Tag: The United States (US)

Steel Strips Wheels bags orders worth over $1.7 mn from US

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Auto component maker Steel Strips Wheels on Tuesday said it has bagged export orders worth over USD 1.7 million (about Rs 13 crore) from the United States. In a regulatory filing, the company said it has bagged “export orders for over 1,10,000 wheels for the US caravan trailer market to be executed in September and October from its Chennai plant”.

Steel Strips Wheels Ltd (SSWL) said the orders are worth over USD 1.7 million. It said similar orders are expected in times to come from other regular customers as the market gains stability.

Last week, Steel Strips Wheels had bagged export orders worth over USD 237,000 (about Rs 1.77 crore) from the US. It had also received orders worth over EUR 143,000 (around Rs 1.26 crore) for about 8,800 wheels for the European Union (EU) caravan and truck trailer market.

Shares of the company were trading at Rs 434 apiece, up 2.64 percent over its previous close on BSE.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US revises UN resolution to extend UN arms embargo on Iran

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The United States on Tuesday circulated a revised resolution that would extend a UN arms embargo on Iran indefinitely, seeking to gain more support in the 15-member Security Council where veto-wielding Russia and China have voiced strong opposition.

US Ambassador Kelly Craft said the new draft “takes council views into account and simply does what everyone knows should be done — extend the arms embargo to prevent Iran from freely buying and selling conventional weapons.”

“It is only common sense that the world’s #1 state sponsor of terror not be given the means of unleashing even greater harm on the world,” she said in a statement.

Council diplomats said the revised draft could be put in a final form Thursday and put to a vote Friday. The revised draft, obtained by The Associated Press, is just four paragraphs and replaces the original seven-page, 35-paragraph draft circulated in June. The original draft included several provisions that some diplomats objected to as going beyond the extension of the arms embargo, and were eliminated.

One provision in the original resolution would have authorized all UN member states to inspect cargo entering or transiting through their territory at airports, seaports and free trade zones from Iran or heading there, if the member state had “reasonable grounds to believe the cargo” contained banned items.

Another provision would have condemned a September 2019 attack on Saudi Arabia and December 2019 attacks on an Iraqi military base in Kirkuk and the US Embassy in Baghdad, saying Iran was responsible.

The new draft states that the arms embargo, notwithstanding its Oct. 18 expiration, “shall continue to apply until the Security Council decides otherwise.” It says that full implementation of the arms embargo “is essential to the maintenance of international peace and security.”

Iran’s UN Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi tweeted: “Rebuffed by UNSC (Security Council) members, US was forced to retreat from its draft resolution … and proposed another version.”

“The new draft is similar — in its NATURE and GOAL — to the previous,” he tweeted. “Confident that the Council will — again — reject this move.”

The United Nations banned Iran from buying major foreign weapon systems in 2010 amid tensions over its nuclear program. That blocked Iran from replacing its aging military equipment, much of which had been purchased by the shah before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. An earlier embargo targeted Iranian arms exports.

The US push to make the arms embargo permanent follows President Donald Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal between six major powers and Iran, aimed at preventing Iranian development of nuclear weapons. Tehran has repeatedly insisted it has no interest or intention to produce a nuclear bomb.

The 2015 UN Security Council resolution endorsing the nuclear deal includes a provision lifting the arms embargo on Iran on Oct. 18.

The foreign ministers of Russia and China, in separate letters to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council last month, were sharply critical of the US effort to indefinitely extend the arms embargo. They gave every indication they would veto any such resolution if it got the minimum nine “yes” votes in the 15-member council, which appears unlikely.

If the resolution is defeated, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested the US would invoke the “snap back” mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal that would restore all UN sanctions on Iran. “Snap back” was envisioned in the event Iran was proven to be in violation of the accord, under which it received billions of dollars in sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the Trump administration of waging a politically motivated campaign against Iran and called for “universal condemnation” of the US attempt to impose a permanent arms embargo on the Islamic Republic. He said Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement and now has no legal right to try to use the UN resolution endorsing the deal to indefinitely continue the embargo.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the arms embargo should be lifted Oct. 18. He also argued that since the US is no longer a party to the nuclear deal it “has no right to demand the Security Council to activate the rapid reinstatement of sanctions” through the “snap back” provision.

