Page 25 - Us

Pak shelves multi-billion-dollar gas project with Iran under US pressure

Pakistan has temporarily shelved the multi-billion dollar gas pipeline project to import cheap energy from neighbouring Iran, apparently under pressure from the US which has imposed sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme, according to a media report on Monday. The development comes as Pakistan struggles to put its cash-strapped economy in order with the help of the International Monetary Fund, which agreed to provide USD 3 billion in loan. The project was initially conceived as an India-Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline, but later, India left it and became a bilateral project between Pakistan and Iran. The sanctions imposed by the US on Iran over its nuclear programme have deterred Pakistan from constructing the pipeline. The Dawn newspaper reported that Pakistan had issued a notice of Force Majeure and Excusing Event' to Iran to suspend its contractual obligation on completion of the multi-billion-dollar Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project because of external factors ...

Fitch Ratings downgrades US: A stern criticism of political standoffs

The Fed raised interest rates by 25 bps in March, May, and July 2023. Fitch expects one more hike to 5.5 per cent-5.75 per cent by September

The current rally in US technology is only recouping the losses of 2022

One should not invest in the latest fad within the US technology sector, but trying to capture longer-term trends towards digitisation can pay off for Indian investors, said Rajeev Thakkar

GlobalFoundries on the lookout for local partners to set up India chip fab

It could take a couple of years before any concrete plans are finalised for the chip fabrication unit

Joe Biden, Donald Trump neck-and-neck in possible rematch, finds poll

Biden appears to have escaped the political danger zone he resided in last year, when nearly two-thirds of his party wanted a different nominee

Crushing it: Donald Trump leads Republican presidential nominee race

Trump led DeSantis 54 percent to 17 per cent. No other candidate topped 3 per cent support in the poll

Support for Niger at risk as military takeover threatens stability: Blinken

Political instability in Niger resulting from a military takeover that deposed the president this week threatens the economic support provided by Washington to the African nation, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Saturday. Members of the Niger military announced on Wednesday they had deposed democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum and on Friday named Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani as the country's new leader, adding Niger to a growing list of military regimes in West Africa's Sahel region. Blinken, who is in Australia as part of a Pacific tour, said the continued security and economic arrangements that Niger has with the US hinged on the release of Bazoum and the immediate restoration of the democratic order in Niger. Our economic and security partnership with Niger which is significant, hundreds of millions of dollars depends on the continuation of the democratic governance and constitutional order that has been disrupted by the actions in the last few days, Blink

US, Australia to cooperate with India to ensure security of Indo-Pacific

During the meeting, the two countries reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing interoperability with the militaries of the Pacific through a range of exercises

FTC readies antitrust lawsuit against Amazon that could break up company

The wide-ranging lawsuit is expected as soon as August and will likely challenge a host of Amazon's business practices, the report said

'There is only one Robert'

Oppenheimer covers the peak period of Oppie's life, from his student days in the 1920s until a kangaroo-court hearing that denied him a security clearance in 1951

Judge sets trial date for next May in Trump's classified documents case

A federal judge in Florida has set a trial date for next May for former President Donald Trump in a case charging him with illegally retaining hundreds of classified documents. The May 20, 2024, trial date is a compromise between a request from prosecutors to set the trial for this December and a request from defense lawyers to schedule it after the 2024 presidential election.

No loss to India on removal of customs duties on 8 US products: Minister

The removal of retaliatory customs duties on eight American products, including apples, walnuts, and lentils, will not result in a loss to the country, Parliament was informed on Friday. India had imposed these duties on 28 US products in retaliation to America's move to increase import duty on certain steel and aluminium goods. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Washington, both sides decided to resolve six trade disputes at the World Trade Organisation. India also agreed to remove the duties. The government has decided to remove retaliatory customs duties on import of almonds (fresh or dried, in shell), walnuts, chickpeas, lentils, apples, medical diagnostic reagents, and boric acid, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. "The removal of retaliatory tariffs or cuts in import duty with the US does not result in a loss to India," she said. "It simply means that the additional duties imposed as a ...

Amazon, Meta among firms to unveil AI safeguards after Biden's warning

Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and other companies that are leading the development of artificial intelligence technology have agreed to meet a set of AI safeguards brokered by President Joe Biden's administration. The White House said Friday that it has secured voluntary commitments from seven U.S. companies meant to ensure their AI products are safe before they release them. Some of the commitments call for third-party oversight of the workings of commercial AI systems, though they don't detail who will audit the technology or hold the companies accountable. A surge of commercial investment in generative AI tools that can write convincingly human-like text and churn out new images and other media has brought public fascination as well as concern about their ability to trick people and spread disinformation, among other dangers. The four tech giants, along with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and startups Anthropic and Inflection, have committed to security testing carried out in part by ...

