Washington News
Boston bomber's three pals charged
Washington, May 2 - In a new twist to the Boston Marathon bombing probe, three friends of surviving suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were arrested and charged with trying to throw investigators off their buddy's trail.
Azamat Tazhayakov, Dias Kadyrbayev, both from Kazakhstan and Robel Phillipos, an American citizen, were Wednesday accused of taking away a laptop, some empty fireworks and a jar of Vaseline from Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.
Americans hold nationwide rallies for immigration reform
Washington, May 2 - Tens of thousands of protesters held marches, rallies and prayer vigils across America to show Congress that momentum is building for a path to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants, including some 260,000 Indians.
Instead of concentrating on large May Day demonstrations, organizers cited by the New York Times said they had chosen to hold smaller actions in more than 100 cities nationwide to draw more local supporters.
There were marches in Birmingham, Alabama, and Milwaukee, and a rally on the steps of the state Capitol in Denver, the influential US daily reported.
US concerned over assault on free press in Sri Lanka
Washington, May 1 - Highlighting the attacks on a Tamil-language newspaper in Sri Lanka, the United States has said it would continue to "very directly" press its concerns for press freedom bilaterally as also through the international community.
Uthayan, a Tamil-language newspaper in Sri Lanka, "has seen its personnel beaten, its newspaper shipments burned, its equipment destroyed, and its offices set ablaze in this last month alone," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters Tuesday.
US religious body concerned over Modi entry into US
Washington, May 1 - A US federal advisory body has reiterated its concerns about Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's admissibility to the US due to his alleged "complicity in the 2002 riots" in the state.
Modi, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Tuesday noted, was the only individual in whose case a provision of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) was invoked in March 2005 to bar his entry. IRFA bars the entry of such individuals "responsible for or directly carried out... particularly severe violations of religious freedom."
Obama has 'the juice' for second term agenda
Washington, May 1 - Echoing Mark Twain, President Barack Obama has confidently asserted that he has enough "juice" in him to get things done in Washington despite a divided and politically dysfunctional amosphere.
"Golly, I think it's a little -- as Mark Twain said, rumours of my demise may be a little exaggerated at this point," Obama said Tuesday in response to a question at a White House press conference 100 days into his second term.
NASA extends Russia space travel deal
Washington, May 1 - NASA will pay an additional $424 million to extend its contract with Russia’s federal space agency (Roscosmos) to transport US astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said Tuesday.
About the move, America’s space chief said it underscores how diminished funding is hampering the US space programme.
“While our Russian counterparts have been good partners, it is unacceptable that we don't currently have an American capability to launch our own astronauts,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden wrote in a blog post Tuesday.
US urges releasing jailed Ukrainian ex-premier
Washington, May 1 - The US Tuesday called on Ukraine to release Yulia Tymoshenko, the jailed former prime minister and a leader of the ex-Soviet republic’s 2004 "Orange Revolution" who became a strident opponent of the current government.
“We reiterate our call that Mrs. Tymoshenko be released and that the practice of selective prosecution in the Ukraine end,” US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell told a news briefing.
Obama vows closing Guantanamo detention facility
Washington, May 1 - US President Barack Obama vowed Tuesday to make a new push to close the American military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as the US military sent extra medical personnel there to deal with prisoners on a hunger strike.
The prisoners are protesting conditions and their long detentions.
Guantanamo Bay is "contrary to who we are", unsustainable and harmful to US interests, Obama told reporters at the White House, pledging to "go back at this" and work with Congress to close the facility, which since 2002 has housed suspected terrorists and enemy combatants, captured in the US-led war on terror.
India ranked 38th in Index of Democracy; US 21st
Washington, April 30 - Even as it acknowledges India as the world's most populous democracy, the Economist magazine's Index of Democracy 2012 ranks India 38th among 165 nations with an overall score of 7.52.
India also gets high scores for electoral process and pluralism (9.58) and Civil liberties (9.41).
The top three positions go to Norway (9.93) Sweden (9.73) and Iceland 9.65, while the United States is ranked 21st with an overall score of 8.11 in the fifth edition of the Index prepapred by the London weekly focusing on international politics and business.
Probe eyes Boston bomber's militant links
Washington, April 30 - Federal agents investigating the deadly Boston Marathon bombings have visited the home of the dead suspect's widow even as they looked for his possible links with a couple of militants, according to various media reports.
Investigators are looking into possible links between Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and a Canadian boxer-turned-jihadist killed in a firefight with Russian forces in the southwestern republic of Dagestan in July 2012, while Tsarnaev was visiting the region, CNN reported citing sources.
Welcome high skill workers or lose them: US think tank
Washington, April 30 - Citing the significant contributions of immigrants from India, a leading US think tank has suggested that America must roll out the welcome mat to high skill workers to remain competitive and innovative.
