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Washington, Oct 18 (PTI) Ahead of the next week's Congressional hearing on human rights situation in South Asia, Kashmiri Pandits residing in various parts of the US held a briefing for US lawmakers and their aides on ground realties in the Valley and violations of their rights for the past several decades.

Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna, Congressmen Mike Thompson, Zoe Lofgren, Mark Desaulneir and Doris Matsui along with Chairman of House of Foreign Relation Committee, Elliot Engel, attended the congressional briefing at Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

18 Oct 2019; MEMO: A report in the Guardian has revealed how “rightwing activists are attempting to spread new laws across Republican-controlled states that would ban criticism on public university campuses of Israel and its occupation of Palestinian territory”.

Washington, Oct 18 (PTI) President Donald Trump has said that America's proposed economic sanctions on Ankara are no longer necessary after the US and Turkey struck a deal for a five-day cease fire in Syria.

As per the deal announced by Vice President Mike Pence in Ankara on Thursday, Turkey will suspend its operations for 120 hours to allow Kurdish fighters to withdraw from a designated safe zone along the Turkish and Syrian border.

17 Oct 2019; MEMO: Would-be Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard has stated publicly that the US government has supported Al-Qaeda terrorists, not least in their bid to overthrow the Syrian government. Gabbard is the most high-profile US politician to confirm what has been speculated about widely over the years and has vowed to end such support.

17 Oct 2019; MEMO: The US House of Representatives voted Wednesday on a bipartisan resolution opposing President Donald Trump’s decision to pull back troops in northern Syria, Anadolu reports.

The measure passed 354-60 with every Democrats and more than two-thirds of Republicans in favor.

Sponsored by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel and Republican Michael McCaul, the resolution “opposes the decision to end certain United States efforts to prevent Turkish military operations” in northeastern Syria.

Washington, Oct 17 (PTI) The US is not going to get involved in "crazy endless wars" over 7,000 miles away, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, defending his decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria.

The last week decision paved the way for Turkey to launch a cross-border military offensive that aims to push the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from the region. Turkey considers the biggest militia in the SDF a terrorist organisation.

Washington, Oct 16 (PTI) India has halved its poverty rate since the 1990s and achieved a seven plus growth rate over the last 15 years, the World Bank said on Tuesday.

India is both critical to the success of global development efforts, including eliminating extreme poverty, and as an influential leader for global goods such as addressing climate change, the bank said ahead of the annual meeting between it and the International Monetary Fund.

WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States slapped sanctions on Turkey Tuesday as it demanded an end to its deadly incursion against Syrian Kurdish fighters, accusing its NATO partner of putting civilians at risk and allowing the release of Daesh extremists.

The actions came hours after Syrian government troops returned for the first time in years to parts of northeastern Syria, invited by Kurdish fighters desperate for protection as the United States pulls out.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s administration is set to impose economic sanctions on Ankara, potentially as early as this week, for its incursion into northern Syria, one of the few levers the United States still has over NATO-ally Turkey.

Using the U.S. military to stop the Turkish offensive on U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters was never an option, defense officials have said, and Trump asked the Pentagon on Sunday to begin a “deliberate” withdrawal of all U.S. troops from northern Syria.

Washington, Oct 13 (PTI) After a broad-based deceleration in the initial quarters of this fiscal year, India's growth rate is projected to fall to 6 per cent, the World Bank said on Sunday.

In 2018-19, the growth rate of the country stood at 6.9 per cent.

However, the bank in its latest edition of the South Asia Economic Focus said the country was expected to gradually recover to 6.9 per cent in 2021 and 7.2 per cent in 2022 as it assumed that the monetary stance would remain accommodative, given benign price dynamics.