Page 21 - Usa

US Fed hike on expected lines; RBI to take a balanced view: Analysts

The 0.25 per cent hike in interest rates by the US Fed was on expected lines, analysts said on Thursday, expecting its Indian counterpart to take a balanced view in its policy formation going forward

Biden's son pleads not guilty to 2 tax crimes after agreement falls through

President Joe Biden's son Hunter pleaded not guilty Wednesday to two tax crimes after a deal with federal prosecutors unravelled during a court hearing following the judge's concerns over the agreement. Hunter Biden was charged last month with two misdemeanour tax crimes of failure to pay more than USD 100,000 in taxes from over USD 1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018, and he was expected to plead guilty after he made an agreement with prosecutors, who were planning to recommend two years of probation. That deal is now on hold. But during the hearing Wednesday, there was a dispute in court over whether the initial agreement gave him protection against any future charges. US District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, raised concerns about the language of the deal. Biden had also been charged with possession of a firearm by a person who is a known drug user, a felony. He had a Colt Cobra .38 Special for 11 days in October 2018. He had

Engineering exports see mixed fortunes; trade with Russia surges: EEPC

India's engineering exports to major markets like the United States, the European Union (EU) and China continued to decline in June 2023, reflecting a challenging global trade environment, EEPC India said. The country's shipments to West Asia and North Africa (WANA), North East Asia, and CIS countries, however, showed positive growth during the same period, the Engineering Exports Promotion Council of India (EEPC) said. India's engineering exports declined for the third straight month in June 2023, falling 11 per cent year-on-year to USD 8.53 billion. The decline was led by a sharp fall in exports to the US, EU, and China, it said. Exports to the US fell 12.5 per cent to USD 1.45 billion, while exports to the EU fell 16.2 per cent to USD 1.51 billion. Exports to China fell 20 per cent to USD 184 million. However, an almost threefold increase in engineering exports to Russia reached a substantial USD 116.9 million in June 2023. Cumulatively, during the April-June period of the curr

'Barbie' movie sets record, emerges biggest US, Canadian debut of 2023

Director Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer," about the making of the atomic bomb, rang up $80.5 million at domestic theaters in a cinema battle dubbed "Barbenheimer."

Morgan Stanley lifts US growth forecast on expectation of infra investment

Economists at Morgan Stanley now expect U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) to grow 1.3% on average in 2023, from an earlier forecast of a 0.6% rise

US weekly jobless claims fall unexpectedly, shows labour market strength

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 228,000 for the week ended July 15, the Labor Department said on Thursday

China ready to discuss fixing stalled ties with US: Xi tells Kissinger

President Xi Jinping on Thursday told Henry Kissinger that China is ready to discuss the "correct way" to halt the slide of its relations with the US and sought the help of veteran American diplomat to fix the ties as he did 50 years ago by establishing diplomatic ties between the two countries. Kissinger, the former US Secretary of State, who turned 100 in May this year remained the most influential figure in Beijing since his successful ping-pong diplomacy in 1971 pitting Communist China against its ideological mentor the then Soviet Union tilting the Cold War balance of power at that time. Successive Chinese Communist Party leaders turned to him for guidance on the trajectory of China's ties with the US which helped Beijing to expand its economic and diplomatic clout in the world, until in the last 10 years when the American leaders began identifying China as a major threat as it emerged as the world's second-largest economy and major military power next only to the US. The ties

US, India welcome growing energy cooperation in SCEP ministerial meeting

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said that the two sides also recognised the importance of producing green hydrogen as a critical energy source

ChatGPT can officiate your wedding, US couple finds new use for the chatbot

A couple in Colorado, US shared personal information with the chatbot so that it could officiate their wedding

US inflation decelerates to 3%, core CPI rises less than forecast

The consumer price index rose 3% last month from a year ago, according to data out Wednesday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. From May, it advanced 0.2%

ADIB raises $750 million in US dollar-denominated tier-one perpetual sukuk

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) announced today that it has successfully raised 750 million USD in the world's first dollar-denominated additional tier-one (AT1) perpetual sukuk issued since March 2023

Chemical Weapons Destroyed, But Threat Remains

What is a chemical weapon, why is the world better off without it and what threat remains? Watch the video to find out

TPG to buy Forcepoint's govt cyber unit in $2.45 billion deal: Report

The acquisition would hand TPG control of Forcepoint Global Governments and Critical Infrastructure, which focuses on key infrastructure for US government and federal agencies

