Page 9 - Us Government

Mediation between two unequals not possible: Tharoor on Trump's claims

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has said that to suggest one can mediate between two unequals is not possible because there is no equivalence between terrorists and their victims, amid repeated claims by US President Donald Trump that he "helped settle" the tensions between India and Pakistan. Tharoor, currently in the US leading a multi-party delegation on Operation Sindoor, made the comments in response to a question during a conversation at the Council on Foreign Relations here Thursday. "Mediation is not a term that we are particularly willing to entertain. I'll tell you why not. The fact is that this implies, even when you say things like broker or whatever, you're implying an equivalence which simply doesn't exist," Tharoor said. He said there is no equivalence between terrorists and their victims. "There is no equivalence between a country that provides safe haven to terrorism, and a country that's a flourishing multi-party democracy that's trying to get on with its business," he

US slams ICC judges with sanctions over investigation into Israel

The Trump administration is slapping sanctions on four judges at the International Criminal Court over the tribunal's investigation into alleged war crimes by Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza and in the West Bank. The State Department said Thursday that it would freeze any assets that the ICC judges, who come from Benin, Peru, Slovenia and Uganda, have in U.S. jurisdictions. The move is just the latest step that the administration has taken to punish the ICC and its officials for investigations undertaken against Israel and the United States. As ICC judges, these four individuals have actively engaged in the ICC's illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America or our close ally, Israel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. The ICC is politicized and falsely claims unfettered discretion to investigate, charge, and prosecute nationals of the United States and our allies, Rubio said. This dangerous assertion and abuse of power infringes upon the sovereignty a

US declines to label China a currency manipulator, but blasts its policies

The US declined to label China a currency manipulator in a new Treasury report released Thursday, but accuses Beijing of standing out among America's major trading partners for lacking transparency in its exchange rate policies. Treasury's semi-annual report to Congress called Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States comes as the Trump administration seeks to strike a trade deal with China, averting a trade war that has been brewing between the two nations. A Treasury official told reporters previewing the report that the US could in the future find evidence that China is manipulating its currency and will make a determination in the fall whether China has been manipulating the renminbi, also known as RMB. During President Donald Trump 's first term, the Treasury, which was then led by Secretary Steve Mnuchin, labeled China a currency manipulator in 2019 before then the US had not put China on the currency blacklist since ...

Rising US debt and yields threaten global growth, will keep market on edge

The yield on the 30-year US government bond recently crossed the psychological 5 per cent mark. The yield on 10-year US government bonds has also inched up

US immigration authorities detain family of man charged in Colorado attack

The wife and five children of an Egyptian man accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at people in Boulder demonstrating for the release of Israeli hostages, injuring 12 of them, was taken into custody Tuesday by US immigration officials who are investigating whether they knew about his plan. The family of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and could be deported as early as Tuesday night, the White House said in a post on X. Soliman, who was disguised as a gardener, had 18 Molotov cocktails and had planned to kill all of the roughly 20 participants in Sunday's demonstration in downtown Boulder but apparently had second thoughts and threw just two while yelling "Free Palestine," police said. Soliman, who federal authorities say has been living in the US illegally, didn't carry out his full plan because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before," police wrote in an affidavit. The two incendiary devices he threw were enough to

8 Pro-Israeli demonstrators injured, possibly with burns, in Colorado

Several people were injured, and some may have suffered burns Sunday in what the FBI immediately described as a "targeted terror attack" at an outdoor mall in Boulder, Colorado, where a group had gathered to raise attention to Israeli hostages held in Gaza. One man, who authorities did not immediately identify, was taken into custody. Video from the scene showed a witness shouting, "He's right there. He's throwing Molotov cocktails," as a police officer with his gun drawn advanced on a bare-chested suspect with containers in each hand. The attack took place at a popular pedestrian mall in Boulder where demonstrators with a volunteer group called Run For Their Lives had gathered to raise visibility for the hostages who remain in Gaza as a war between Israel and Hamas continues to inflame global tensions and has contributed to a spike in antisemitic violence in the United States. It occurred more than a week after the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington by a ..