The five remaining signatories to the 2015 deal — Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — remain committed to the agreement. Diplomats from several of these countries have expressed serious concern that extending the arms embargo would lead to Iran’s exit from the deal and its speeded-up pursuit of nuclear weapons.

The US argues that Iran hasn’t been cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency for a year and has been moving a lot of weapons to proxies in the Middle East despite the embargo.

If the embargo is lifted, the US Defense Intelligence Agency predicted in 2019 that Iran likely would try to purchase Russian Su-30 fighter jets, Yak-130 trainer aircraft and T-90 tanks. Tehran also may try to buy Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft missile system and its Bastian coastal defense missile system, the agency said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Gilead seeks US approval for COVID-19 treatment remdesivir

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Gilead Sciences Inc has filed an application with the US Food and Drug Administration seeking full approval for remdesivir, its experimental COVID-19 drug currently used under emergency authorization, the drugmaker said on Monday.

The antiviral drug, which helped shorten the hospital recovery time in a US trial, has been at the forefront of the battle against the pandemic after the FDA granted it emergency use authorization (EUA) in May.

The authorization cleared the way for broader use of the drug in more hospitals around the United States, which has recorded over 162,600 COVID-19 deaths and over 5 million infections. But the EUA status is designed to be temporary.

Gilead said its marketing application for remdesivir, to be sold under brand name Veklury, is supported by data from two late-stage trials conducted by the drugmaker and another by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Remdesivir has already been approved by multiple regulatory authorities around the world, including in the European Union, Australia and Japan.

The US government has secured nearly all of remdesivir’s supply through September. To boost the drug’s availability globally, Gilead has signed multiple manufacturing and supply deals, including with Pfizer Inc and Britain’s Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc .

A bipartisan group of state attorneys general urged the US government last week to allow other companies to make remdesivir to increase its availability and lower prices. Shares of Gilead were down 1.5 percent in late afternoon trading.

Oppenheimer analyst Hartaj Singh said investors are worried that if Gilead cannot secure full approval until at least by the end of the year, it might not be able to meet 2020 sales estimates for the drug.

“On many occasions, government entities are expressly forbidden from buying or utilizing drugs not approved by the FDA and other regulatory authorities.”

Consensus sales expectations for remdesivir are up to USD 2.2 billion for the year, Singh said, after Gilead raised its full-year sales target last month to include revenue from the drug.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US tops 5 million confirmed virus cases, to Europe’s alarm

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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With confirmed coronavirus cases in the US hitting 5 million Sunday, by far the highest of any country, the failure of the most powerful nation in the world to contain the scourge has been met with astonishment and alarm in Europe.Perhaps nowhere outside the US is America’s bungled virus r esponse viewed with more consternation than in Italy, which was ground zero of Europe’s epidemic.

Italians were unprepared when the outbreak exploded in February, and the country still has one of the world’s highest official death tolls at over 35,000.

But after a strict nationwide, 10-week lockdown, vigilant tracing of new clusters and general acceptance of mask mandates and social distancing, Italy has become a model of virus containment.

“Don’t they care about their health?” a mask-clad Patrizia Antonini asked about people in the United States as she walked with friends along the banks of Lake Bracciano, north of Rome. “They need to take our precautions. … They need a real lockdown.”

Much of the incredulity in Europe stems from the fact that America had the benefit of time, European experience and medical know-how to treat the virus that the continent itself didn’t have when the first COVID-19 patients started filling intensive care units.

More than four months into a sustained outbreak, the US reached the 5 million mark, according to the running count kept by Johns Hopkins University. Health officials believe the actual number is perhaps 10 times higher, or closer to 50 million, given testing limitations and the fact that as many as 40% of all those who are infected have no symptoms.

“We Italians always saw America as a model,” said Massimo Franco, a columnist with daily Corriere della Sera. “But with this virus we’ve discovered a country that is very fragile, with bad infrastructure and a public health system that is nonexistent.”

With America’s world’s-highest death toll of more than 160,000, its politicized resistance to masks and its rising caseload, European nations have barred American tourists and visitors from other countries with growing cases from freely traveling to the bloc.

