive developments on the issue of human rights and freedom of expression and gathering in the year 2023, the duration of the report. In July, the government permitted a march in Srinagar, the main city of Kashmir, allowing Shia Muslims to mark the religious Muharram event. This procession represented the first government-sanctioned ...

India, US regularly consult on democracy, human rights issues: Official

India and the United States regularly consult at the highest levels on democracy and human rights issues, a senior US State Department official said on Monday, after an official report claimed that there were significant human rights abuses in Manipur last year. "The US and India regularly consult at the highest levels on democracy and human rights issues," Robert S Gilchrist, senior official from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, told reporters after the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices was release by Secretary of State Tony Blinken. "We strongly encourage, urge India to uphold its human rights obligations and commitments. We also regularly meet with civil society representatives both in the US and India to hear their perspectives, and those sorts of perspectives inform the human rights report, and we encourage the government of India to consult and meet regularly with civil society organisations representing a diversity of people," Gilchrist ...

Pak rarely punished officials committing human rights abuses: US report

The US released a report "2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices" on Tuesday, highlighting the human rights abuses in various countries

US, Sri Lanka to conduct joint maritime drill ahead of Iranian Prez's visit

The US Navy, the US Marine Corps, and the Sri Lankan Navy will conduct a bilateral maritime joint exercise from Monday, including anti-terrorism manoeuvres, the American mission here said. The joint exercise called the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) gets underway two days before the proposed visit of Iran President Ebrahim Raisi to the island nation to inaugurate an Iranian-funded hydropower project. However, the confirmation of the visit, happening in the current backdrop of Israeli-Iranian tensions, is yet to be announced by the Sri Lankan authorities. CARAT Sri Lanka will feature the expertise of the US Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team (FAST), a US Marine Corps unit specialised in security and anti-terrorism for naval assets, engaging alongside their Sri Lanka Navy Marine counterparts on a full spectrum of naval capabilities, according to an official press release. The CARAT Sri Lanka bilateral maritime exercise underscores the strong partnership and shared

TikTok braces for US divest-or-ban law as it gears up for fresh legal fight

That action would be an unprecedented move by Congress to use legislation to threaten the ban of a large consumer technology platform

Israel condemns expected US sanctions against 'ultra-Orthodox' soldiers

Israeli leaders on Sunday harshly criticized an expected decision by the US to impose sanctions on a unit of ultra-Orthodox soldiers in the Israeli military. The decision, expected as soon as Monday, would mark the first time the US has ever imposed sanctions on a unit inside the Israeli military and further strains relations between the two allies, which have grown increasingly tense during Israel's war in Gaza. While US officials declined to identify the sanctioned unit, Israeli leaders and local media identified it as Netzah Yehuda - an infantry battalion founded roughly a quarter of a century ago to incorporate ultra-Orthodox men into the military. Many religious men receive exemptions from what is supposed to be compulsory service. Israeli leaders condemned the decision as unfair, especially at a time when Israel is at war, and vowed to oppose it. If anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit in the IDF, I will fight it with all my might, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanya

Highlights: For 60 yrs, Cong could not find a tribal who could be country's President, says PM Modi

Catch all the latest updates from across the globe here

Zelenskyy, Netanyahu thank US lawmakers for passage of aid package

Around $9.5 billion of the package is in the form of a forgivable loan

Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries: Police

A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said. The New York City Police Department said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park around 1:30 pm Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed to the aid of the man, who was hospitalised in critical condition. The man, who police said had travelled from Florida to New York in the last few days, hadn't breached any security checkpoints to get into the park. The park outside the courthouse has been a gathering spot for protesters, journalists and gawkers throughout Trump's trial, which began with jury selection Monday. Through Friday, the streets and

US court rejects last-minute bid to halt Donald Trump's hush money trial

A New York appeals court judge on Friday rejected a last-minute bid by Donald Trump to halt his hush money criminal trial over defense complaints that jury selection was unfairly rushed. Justice Marsha Michael issued the ruling just minutes after a brief hearing. The arguments in the mid-level appeals court came hours after the jury selection process concluded in Trump's criminal trial, which is currently taking place roughly two miles south. The ruling will allow opening arguments to take place as soon as Monday in Trump's criminal trial.

US sanctions 3 China firms for providing ballistic missile tech to Pak

The US has imposed sanctions on three China-based companies and one from Belarus for supplying missile-applicable items for Pakistan's ballistic missile programme, including its long-range missile programme, the State Department has said. The name of the companies are Xi'an Longde Technology Development, Tianjin Creative Source International Trade and Granpect Co. Ltd from China and Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant from Belarus. These entities have engaged in activities or transactions that have materially contributed to, or pose a risk of materially contributing to, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery, including any efforts to manufacture, acquire, possess, develop, transport, transfer or use such items, by Pakistan, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Friday. Miller said the US is committed to strengthening the global nonproliferation regime by taking action to disrupt procurement networks supporting proliferation activities of ...

