Page 52 - Us Government

Revolutionary changes taking place in India-US relationship: Amb Sandhu

Revolutionary changes are taking place in the India-US relationship, the outgoing Indian Ambassador here, Taranjit Singh Sandhu has said, stressing that the bilateral ties have only covered the tip of the iceberg and are going to go far and wide. Addressing a gathering of Indian Americans at the Republic Day celebration here, Sandhu said it is important that their second generation remains connected to India. I only wanted to tell you that today revolutionary changes are taking place in India, also in US-India relations," he said, "And therefore it is important that your children and your families are aware of India, stay connected with India, Sandhu, who retires later this month from the foreign service after more than 35 years, said As international capital and multinational companies move into India, all the young Indian Americans will be uniquely placed to get most of those job opportunities, Sandhu said. So therefore, not only for emotional, cultural, and so many other reason

India-US relations bound to grow deeper, says outgoing Indian envoy Sandhu

Sandhu particularly underscored the defense and strategic partnership between the two countries that has expanded to $ 25 billion over the years

Donald Trump testifies in court against E Jean Carroll defamation trial

Donald Trump began testifying on Thursday in a New York defamation trial to determine how much he might owe the advice columnist E. Jean Carroll for disparaging her as a liar after she publicly accused him of a decades-old rape in 2019. I just wanted to defend myself, he said in testimony that lasted less than three minutes. Carroll, who is seeking over USD 10 million in damages, was in the courtroom as Trump was sworn in as a witness in Manhattan federal court. Carroll claims Trump ruined her reputation after she accused him for the first time publicly in a memoir of sexually abusing her in spring 1996 in the dressing room of a Manhattan luxury department store. Trump, 77, has vehemently denied the accusations for the last five years and continues to assail Carroll, 80, on the campaign trail as he pursued the presidency as the Republican frontrunner. US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in Manhattan has instructed jurors that they must accept the findings of another New York jury th

US shows concern over Sri Lanka's controversial internet regulation law

The United States expressed concerns over Sri Lanka's online regulation bill on Thursday, a day after it passed overwhelmingly in Parliament over protests by the media, opposition and rights activists. The Online Safety bill allows the government to set up a commission with a wide range of powers, including ordering people and internet service providers to remove online posts deemed prohibited statements. It can also legally pursue people who publish such posts. Julie Chung, the US ambassador in Sri Lanka, said the United States has concerns about the potential impact of the legislation and urged Sri Lanka to prioritise transparency and ensure any legislation does not stifle the voices of its people . In addition to jeopardizing democratic values, vague and overly restrictive legislation can hinder investment and the development of a digital economy, undermining the economic growth that Sri Lanka needs, Chung said in a statement posted on her X account. Critics say the law is an ..

Trump could testify as trial set to resume in his legal fight with Carroll

Former President Donald Trump could return to a New York courtroom Thursday to defend himself against a lawsuit seeking more than $10 million for things he said about advice columnist E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of sexual assault. Trump's first visit to court on Monday ended abruptly because a juror was ill. The trial has been suspended since then. Carroll's lawyers are expected to finish presenting their case in the morning. If everything goes as planned, Trump could be on the witness stand before a lunch break. Trump is fresh off big victories in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday and the Iowa caucus last week. Carroll, 80, testified at a trial last year in the same courtroom that she was attacked by Trump in the dressing room of a midtown luxury department store in spring 1996. A jury last year agreed that it happened and awarded Carroll $5 million in damages for sexual abuse and defamation. Trump denies ever knowing Carroll and says she made up her claims to sell a

Maine's top court declines to hear appeal of Donald Trump ballot decision

Maine's top court Wednesday evening declined to weigh in on whether former President Donald Trump can stay on the state's ballot, keeping intact a judge's decision that the U.S. Supreme Court must first rule on a similar case in Colorado. Democrat Shenna Bellows concluded that Trump didn't meet ballot qualifications under the insurrection clause in the U.S. Constitution but a judge put that decision on hold pending the Supreme Court's decision on the similar case in Colorado. In a unanimous decision, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court decided to maintain the status quo, rejecting Bellows' interlocutory appeal of the judge's decision requiring her to await the U.S. Supreme Court decision before withdrawing, modifying or upholding her decision to keep Trump off the primary ballot on Super Tuesday. Bellows' decision in December that Trump was ineligible made her the first election official to ban the Republican front-runner from the ballot under the 14th Amendment. In Colorado, the state

