Washington DC

25 May 2021; MEMO: Attempts to proscribe the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign (BDS) have suffered a major blow after a federal district court ruled that the State of Georgia's 2016 law punishing boycotts of Israel is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.

Washington/Islamabad, May 25 (PTI) US President Joe Biden has continued his predecessor Donald Trump's policy on suspending security assistance to Pakistan and there is no clarity if the administration will change its stance in the future, the Pentagon has said.

Former US president Trump suspended all security assistance to Pakistan in January 2018, arguing that he was not satisfied with Islamabad's cooperation and role in the fight against terrorism.

Washington, May 22 (PTI) Observing that the ongoing "catastrophic" second wave of COVID-19 in India is a sign that the worst may be yet to come, the IMF has said that the situation in the country is a warning of the possible events in low- and middle-income nations that have seemingly escaped the pandemic till now.

21 May 2021; MEMO: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday told Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi that America cannot continue to publicly support its bombing campaign in Gaza, Axios reported.

Calling for the assault to end soon, Blinken said the US could not keep opposing French efforts at the UN Security Council for a resolution calling for a ceasefire.

Washington, May 21 (AP-PTI) The US Treasury Department said Thursday that it supports a global minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15 per cent below the 21 per cent minimum it has been seeking to impose on the foreign profits of US-based companies.

The offer comes as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Group of 20 major economies seek an agreement on a minimum corporate tax rate.

20 May 2021; MEMO: Democrat lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and other progressive representatives including Rashida Tlaib and Marc Pocan have introduced a resolution opposing an arms sale to Israel worth $735 million.

18 May 2021; MEMO: IMF member countries have agreed to clear Sudan's arrears to the institution, France's president said yesterday, removing a final hurdle to the African nation getting wider relief on the external debt of at least $50 billion, Reuters reported.

Hosting a conference for Sudan in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron also kick-started the broader debt relief effort, saying his country was in favour of fully cancelling the $5 billion it is owed by Khartoum.

Washington, May 15 (PTI) The United States has partnered with India on climate change so as to help it meet its commitment to deploy 450 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy, the Biden administration's climate change envoy has told US lawmakers.

"Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi has made a commitment to deploy 450 GW of renewable energy. We have created a partnership with India because of that commitment because they don't have the finance and technology completely," US Special Envoy on Climate Change John Kerry said.

14 May 2021; MEMO: White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki avoided a reporter's question whether US President Joe Biden believes Palestinians have a right to self-defense amid Israeli airstrikes, Anadolu Agency reported.

14 May 2021; MEMO: Israel has not over-reacted in its response to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, US President Joe Biden said on Thursday as the violence continued to escalate.