Page 10 - Washington

Pakistan Cabinet approves signing of security pact with US: Report

Pakistan's Cabinet has quietly approved the signing of a new security pact with the US, a move that indicates a fresh start in bilateral defence cooperation after years of wilderness in ties and may open avenues for Islamabad to get military hardware from Washington, a media report said on Thursday. The Cabinet, through a circulation summary, gave its seal of approval to the signing of the Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement, known as the CIS-MOA, between Pakistan and the US, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. However, there was no official announcement from either side about the signing of the agreement. According to the report, Federal Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb was approached but did not respond. The development comes days after Pakistan and the US agreed to further enhance their bilateral relations, including in the defence field, at a meeting between US Central Command (Centcom) chief General Michael Erik Kurilla and ...

India to cut import duty on Washington apples to 50% by September end

An import duty of 70% is imposed on Washington apples, which is 20 percentage points more than the 50% import duty applicable for the apples imported from Iran and Turkey

Growing widlfire in Washington prompts evacuations, threatens homes

Authorities in central Washington told some people to leave their homes immediately as a new, growing wildfire sparked west of Quincy on Monday afternoon. The Grant County Sheriff's Office issued the evacuation notices for areas near the unincorporated community of Trinidad and the resort area of Crescent Bar. Washington's Fire Marshal's Office said in the evening said that state mobilisation had been authorised for the the Baird Springs Fire, which had burned about 1.4 square miles (3.6 square kilometres) of terrain containing sage brush and crops. It was also threatening homes, orchards and a processing warehouse. The fire started at about 2:30 p.m., and the cause was under investigation. It was moving south, and State Route 28 was closed in the area because fire had burned right up to it, according to the sheriff's office. An American Red Cross shelter was opening in Quincy. In southwest Washington, officials said, the Tunnel 5 Fire, which started July 2 in the Columbia River

Trump, DeSantis trade barbs while staging duelling New Hampshire campaign

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump traded barbs on Tuesday as the two leading Republican White House candidates staged duelling events in the critical early voting state of New Hampshire. Addressing a town hall in Hollis, DeSantis vowed to actually build the US-Mexico border wall that Trump tried but failed to complete in his first term while pledging to tear down Washington's traditional power centres in ways that Trump fell short. Speaking later at a Republican women's luncheon in the state capital of Concord, Trump countered that DeSantis was being forced to settle for second place in the primary and accused the governor of supporting cuts to Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs as a way to tame federal spending. Beyond the rhetoric, the conflicting events demonstrated each candidate's evolving strategy. DeSantis took extensive audience questions a trademark in New Hampshire politics that he eschewed during his previous visit to the .

Modi given ceremonial welcome, guard of honour on arriving in Washington DC

The national anthems of both countries were played at the airbase to mark his arrival

Together we stand stronger: PM Modi as he leaves for US on 1st state visit

PM Modi will commence his visit in New York, where he will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the headquarters of the United Nations

Multiple people shot at music festival in Washington, suspect in custody

A suspect has been taken into custody after the Grant County Sheriff's Office issued an 'active shooter' alert at a campground near the Gorge Amphitheatre. There were several victims

US fighter jet scramble: No survivors found after plane crashes in Virginia

A wayward and unresponsive business plane that flew over the nation's capital Sunday afternoon caused the military to scramble a fighter jet before the plane crashed in Virginia, officials said. The fighter jet caused a loud sonic boom that was heard across the capital region. Hours later, police said rescuers had reached the site of the plane crash in a rural part of the Shenandoah Valley and that no survivors were found. The Federal Aviation Administration says the Cessna Citation took off from Elizabethtown, Tennessee, on Sunday and was headed for Long Island's MacArthur Airport. Inexplicably, the plane turned around over New York's Long Island and flew a straight path down over D.C. before it crashed over mountainous terrain near Montebello, Virginia, around 3:30 p.m. It was not immediately clear why the plane was nonresponsive, why it crashed or how many people were on board. The plane flew directly over the nation's capital, though it was technically flying above some of the .

US lawmakers reach deal on drug policy, avoid automatic decriminalisation

Democratic and Republican leaders in the Washington Statehouse reached a tentative deal on a major new drug policy Monday, one that would avoid making the state the second to decriminalise the possession of controlled substances. Lawmakers will consider the compromise Tuesday when they return to Olympia for a special session. Gov. Jay Inslee called them back after they failed to pass a new drug policy before adjourning late last month. Under the deal, intentional possession or public use of small amounts of illegal drugs would be a gross misdemeanour, punishable by up to six months in jail for the first two offenses and up to a year after that. But police and prosecutors would be encouraged to divert cases for treatment or other services, and the measure provides millions of additional dollars for diversion programs and to provide short-term housing for people with substance use disorders. A temporary, 2-year-old law that makes intentional drug possession illegal is due to expire J

Washington is determined to govern artificial intelligence, but how?