Ron DeSantis withdraws from White House race, endorses Trump for 2024

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Sunday announced to withdraw from the GOP's presidential primary race and endorse former US president Donald Trump as the party's nominee. Indian American and the former governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley, 51, is the only Republican left in the race against Trump, 77, who is seeking to enter the White House for the second term. A White House occupant from January 2017 to January 2021, Trump lost to incumbent Joe Biden in 2020 elections. Trump, who is so far the most popular Republican presidential candidate with a majority of the party members supporting him, as per all major polls, won the Iowa Caucus last week and is leading in the New Hampshire primaries which is scheduled for January 23. With the withdrawal by DeSantis, who once was seen as a formidable challenge to Trump, it's now a race of two in the GOP between Trump and Haley. Political pundits now say that the former president is set to be the GOP's nominee and the November 20204 ...

Trump may testify in Carroll sex abuse trial, court limits what he can say

Former President Donald Trump has told the public for years what he thinks of E. Jean Carroll, the writer who claims he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s. Now he has a chance to talk to a jury about her but within limits he might well test. Trump could testify as soon as Monday in the defamation trial over his 2019 comments branding Carroll a liar who faked a sexual attack to sell a memoir. He plans to be in court as the New York trial resumes after a weekend break. Because a different jury found last year that Trump sexually abused Carroll, US District Judge Judge Lewis A. Kaplan has ruled that if the former president takes the stand now, he won't be allowed to say she concocted her allegation or that she was motivated by financial or political considerations. But even while just watching the proceedings, the voluble ex-president and current Republican front-runner hasn't checked his contempt for the case. While Carroll testified last week, he complained to his lawyers about a

Trump celebrates DeSantis' drop out decision, ends feud ahead of 2024 polls

Donald Trump set aside months of criticism and mockery of Ron DeSantis on Sunday night, celebrating his onetime Republican rival as his newest supporter after the Florida governor ended his presidential campaign and endorsed the former president. For Trump, it's become a familiar ritual to welcome the backing of someone who once tried to take him on. Nonetheless, it was notable at Sunday's rally in New Hampshire to see Trump praise DeSantis without calling him DeSantimonious or DeSanctus, putting an end to perhaps the most bitter rivalry of Republicans' 2024 campaign. I just want to thank Ron and congratulate him on doing a very good job, Trump said at the outset of his remarks. He was very gracious, and he endorsed me. I appreciate that, and I also look forward to working with Ron. Trump described DeSantis as "a really terrific person. Earlier in the day, DeSantis said via video that he would be ending his campaign two days before New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation GOP primary. Bu

US Q4 GDP shows annualised 2% rise, expected to crown vigorous second half

While the Fed wants to guard against a re-acceleration of inflation, a further softening of price pressures risks making policy even more restrictive

India-US relationship significant for global good, says Ambassador Sandhu

The relationship between India and the US is very important and significant not only for the two countries but also for the global good, India's outgoing ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu has said in an address to the diaspora and told them that they have played and have an important role to play in further strengthening this partnership. Addressing the group of eminent Indian Americans from across the United States on Saturday, Sandhu urged them to ensure that the second generation remains connected to India, and they travel to India frequently. This relationship is very important and significant, not only for our two countries but for the global good, Sandhu told a group of some 200 eminent Indian Americans during a virtual farewell session on Saturday. Sandhu retires from the Indian Foreign Service at month-end after an illustrious 35-year. You must ensure that your children remain invested in India; they travel to India. Like so many other communities here in the Unite

UAE urges US to support immediate ceasefire of Israel's attacks in Gaza

President Joe Biden's administration has refrained from demanding a halt to the Israeli military campaign and vetoed a UN Security Council demand for a ceasefire put forward by the UAE in December

Joe Biden hits out at Trump, says former US prez wants stock market crash

"He wants to see the stock market crash" because he does not want to acknowledge the economy is now performing well, Biden said

Federal 2020 election case: Trump's bid to hold Smith in contempt denied

The federal judge overseeing the 2020 election interference case against Donald Trump on Thursday rejected his lawyers' bid to hold special counsel Jack Smith's team in contempt for actions prosecutors took after the judge put the case on hold. But the judge said no further substantive court filings should be submitted without permission. The former president's lawyers had accused prosecutors of outrageous conduct for turning over to the defense thousands of pages of evidence and filing a motion after the judge paused the case while Trump appeals his presidential immunity claim. The defense said prosecutors were violating a court order that put the case on hold so Trump can pursue his claim in higher courts. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said in her ruling Thursday that her Dec. 13 order pausing the case did not clearly and unambiguously prohibit those actions by Smith's team. However, she agreed with Trump to bar all parties in the case from filing any further substantive ...

