Page 36 - United States

Joe Biden says 'it is going to take time' for inflation to recede

US President Joe Biden cautioned on Friday that "it is going to take time" for inflation to recede, but he offered fresh assurance that legislation he signed earlier this year will soon help limit costs for health care and energy. He made the remarks while meeting with business and labour leaders in his first public event since returning from an around-the-world trip to Egypt, Cambodia and Indonesia. Biden has been encouraged by the Democrats' stronger-than-expected performance in the midterm elections, but he could be entering a perilous stretch when it comes to the economy. The White House has emphasised a strong jobs market to try to allay concerns about a potential recession. However, the Federal Reserve continues to try to slow economic growth by raising interest rates to battle inflation. It is a delicate situation that Biden will be navigating amid turnover in his economic team. Cecilia Rouse, a labour economist who became the first Black woman to lead the Council of Economi

Joe Biden's economic team losing adviser Cecilia Rouse after midterm polls

A key member of President Joe Biden's economic team, Cecilia Rouse, will leave his administration in the spring, a White House official said Friday. Rouse took academic leave from Princeton University to serve as chair of Biden's Council of Economic Advisers, and she plans to return to there. The official was not authorised to publicly discuss personnel changes and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The pending departure is the first to be disclosed since the midterm elections as Biden's term reaches its halfway point, often a time of transition for any presidential administration. Bloomberg was first to report Rouse's planned departure, and it said Brian Deese, director of Biden's National Economic Council, plans to depart next year. Rouse, a labour economist, was the first Black woman to lead the Council of Economic Advisers. Deese is scheduled to participate in a meeting with Biden and business and labor leaders at the White House on Friday afternoon. It's the Democratic ...

Voting against self-interest

The economic aspects of the Republican ideological agenda are driven by the concerns of the super-rich. Surprisingly though, the bulk of Republican voters are lower-income workers

US as a reliable economic partner is here to stay: Harris to Asian leaders

US Vice President Kamala Harris assured Asian leaders Friday that the United States is here to stay as she pitched Washington as a reliable economic partner committed to the region and its prosperity. Harris told leaders at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that the U.S. is a proud Pacific power and has a vital interest in promoting a region that is open, interconnected, prosperous, secure and resilient. The United States has an enduring economic commitment to the Indo-Pacific, one that is measured not in years, but in decades, and generations, she said. And there is no better economic partner for this region than the United States of America. Harris postponed the start of her speech after receiving news that North Korea had fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that landed near Japanese waters, convening an emergency meeting of the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Canada in which she slammed the missile test as a brazen violation of multipl

North Korea fires intercontinental ballistic missile, lands near Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said there had been no reports of damage but the North's repeated missile launches could not be tolerated.

US President Biden urged to craft grand strategy to counter Chinese threat

Two influential Republican senators urged US President Joe Biden on Thursday to craft a grand strategy to counter the Chinese threat. "We urge your administration to promptly begin developing a comprehensive strategy with respect to the People's Republic of China," senators Jim Risch and Mitt Romney said in a letter to Biden on Thursday, a copy of which was released to the press. The United States, they said, must move rapidly to deter China's unabated aggression. "Key among China's actions are its own rapid military and nuclear buildups, significant violations of freedom of navigation, aggression against India and Japan, and ever-increasing belligerence toward Taiwan -- including its stated willingness to 'reunite' the island by force," they wrote. "Combative actions by China, including firing ballistic missiles and encircling Taiwan in response to Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi's trip to Taiwan, are an effort to dictate US policy regarding Taiwan and undermine the United States' commitme

Proud to call people of India as America's friends: US Congressman

Proud to call the people of India as America's friends, an influential US Congressman has said he is excited for the United States' relationship with India to continue flourishing, as it has for the last 75 years. India's commitment to democracy and self-government has been unwavering in the past decades, and its future today is "brighter than ever before", Congressman John Carter said on the House floor on Wednesday. "I am excited for America's relationship with India to continue flourishing, as it has for the past 75 years, and I am proud to call the people of India our friends," he said. "Mr Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India's independence from the British empire," he said. "On August 15, 1947, Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act, officially establishing India as a sovereign nation after nearly 90 years under the Raj," he said. "This act of Parliament marked the creation of the largest democracy in history, responsible for governing a na

Speaker Nancy Pelosi won't seek leadership role, plans to stay in Congress

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that she will not seek a leadership position in the new Congress, a pivotal realignment making way for a new generation of leaders after Democrats lost control of the House to Republicans in the midterm elections. Pelosi announced in a spirited speech on the House floor that she will step aside after leading Democrats for nearly 20 years and in the aftermath of the brutal attack on her husband, Paul, last month in their San Francisco home. The California Democrat, who rose to become the nation's first woman to wield the speaker's gavel, said she would remain in Congress as the representative from San Francisco, a position she has held for 35 years, when the new Congress convenes in January. Now we must move boldly into the future, Pelosi said. I will not seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the next Congress, Pelosi said. "For me, the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect. She ..

US: Republicans win slim House majority, complicating ambitious agenda

Republicans won control of the US House on Wednesday, returning the party to power in Washington and giving conservatives leverage to blunt President Joe Biden's agenda and spur a flurry of investigations. But a threadbare majority will pose immediate challenges for GOP leaders and complicate the party's ability to govern. More than a week after Election Day, Republicans secured the 218th seat needed to flip the House from Democratic control. The full scope of the party's majority may not be clear for several more days -- or weeks -- as votes in competitive races are still being counted. But they are on track to cobble together what could be the party's narrowest majority of the 21st century, rivalling 2001, when Republicans had just a nine-seat majority, 221-212 with two independents. That is far short of the sweeping victory Republicans predicted going into this year's midterm elections, when the party hoped to reset the agenda on Capitol Hill by capitalising on economic challenges

FDA approval for human consumption of lab-grown meat in the US

It's already possible to purchase some types of lab-grown meat in the world. Two years ago, Singapore became the first nation to approve the sale of cultivated meat

No truth to former Pak PM Imran Khan's foreign conspiracy claims: US

The US has once again categorically dismissed former Pakistan premier Imran Khan's allegations that Washington orchestrated a conspiracy to oust him from power and reiterated its resolve not to let "propaganda, misinformation and disinformation" affect the bilateral ties. The sharp response from the US came on Wednesday, days after Khan said he wanted to mend relations with Washington if re-elected and no longer blames it for his removal as the Pakistan prime minister. "As we've previously said, there has there is not and there has never been a truth to these allegations, but I don't have anything additional to offer," US State Department's Vedant Patel said during a press briefing, when asked to comment on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief's apparent U-turn on the alleged conspiracy claims. Khan, 70, who was ousted in April in a no-confidence vote had been claiming that he was the result of a conspiracy between prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and the US, a top security partner to .

Six months that make a leader

As time goes on, most elected leaders run out of ideas. It seems to hold as true for the world as for India

US regulators to vote on largest dam demolition, river restoration in world

The largest dam demolition and river restoration plan in the world could be close to reality Thursday as US regulators vote on a plan to remove four aging hydro-electric structures, reopening hundreds of miles of California river habitat to imperiled salmon. The vote by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the lower Klamath River dams is the last major regulatory hurdle and the biggest milestone facing a USD 500 million demolition proposal championed by Native American tribes and environmentalists for years. Approval of the application to surrender the dams' operating license is the bedrock of the most ambitious salmon restoration plan in history, and if approved the parties overseeing the project will accept license transfer and could begin dam removal as early as this summer. More than 300 miles (482.80 kilometres) of salmon habitat in the Klamath River and its tributaries would benefit, said Amy Souers Kober, spokeswoman for American Rivers, which monitors dam removals and

LinkedIn CEO sees growth outside US, with India leading amid headwinds

India has become LinkedIn's fastest-growing market as more companies and advertisers come online, with sales in the country rising at a 50% year-on-year clip, Roslansky told Bloomberg TV

Pelosi to announce 'future plans' with colleagues after GOP wins House

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to address her plans with colleagues on Thursday in the wake of Democrats narrowly losing control of the House to Republicans in the midterm elections. Pelosi's decision to either seek another term as the Democratic leader or to step aside has been widely anticipated. It would come after the party was able to halt an expected Republican wave in the House and Senate but also in the aftermath of a brutal attack on her husband, Paul, late last month in their San Francisco home. The Speaker plans to address her future plans tomorrow to her colleagues. Stay tuned, Pelosi's spokesman Drew Hammill tweeted late on Wednesday. He did not provide additional information about the time or location of the announcement. The speaker has been overwhelmed by calls from colleagues, friends and supporters, Hammill said, and noted that she had spent on Wednesday evening monitoring election returns in the final states where ballots were still being counted. The .

Mitch McConnell re-elected as Republican leader in United States Senate

Mitch McConnell has been re-elected as Republican leader in the US Senate

Trump to contest 2024 polls; Biden says ex-president failed America

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday launched an acerbic attack on his predecessor and potential rival in the 2024 elections, Donald Trump, saying he has "failed America" and alleged that Trump rule was marked by "record-breaking unemployment". Trump, facing several criminal investigations of his conduct related to his presidency, announced from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Tuesday that he will run for the US president in 2024 to make America "great and glorious" again. Trump, 76, is seeking a potential rematch with Democratic President Biden. "In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing that I will run for President of the United States. This will be our campaign altogether, he told his cheering supporters. Donald Trump has failed America,'' Biden tweeted from Bali in Indonesia, where he is attending the G-20 summit with world leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Biden posted a video in which he alleged Trump's tenure was marked by

Harvey Weinstein's attorney cross-examines accuser Siebel-Newsom

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker and the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, faced cross-examination from one of Harvey Weinstein's attorneys Tuesday about why her description of a 2005 encounter during which she says the filmmaker raped her has expanded since she first spoke with prosecutors. The testimony came three weeks into the Los Angeles rape and sexual assault trial of Weinstein, and on the same day that the judge dismissed four of the 11 counts against him at the request of prosecutors. Weinstein lawyer Mark Werksman pressed Siebel Newsom about what she said were frequent nightmares she'd been having about the encounter with Weinstein in a Beverly Hills hotel suite. Have you had a difficult time actually discerning what happened in a nightmare and what actually happened in a bedroom at the Peninsula Hotel? Werksman asked. No, no, Siebel Newsom responded. She explained that the new elements of her testimony, some of which she said under oath for the first

Missile 'most likely produced in Russia': Poland president Andrzej Duda

Duda stated that the US will be sending experts to conduct an investigation at the site of the explosion as part of a joint operation.

US fines Air India $1.4 mn for 'extreme delays' in passengers refunds

'A flight cancellation is frustrating enough, and you shouldn't also have to haggle or wait months to get your refund'