Trump officials to visit Alaska for talks on gas pipeline, oil drilling

The Trump administration is sending three Cabinet members to Alaska this week as it pursues oil drilling in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and reinvigorating a natural gas project that's languished for years. The visit by Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin comes after Trump signed an executive order earlier this year aimed at boosting oil and gas drilling, mining and logging in Alaska. It also comes amid tariff talks with Asian countries that are seen as possible leverage for the administration to secure investments in the proposed Alaska liquefied natural gas project. Their itinerary includes a meeting Sunday with resource development groups and U.S. Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski in Anchorage before heading to Utqiagvik, an Arctic town on the petroleum-rich North Slope where many Alaska Native leaders see oil development as economically vital to the region. T

Judge weighs sweeping remedy proposals in US antitrust case against Google

The fate and fortunes of one of the world's most powerful tech companies now sits in the hands of a US judge wrestling with whether to impose far-reaching changes upon Google in the wake of its dominant search engine being declared an illegal monopoly. US District Judge Amit Mehta on Friday heard closing arguments from Justice Department lawyers who argued that a radical shake-up is needed to promote a free and fair market. Their proposed remedies include a ban on Google paying to lock its search engine in as the default on smart devices and an order requiring the company to sell its Chrome browser. Google's legal team argued that only minor concessions are needed and urged Mehta not to unduly punish the company with a harsh ruling that could squelch future innovations. Google also argued that the upheaval triggered by advances in Artificial Intelligence are already reshaping the search landscape, as conversational search options are rolling out from AI startups that are hoping to

Trump administration 'MAHA' health report cited nonexistent studies

Since taking the role, he has fired thousands of workers at federal health agencies and cut billions of dollars from US biomedical research spending

Trump issues series of pardons for politicians, union leader, rapper

US President Donald Trump issued a series of pardons on Wednesday, awarding them to a former New York congressman, a Connecticut governor, a rapper known as NBA YoungBoy", a labour union leader and a onetime Army officer who flaunted safety measures during the Coronavirus pandemic. His actions mixed Trump's willingness to pardon high-profile Republicans and other supporters, donors and friends with the influence of Alice Marie Johnson, whom Trump recently named his pardon czar after he offered a pardon to her in 2020. Johnson was convicted in 1996 on eight criminal counts related to a Memphis-based cocaine trafficking operation. Trump commuted her life sentence in 2018 at the urging of celebrity Kim Kardashian West, allowing for Johnson's early release. Johnson then served as the featured speaker on the final night of the 2020 Republican National Convention, and Trump subsequently pardoned her before more recently naming her as his point person for pardons. Among those receiving th

Judge rules Trump admin wrongly ended parole for hundreds of thousands

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the Donald Trump administration wrongly ended humanitarian parole for hundreds of thousands of people allowed to live in the United States temporarily. The decision is another legal setback for President Trump's plans for mass deportation, but it may prove temporary and its immediate impact was unclear. US District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston sided with people who were already admitted to the United States but were unable to renew their short-term permits. They cover parole policies that benefited Afghans, Ukrainians, Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans and children from Central American countries trying to join their parents in the US, among others. Talwani, who was appointed by then-president Barack Obama, said two orders by Department of Homeland Security officials to suspend renewals pending further review were unlikely to survive a legal challenge. One of the orders gives no reasoned explanation for the actions, she wrote. Th

Why Elon Musk is not happy with Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill'

Donald Trump's showpiece tax bill, dubbed the 'One Big Beautiful Bill', aims to expand the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, but Musk says it will hurt cost-cutting efforts

Taiwan's President pledges to buy more American goods as 32% tariff looms

Taiwan's president on Tuesday pledged to buy more American goods, including natural gas and oil, as the self-governing island seeks closer ties with the US while threatened with a 32% tariff from the Trump administration. By purchasing more US products that also include weapons and agricultural goods, Taiwan would not only create "more balanced bilateral trade" with the US but also boost its energy autonomy and resilience, said Lai Ching-te, the island's leader, while hosting a US congressional delegation. Lai also said the island would be willing to participate in US efforts to reindustrialise and lead the world in artificial intelligence. Rep. Bruce Westerman, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, told Lai that the US produces a lot of food and fibre and is "always looking for more friends to share that with." Trade and economic ties between Taiwan and the US have grown closer in recent years. The island faces rising pressure from China, which sees the island as part of