Taiwan's new envoy to US offers assurances to Washington, Beijing

Taiwan's top diplomat in Washington has a message for both the island's Chinese adversaries and its American friends: Don't worry that Taiwan's new president-elect will worsen relations with Beijing and possibly draw the U.S. into a conflict. President-elect Lai Ching-te plans to keep the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, Alexander Tah-Ray Yui told The Associated Press on Thursday in his first interview with an international news organization since he arrived in the U.S. in December. The Chinese government has called Lai a troublemaker who will push Taiwan toward independence. But Yui said Lai is willing to engage with Beijing, even as the island seeks to strengthen its unofficial ties with Washington for stability in the region. We want the status quo. We want the way it is neither unification, neither independence. The way it is is the way we want to live right now, said Yui, Taiwan's de-facto ambassador to the U.S., noting the stance is largely supported at home and will guide th

Firmly against Palestinian state in any postwar scenario: Netanyahu to US

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he has told the United States that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of any postwar scenario, underscoring the deep divisions between the close allies three months into Israel's assault on Gaza aiming to eliminate its Hamas rulers. The US has called on Israel to scale back its offensive and said that the establishment of a Palestinian state should be part of the day after. But in a nationally broadcast news conference, Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with the offensive until Israel realises a decisive victory over Hamas. He also rejected the idea of Palestinian statehood. He said he had relayed his positions to the Americans. In any future arrangement...Israel needs security control all territory west of the Jordan, Netanyahu told a nationally broadcast news conference. This collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can you do? The prime minister needs to be capable of saying no to our friends, he ..

Biden govt pledges new sanctions over Houthi attacks on global shipping

The United States on Wednesday put Yemen's Houthis rebels back on its list of specially designated global terrorists, piling financial sanctions on top of American military strikes in the Biden administration's latest attempt to stop the militants' attacks on global shipping. Officials said they would design the financial penalties to minimize harm to Yemen's 32 million people, who are among the world's poorest and hungriest after years of war between the Iran-backed Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition. But aid officials expressed concern. The decision would only add "another level of uncertainty and threat for Yemenis still caught in one of the world's largest humanitarian crises, Oxfam America associate director Scott Paul said. The sanctions that come with the formal designation are meant to sever violent extremist groups from their sources of financing. President Donald Trump's administration designated the Houthis as global terrorists and a foreign terrorist organisation in one

US-UK airstrikes slow Iran from supplying weapons to Houthis, say officials

On Tuesday, the US hit four Houthi missiles in Yemen in a preemptive strike, a far more limited move than the one carried out on Jan 11

US strikes Yemen-based Houthis again, hits anti-ship missiles: Official

The US launched a new strike against the Yemen-based Houthis on Tuesday, hitting anti-ship missiles in the third assault on the Iranian-backed group in recent days, a US official said. The strike came as the Iranian-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for a missile attack against the Malta-flagged bulk carrier Zografia in the Red Sea. No one was injured. The vessel had been heading north to the Suez Canal when it was attacked, the Greek Shipping and Island Policy Ministry said. This latest exchange suggested there has been no let-up in Houthi attacks on shipping in the region, despite the massive US and British assault on the group on Friday, bombing more than 60 targets in 28 locations using warship- and submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets. The Houthis' military spokesman, Brig Gen Yahya Saree, said in a pre-recorded statement that it fired after the ship's crew refused to answer warning calls and that the vessel was heading for a port in Israel. According to th

US Congressional leaders ready stopgap bill to extend govt funding

Another extension has moved into focus as Congress appears on track to miss two staggered deadlines - January19 for passage of four of the 12 annual government-funding bills and February 2 for others