Baltimore bridge collapse: Crews to remove debris from ship's deck

Salvage crews at the site of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore are turning their focus to the thousands of tons of debris sitting atop the Dali, a massive cargo ship that veered off course and caused the deadly catastrophe last month. An estimated 3,000 to 4,000 tons of steel and concrete landed on the ship's deck after it crashed into one of the bridge's supporting columns and toppled the span, officials said at a news conference Friday. Crews will have to remove all that before refloating the stationary ship and guiding it back into the Port of Baltimore. Officials displayed overhead photos of the ship with an entire section of fallen roadway crushing its bow. So far, cranes have lifted about 120 containers from the Dali, with another 20 to go before workers can build a staging area and begin removing pieces of the mangled steel and crumbling concrete. The ship was laden with about 4,000 containers and headed for Sri Lanka when it lost power shortly after leaving

Central banks globally struggle to keep up with US Fed's rate cut timeline

IMF officials urged Asian central banks to stick to their own knitting and avoid the temptation to lash their policy decisions too closely to anticipated moves by the Fed

US govt aims to begin new North Korea sanctions monitoring regime by May

Russia rejected the annual renewal of the panel last month, while China abstained from the vote

Jury chosen in Trump's hush-money case, and other trial takeaways

Trump, who faces three other criminal prosecutions, denies wrongdoing and claims the cases are part of a political 'which hunt' against him

US presidential elections: Trump faces criminal case for poll interference

Donald Trump lost a bid Thursday to pause a string of lawsuits accusing him of inciting the U.S. Capitol attack, while the former president fights his 2020 election interference criminal case in Washington. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington denied defense lawyers' request to put the civil cases seeking to hold Trump responsible for the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on hold while the criminal case accusing him of conspiring to overturn his election defeat to President Joe Biden plays out. It's the latest legal setback for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, whose trial in a separate criminal case related to hush money payments made during the 2016 campaign began this week with jury selection in New York. The lawsuits brought by Democratic lawmakers and police officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 seek civil damages for harm they say they suffered during the attack, which aimed to stop Congress' certification of Biden's victory. Trump has claimed he can't be sued o

Donald Trump hush money trial: Jury selection encounters setbacks

Jury selection in Donald Trump 's hush money case encountered setbacks Thursday as two previously sworn-in jurors were excused one after backtracking on whether she could be impartial and fair and the other over concerns that he may not have been truthful about whether he had ever been accused or convicted of a crime. Seven jurors were sworn in on Tuesday, but with the excusal of two of them, lawyers now need to pick 13 others including six alternates to serve on the panel that will decide the first-ever criminal case against a former U.S. president. Prosecutors on Thursday also asked Judge Juan M. Merchan to sanction Trump over seven more social media posts they say violate a gag order that bars Trump from attacking witnesses. The prosecution on Monday sought a $3,000 fine against Trump over three Truth Social posts. Questioning of a second wave of prospective jurors began mid-morning. Over half of the group of 96 people was excused after saying they couldn't serve. Trump has

US envoy vows support for Japanese families abducted, taken to N Korea

America stands with Japan until all the Japanese abducted by North Korea decades ago return home to end their painful separation, United States ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said ON Thursday in Tokyo. Japan says North Korea abducted at least 17 Japanese citizens, possibly many more, to train them as agents during the 1970s and 1980s. Twelve remain missing. They include teenage students and others living along Japan's coasts, and many were bundled into small boats and taken across the sea to North Korea. Thomas-Greenfield began her Japan visit by meeting with families of those kidnapped. The United Stats stands with all the families, with all of Japan and with the international community in pressing for a resolution that will allow all families separated by the regime's policies to be reunited, she said at the outset of her meeting with five relatives of the abductees and a representative from their support group at the Prime Minister's Office. I'm all too

Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders more likely to believe in climate change

Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the United States are more likely than the overall adult population to believe in human-caused climate change, according to a new poll. It also suggests that partisanship may not have as much of an impact on this group's environmental views, compared to Americans overall. A recent poll from AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds 84% of AAPI adults agree climate change exists. In comparison, 74% of U.S. adults hold the same sentiment. And three-quarters of AAPI adults who accept climate change is real attribute it entirely or mostly to human activity. Among the general U.S. adult population surveyed in an AP-NORC poll in September, only 61% say humans are causing it. The poll is part of an ongoing project exploring the views of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, whose views can usually not be highlighted in other surveys because of small sample sizes and lack of .

Full UN membership won't help Palestinians with statehood: US envoy

US President Joe Biden had categorically said that Washington supported a two-state solution and was working on the ground to get that in place as soon as possible, she said