Washington News
US unemployment rate rises
Washington, Feb 2 - The US unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent in January from 7.8 percent in December 2012, the US Labor Department said Friday.
Total non-farm payroll employment increased by 157,000 in January, with the private sector creating 166,000 jobs last month. Governments at all levels shed 9,000 jobs last month against the background of government spending cuts, reported Xinhua.
In January, the number of total unemployed Americans stood at 12.3 million, up from 12.2 million in December.
Employment rose in various sectors last month, including construction, manufacturing, transportation, utilities and health care, the report said.
Tulsi Gabbard joins push for US Diwali stamp
Washington, Feb 2 - Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu-American to be elected to the US House of Representatives, has joined the co-sponsors of a House Resolution calling for the US Postal Service to issue a postage stamp to commemorate Diwali.
"The Diwali festival honours self-awareness, righteousness, and service to others before ourselves," she said noting the Indian "festival of lights" is observed by Hindus, Christians, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists in the United States, India, and around the world.
"This yearly festival is a time to celebrate the triumph of goodness and truth, and to reflect on the year," Gabbard said.
Google stock reaches new high
Washington, Feb 2 : Shares of Google soared to 775.60 dollars, eclipsing stock's previous record of 774.38 dollars reached in early October.
Shares of Google soared to an all-time high on Friday, as the company appears to be nearing a settlement of an antitrust investigation in Europe.
Google has been the subject of a three-year European Union probe into its search business.
Despite emerging scot free from a similar multi-year investigation in the US last month, many analysts had expected the European probe to be harder for Google to wriggle out of, CNN reports.
According to the report, Google''s stock has been on a tear during the past few months.
US Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan quits three decade old career
Washington, Feb 2 : US Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan is set to quit after nearly seven years in the post and three decades with the agency.
In a statement, President Barack Obama thanked Sullivan for protecting five first families, including his own.
According to Politico, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano also commended his service, which spanned five presidents, and wished him well in retirement.
Sullivan and his agency came under intense public scrutiny last year when agents were ensnared in a prostitution scandal in Colombia ahead of Obama''s visit there.
Obama awards science medal to Indian-American inventor
Washington, Feb 2 - President Barack Obama has awarded Rangaswamy Srinivasan, an Indian-American co-inventor of LASIK eye surgery, with a national medal for science, technology and innovation along with 22 other researchers and inventors.
Srinivasan, 82, an inventor at IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Centre, received the 2011 National Medal of Technology and innovation with Samuel Blumand James Wynne.