North America

Washington, Oct 7; PTI: For India, getting a presidential waiver from the biting CAATSA sanctions might not be that easy, some American experts believe referring to the changing political dynamics within the administration and President Donald Trump's personal strong views against New Delhi's trade and tariff policies and calling it a "tariff king".

By Lalit K Jha

Washington, Oct 7 (PTI) Donald Trump's controversial nominee Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in as a judge of the US Supreme Court, in a major victory for the US President amid crackling tension, angry protests and high drama on Capitol Hill.

Kavanaugh was officially sworn in Saturday evening as the 114th Justice of the Supreme Court by Chief Justice John Roberts who administered the Constitutional Oath in the Justices' Conference Room, hours after the 53-year-old judge was confirmed by a bitterly divided Senate by 50-48 votes.

Washington, Oct 6; PTI: The US presidential waiver on weapons deal with sanctions-hit Russia is intended to "wean" countries like India off the Russian equipment, the White House has said as New Delhi inked a USD 5 billion deal to purchase S-400 Triumf air defence system from Moscow.

The mega deal was sealed in New Delhi on Friday during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin for the annual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

5 Oct 2018; DW: Thousands of protesters have descended on Capitol Hill in Washington to fight the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court, the evening before the Senate was due to hold a procedural vote on his nomination, ahead of a final vote on Saturday.

5 Oct 2018; AFP: Wind turbines, designed as an alternative to fossil fuels, still contribute to climate change due to the way they redistribute heat and moisture in the atmosphere, according to a study published Thursday.

Researchers from Harvard University found that powering the entire United States with wind energy would cause a 0.54 degree Celsius ground temperature rise in the area where the turbines were located, and a 0.24C increase across the continental United States.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A U.S. Navy veteran in Utah was arrested Wednesday in connection with suspicious envelopes that were sent to President Donald Trump and top military chiefs.

William Clyde Allen III, 39, was taken into custody in in the small northern Utah city of Logan, said Melodie Rydalch, a spokeswoman for the state’s U.S. attorney’s office.

HOUSTON, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- A 9-year-old boy in Broward county in the U.S. state of Florida was placed on home detention Wednesday after he pointed his father's loaded handgun at three classmates at school, according to local authorities.

The police said with a loaded gun in hand, the boy, a third-grader, made "threatening comments" to the victims who the boy claimed had bullied him, saying "you see this, this is a real gun."

The school resource officer managed to take the gun and arrest the child without causing any incident.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has met with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi to discuss bilateral ties, the State Department said here on Wednesday.

According to a statement of State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, Pompeo met on Tuesday with the Pakistani official, following up on their Sept. 5 discussions in Islamabad on a range of bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said here on Wednesday that the United States is terminating the 1955 Treaty of Amity with Iran, after the UN's top court ruled that Washington lift sanctions on Tehran.

Pompeo said at a press briefing that "I'm announcing that the U.S. is terminating the 1955 Treaty of Amity with Iran. This is a decision, frankly, that is 39 years overdue."

By Lalit K Jha

Washington, Oct 4 (PTI) Several Indian companies and a few individuals from the country have been barred by the World Bank from its various projects across the globe, the multilateral lending agency said in its first report on its efforts to fight corruption and safeguard donor resources.