Page 14 - United States

US starts trial to evaluate antiviral in adults hospitalised with Covid

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has initiated a multi-site clinical trial evaluating an investigational antiviral for the treatment of Covid-19, the agency has announced

1 killed, 3 wounded in Texas shopping mall shooting; motive unkown

Police in El Paso, Texas, say one person was killed and three other people were wounded in a shooting Wednesday in a shopping mall. One person has been taken into custody, El Paso police spokesperson Sgt. Robert Gomez said. No immediate information was given about that person. "It's too early to speculate on motive," Gomez said. The three who were wounded were hospitalized, Gomez said. Their conditions were not known. Gomez said police believe the scene is secure and that officers are sweeping through the whole mall to verify that. Authorities have set up a reunification centre at a nearby high school. Wednesday's shooting happened in a busy shopping area and across a large parking lot from a Walmart where 23 people were killed in a racist attack in 2019.

FTX bankruptcy judge denies request for independent examiner in the case

The judge presiding over the bankruptcy of cryptocurrency exchange FTX has denied a request by the U.S. bankruptcy trustee to appoint an independent examiner in the case. The trustee, who serves as a government watchdog in Chapter 11 reorganizations, argued that the company's financial affairs and business operations, including allegations of unprecedented fraud leading to its collapse, should be reviewed by a disinterested person, not left to an internal investigation. But Judge John Dorsey rejected the request on Wednesday. He agreed with FTX and its official committee of unsecured creditors that an examiner's work would be too costly and would duplicate investigations already under way by FTX's new leadership, the creditors committee and several federal agencies. "There is no question that if an examiner is appointed, the cost of the examination, given the scope suggested by the trustee at the hearing, would be in the tens of millions of dollars and would likely exceed 100 millio

Trump pick David Malpass surprises with early exit from World Bank

Malpass, appointed by former President Donald Trump, will depart the multilateral development bank

We support importance of free press around the world: US on BBC documentary

'I'm not familiar with the documentary you're referring to. I am very familiar with the shared values that enact the United States and India as two thriving, vibrant democracies'

Nikki Haley: The latest Indian-American in the US presidential race

She's known to be tough on immigration, anti-abortion and pro-business

US policy manual update to help aged-out children of long-term visa holders

The Biden administration has announced a policy manual update for the purpose of calculating a noncitizen's age in certain situations under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), a move seen as a small but important step in addressing the woes of the aged-out children, a large number of whom are Indians, who came to the US legally with their parents. For a child to obtain lawful permanent resident status in the United States based on their parent's approved petition for a family-sponsored or employment-based visa, the child generally must be under the age of 21. If the child turns 21 and ages out during the immigration process, the child generally is no longer eligible to immigrate with the parent based on the parent's petition. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has officially made one of our long-requested policy changes. The USCIS will use the dates for the filing chart to determine CSPA age and any previously denied petition can be reopened, said Dip Patel, from

Elon Musk hopes to have Twitter CEO 'probably toward the end of this year'

Billionaire Elon Musk said Wednesday that he anticipates finding a CEO for Twitter probably toward the end of this year." Speaking via a video call to the World Government Summit in Dubai, Musk said making sure the platform can function remained the most important thing for him. I think I need to stabilize the organization and make sure it's in a financial healthy place, Musk said when asked about when he'd name a CEO. I'm guessing probably toward the end of this year. Musk, 51, made his wealth initially on the finance website PayPal, then created the spacecraft company SpaceX and the electric car company Tesla. In recent months, however, more attention has been focused on the chaos surrounding his $44 billion purchase of the microblogging site Twitter. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military's use of Musk's satellite internet service Starlink as it defends itself against Russia's ongoing invasion has put Musk off and on at the center of the war. Forbes estimates Musk's wealth at just u

Biden, Modi discuss importance of US-India strategic technology partnership

President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the importance of the US-India strategic technology partnership and committed to continue working together and in groups like the Quad to advance economic growth and expand cooperation on their shared priorities, a presidential spokesperson has said. A phone call between the two leaders took place on Tuesday following the announcement of a historic deal between Boeing and Air India for the latter to buy more than 200 planes from the American plane manufacturer. They also discussed the importance of the strategic technology partners between India and the United States. And the two leaders reaffirmed the strength of the US-India relationship, and committed to continue working together and in groups like the Quad to advance economic growth for our two countries and expand cooperation on their shared priorities, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a news conference. In November 2017, the US, ...

Trump probe: Justice Department seeks to pierce attorney-client privilege

Justice Department prosecutors investigating the mishandling of classified documents at Donald Trump's Florida estate are seeking to pierce the attorney-client privilege and want to again question one of the former president's lawyers before a grand jury, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday night. The privilege protects lawyers from having to tell prosecutors about confidential conversations with their clients. But prosecutors can get around that privilege if they can convince a judge that the communications they want information about were made in furtherance of a crime a doctrine known as the crime-fraud exception. Prosecutors have already questioned M. Evan Corcoran before a grand jury, but he repeatedly invoked attorney-client privilege in declining to answer questions, according to the person who spoke with The Associated Press and insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The request from prosecutors working with special counsel Jack Smith is ...