Oil falls by 1% on China, US economic data, but OPEC+ cuts limit fall

Brent crude futures fell 73 cents, or 0.9%, to $77.74 a barrel by 1005 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was also off 72 cents, or 1%, at $73.14 a barrel

Nooyi, Ullal among 4 Indian-origin America's richest self-made women

Four Indian-origin women, including Jayshree Ullal and Indra Nooyi, have been named by Forbes among America's 100 richest self-made women, with a combined net worth of a whopping USD 4.06 billion. President and CEO of Arista Networks, a computer networking firm; Jayshree Ullal, co-founder of IT consulting and outsourcing firm Synte; Neerja Sethi, co-founder and former chief technology officer (CTO) of cloud company Confluent; Neha Narkhede and PepsiCo's former chair and CEO Indra Nooyi made it to Forbes list of 'America's Richest Self-Made Women'. "Bolstered in part by a rebound in the stock market, they are cumulatively worth a record USD 124 billion, up nearly 12 per cent from a year ago," Forbes said last month at the release of its ninth annual list. Ullal, ranked 15th on the list, has a net worth of USD 2.4 billion. She has been president and CEO of the publicly-traded Arista Networks since 2008 and owns about 2.4 per cent of its stock. Arista recorded revenue of nearly USD 4.4

US lawmakers, Indian-Americans condemn Indian consulate attack, seek probe

American lawmakers and several Indian-American community organisations have denounced the recent attack on the Indian consulate in San Francisco and called for a thorough probe into the incident to bring perpetrators to justice. While the right to protest is ingrained in the US Constitution, no one has the right to engage in violence, they said in separate statements and tweets on Friday. They also condemned the threats issued to Indian diplomats, including India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, by separatist Sikhs and called on the Biden administration to ensure safety of foreign diplomats. A video by Khalistan supporters, dated July 2 and posted on Twitter, showed the act of arson at the Indian consulate in San Francisco. The video, with the words "violence begets violence" emblazoned over it, also showed news articles related to the death of Canada-based Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar, one of India's most-wanted terrorists who carrie

Russian fighter jets harass American drones over Syria: US military

Russian fighter jets have harassed American drones over Syria for the third day in a row this week, the U.S. military said. Tension between Russian and U.S. troops is not uncommon in Syria as both countries conduct patrols on the ground as well as overflights. Syria's 12-year conflict has left half a million people dead and over 1 million wounded. The U.S. military said in a statement that Friday's encounter lasted for about two hours during which three MQ-9 drones were once again harassed by Russian fighter aircraft while flying over Syria. Russian aircraft flew 18 unprofessional close passes that caused the MQ-9s to react to avoid unsafe situations, Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, head of U.S. Air Forces Central Command, said in a statement. Rear Adm. Oleg Gurinov, head of the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria, said earlier this week that the Russian and Syrian militaries have started a six-day joint training that ends Monday. Gurinov added in comments carried by Syrian state me

Court sends fresh summons to BBC, Wikimedia, Internet Archive via Law Min

A court here on Friday issued fresh notices to BBC, Wikimedia Foundation and US-based digital library Internet Archive through the Union Ministry of Law and Justice after noting that they were foreign entities and thus subject to rules formulated under the Hague Convention. Additional District Judge (ADJ) Ruchika Singla was hearing a criminal complaint filed by BJP leader Vinay Kumar Singh seeking to restrain them from publishing or broadcasting a documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots or any other material defamatory to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). "It is clear that as per the rules formulated under the Hague Convention and by the Government of India, the summons/notices in foreign countries can be effected only through the Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India, which has admittedly not been done in the present case," the judge said. "Hence, it is directed that the summons be issued afresh to the .

Several Indian-Americans among 14 charged in $52 mn Covid relief fund fraud

Around 14 people, including several Indian-origin business owners and employees have been charged in a USD 53 million fraud scheme involving a COVID-19 pandemic relief programme in the US state of Texas. This case is the largest investigated by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) Fraud Task Force to date, US Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton said in a press release. The defendants were arrested on Tuesday and Wednesday in Texas, California, and Oklahoma, the release said. Simonton said the 14 people allegedly bilked the Paycheck Protection Program, a COVID-era financial program, and numerous financial institutions out of more than USD 53 million in loan proceeds. Defrauding the government is an affront to American taxpayers. Defrauding the government during a pandemic at a time when millions of hardworking entrepreneurs struggled to make payroll and rent is pouring salt in a wound, Simonton said. These defendants allegedly conspired to

US job growth slows in June and unemployment rate declines to 3.6%

There was also a jump in the number of people working part-time for economic reasons last month, in part because their hours had been reduced due to work slack or business conditions