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US imposes sanctions on many companies for shipping Iranian petrochemicals

The US on Thursday imposed sanctions on several companies including those based in China, Hong Kong, India and the UAE for facilitating financial transfers and shipping of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products. The US is taking further action to disrupt efforts to evade sanctions on the sale of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Specifically, the Department of State is imposing sanctions on two People's Republic of China (PRC)-based entities: Zhonggu Storage and Transportation Co Ltd, which operates a commercial crude oil storage facility for Iranian petroleum that provides a vital conduit for the Iranian petroleum trade, as well as WS Shipping Co Ltd, the ship manager for a vessel that has transported Iranian petroleum products, he said. The Department of the Treasury is also designating eight entities for their involvement in Iran's petrochemical trade. These entities are based in Hong Kong, Iran, India, and the United Arab

Five found dead after shooting in Central Texas neighbourhood in US

Five people were found dead in a Central Texas residential neighbourhood Thursday, officials said. Details on what happened were sketchy, but a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety said officers of several law enforcement agencies converged on the neighbourhood in McGregor, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of Waco. Sgt. Ryan Howard declined to say if the five had gunshot wounds, saying that the cause of death was still to be determined. Law enforcement officers shot one person, and a suspect was in custody, he said. Howard declined to say if the suspect was the one shot, but he added that the suspect was alive and there was no ongoing threat to the public. No motives, relationships and other details were immediately determined, and identities were being withheld until relatives could be notified, he said. However, the McGregor Independent School District issued a statement that it had sent counselors to various campuses. In light of today's events, and out of

Ian regains hurricane strength after causing significant damage in Florida

Ian regained hurricane strength after inflicting significant damage on Florida.

US State Secy Blinken accuses Russia of 'land grab' referendums in Ukraine

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday accused Russia of a "land grab" after referendums in Ukraine and that the US will never recognise the legitimacy or outcome of the "sham" referenda. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday that four regions of Ukraine - Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia - would be folded into Russia during a Kremlin ceremony attended by President Vladimir Putin.v The Kremlin's sham referenda are a futile effort to mask what amounts to a further attempt at a land grab in Ukraine. To be clear: the results were orchestrated in Moscow and do not reflect the will of the people of Ukraine, Blinken said. The United States does not, and will never, recognise the legitimacy or outcome of these sham referenda or Russia's purported annexation of Ukrainian territory, he asserted. "This spectacle conducted by Russia's proxies is illegitimate and violates international law. It is an affront to the principles of international peace and securit

Indian-American Uber Eats delivery person stabbed by career criminal in US

An Indian-American Uber Eats delivery person has been stabbed several times in an attack in the US by a career criminal with more than 100 arrests on his rap sheet, according to a media report. Bharatbhai Patel was stabbed on the Lower East Side, New York on Tuesday by the ex-con described by police as a "super perp", The New York Post reported. The Uber Eats delivery man told The Post on Tuesday that the man stabbed him on the Lower East Side without saying a word and bystanders did nothing. Nobody helped, Patel told The Post. He killed me here, here, here and here, Patel said, referring to the career-criminal suspect and pointing to his wounds. He asked nothing. Not, I need money.' Nothing, the report added. Maybe they need money or something for my bike, he said. But the guy asked me nothing. Patel said he saw around three people near him during the 3 am attack who did nothing to help leaving him to call 911 himself, the report added. He speculated that the people may have

23 missing as boat carrying migrants sinks off Florida amid Hurricane Ian

Twenty-three people were found missing after a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Florida on Wednesday, US Border Patrol said in a statement as the hurricane hit the US state

American businesses struck by India's rapid digitalisation: S Jaishankar

American businesses are struck by how much more digital India has become and there is a broad sense of overall appreciation of the ease of doing business in the country, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said. During a luncheon on Wednesday, USISPF president Mukesh Aghi presented Jaishankar with USISPF's coffee table book titled, We The People', chronicling 75 years of the US-India story, strengthened by the minister's efforts. The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) is committed to creating the most powerful strategic partnership between the U.S. and India. Delighted to participate in a business luncheon with USISPF, Jaishankar tweeted. Noted the high interest in transformational changes happening in India in energy, health, climate, infrastructure and logistics and defence domains, he said. American businesses are struck by how much more digital India has become, how effectively the government is practising digital delivery, what a change that has been in startu

Bill providing Green Card to 8 million people introduced in US Congress

A group of four top Democratic senators has introduced legislation to provide a much-needed pathway to a Green Card for up to 8 million people, including dreamers, H-1B and long-term visa holders. Under the bill, an immigrant may qualify for lawful permanent resident status if they have lived in the US continuously for at least seven years. The Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act was introduced in the Senate by Senator Alex Padilla and co-sponsored by Senators Elizabeth Warren, Ben Ray Lujan, and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin on Wednesday. Our outdated immigration system is hurting countless people and holding back America's economy. My bill would update the Registry cutoff date for the first time in more than 35 years so that more immigrants can apply for legal permanent residence, said Padilla. This could have a profound impact on millions of immigrants, some who have been living, working, and contributing to the United States for decades, by allowing them t

Kamala Harris to visit S Korea amid Pyongyang's nuclear testing threat

US Vice President Kamala Harris will arrive in South Korea on Thursday just a day after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles amid an escalation of Pyongyang's continued nuke testing

At least 6 people critically wounded in shooting at school in Oakland

At least six people were wounded in a shooting at a school in Oakland on Wednesday, officials said. The scene of the shooting was no longer active, according to Alameda County Sheriff spokesperson Lt. Ray Kelly. Paramedics had transported six patients to hospitals, all with gunshot wounds, according to Oakland Fire Department spokesperson Michael Hunt. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf tweeted that all of the wounded were adults and the shooting happened at Sojourner Truth Independent Study, an alternative K-12 school that is located on the same block as three other schools. Officials didn't say if any of the victims might be students age 18 or older. Three of the wounded were in critical condition at Highland Hospital in Oakland, the other three were taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley and their conditions were not known, officials said. John Sasaki, a spokesperson for Oakland Unified School District, said in a statement that district officials do not have any information beyo

