Page 11 - Washington

TikTok sends influencers to Washington as troubles grow amid possible ban

TikTok is ramping up a public relations campaign to fend off the possibility of a nationwide ban by the Biden administration, and it's bringing some unconventional advocates to help: online influencers. Dozens of TikTok creators some with millions of followers on the video-sharing app came to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to lobby in favour of the platform, one day before lawmakers are slated to grill the company's chief executive about concerns over user data falling into the hands of the Chinese government. Shou Zi Chew plans to tell Congress on Thursday that TikTok, which was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs, is committed to user safety, data protection and security, and keeping the platform free from Chinese government influence. He will also answer questions from U.S. lawmakers worried about the social media platform's effects on its young user base. At the heart of TikTok's trouble is a Chinese national intelligence law that would compel Chinese companies to fork over data to th

Washington turns to Wall Street to help rescue dying First Republic Bank

The scene was reminiscent of the last financial crisis, nearly 15 years ago: Faced with a blossoming emergency in the banking sector, worried regulators and policymakers in Washington turned to Wall Street for help. The anxiety this week centred on First Republic Bank in San Francisco, which was once the envy of the banking sector, with its wealthy and well-travelled clientele. Now the bank was reeling after some of those customers withdrew billions of dollars. As early as Tuesday, it became clear to policymakers that the First Republic needed to be rescued or it could fail, two people briefed on the matter told The Associated Press, speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss details. The result was a swift agreement among the nation's leading banks to lay aside competitive instincts to come to First Republic's aid. With Washington greasing the wheels, a coalition of lenders put USD 30 billion in uninsured deposits into the California-based bank as a show of ..

More than 10 US high-altitude balloons flew in our airspace: China

China on Monday said more than 10 US high-altitude balloons have flown in its airspace during the past year without its permission, following Washington's accusation that Beijing operates a fleet of surveillance balloons around the world. The Chinese allegation comes after the US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had crossed from Alaska to South Carolina, sparking a new crisis in bilateral relations that have spiralled to their lowest level in decades. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin gave no details about the alleged US balloons, how they had been dealt with or whether they had government or military links. It is also common for US balloons to illegally enter the airspace of other countries," Wang said at a daily briefing. Since last year, US high-altitude balloons have illegally flown over China's airspace more than 10 times without the approval of Chinese authorities." Wang said the US should first reflect on itself and change course, rather than smear and

Indian, US space officials discuss human space exploration in Washington

A highlight of the NASA-ISRO cooperation is the Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission, planned for next year

Washington county mistakenly releases nearly half million partial SSNs

A county in Washington inadvertently released nearly half a million partial Social Security Numbers when responding to a routine public records request in December, according to county officials. The Pierce County Auditor's Office, which mistakenly released the sensitive data, said in a news release that the human error was quickly spotted and that the person who received the SSN digits deleted them within two hours. The requester had not asked for the personal information. First let me say that I am incredibly sorry that this happened, Pierce County Auditor Linda Farmer said in statement. Farmer added that this was not a targeted hack, and that "we have taken steps to ensure it does not happen again. The Social Security number information was included in a routine request for publicly available voter registration data, which typically includes names, addresses and birth dates. Personally identifiable information, including Social Security number information, which can be used to ..

Amazon begins new round of job cuts, lays off over 18,000 people: Report

Amazon has started notifying its employees affected by its new round of layoffs, as a part of its plan to reduce its headcount by around 18,000 people, the media reported

Biden surprised over records at old office post calls for damage assessment

President Joe Biden said Tuesday he was surprised when informed that government records were found by his attorneys at his former office space in Washington. He was asked about the issue after the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee requested that the US intelligence conduct a "damage assessment" of potentially classified documents. Speaking to reporters in Mexico City, Biden said his attorneys "did what they should have done" when they immediately called the National Archives about the discovery at the offices of the Penn Biden Center. He kept an office there after he left the vice presidency in 2017 until shortly before he launched his presidential campaign in 2019. The White House confirmed that the Department of Justice was reviewing "a small number of documents with classified markings" found at the office. "I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there are any government records that were taken there to that office," Biden said in his firs

Japanese PM Kishida highlights security concerns on trip to Europe, US

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida begins a weeklong trip Monday to strengthen military ties with Europe and Britain and bring into focus the Japan-U.S. alliance at a summit in Washington, as Japan breaks from its postwar restraint to take on more offensive roles with an eye toward China. Kishida's talks with U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday will highlight his five-nation tour that also takes him to France, Italy, Britain and Canada some of Group of Seven nations with which Japan has stepped up defence ties. His first stop is Paris on Monday. Kishida said his summit with Biden will underscore the strength of the Japan-U.S. alliance and how the two countries can work more closely under Japan's new security and defense strategies. Japan in December adopted key security and defense reforms, including a counterstrike capability that makes a break from the country's exclusively self-defense-only postwar principle. Japan says the current deployment of missile interceptors is ...

