US closer to declaring ‘independence’ from COVID-19, says Joe Biden
WASHINGTON: The United States is getting closer to overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, said President Joe Biden on the occasion of the country’s 245th Independence Day. “Today, we are closer than ever to declare our independence from a deadly virus,” Biden said in a speech at the White House. First responders, military members, and other guests…
US China news: Chinese regulator targets US-listed tech firms
BEIJING: A day after Chinese Cybersecurity Review Office ordered app stores to remove ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing, the regulator announced on Monday that it will investigate job recruiting platform Boss Zhipin, and two commercial freight platforms, over national security concerns. A notice by the Chinese regulator said that cybersecurity reviews will be conducted against Boss…
‘What was the point?’ Afghans rue decades of war as
KABUL: As American troops left their main military base in Afghanistan on Friday, marking a symbolic end to the longest war in US history, locals living in the shadow of the base and in nearby Kabul were left ruing the past and bracing for what comes next. Violence has been raging throughout Afghanistan in the…
Joe Biden going to Michigan to pitch his infrastructure package
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden plans to use a visit Saturday to a Michigan cherry farm to talk up his bipartisan infrastructure package and additional plans for investing in families and education. He will go to Traverse City, which is hosting the National Cherry Festival—an event previously attended by the presidents Herbert Hoover and Gerald Ford.…
US vacates key Afghan base; pullout target now ‘late August’
WASHINGTON: Nearly 20 years after invading Afghanistan to oust the Taliban and hunt down al-Qaida, the US military has vacated its biggest airfield in the country, advancing a final withdrawal that the Pentagon says will be completed by the end of August. President Joe Biden had instructed the Pentagon to complete the military withdrawal by…
Joe Biden says teachers deserve ‘a raise, not just praise’
WASHINGTON: Speaking to the nation’s largest teachers union, President Joe Biden said Friday that the pandemic has given America’s parents the “ultimate education” on the challenges of the teaching profession. But even more, he said, the last year has proved that teachers across the U.S. deserve higher pay. “You deserve a raise, not just praise,”…
Death toll from Northwest heat wave expected to keep rising
SEATTLE: Each day, more deaths are being linked to the heat wave that struck the Pacific Northwest this past week, with medical staff who treated people overwhelmed by temperatures well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) saying the toll from the extreme weather will keep creeping up. Hundreds of deaths were being investigated as heat…
Joe Biden celebrates new citizens as US launches naturalization effort
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden celebrated new US citizens at an event at the White House on Friday, the same day his administration rolled out a government-wide strategy to encourage more immigrants to become citizens. “It’s dreams of immigrants like you that built America and continued to inject new energy, new vitality, new strength,” Biden said…
US wildfire: N.California wildfire spreads to nearly 20,000 acres
LOS ANGELES: A massive wildfire currently raging in Northern California’s Siskiyou County has spread to a total of 19,680 acres, with 25 per cent containment, according to the latest information from InciWeb, an interstate incident information system. The Lava Fire, which eruoted on June 24 due to lightning, exploded in size throughout Monday, fuelled by…
global minimum tax: Joe Biden’s plan wins support, 130 countries
PARIS: US President Joe Biden’s tax plan has been accepted by 130 countries worldwide including India and China. These nations will implement a global minimum corporate tax rate and duties on multinational giants from 2023, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said. According to a statement, the participants, in online working-level OECD talks,…