France and Germany are now imposing tests on arrival for travelers from “at risk” countries, the US included. “I am very well aware that this impinges on individual freedoms, but I believe that this is a justifiable intervention,” German Health Minister Jens Spahn said last week.

Mistakes were made in Europe, too, from delayed lockdowns to insufficient protections for nursing home elderly and critical shortages of tests and protective equipment for medical personnel.

Hard-hit Spain, France, Britain and Germany have seen infection rebounds with new cases topping 1,000 a day, and Italy’s cases went over 500 on Friday. Some scientists say Britain’s beloved pubs might have to close again if schools are to reopen in September.

Europe as a whole has seen over 207,000 confirmed virus deaths, by Johns Hopkins’ count. In the US, new cases are running at about 54,000 a day — an immensely high number even when taking into account the country’s large population. And while that’s down from a peak of well over 70,000 last month, cases are rising in nearly 20 states, and deaths are climbing in most.

In contrast, at least for now Europe appears to have the virus somewhat under control. “Had the medical professionals been allowed to operate in the States, you would have belatedly gotten to a point of getting to grips with this back in March,” said Scott Lucas, professor of international studies at the University of Birmingham, England. “But of course, the medical and public health professionals were not allowed to proceed unchecked,” he said, referring to President Donald Trump ’s frequent undercutting of his own experts.

When the virus first appeared in the United States, Trump and his supporters quickly dismissed it as either a “hoax” or a scourge that would quickly disappear once warmer weather arrived. At one point, Trump suggested that ultraviolet light or injecting disinfectants would eradicate the virus. (He later said he was being facetious).

Trump’s frequent complaints about Dr. Anthony Fauci have regularly made headlines in Europe, where the US infectious-disease expert is a respected figure. Italy’s leading COVID-19 hospital offered Fauci a job if Trump fired him.

Trump has defended the US response, blaming China, where the virus was first detected, for America’s problems and saying the US numbers are so high because there is so much testing. Trump supporters and Americans who have refused to wear masks against all medical advice back that line.

“There’s no reason to fear any sickness that’s out there,” said Julia Ferjo, a mother of three in Alpine, Texas, who is “vehemently” against wearing a mask. ?Ferjo, 35, teaches fitness classes in a large gym with open doors. She doesn’t allow participants to wear masks.

“When you’re breathing that hard, I would pass out,” she said. “I do not want people just dropping like flies.” And health officials watched with alarm as thousands of bikers gathered Friday in the small South Dakota city of Sturgis for an annual 10-day motorcycle rally. The state has no mask mandates, and many bikers expressed defiance of measures meant to prevent the virus’s spread.

Dr. David Ho, director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, who is leading a team seeking treatments for COVID-19, decried such behavior, as well as the country’s handling of the virus.

“There’s no national strategy, no national leadership, and there’s no urging for the public to act in unison and carry out the measures together,” he said. “That’s what it takes, and we have completely abandoned that as a nation.”

When he gets on Zoom calls with counterparts from around the globe, “everyone cannot believe what they’re seeing in the US and they cannot believe the words coming out of the leadership,’’ he said.

Amid the scorn from other countries, Trump national security adviser Robert O’Brien, newly recovered from a bout with the virus, gave an upbeat picture Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

“We’re going to fight like heck. We’re working hard on vaccines. We’re working hard on testing machines that are portable and fast. … We’re working on therapeutics,” he said. “I’m so impressed with our scientists and our doctors and our first responders and the folks who are attacking this disease, and God bless them all.”

Many Europeans point proudly to their national health care systems that not only test but treat COVID-19 for free, unlike the American system, where the virus crisis has only exacerbated income and racial inequalities in obtaining health care.

“The coronavirus has brutally stripped bare the vulnerability of a country that has been sliding for years,” wrote Italian author Massimo Gaggi in his new book “Crack America” (Broken America), about US problems that long predated COVID-19.

Gaggi said he started writing the book last year and thought then that the title would be taken as a provocative wake-up call. Then the virus hit. “By March the title wasn’t a provocation any longer,” he said. “It was obvious.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

COVID-19: US lifts global health travel advisory; Urges citizens not to visit India, China

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The US has lifted the highest level of its global health travel advisory for Americans due to the coronavirus pandemic and restored the previous country-specific system without changing the status of over 50 countries, including that of India and China.

