Page 18 - United States

Blinken to travel to Mideast amid US concern over Israel-Palestine violence

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank this weekend in his first trip to the Middle East this year, amid an escalation in Israeli-Palestinian violence, US concerns over the direction of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government and ongoing issues with Egypt's human rights record. The State Department said on Thursday that Blinken would leave Washington on Saturday for stops in Cairo, Jerusalem and Ramallah. The announcement came just hours after an Israeli raid on suspected terrorists in the West Bank city of Jenin that Palestinian officials say killed nine people in the deadliest such incident this year. After visiting Cairo for talks on Sunday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Blinken will go to Jerusalem and Ramallah on Monday and Tuesday to see Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, the department said. With both Israeli and Palestinian leaders, the secretary will underscore the urgent need for the .

NYSE mayhem traced to an employee who left a backup system running

An NYSE employee failed to properly shut down Cermak's disaster-recovery system - leading to a disaster

US Treasury Secy Janet Yellen discusses energy transition in South Africa

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is discussing South Africa's transition from its heavy reliance on coal to greener energy sources during talks with the country's finance minister Thursday. Yellen made brief remarks to reporters ahead of a meeting with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in Pretoria but avoided mention of South Africa's recent decision to take part in joint navy drills with Russia and China off its east coast next month. South Africa is a key U.S. and Western partner but also holds strong ties to Russia and China, and it has adopted a neutral stance over the war in Ukraine. The announcement that South Africa would host Russian and Chinese warships for 10 days of exercises in February has raised concern at the White House. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was in Pretoria for an official visit earlier this week. Yellen's 10-day trip to Africa, which has already included stops in Senegal and Zambia, is one of the first steps in the Biden administration's aim o

US dollar skulks at eight-month low, central bank's meeting in focus

Downbeat earnings and guidance from U.S. companies and a string of tech sector layoffs have deepened fears of an economic downturn in the United States

Cipla Q3 net up 10% to Rs 801 cr, posts highest ever quarterly sales in US

Revenue up 6% to Rs 5,810 cr; firm expects US FDA audit at Goa unit

China uses US debt battle to deflect pressure on relief for Zambia

The Chinese government says the United States should stop pressuring it on debt relief for Zambia and get its own financial house to avert a default and possible repercussions for the global economy. The Chinese embassy in Zambia responded Tuesday to remarks by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said on a visit to the African nation this week that it's crucial to address its heavy debt burden with China. The biggest contribution that the U.S. can make to the debt issues outside the country is to cope with its own debt problem and stop sabotaging other sovereign countries' active efforts to solve their debt issues, the Chinese Embassy said in a statement. Chinese development banks have emerged as major lenders to poorer countries around the world for natural resource, transport and power projects, though that lending has fallen sharply in the past five years, according to Boston University's Global Development Policy Center. In responding to Yellen, China zeroed in on the ..

Classified records pose conundrum stretching back to Jimmy Carter

At least three presidents. A vice president, a secretary of state, an attorney general. The mishandling of classified documents is not a problem unique to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. The matter of classified records and who, exactly, has hung onto them got more complicated Tuesday as news surfaced that former Vice President Mike Pence also had such records in his possession after he left office. Like Biden, Pence willingly turned them over to authorities after they were discovered during a search he requested, according to his lawyer and aides. The revelations have thrust the issue of proper handling of documents an otherwise low-key Washington process into the middle of political discourse and laid bare an uncomfortable truth: Policies meant to control the handling of the nation's secrets are haphazardly enforced among top officials and rely almost wholly on good faith. It's been a problem off and on for decades, from presidents to Cabinet members and

Classified docs found at Mike Pence's residence, ex V-P says wasn't aware

A small number of classified documents have been found at the residence of former vice president Mike Pence, and have been handed over to the National Archive, his counsel revealed on Tuesday. The revelation comes in the wake of classified documents found at the private office and residence of President Joe Biden from his term as vice president between 2009 and 2016. In a letter to the National Archives, Greg Jacob, an attorney for Pence, wrote that these classified documents were found recently at his residence. Pence, he said, was not aware of their existence, according to multiple media outlets. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents collected documents from Pence's Indiana home on January 19 at the request of the Justice Department, The Wall Street Journal reported, referring to the content of the second letter from Jacob to the National Archives dated January 22. Pence agreed to the search, the financial daily cited the letter as saying.

Musk defiant, defends himself in Tesla buyout tweet trial in federal court

Elon Musk returned to federal court to defend himself against a class-action lawsuit that alleges he misled Tesla shareholders with a tweet about an aborted buyout that the billionaire defiantly insisted Tuesday he could have pulled off, had he wanted. Musk spent roughly three more hours on the stand during his third day of testimony before being excused by U.S. District Judge Edward Chen. It's unlikely Musk, 51, will be summoned back to the witness stand during a civil trial expected to be turned over to a nine-person jury in early February. Musk, who also owns Twitter while continuing to run Tesla, spent much of Tuesday depicting himself, while being questioned by his own attorney, Alex Spiro, as an impeccably trustworthy business leader capable of raising as much money as he needs to pursue his visions. He testily sparred with a shareholder lawyer, Nicholas Porritt, who had raised his ire earlier in the trial. At two separate junctures Tuesday under Spiro's gentle prodding, Musk

Taking extraordinary steps on debt limit, says US treasury secretary

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent a letter on Tuesday to congressional leaders saying she's suspending the reinvestment of federal bonds in a government workers' savings plan an additional extraordinary" measure to buy time for President Joe Biden and Congress to raise the nation's debt limit. The government bumped up against its legal borrowing capacity last Thursday, prompting Treasury to take accounting steps regarding federal employees' retirement and health care plans that will enable the government to stay open until roughly June. Yellen said in the letter that as of Monday she also determined that the government will be unable to invest fully in the government securities portion of the thrift savings fund in the federal employees' retirement system. She noted that her predecessors have taken a similar action in the past, noting that by law the accounts will be made whole once the debt limit is increased or suspended. But it's an open question to how the White House an

India-Pakistan dialogue is a matter for those two countries to decide: US

Ned Price said, 'We have long called for regional stability in South Asia. That's certainly what we want to see. We want to see it advanced'

US health officials propose once-a-year Covid shots for most Americans

The FDA will ask its panel of outside vaccine experts to weigh in at a meeting Thursday

Reviewing engagement with Taliban, says US on rights violations in Afghan

US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price, in a press briefing, underlined that the US continues to be the world's leading humanitarian provider to the people of Afghanistan

Once science fiction, lab-grown meat coming to US restaurants this year

Executives at cultivated meat firms are optimistic that meat grown in massive steel vats could be on the menu within months after a company won the go-ahead from a key regulator

US agriculture associations fear market loss to India's FTA partners

In June 2019, India hiked tariffs on 28 items exported by the US, including almonds, apples, walnuts

LIVE: 10 killed in shooting at Chinese New Year party in California

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US Justice Department searches Biden's home, finds six classified documents

The Justice Department took possession of materials it deemed within the scope of its inquiry, including six items consisting of documents with classification markings

Owner Jeff Bezos makes a rare visit at Washington Post amid layoffs fears

I'm delighted to be here and see all these faces... Let's have a news meeting," he told the senior staff present in the meeting on Thursday

US announces another $2.5 billion military aid package for Ukraine

'This package, which totals USD 2.5 billion, will bring the total US military assistance for Ukraine to an unprecedented approximately USD 27.5 billion since the beginning of the administration'

US hits debt ceiling, Treasury Department takes measures to finance govt

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced in a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that her department would put the temporary brakes on new investments