India-US Trade Policy Forum to meet on January 11 in Washington

The India-US Trade Policy Forum (TPF), a forum to resolve trade and investment issues between the two countries, will hold a meeting in Washington on January 11, the commerce ministry said on Sunday. The TPF has five focus groups -- Agriculture, Investment, Innovation and Creativity (intellectual property rights), Services and Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers. The meeting will be co-chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai. Goyal will be on an official visit to New York and Washington DC from 9-11 January, the ministry said. The 12th TPF meeting was held on November 23, 2021, after a gap of four years here. "Working groups were re-activated after the last ministerial. TPF is a platform for continuous engagement between two countries in the area of trade and to further the trade and investment relations between the two countries. Both countries are looking forward to the meeting and confident of making progress on the trade issu

Google settles 2 more location tracking lawsuits worth $29.5 million in US

Google has settled two more location tracking lawsuits worth $29.5 million filed in Washington, DC and Indiana states in the US

Washington-Moscow relationship at its lowest point: Sergey Lavrov

"Undoubtedly, our relations with the European Union have deteriorated to a historic low. The reasons for this are well known," he added

Dimon more crucial than ever to JPMorgan, the bank he's run for 17 years

Once Dimon is done being CEO, the board has said, the company may keep him on as chairman

Washington: Anti-LGBTQ hate thrives online, spurs fears of more violence

In the days after a gunman killed five people at a gay nightclub in Colorado last month, much of social media lit up with the now familiar expressions of grief, mourning and disbelief. But on some online message boards and platforms, the tone was celebratory. I love waking up to great news, wrote one user on Gab, a platform popular with far-right groups. Other users on the site called for more violence. The hate isn't limited to fringe sites. On Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, researchers and LGBTQ advocates have tracked an increase in hate speech and threats of violence directed at LGBTQ people, groups and events, with much of it directed at transgender people. The content comes after conservative lawmakers in several states introduced dozens of anti-LGBTQ legislation and amid a wave of threats targeting LGBTQ groups, as well as hospitals, health care workers, libraries and private businesses that support them. I don't think people understand the sate of danger that we're living i

US, Africa seal $15 billion in trade investments during Washington summit

The United States committed to $15 billion worth of two-way trade deals with several countries in Africa during a summit in Washington this week, the White House said on Wednesday

China casts long shadow over US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington

With dozens of African leaders descending on Washington this week, the Biden administration is offering a not-so-subtle pitch in its economic competition with China on the continent: The US offers a better option to African partners. Ahead of Tuesday's start of the three-day US-Africa Leaders Summit, Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves acknowledged that the US has fallen behind as China has surged past American foreign direct investment in Africa but argued that the US remains the partner of choice in Africa. We took our eye off the ball so to speak, and US investors and companies are having to play catch up, Graves said at an event hosted by the news outlet Semafor. He added, We're bringing the best technologies and innovations, the highest standards.... The US helps to build capacity in our partner countries as opposed to exploiting those countries. Heads of states from 49 African nations and the African Union have been invited to take part in the summit that has been billed as a

Bharat Biotech gets nasal vaccine nod for use as mix-match booster

iNCOVACC first intranasal Covid shot to receive approval for primary 2-dose schedule, heterologous booster us

First G20 meeting under India's presidency in Dec; FM talks in Feb

The Finance Track of the powerful G-20 grouping is older than the Sherpa Track, since G-20 was formed with the intention of governance of the global economy

Speaker Pelosi's husband assaulted in break-in Washington: Spokesperson

Pelosi was not in the residence at the time. Hammill said the assailant is in custody and the motivation for the attack is under investigation

2 arrested after 2 killed, tribal officer shot in north-eastern Washington

Authorities have arrested two of the three suspects they were searching for after two people were found dead and a police officer was shot on a tribal reservation in north-eastern Washington. The Colville Tribal Police Department said it responded to a report of a shooting on Thursday in Keller, west of Spokane. Officers found two people dead, and an officer who came across a vehicle described as having left the scene was shot in the arm. He was doing well after being transported for medical care, the department said in a news release. Police identified two of the suspects as Curry Pinkham and Zachary Holt. The third suspect, another man, had not been identified. It was not immediately clear which of the three suspects had been arrested. Tribal police searched for them overnight with help from 10 other agencies, including the FBI, Border Patrol, Washington State Patrol and police and sheriff's deputies. The department said on Facebook Friday that two suspects had been ...

Amazon sues Washington's labour agency for fines over alleged hazards

Amazon has sued Washington state's labour agency following disputes with regulators over citations and fines imposed on the company for worker safety issues. In the lawsuit, filed on Monday in federal court for the Western District of Washington, Amazon asked a judge to prohibit orders from the Washington Department of Labor and Industries to remedy any types of workplace hazards during the company's pending appeal over the citations. Amazon argued in the lawsuit the agency has not proven any of its allegations, and requiring companies like it to remedy alleged hazards before that happens violates the due process protections under the 14th Amendment. Matt Ross, a spokesperson for the agency, said the department is aware of the lawsuit and will review it along with the state's attorney general's office. The agency had said in March it inspected an Amazon warehouse in Kent, Washington, and found workplace processes that create a serious hazard for work-related back, shoulder, wrist,