Page 31 - Us

China warns against 'geopolitical games'; Blinken to visit Papua New Guinea

China on Friday warned against the introduction of geopolitical games in the South Pacific following the announcement that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Papua New Guinea next week. The U.S. opted to send Blinken after President Joe Biden cancelled what was to have been a historic stop in Papua New Guinea as well as a visit to Australia for a meeting of leaders of the so-called Quad partnership so he can focus on debt limit talks in Washington. The administration has made putting a greater focus on the Pacific region central to its global outreach, largely to counter China's growing influence there. China has no objection to normal exchanges and cooperation between relevant parties and Pacific Island countries, and has always advocated that the international community should pay more attention to and support the development and revitalisation of the island countries, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing. However, Wang added, We also

US unemployment claims tumbled last week after fraud-inflated jump

Some economists have been wary about drawing strong conclusions from the data amid reports that fraudulent claims have been behind the recent upward trend in filings

India in touch with US authorities on Tahawwur Rana's extradition: Kwatra

India is in regular touch with the US authorities for a speedy and early extradition of Tahawwur Rana, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Thursday against the backdrop of a US court approving extradition of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks accused. In a major victory for India's fight in bringing perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks to justice, US Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian of the US District Court of the central district of California issued a 48-page order on May 16, saying Rana should be extradited to India. "Insofar as the question of Tahawwur Rana is concerned, we are in very regular touch with the US authorities to ensure that there is speedy and early extradition of Tahawwur Rana. We have all seen the judgement which was given by the local US court there. That conversation of ours with the US side is continuing," Kwatra said. He was replying to a question at a media briefing on whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take up the issue of Rana's extradition to India if .

Biden's re-election campaign sees 'viable pathways' to 2024 election win

President Joe Biden 's reelection campaign is vowing to hold the states that won him the White House in 2020 but also compete in places it lost like North Carolina and increasingly Republican-dominated Florida, providing what it says are a number of viable pathways to the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch four more years. Offering her first extensive comments on strategy since she was named manager of Biden's campaign last month, Julie Chavez Rodriguez wrote in a memo to interested parties that the 2024 race presents significant opportunities to grow Democratic support. It was released while Biden was travelling in Japan, but he is skipping previously planned, subsequent stops in Australia and Papua New Guinea to focus on debt limit talks in Washington. Rodriguez said the reelection campaign is planning early investments to try to retain battleground states Biden won in 2020 including Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada and New Hampshire, and to hold Georgia and Arizona, ..

US factories production surges in April as motor vehicles output rises

Capacity use for the manufacturing sector increased 0.7 percentage point to 78.3% in April. It is 0.1 percentage point above its long-run average

US wants to 'move beyond' spy balloon: Jake Sullivan to Chinese diplomat

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Wang Yi during talks in Vienna this week that the Biden administration is looking to move beyond tensions spurred by the US shooting down a Chinese spy balloon that traversed the continental United States, according to a senior Biden administration official. The meeting was not publicised by Washington or Beijing ahead of the high-level talks on Wednesday and Thursday in the Austrian capital. The White House described the wide-ranging discussions, in which the two leaders spent more than eight hours together, as candid and constructive." The administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting, said that both sides recognise that the February incident was unfortunate" and are now looking to reestablish standard, normal channels of communications. The talks are the latest in a series of small signs that tensions could be easing between the

US weekly jobless claims hit 1-1/2-year high; producer inflation cooling

The government reported on Wednesday that the annual increase in consumer prices slowed to below 5% in April for the first time in two years

Honour to be back in India at such historic time in US-India ties: Garcetti

Shortly after presenting his credentials to President Droupadi Murmu, US Ambassador Eric Garcetti on Thursday said he would focus on raising the bilateral partnership to "new heights" with both sides working together on "defining issues" of the time. The US embassy in India was without an ambassador since January 2021 after then envoy Kenneth Juster's resignation following a change of guard at the White House. "It was an honour to present my credentials to the president and it is an honour to be back in India at such an exciting and historic time in the US-India relationship," Garcetti said. "I look forward to working with the Indian people to raise our partnership to new heights," he added. Separately, in a tweet, the ambassador said he is excited about working towards deepening the US-India ties. "Thank you to the Government of India for your close and fruitful partnership with the United States. I'm excited to deepen #USIndia ties as we work together on defining issues of our .