Hurricane Ian has potential for 'catastrophic' chemical leak in Florida

As Floridians board up their homes and businesses brace for Hurricane Ian's impact, environmental groups worry there's one big hazard that's been left exposed to storm damage

Jaishankar flags US visa concerns; Blinken commits to build back on backlog

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured that the US is "building back" on the backlog of visa applications from Indian nationals and said the Biden administration has a plan that will play out

Joe Biden sets US target for refugee admissions at 125,000 for 2023

President Joe Biden on Wednesday kept the nation's cap on refugee admissions at 125,000 for the 2023 budget year, despite pressure from advocates to raise it even higher to meet the need after falling far short of that target this year. Refugees advocates have been pushing the Biden administration to do more to restore the US Refugee Admissions Program. The programme suffered deep cuts under the Trump administration, which slashed admissions to a record low. Biden raised the cap to four times that amount this year, but so far fewer than 20,000 refugees have been admitted this budget year, according to the latest count in August. The budget year ends September 30. Biden said in his presidential determination that the admissions should be earmarked for 40,000 refugees from Africa, 35,000 from South Asia and and 15,000 each from East Asia, Europe and Latin America. Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, head of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, said the Biden administration must act now to

Americans to save 3% on monthly premiums for Medicare plans next year

For the first time in a decade, Americans will pay less next year on monthly premiums for Medicare's Part B plan, which covers routine doctors' visits and other outpatient care. The rare 3 per cent decrease in monthly premiums is likely to be coupled with a historically high cost-of-living increase in Social Security benefits perhaps 9 per cent or 10 per cent putting hundreds of dollars directly into the pockets of millions of people. "That's something we may never see again in the rest of our lives," said Mary Johnson, the Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. "That can really be used to pay off credit cards, to restock pantries that have gotten low because people can't afford to buy as much today as they did a year ago and do some long-postponed repairs to homes and cars." The 2023 decrease in monthly Medicare premiums comes after millions of beneficiaries endured a tough year of high inflation and a dramatic increase to premiums this year.

California murder suspect, teen daughter killed during police shootout

An abducted 15-year-old girl and her father a fugitive wanted in the death of the teen's mother were killed amid a shootout with law enforcement Tuesday on a highway in the high desert, authorities said. The teenager, Savannah Graziano, was wearing tactical gear as she ran toward sheriff's deputies during the firefight, according to San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus. Authorities did not specify whether the teen was struck by bullets fired by her father or responding deputies. She was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead shortly before noon. Her father, 45-year-old Anthony John Graziano, was pronounced dead at the scene in Hesperia. He allegedly killed his estranged wife in a domestic violence incident on Monday in the city of Fontana. Investigators had issued an Amber Alert after Graziano fled with his daughter. He had been described as armed and dangerous. His truck was spotted Tuesday morning in Barstow, prompting a chase where Graziano repeatedly fire

UN Security Council should be more inclusive: US Secretary Antony Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tuesday stressed the need for making the United Nations Security Council more inclusive. "We recognize that to meet the challenges we face, members of the UN must not only uphold the charter, but also modernise the institution, including by making the Security Council more inclusive," Blinken told reporters at a joint news conference with visiting External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. "That's why, in his address to the General Assembly, President (Joe) Biden expressed his support for increasing the number of both permanent and non-permanent representatives of the Security Council, a long-standing goal of India," he said. "This includes permanent seats for those nations we've long supported, and permanent seats for countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean," the top American diplomat said. Jaishankar, who arrived in the city from New York wherein he attended the UN General Assembly Sessions, said the reform of the UN is a particularly .

Very confident about India-US bilateral relationship: EAM S Jaishankar

Having played a key role in shaping the India-US ties over the past few decades, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said he is very bullish about this bilateral relationship. "So very frankly, that's a long way of saying that I'm very bullish about that relationship," Jaishankar told reporters at a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as he responded to a question on his overall sense of the trajectory of the relationship. "The big change that I have seen in my four decades as a diplomat was actually in the transformation of India-US relations," he said. "And your question how do I see the trajectory quite honestly, I see today a United States very international, very much more to engaging very much more open to engaging a country like India, which is actually thinking beyond traditional alliances, which has been very effective at finding common ground with potential or actual partners," Jaishankar said. And a very good example of all th

India, Pakistan both partners with different points of emphasis, says US

India and Pakistan are both partners of the US with different points of emphasis, the Biden administration said Monday, a day after visiting External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar questioned the rationale behind the latest American F-16 security assistance to Islamabad. Referring to the argument made by the US that F-16 sustenance package is to fight terrorism, Jaishankar had said everybody knows where and against whom F-16 fighter jets are used. "You're not fooling anybody by saying these things," he said in response to a question during an interaction with Indian-Americans. "We don't view our relationship with Pakistan, and on the other hand, we don't view our relationship with India as in relation to one another. These are both partners of ours with different points of emphasis in each," State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at his daily news conference. "We look to both as partners, because we do have in many cases shared values. We do have in many cases shared

Edward Snowden: US whistleblower, now a permanent Russian citizen

Since 2013, Edward Snowden has been living in Russia to escape prosecution in the US after leaking secret files related to the US National Security Agency (NSA) and the CIA

Joe Biden to host Emmanuel Macron for state visit in December: White House

The White House announced that President Joe Biden will host his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron for a state visit on December 1