US officials point to Russia using Iranian drones in war with Ukraine

American defence officials on Tuesday sought to dispel any doubt that Iran is supplying drones for Russia's war in Ukraine, releasing photos and analysis of unmanned aircraft deployed in the conflict to demonstrate Tehran's involvement. During a briefing in London, analysts from the Defence Intelligence Agency displayed photos of drones that attacked Ukraine alongside images of those previously traced to Iran. A comparison of design details such as tail fins, nose cones and landing gear shows that the weapons used in Ukraine are indistinguishable from Shahed-131 and -136 attack drones and Mohajer 6 unmanned aerial vehicles used in the Middle East. The effort to show the homework'' is intended to help persuade governments or international agencies of Tehran's involvement. Iran has said it supplied a small number of drones to Russia before the invasion of Ukraine but has denied providing any more since troops crossed the border last February. The evidence proves otherwise, an offici

Aware of I-T searches at BBC office; cannot offer any judgement: US

The United States on Tuesday said it is aware of the survey operation conducted by the Indian tax authorities at the BBC office in Delhi but is not in a position to offer its judgement. The Income Tax officials said the operation was part of a tax evasion investigation. "We are aware of the search of the BBC offices in Delhi by Indian tax authorities. I would need to refer you to Indian authorities for the details of this search. Beyond this discrete action, what I'll say more broadly is the general point that I've consistently made in this context, but in a universal context as well," State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters here. "We support the importance of free press around the world. We continue to highlight the importance of freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief as human rights that contribute to strengthening democracies around the world. It has strengthened this democracy here in this country. It has strengthened India's democracy," Price ...

Nikki Haley launches 2024 US presidential bid; to challenge Donald Trump

Prominent Indian-American politician Nikki Haley launched her presidential campaign on Tuesday, becoming the first Republican to challenge former US President Donald Trump in his 2024 bid for the White House. Haley, 51, is the two-term Governor of South Carolina and the former US Ambassador to the United Nations. "I'm Nikki Haley, and I'm running for President, she announced in a video message. "It's time for a new generation of leadership to rediscover fiscal responsibility, secure our border, and strengthen our country, our pride and our purpose. Some people look at America and see vulnerability. The socialist left sees an opportunity to rewrite history, she said. Identifying herself as proud daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley talks about growing up in Bamberg, South Carolina and how it shaped her belief in a strong and proud America. We turned away from fear toward God and the values that still make our country the freest and greatest in the world. We must turn in that direc

Outpourings of a deluded zealot

Mike Pompeo gets most things wrong in his book and only comes across as self-absorbed and delusional

Air India Boeing purchase will support 1 mn American jobs, says Biden

Air India will purchase 220 planes from Boeing for USD 34 billion, with an option to buy 70 more aircraft that could take the total transaction value to USD 45.9 billion, a deal that US President Joe Biden described as a "historic agreement". While announcing the Boeing-Air India deal on Tuesday, Biden also asserted that together with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he was looking forward to deepen the ties between India and the US. As per an announcement from the White House, Boeing and Air India have reached an agreement under which the airline will purchase 190 B737 MAX, 20 B787, and 10 B777X for a total of 220 firm order valued at USD 34 billion at list price. The deal will also include customer options for an additional 50 Boeing 737 MAX and 20 Boeing 787, totalling 290 airplanes for a total of USD 45.9 billion at list price. "I am proud to announce today the purchase of over 200 American-made aircraft through a historic agreement between Air India and Boeing," Biden said. The

Electronic sensors recovered from downed Chinese spy balloon: US military

The United States has recovered the electronic mechanism and key sensors, presumably used for intelligence gathering, from the suspected Chinese spy balloon, officials announced on Monday.

US-based cloud communications firm Twilio lays off 17% of workforce

US-based cloud communications company Twilio has announced to lay off about 17 per cent of its global workforce amid cost-cutting measures.

Rumors swirl about balloons, UFOs as American officials stay quite

Maybe they came from China. Maybe from somewhere farther away. A lot farther away. The downing of four aerial devices by US warplanes has touched off rampant misinformation about the objects, their origin and their purpose, showing how complicated world events and a lack of information can quickly create the perfect conditions for unchecked conjecture and misinformation. The presence of mysterious objects high in the sky doesn't help. There will be an investigation and we will learn more, but until then this story has created a playground for people interested in speculating or stirring the pot for their own reasons," said Jim Ludes, a former national defence analyst who now leads the Pell Center for International Relations at Salve Regina University. In part," Ludes added, "because it feeds into so many narratives about government secrecy. President Joe Biden and other top Washington officials have said little about the repeated shootdowns, which began with a suspected Chinese sp

US seeks a strong partnership with Pakistan on counterterrorism: Official

The US seeks a strong partnership with Pakistan on counterterrorism, the State Department has said, underlining that America looks forward to cooperative efforts to eliminate regional and global terrorists and other security threats. The 2nd round of the US-Pakistan Mid-Level Defence Dialogue is taking place here and will last from Monday to Thursday. The first round was held in Pakistan in January 2021. The Pakistani team is headed by the Chief of General Staff (CGS) Lt Gen Mohammed Saeed. The delegation will interact with their counterparts at the US Defence Department. The CGS heads the second most influential office in the Pakistan Army after the Chief of Army Staff. He is the administrative head of both the intelligence and operational forces of Pakistan. It is an opportunity to continue those discussions and to deepen partnership towards those ends, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at a news conference here on Monday. We seek a strong partnership with .

Imran Khan gives clean chit to US, blames Bajwa for removing him as PM

Khan, who was ousted from his post in April last year, took swipes at Bajwa saying that the former army chief had told the US that PTI Chief is an anti-American