Fox's $787.5 mn deal saved it from a long trial, says Lachlan Murdoch

Viewership of Fox News in prime time fell nearly 30% in the week after Carlson's dismissal, according to Nielsen data

Dr Reddy's Laboratories launches Regadenoson injection in US market

Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd on Friday announced the launch of Regadenoson injection, used as an agent in the imaging of heart muscle to check blood flow, in the US market. Regadenoson injection is supplied as single-dose pre-filled syringes, 0.4mg/5ml (0.08 mg/ml). It is a generic therapeutic equivalent of Lexiscan injection, approved by US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), Dr Reddy's said in a regulatory filing. The injection is a pharmacologic stress agent for radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) in patients unable to undergo adequate exercise stress. In a separate filing, Dr Reddy's said it has issued a Form 483 with one observation by the USFDA after a routine GMP inspection at its API manufacturing facility (CTO 1) in Bollaram, Hyderabad. "The inspection was conducted from May 1, 2023 to May 5, 2023. We have been issued a Form 483 with one observation, which we will address within the stipulated timeline," the company said. As per USFDA, Form 483 is issued to a

India trashes USCIRF report, calls it biased and misrepresentation of facts

India on Tuesday categorically trashed as "biased" and "motivated" a report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) that alleged "severe violations" of religious freedom in the country. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the Commission continues to regurgitate such comments and India rejects the "misrepresentation of facts" which only serves to "discredit USCIRF itself". He also asked USCIRF to develop a better understanding of India, its plurality and its democratic ethos. "The US Commission on International Religious Freedom continues to regurgitate biased and motivated comments about India, this time in its 2023 annual report," he said. "We reject such misrepresentation of facts which only serves to discredit USCIRF itself," Bagchi added. "We would urge USCIRF to desist from such efforts and develop a better understanding of India, its plurality, its democratic ethos and its constitutional mechanisms," he said. In its annual rep

US Prez Joe Biden's popularity shot up by double digits in India in 2022

The year 2021 was different. In the first half of Biden's presidency, American leadership rebounded in popularity with respondents around the world

US manufacturing sector contracts for sixth straight month in April

The sector, which accounts for 11.3% of the economy, is being weighed down by the Federal Reserve's fastest interest rate hiking campaign since the 1980

Amazon to Walmart: Workers' well-being tops agenda at annual company meet

Shareholders and companies have reached agreements on about a third of the requests. Most of the rest will go to a vote

Timeline: Road to First Republic Bank's collapse; to be sold to JPMorgan

Last week, First Republic reported a more than $100 billion plunge in deposits in the first quarter that sparked a brutal sell-off in the lender's shares

US FDA panel backs restricted use of AstraZeneca's prostate cancer drug

Lynparza is already approved by the FDA to treat a type of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, as well as a different form of prostate cancer

India, US discuss export control issues related to dual-use items: Kendler

India and the US discussed export control issues related to items of dual use, US Assistant Secretary for Export Administration Thea D Rozman Kendler said here on Friday. Talking to reporters, Kendler said the two sides are also engaged in the final planning for the India-US Strategic Trade Dialogue, to be held in Washington next month. "Our strategic trade dialogue, shared commitment to export controls paves the way for this high tech cooperation... And I think we're at a new stage in our relationship where we see tremendous opportunity and a closer relationship and hope that throughout our new dialogue, we can explore ways of enhancing high tech commerce," the senior US official said. She informed there were also roundtable discussions with the Indian industries, including with the Indian Electronics Semiconductor Association, the US India Business Council, NASSCOM and the American Chamber of Commerce. "...the purpose of having these industry meetings was to learn about the tech

US economy grew at weak 1.1% rate in first quarter in sign of slowdown

Despite surging interest rates, punishing inflation and global turbulence, the US economy stood firm last year. From employers to consumers, the picture was one of surprising resilience. This year may be shaping up as a more downbeat story. The economy is widely expected to decelerate steadily and to slip into a recession sometime this year. Some early such signs could begin to emerge Thursday, when the Commerce Department will issue its first estimate of the economy's performance in the first three months of 2023. Forecasters have predicted that the gross domestic product the broadest measure of economic output grew at a 1.9 per cent annual rate from January through March, according to a survey by the data firm FactSet. That would mark a significant slowdown from the 3.2 per cent growth rate from July through September and the 2.6 per cent rate from October through December. The obstacles the economy faces are growing more troublesome. The biggest among them is the dramatically

Federal appeals court rejects Trump effort to block Pence testimony

A federal appeals court on Wednesday night moved former Vice President Mike Pence closer to appearing before a grand jury investigating efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election, rejecting a bid by lawyers for former President Donald Trump to block the testimony. It was not immediately clear what day Pence might appear before the grand jury, which for months has been investigating the events preceding the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol and efforts by Trump and his allies to subvert the election outcome. But Pence's testimony, coming as he inches toward a likely entrance in the 2024 presidential race, would be a milestone moment in the investigation and would likely give prosecutors a key first-person account as they press forward with their inquiry. The order from the three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia Circuit was sealed and none of the parties are mentioned by name in online court records. But the appeal in

First Republic Bank plunges on report of potential buyers for new shares

These banks have an incentive to deal as the political fallout of the FDIC making them whole on their $30 billion of deposits could be serious