But the focus on risks seems insufficient to Democratic Senator Michael Bennet, who introduced a bill calling for a government AI task force

S Korean prez opens Washington visit with spotlight on space, mega deals

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol opened his state visit to Washington on Tuesday by touring a NASA facility with Vice President Kamala Harris as the Biden administration looks to deepen ties with a close ally that it sees as only growing in importance in an increasingly complicated Indo-Pacific. Before Harris and Yoon's visit to the Goddard Space Flight Center in suburban Greenbelt, Md., the two countries signed a joint statement on cooperation in space communications and navigation, and received briefings from NASA scientists on cooperative efforts on space exploration and addressing the climate crisis, Our alliance is leading on some of the most important and pressing issues of our time, Harris said in remarks with Yoon by her side at the NASA facility. Yoon, for his part, recalled his exhilaration as a third-grader watching on television as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped off Apollo 11 to become the first humans to set foot on the moon in 1969. Now, NASA and the Korea

Washington state bans assault weapons, introduces two other major gun laws

Washington Guv also signed into law two other major gun measures, including a 10-day waiting period for gun purchases and a bill that would hold gunmakers liable for negligent sales

Semi-automatic rifle ban passes Washington Legislature, awaiting Guv's nod

A ban on dozens of semi-automatic rifles cleared the Washington state Legislature on Wednesday and the governor is expected to sign it into law. The high-powered firearms once banned nationwide are now the weapon of choice among young men responsible for most of the country's devastating mass shootings. The ban comes after multiple failed attempts in the Legislature and in a year that has seen the most mass shootings during the first 100 days of a calendar year since 2009. The law would cover more than 50 gun models, including AR-15s, AK-47s and similar style rifles, which fire one bullet per trigger pull and automatically reload for a subsequent shot. The bill bans their future sale, distribution, manufacture and importation, although some exemptions are included for sales to law enforcement agencies and the military in Washington. The law would go into effect immediately once it's signed by Democratic Governor Jay Inslee, who has long advocated for such a ban. When the measure

Post-pandemic development requirements becoming lot more focussed: FM

Speaking at a press briefing in Washington on Thursday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the third pillar will now have to be sustainable goals and other climate-related objectives, climate funding, and so forth.Underlining how India's presidency has brought attention to the necessity to incorporate these factors while still being compatible with World Bank objectives and not merely balancing on them, Sitharaman said that New Delhi from its presidency very clearly highlighted that it's going to be how a perfect balance is traced the developmental goals and climate finance.Addressing the media queries, Sitharaman also highlighted the post-pandemic development requirements and laid emphasis on how the focus should lie on them, solely."Not just development funding for low-income countries, post-pandemic development requirements becoming lot more focussed. We're also highlighting core 2 things for World Bank - extreme poverty alleviation & bringing prosperity post

EU cannot 'blindly follow' Washington, says European Council president

More and more European Union leaders have echoed Macron's comments that Europe should resist pressure to become "America's followers," Michel told the US-based POLITICO news service on Tuesday

FM Nirmala Sitharaman arrives in Washington to attend IMF, WB meetings

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arrived here to attend the annual spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank and lead the G-20 countries in a series of intense interactions over a host of issues facing the world. Sitharaman, who is leading a high-powered delegation, is scheduled to kick off her public engagements on Monday from the prestigious Peterson Institute for International Economics by speaking on resilience and growth of the Indian economy and interacting with the think-tank community. Among key engagements of the finance minister here include, spring Meetings of International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; hosting the Second G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting under India's G20 Presidency and G20-related side events; World Bank Development Committee and IMF Committee Plenaries, interaction with global economists and think-tanks, bilateral engagements and interaction with global business leaders and investors in roundtables. Sitharaman

Khalistan supporters try to incite violence at Indian embassy in Washington

A group of Khalistan supporters gathered in front of the Indian mission here and many of their speakers tried to incite violence, but timely intervention by an alert US Secret Service and local police prevented a repeat of London and San Francisco incidents of vandalism at the mission. Separatist Sikhs, who gathered outside the Indian Embassy in downtown Washington DC on Saturday, heralded abusive language and openly threatened Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu. The Ambassador was not in the embassy at the time of the protest. Some of the speakers were seen inciting fellow protestors to indulge in violence and break the windows and glasses of the building across the road. In their speeches, most of the protestors were seen trying to incite violence not only in India but here as well, including physical damage to the Indian Embassy property. Sensing that things might go out of control, the Secret Service and the local police quickly brought in reinforcement and more

LIVE: India logs 1,890 new Covid-19 cases in a day, active tally jumps

Catch all the latest updates from across the globe here

Protesters disrupt forum on Kashmir at National Press Club in Washington

The International Center for Peace Studies invited Mir Junaid and Touseef Raina from the valley for a panel discussion titled 'Kashmir - From Turmoil to Transformation

TikTok CEO Shou Chew set to enter a Washington fight he can't win

The mobile app's 150 million users in the US and the strength of its content-recommendation engine mean any infraction is viewed as a potential societal threat