Washington DC

Washington, Oct 21 (PTI) The US has alleged that Russian military personnel based in Crimea have been piloting Iranian drones and asserted that it will pursue all means to expose, deter and confront Iran's provision of these munitions against the Ukrainian people.

John Kirby, NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications, also claimed that there was clear evidence that Iranian military personnel were on the ground in Crimea.

21 October 2022; MEMO: The White House is in talks with billionaire, Elon Musk, about setting up SpaceX's satellite internet service, Starlink, in Iran, CNN reported on Friday, citing officials familiar with the matter, Reuters reports.

The satellite-based broadband service could help Iranians circumvent the regime's restrictions on accessing the internet and certain social media platforms.

20 October 2022; MEMO: The Biden administration in Washington has basically told Saudi Arabia that freedom of expression should never be criminalised.

Washington, Oct 19 (AP-PTI) President Joe Biden will announce the release of 15 million barrels of oil from the US strategic reserve Wednesday as part of a response to recent production cuts announced by OPEC+ nations, and he will say more oil sales are possible this winter, as his administration rushes to be seen as pulling out all the stops ahead of next month's midterm elections.

18 October 2022; MEMO: The United States agrees with British and French assessments that Iran supplying drones to Russia would violate a UN Security Council Resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six powers, US State Department spokesman, Vedant Patel, said on Monday, Reuters reports.

18 October 2022; MEMO: Former US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he could "easily" become Israel's prime minister as he wished that American Jews were more appreciative of what he has done for the occupation state.

"No President has done more for Israel than I have," Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. "Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the US."

17 October 2022; MEMO: US Senator Patrick Leahy has blocked $75 million of aid to Egypt over its failure to make progress on human rights reform particularly the release of 60,000 political prisoners.

The annual military aid America gives Egypt, $1.3 billion, has come under heavy scrutiny in the last few years as Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has consolidated control over the country and continued to squeeze the space for free speech.

17 October 2022; MEMO: Washington is "deeply disappointed" with the remarks made by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the US National Security Council said on Saturday. Abbas met Putin in Kazakhstan last Thursday and apparently told him that the Palestinians do not trust the Biden administration.

Washington, Oct 15 (PTI) The IMF has urged countries to preserve vital foreign reserves to deal with potentially worse outflows and turmoil in the future, amidst appreciation of the US dollar and depreciation of other major currencies, including the Indian rupee.

Washington, Oct 15 (PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has urged the World Bank to avoid a "unidimensional" view of the subsidies provided by the Indian government and asserted that it is important to differentiate between "distortive subsidies" and "targeted support" to the vulnerable households.