The US state department issued the Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory — the highest level of travel advisory — on March 19, urging American citizens not to travel overseas due to the coronavirus pandemic.

India remains on the Level 4 of the travel advisory along with more than 50 countries, including China. This means that the US urges its citizens not to travel to India due to the increasing coronavirus cases. The state department, in its latest travel advisory on India issued on Thursday, said: Do not travel to India due to COVID-19. Exercise increased caution in India due to crime and terrorism .

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 3 (avoid non-essential travel) Travel Health Notice for India due to COVID-19, it said. Travellers to India may experience border closures, airport closures, travel prohibitions, stay at home orders, business closures and other emergency conditions within India due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.

Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Carl Risch told reporters during a conference call that the State Department, in close coordination with the CDC, has lifted the Global Level 4 Health Advisory and has returned to the previous system of country-specific levels of travel advice, with levels from 1 to 4 depending on country-specific conditions.

The CDC has similarly removed its Level 3 Global COVID-19 Pandemic Notice. This important change reflects the reality that health and safety conditions are improving in some countries while potentially deteriorating in others, he said. By returning to the country-specific travel advisory system, the US is able to give Americans detailed and actionable information to make informed travel decisions, he said.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses significant risks for travellers and our destination-specific advisories take into account the latest data and public health and safety analysis on COVID-related risks, Risch said.

Among other countries which have been put on the Level 4 of travel advisory include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Mexico, Egypt, and Brazil. Although the guidance from the state department has been lifted, American travellers continue to face travel restrictions in countries worldwide due to the rising cases of the deadly disease in the United States.

According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, the contagion has infected over 19 million people and killed more than 713,000 across the world.
The US is the worst affected country with over 4.8 million cases and more than 1,60,000 deaths. The European Union has blocked the entry of the US tourists, and the UK requires travellers from the US to quarantine for 14 days.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US accuses Chinese hackers in targeting of COVID-19 research

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Hackers working with the Chinese government targeted firms developing vaccines for the coronavirus and stole hundreds of millions of dollars worth of intellectual property and trade secrets from companies across the world, the Justice Department said Tuesday as it announced criminal charges.

The indictment does not accuse the two Chinese defendants of actually obtaining the coronavirus research, but it does underscore the extent to which scientific innovation has been a top target for foreign governments and criminal hackers looking to know what American companies are developing during the pandemic.

In this case, the hackers researched vulnerabilities in the computer networks of biotech firms and diagnostic companies that were developing vaccines and testing kits and researching antiviral drugs. The charges are the latest in a series of aggressive Trump administration actions targeting China.

They come as President Donald Trump, his reelection prospects damaged by the coronavirus outbreak, has blamed China for the pandemic and as administration officials have escalated their denunciations of Beijing, including over alleged efforts to steal intellectual property through hacking.

The indictment includes trade secret theft and wire fraud conspiracy charges against the hackers, former classmates at an electrical engineering college who prosecutors say worked together for more than a decade targeting high-tech companies in more than 10 countries.

The hackers, identified as Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi, stole information not only for their personal profit but also research and technology that they knew would be of value to the Chinese government, prosecutors say.

In some instances, the indictment says, they provided an officer for a Chinese intelligence service with whom they worked email accounts and passwords belonging to clergymen, dissidents and pro-democracy activists who could then be targeted.

The officer gave help of his own, providing malicious software after one of the hackers struggled to compromise the mail server of a Burmese human rights group.

Also Read: Trump says virus in US will get worse before it gets better

The two defendants are not in custody, and federal officials conceded Tuesday that they were not likely to step foot in an American courtroom.

But the indictment carries important symbolic and deterrence value for the Justice Department, which decided that publicly calling out the behaviour was more worthwhile than waiting for the unlikely scenario in which the defendants would travel to the US and risk arrest.

The hacking began more than 10 years ago, with targets including pharmaceutical, solar energy and medical device companies but also political dissidents, activists and clergy in the United States, China and Hong Kong, federal authorities said.

The charges were brought as Trump administration officials, including national security adviser Robert O’Brien and Attorney General William Barr, have delivered public warnings about what they say are Chinese government efforts to use hacking to steal trade secrets for Beijing’s financial benefit and to covertly influence American policy.