While much of the congressional immigration reform debate is focused on a 'path to citizenship' for 11 million illegal immigrants, including some 260,000 Indians, a proposal by Senate's "Gang of Eight" focusing on skilled workers "should attract broad support," it said, describing it as 'path to prosperity'.
US authorities to return baby to Russian couple
Washington, April 30 - A California court has ruled Monday that a baby boy who had been seized by authorities in the US should be returned to his Russian parents, a Russian diplomat said.
Five-month-old Sammy Nikolaev has been in protective custody since April 24 when police and Child Protective Services (CPS) removed him from his parents after the family had a dispute with the baby’s doctors.
The parents had taken the baby from a hospital without proper discharge. The CPS officials claimed they had removed the boy due to "severe neglect."
“After five hours of deliberation and analysis of factual information presented by both sides, the judge decided to dismiss all charges against the parents,” Evgeny Avdoshin, Consul at Consulate General of Russia in San Francisco, said.
Top US Air Force official to step down
Washington, April 27 : Secretary of the US Air Force Michael Donley is to step down and return to private life, US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced in a statement.
Hagel said that Donley has been "an invaluable adviser during my first two months as secretary of defense and has been an outstanding leader of the air force for nearly five years", reported Xinhua.
He added that Donley served during "a challenging time for the air force" and "helped instil a culture of responsibility, initiative, and professionalism to the service".(IANS)
Obama vows probe into use of chemical weapons in Syria
Washington, April 27 : US President Barack Obama promised Friday an in-depth investigation into the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria, and said if that proves to be the case, it will change his "calculus" about how to deal with the crisis in the Middle Eastern country.
Use of chemical weapons in Syria would bring "increased urgency to what is already a significant security problem and humanitarian problem in the region", Obama said in a brief joint press appearance with visiting Jordanian King Abdullah II.
Miffed Akhilesh Yadav, Azam skip Harvard lecture
Washington, April 27 - Miffed over the brief detention of his Urban Development Minister Azam Khan at Boston airport, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav skipped a Harvard University event they had come to participate in.
Instead, UP Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani took the duo's place in a panel discussion on "Harvard without Borders: Mapping the Kumbh Mela" - a Harvard study of the pilgrimage at an annual symposium on South Asia hosted by the university's South Asia Institute (SAI).
Train hits bus in US, 10 injured
Washington, April 27 - At least 10 people were injured in a crash between a rural transit bus and a freight train in Pennsylvania state in the US, a media report said.
WTAE-TV, which serves the Pittsburgh area, said the bus was carrying passengers to a programme for people with developmental disabilities when the train honked at it.
The bus was stopped on the tracks at a non-gated crossing over a rural road, but did not move, Xinhua said.
Police are investigating why the 60-year-old bus driver was stopped on the tracks, as well as the possibility that the thick morning fog was a factor.
Bangladesh building collapse: UN chief saddened by loss of life
Washington, April 27 - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said he was "saddened by the loss of life" in the collapse of a building housing several garment factories in Bangladesh, which killed at least 304 workers.
"The secretary-general is deeply saddened by the loss of life and injuries caused by the collapse of a garment factory on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka, earlier this week," Xinhua quoted a statement by Ban's spokesperson Martin Nesirky as saying.
The UN chief extended his condolences to the government and people of Bangladesh.
Bill Clinton gets 400,000-plus Twitter followers
Washington, April 26 - Former US President Bill Clinton has joined Twitter and attracted more than 400,000 followers within 24 hours on the social network.
Clinton, 66, posted his first tweet shortly before midnight Wednesday after US comedian Stephen Colbert told him he had established an official account for him April 9 during an interview on his popular Comedy Central television program, "The Colbert Report".
"Excited to join @ChelseaClinton and my good friend @StephenAtHome on Twitter!" tweeted the ex-president on his account @billclinton.
US approves new battery system for Boeing 787
Washington, April 26 - The US Federal Aviation Administration Thursday approved a new system of lithium ion batteries for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner three months after flights of the aircraft were suspended due to battery fires.
The FAA ruling applies, technically speaking, only to United Airlines, which is the only airline in the US that owns any 787s, but it establishes the rule that authorities will follow in Europe, Japan and elsewhere.
The other US airlines that have ordered 787s also will have to adhere to the new regulation.
The FAA calculates that the cost of repairing the six Dreamliner aircraft owned by United will be about $2.8 million.
Sunil Tripathi's family seeks privacy after body identified
Washington, April 26 - Sunil Tripathi's family has sought "privacy" for itself and "for our love for Sunny" after forensic dental examination confirmed that a body found in Providence River was that of the missing Indian origin student.
"On April 23, our beloved Sunil was discovered in the waters off India Point Park in Providence," his family wrote in a statement after the Rhode Island Department of Health confirmed the identity of the 22-year-old's body Thursday.