USA

WASHINGTON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- As part of efforts to highlight "National Day of Action and Healing" on Friday, 26 U.S. governors released a joint statement condemning violence against Asian Americans which has been on the rise since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic a year ago.

"What is happening to Asian Americans is simply un-American. We condemn racism, violence and hatred against our AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) communities, and we must do more to protect, lift up, and support the Asian American community," said the statement.

Washington/New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has proposed retaliatory trade actions against India and certain other countries that have imposed or are considering equalisation levy/digital services tax on e-commerce companies.

It has issued notices seeking public comments on proposed trade actions against six countries, including India.

Islamabad, Mar 27 (PTI) The World Bank has signed agreements with Pakistan to provide USD 1.336 billion worth of assistance to boost the cash-strapped country's foreign exchange reserves and help support social sector programmes.

United Nations, Mar 27 (PTI) India has supplied more COVID-19 vaccines globally than vaccinated its own people, the country has told the UN General Assembly and cautioned that vaccine inequity will defeat the collective global resolve to contain the coronavirus as the disparity in the accessibility of vaccines will affect the poorest nations the most.

India was one of the initiators of the Political Declaration on Equitable Global Access to COVID-19 Vaccines' that garnered the support of more than 180 UN member states.

BOSTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney was named the recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Friday for splitting with his party and becoming the only Republican to vote to convict former President Donald Trump during his first impeachment trial.

The award was created by the family of the late president to honor public figures who risk their careers by embracing unpopular positions for the greater good, and is named after Kennedy’s 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “Profiles in Courage.”

(AP) --- The 9-year-old twins didn’t flinch as each received test doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine -- and then a sparkly bandage to cover the spot.

“Sparkles make everything better,” declared Marisol Gerardo as she hopped off an exam table at Duke University to make way for her sister Alejandra.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Maj. Gen. William Walker, commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard, was tapped Friday to become the House’s first African American sergeant-at-arms as Congress sorts through the grave security failings revealed by the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday announced the appointment of Walker, who was closely involved with the security that day as he dispatched troops to back up overwhelmed Capitol Police.

(AP) --- A GOP lawyer who advised former President Donald Trump on his campaign to overturn the 2020 election results is now playing a central role coordinating the Republican effort to tighten voting laws around the country.

Cleta Mitchell, a longtime Republican lawyer and advocate for conservative causes, was among the Trump advisers on a January phone call in which Trump asked Georgia election officials to “find” enough votes to declare him, and not Democrat Joe Biden, the winner of the battleground state.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is including rivals Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China among the invitees to the first big climate talks of his administration, an event the U.S. hopes will help shape, speed up and deepen global efforts to cut climate-wrecking fossil fuel pollution, administration officials told The Associated Press.

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — The suspect in the Colorado supermarket shootings bought a firearm at a local gun store after passing a background check, and he also had a second weapon with him that he didn’t use in the attack that killed 10 people this week, authorities and the gun store owner said Friday.

Investigators are working to determine the motive for the shooting, but they don’t know yet why the suspect chose the King Soopers grocery store in Boulder or what led him to carry out the rampage, Police Chief Maris Herold said at a news conference.