The hacking is part of what Assistant Attorney General John Demers, the Justice Department’s top national security official, described as a sweeping effort to rob, replicate and replace” strategy for technological development.

In addition, he said, China is providing a safe haven for criminal hackers who, as in this case, are hacking in part for their own personal gain but willing to help the state and on call to do so.”

The criminal charges are the first from the Justice Department accusing foreign hackers of targeting innovation related to the coronavirus, though U.S. and Western intelligence agencies have warned for months about those efforts.

Last week, for instance, authorities in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom accused a hacking group with links to Russian intelligence of trying to target research on the disease, which has killed more than 140,000 people in the United States and more than 600,000 worldwide, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The indictment describes multiple efforts by the hackers to snoop on companies engaged in coronavirus-related research, though it does not accuse them of success in any theft.

Prosecutors say Li in January conducted reconnaissance on the computer network of a Massachusetts biotech firm known to be researching a potential vaccine, and searched for vulnerabilities on the network of a Maryland firm less than a week after the company said it was conducting similar scientific work.

Li also probed the networks of a California diagnostics company involved in developing testing kits, and a biotech firm from the same state that was researching antiviral drugs.

Hacking of vaccine information slows down research as the institution must scramble not only to fix the breach but also to ensure the data it has accumulated has not been altered, Demers said.

Once someone is in your system, they can not only take the data, they can manipulate the data,” Demers said. We do worry to that extent that there could be a slowdown in the research efforts of that particular institution.

The indictment was returned earlier this month in federal court in the Eastern District of Washington, where the hacking outlined by prosecutors was first discovered at the Department of Energy’s Hanford site.

If it can occur there, we all must know that it can occur anywhere, U.S. Attorney William Hyslop said of his district.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not directly respond to the indictment but pointed to remarks made last week by the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, who described China as the victim of “groundless speculations” but also a country whose scientific prowess means it does not need to “secure an edge by theft.”

Ben Buchanan, a Georgetown University professor and author of “The Hacker and the State,” said that though the U.S. has made clear its views on what kinds of economic espionage are permitted and not permitted, it is unclear where it draws the line on espionage related to the coronavirus or what kind of espionage the US might conduct.

He said he was not sure that this indictment, without other meaningful consequences, would get China to cease its activities. “The upside of spying in this way is simply too high for many governments to pass up,” Buchanan said in an email.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

In surprise move, Trump administration reverses course on barring many foreign students

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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In a stunning reversal of policy, the Trump administration on Tuesday abandoned a plan that would have forced out tens of thousands of foreign students following widespread condemnation of the move and pressure from colleges and major businesses.

US officials announced last week that international students at schools that had moved to online-only classes due to the coronavirus pandemic would have to leave the country if they were unable to transfer to a college with at least some in-person instruction.

The government said it would drop the plan amid a legal challenge brought by universities. But a senior US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official said the administration still intended to issue a regulation in the coming weeks addressing whether foreign students can remain in the United States if their classes move online.

There are more than a million foreign students at US colleges and universities, and many schools depend on revenue from foreign students, who often pay full tuition.

Welcoming the latest decision,  Harvard University said in a statement, “This is a significant victory. We are immensely grateful for the widespread support that we and our students have received over the course of the past week.”

The July 6 move by the administration blindsided many universities and colleges that were still making plans for the fall semester, trying to balance concerns about rising cases of the novel coronavirus in many US states and the desire to return to classes.

A flurry of lawsuits were filed challenging the rule including one brought by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology and another by a coalition of state governments. Dozens of big companies and colleges and universities filed “friend-of-the-court” briefs opposing the rule.

Harvard planned to hold all of its classes online for the upcoming academic year.

President Donald Trump, who is pushing schools across the country to reopen in the autumn, said he thought Harvard’s plan not to hold in-person classes was ridiculous.

The universities argued the measure was unlawful and would adversely affect their academic institutions.

In a highly anticipated court hearing on Tuesday in the case brought by Harvard, US District Judge Allison Burroughs in Massachusetts said the US government and the two elite universities that sued had come to a settlement that would roll back the new rules and restore the previous status quo.