Fiat loses case as court allows Mahindra to sell Jeep's copy in US

The court denied Fiat's request to apply the "safe distance rule" on Roxor

Microwaving food containers can expose you to toxic nanoplastics: Study

Microwaving plastic food containers can release billions of small toxic plastic particles, according to a study. The researchers found that microwaving plastic baby food containers released over two billion nanoplastics and four million microplastics for every square centimeter of container in some cases. The study, published recently in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, also found that three-quarters of cultured embryonic kidney cells had died after two days of being introduced to those same particles. "It is really important to know how many micro- and nanoplastics we are taking in," said Kazi Albab Hussain, the study's lead author and a doctoral student at the University of NebraskaLincoln, US. "Many studies, including ours, are demonstrating that the toxicity of micro- and nanoplastics is highly linked to the level of exposure, Hussain added. The team conducted experiments with two baby food containers made from polypropylene and a reusable pouch made of ...

US to send more warships to Gulf to tackle Iran's efforts to seize ships

The US is sending additional warships and thousands of Marines to the Middle East to increase security in the wake of Iranian attempts to seize commercial ships there. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday approved the deployment of the USS Bataan amphibious readiness group and the 26th Marine Expeditional Unit to the Gulf region, according to US officials. The readiness group consists of three ships, including the Bataan, an amphibious assault ship. An expeditional unit usually consists of about 2,500 Marines. In an announcement, US Central Command said the deployment will provide "even greater flexibility and maritime capability in the region. The announcement did not name the ships, but US officials detailed the units involved in the deployment on condition of anonymity to discuss troop movements. Along with the Bataan, the group includes two other warships, the USS Mesa Verde and the USS Carter Hall. The group left Norfolk, Virginia, earlier this month. It was unclear ...

Major League Cricket (MLC), the first professional league making huge in US

The tournament will be played in a single round-robin format with 15 league matches played among six franchises, followed by a four-match play-off phase

Yellen visits Vietnam to build US ties to offset tensions with China

The US considers building strong economic and security ties with Vietnam a priority, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday as she met with Vietnamese officials in a visit aimed at fortifying America's relations across Asia. Yellen arrived in Vietnam after visits to Beijing and to India, where she attended financial meetings of the Group of 20 major industrial economies. The United States considers Vietnam a key partner in advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific, Yellen told Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, according to remarks provided by the US Treasury Department. A free and open Indo-Pacific refers to the latest iteration of broad US diplomacy aimed at cultivating stronger ties with other countries in the region to in effect counter China's growing sway among its neighbours. Vietnam is also a close economic partner, with our two-way trade reaching record highs last year and the United States serving as Vietnam's largest export market, she said. It is a prior

Canada receives good response for new work permit for H-1B visa holders

The Canadian government's decision to allow 10,000 H-1B visa holders in the US to come and work in the country, which is expected to benefit Indian professionals, has received an overwhelming response with the scheme meeting its target within the first day. 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. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China. The new work permit for H-1B visa holders officially opened for applications on July 16. The Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) now says applicants no longer apply for the scheme as it has been closed. "We reached the cap of 10,000 applications for this initiative on July 17, 2023," the IRCC said on its website The message on the IRCC applicant portal also says the same thing. The temporary public policy for H-1B visa holders is n

India likely to rise as great power, West making sensible bet: Martin Wolf

India is indeed likely to be a rising "great power" and its economy will have the size similar to that of the US by 2050, according to noted economics commentator Martin Wolf who has also highlighted that Western leaders are making a sensible bet on the country. "I judge that India should be able to sustain growth of GDP per head at 5 per cent a year, or so, up to 2050. With better policies, growth might even be a bit higher, though it could also be lower," Wolf said in a column written in the Financial Times. He also said India is an obvious location for companies following a "China plus one" strategy and has the advantage over obvious competitors of a large home market. India is the world's fifth largest economy and third largest one in terms of purchasing power. The United Nations has forecast the country's population to touch 1.67 billion by 2050 and currently it is 1.43 billion. Wolf noted that the country's bank balance sheets have been repaired and in all, "the credit engine