Politics
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,…
heat wave in us: Deaths spike as heatwave scorches parts
WASHINGTON/OTTAWA: Hundreds of deaths in Canada’s British Columbia province and in the US states of Washington and Oregon have been linked to a record breaking heatwave scorching the two countries, sending thousands of people scrambling for relief, according to authorities. Lisa Lapointe, British Columbia’s chief coroner, said on Thursday 486 deaths had been reported in…
As troops leave, US to keep airstrike option in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON: The U.S. military will remain involved in the Afghanistan war into September, keeping the option of launching airstrikes against the Taliban to defend Afghan forces, U.S. officials said Thursday, even as the final combat troops prepare to leave the country in coming days. For weeks, officials have said the withdrawal of the main U.S.…
us war in afghanistan: EXPLAINER: When is the US war
WASHINGTON: As the last US combat troops prepare to leave Afghanistan, the question arises: When is the war really over? For Afghans the answer is clear but grim: no time soon. An emboldened Taliban insurgency is making battlefield gains, and prospective peace talks are stalled. Some fear that once foreign forces are gone, Afghanistan will…