The hearing lasted less than four minutes.

The controversy began after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said it would re-instate rules for international students on F-1 and M-1 visas that limit the number of online courses foreign students can take if they want to remain in the United States. Those rules had been temporarily waived due to the public health crisis. Many academic institutions assumed they would be extended, not rolled back.

The DHS official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the details of any future regulation on this issue remain under discussion.

In particular, DHS officials are still deciding whether to treat students already in the United States differently than students seeking to enter the country for the first time, according to the official.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who led a separate lawsuit challenging the visa rules, said in a written statement Trump’s “arbitrary actions” put the health of students and communities at risk.

“In the midst of an economic and public health crisis, we don’t need the federal government alarming Americans or wasting everyone’s time and resources with dangerous policy decisions,” Becerra said.

ICE and the US Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US formally notifies UN of decision to withdraw from WHO

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Trump administration has formally notified the United Nations of its decision to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization, officials said, breaking off ties with the global health body amid the expanding coronavirus pandemic.

The US has accused the WHO of siding with China on the outbreak of the virus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, alleging the health body misled the world resulting in deaths of over half a million people globally, including over 130,000 in America.

In April, the US stopped funding to WHO as the Trump administration reviewed the ties. A month later, President Donald Trump announced the US was terminating the relationship. The US is the largest funder to the world health, contributing more than USD450 million per annum, while China’s contribution to the health body is about one-tenth of that of the US.

“I can say that on 6 July 2020, the United States of America notified the secretary-general, in his capacity as depositary of the 1946 Constitution of the World Health Organization, of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, effective on 6 July 2021, said St phane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, in a statement.

Dujarric said the secretary-general is in the process of verifying with the WHO whether all the conditions for such withdrawal are met.

The United States has been a party to the WHO Constitution since June 21, 1948. Its participation was accepted by the World Health Assembly with certain conditions set out by the US for its eventual withdrawal from this world body.

The said conditions include giving a one-year notice, meaning the withdrawal won’t go into effect until July 6 next year, raising the possibility the Trump administration’s decision could be reversed by a new government after the presidential elections in November this year.

The decision was criticised by several Congressmen, who said it “would be a bad policy”.

To call Trump’s response to COVID chaotic and incoherent doesn’t do it justice. This won’t protect American lives or interests it leaves Americans sick and America alone, tweeted Senator Robert Menendez, a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Congressman Eliot Engel, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said, It would be bad policy to pull out of the world’s leading body coordinating global health efforts under any circumstances, but to do so during a global pandemic is utterly baffling, especially against the backdrop of 130,000 American lives lost.

Remaining in the WHO and exerting American leadership would boost international efforts to develop a vaccine and strengthen other countries’ health systems to better address future outbreaks, he said.

Deflecting blame onto the WHO won’t reverse the administration’s mistakes or undo the suffering our country has endured. The president needs to get serious about stopping this pandemic’s lethal spread by restoring our membership in the WHO, ramping up testing, and encouraging everyone to practice social distancing and wear masks, Engel said.

To withdraw the US from the WHO at the height of a global pandemic is self-defeating and dangerous, said House Majority Leader, Steny Hoyer.

Not only will this withdrawal hurt global efforts to develop and deploy critical vaccines, but it will also remove our ability to have a say in the operations and future of that organization, yielding much influence to China, he said.

Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera said America lost its best chance to defeat the virus once the president began to minimize the pandemic and shift blame onto others, instead of assuming responsibility and actually leading the country through this crisis.

Today’s decision comes as no surprise, he said.

No response has been perfect, including the WHO’s. But the WHO is playing a critical role by coordinating the global response and providing important guidance and information about the virus. It is this information and guidance that has helped countries in Europe and Asia tackle and contain the virus. They bent the curve. Our cases are increasing. If the WHO is to blame: why has the US been left behind while many countries from South Korea to New Zealand to Vietnam to Germany return to normal, Bera said.

Senator Patty Murray, a ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labour, and Pensions Committee, also slammed the Trump administration.

This is an abdication of America’s role as a global leader and it is the opposite of putting America first it will put America at risk. Refusing to work with our partners across the world to fight this pandemic will only prolong the crisis, further undermine our international standing, and leave us less prepared for future crises. President Trump needs to realize this crisis doesn’t recognize borders and hiding from it or passing the blame won’t make it go away or make him any less responsible, Murray said.