US govt set to get golden share in US Steel-Nippon Steel acquisition deal

The plan, which would give the government de facto veto rights on certain company decisions and appointments, is part of ongoing talks between authorities and the companies

Trump honours fallen soldiers, calls them America's 'best and bravest'

President Donald Trump paid tribute to fallen service members during a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, in an address that honoured the great, great warriors" yet also briefly veered into politics as he boasted of a nation he is fixing after a long and hard four years. Though the holiday is one that US presidents typically treat with pure solemnity, Trump began it with an all-caps Memorial Day social media post that attacked his predecessor and called federal judges who have blocked his deportation initiatives "monsters who want our country to go to hell. Yet at Arlington National Cemetery, where more than 400,000 have been laid to rest, Trump commemorated the sacrifice of US service members and singled out several Gold Star families to tell the stories of their fallen relatives. We just revere their incredible legacy," Trump said. We salute them in their eternal and everlasting glory. And we continue our relentless pursuit of America's destiny as we .

White House National Security Council fires many staffers after Trump order

President Donald Trump is ordering a massive overhaul of the National Security Council that will shrink its size and return many career appointees back to their home agencies, according to two US officials and one person familiar with the reorganization. The move is expected to significantly reduce the number of staff at the NSC, according to the officials, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive personnel matter. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been serving as national security adviser since early this month following the ouster of Mike Waltz, who was nominated to serve as Trump's ambassador to the United Nations. The NSC has been in a continual state of tumult for much of the early going of Trump's second go-around in the White House. Waltz was ousted weeks after Trump said that he'd fired several NSC officials, just a day after far-right activist Laura Loomer raised concerns directly to him about staff loyalty. The White House days into the administration sidelined .

Singapore PM Lawrence Wong says government to engage US-China honestly

A key priority for Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will be to deepen the trade-focused country's relations with the major powers, especially the US and China, engaging them honestly in a principled manner while not getting caught in their rivalry. Speaking after his newly re-elected government was sworn-in on Friday, Wong stressed, Where our interests align, we will work with them (the US and China). Where they do not, we will stand firm and protect Singapore's security and sovereignty. He also added that the first priority would be to secure an "assured place" for Singapore in this "changed world". Singapore, said Wong, will also seek new ties with countries in parts of the world, like Africa and South America, where it does not have much presence yet. In a world of shifting alliances, we will be a steady and constructive partner, one willing and able to contribute to peace and stability, to advance dialogue and fraternity, and support a rules-based global order, he said.

Trump signals approval of Nippon deal, US Steel to Stay in Pittsburgh

President Donald Trump said on Friday that US Steel will keep its headquarters in Pittsburgh as part of what he called a planned partnership that seemed to signal that he'll approve a bid by Japan-based Nippon Steel to buy the iconic American steelmaker. Still, Trump's statement left it vague as to whether he is approving Nippon Steel's bid after he vowed repeatedly to block it. But investors seemed to take it as a sign that he would approve it, sharply pushing up US Steel's shares. Nippon Steel's nearly USD 15 billion bid to buy US Steel was blocked by former President Joe Biden on his way out of office and, after Trump became president, subject to another national security review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Trump said in a statement that after much consideration and negotiation, US Steel will REMAIN in America, and keep its Headquarters in the Great City of Pittsburgh. What Trump called a planned partnership will create at least 70,000 jobs and ad

Harvard needs to meet these 6 conditions to keep its international students

US government sets conditions after cancelling Harvard's certification to host foreign students

DOGE targets Census Bureau, raises concerns over US data infrastructure

The group run by Elon Musk and his aides to cut federal spending in the second Trump administration is targeting some surveys conducted by the US Census Bureau it claims are wasteful," worrying users of federal data already concerned about the health of the nation's statistical infrastructure. The Department of Government Efficiency said on social media this week that five surveys costing $16.5 million that are conducted by the statistical agency for other federal agencies have been terminated but didn't specify which ones. Some of the questions on the eliminated surveys asked about alcohol consumption and the frequency that respondents used the internet in their home, according to the post. Other surveys are being reviewed one-by-one, said Tuesday's post on DOGE's X account. The Census Bureau didn't respond this week to an inquiry seeking comment. Based on the post, it's highly possible that the eliminated surveys included the Survey of Inmates in Local Jails, which gathered ...