Senator Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee that oversees multilateral institutions, said Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are delivering a huge win for China and a huge blow to the American people.

By pulling out of the WHO, President Trump is strengthening Chinese leadership and power, both within the WHO and more broadly within the international community. This is a huge mistake that damages American interests, Merkley said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Indian held on charges of smuggling drugs into US

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Law enforcement officials have arrested an Indian national on the charges of driving down a truck — hidden with nearly 1,000 kg of marijuana worth USD 20 million — from Canada to the United States, an official said.

This is the third such arrest of an Indian national in less than a fortnight. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life.

Prabjot Nagra, 26, was arrested as he attempted to enter the US at the Peace Bridge Port on Entry just before midnight on June 25. He was driving a commercial truck with a license plate of Ontario, Canada, the official said on Monday.

According to an electronic manifest, the truck was carrying a shipment of 55 storage container. The commercial truck was referred to the Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System for a non-intrusive X-ray exam. The X-ray showed inconsistencies of the cargo within the entire trailer.

As a result, the truck was referred to the Peace Bridge warehouse loading dock for physical examination. During the physical exam of the crates, Customs and Border Protection Officers recovered multiple packages of vacuum sealed bags containing a green leafy substance, which field tested positive for the presence of marijuana.

Approximately 8,320 vacuum-sealed packages of suspected marijuana weighing approximately 9,472 pounds were removed from the original shipment containers, the official added.

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US curbs visas for Chinese officials over Hong Kong freedoms

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday Washington was imposing visa restrictions on Chinese officials responsible for restricting freedoms in Hong Kong, but he did not name any of those targeted.

The move comes ahead of a three-day meeting of China’s parliament from Sunday expected to enact new national security legislation for Hong Kong that has alarmed foreign governments and democracy activists.

The US visa restrictions apply to “current and former” Chinese Communist Party officials “believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy,” Pompeo said, without naming them.

Last month, President Donald Trump responded to China’s plans by saying he was initiating a process to eliminate special economic treatment that has allowed Hong Kong to remain a global financial center since its handover by Britain in 1997.

Pompeo’s announcement represents the first concrete US step in response to China’s moves, but Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, said visa restrictions were largely symbolic and the fact that no names were given could lessen their impact.

A State Department spokeswoman said relatives of designees could also be barred. A Bloomberg columnist quoted a department official as saying the number of officials targeted was “in the single digits.”

Chinese embassy spokeswoman Fang Hong said China “opposes the US side’s wrongful decisions,” and added that China’s legislation targeted only “a very narrow category of acts that seriously jeopardize national security.”

“We urge the US to immediately correct its mistakes, withdraw the decisions and stop interfering in China’s domestic affairs,” she said.

Wall Street’s major indexes tumbled on Friday after a Wall Street Journal article said US “meddling” on issues like Hong Kong and Taiwan could jeopardize Chinese purchases under a Phase 1 trade deal Trump agreed with China in January, spooking investors already worried about a surge in coronavirus cases.

Pompeo’s announcement comes at a time of intensified US rhetoric against Beijing as Trump campaigns for re-election. Opinion polls have shown voters increasingly embittered toward China, especially over the coronavirus, which began there.

“President Trump promised to punish the Chinese Communist Party officials who were responsible for eviscerating Hong Kong’s freedoms. Today, we are taking action to do just that,” Pompeo said.

He accused China of pressuring local authorities to arrest pro-democracy activists and disqualify electoral candidates, and added: “The United States will continue to review its authorities to respond to these concerns.”

Pompeo said last week Washington would treat Hong Kong as a Chinese city rather than an autonomous one to the extent that China treated the territory as a Chinese city. He said Hong Kong elections due in September would show China’s intentions.

On Thursday, the US Senate approved a bill that would impose mandatory sanctions on people or companies that back efforts to restrict Hong Kong’s autonomy. It includes secondary sanctions on banks that do business with anyone backing any crackdown on the territory’s autonomy.

A Hong Kong government spokesman called the legislation unacceptable, China’s official Xinhua news agency said.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow