Washington DC

26 Feb 2021; MEMO: The US intelligence community formally blamed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman today for the grisly 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence's long-sought declassified report concluded, based heavily on the CIA's analysis, that the Kingdom's de facto ruler "approved" and almost certainly ordered the murder.

24 Feb 2021; MEMO: US President Joe Biden's administration said today it would continue its international re-engagement by seeking election to the UN Human Rights Council where it will press to eliminate a "disproportionate focus" on ally Israel, Reuters reported.

Under former President Donald Trump Washington quit the council in 2018 but the Biden government has already returned as an observer.

23 Feb 2021; MEMO: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed a range of issues with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, including partnership and human rights, the State Department said Tuesday, Anadolu Agency reported.

The two diplomats discussed a "strong strategic partnership" between the two nations on security and counterterrorism cooperation over the telephone, said agency spokesperson Ned Price in a statement.

20 Feb 2021; MEMO: The Washington Post reported on Friday that the US administration intends to release an intelligence report revealing the implication of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, at his country's consulate in Turkey in 2018.

19 Feb 2021; MEMO: The United States has no plan to ease sanctions or take other steps such as issuing an executive order about returning to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal before possible talks with Iran and major powers, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Friday, Reuters reported.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One as US President Joe Biden flew to Michigan, Psaki said "there is no plan to take additional steps" on Iran in advance of having a "diplomatic conversation."

Washington, Feb 20 (PTI) Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has said that the US will not undertake a hasty or disorderly withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan, stressing that violence must decrease now in the war-torn country and more progress is needed in the Afghan-led negotiations.

The US and the Taliban reached an agreement in February 2020 that called for a permanent ceasefire, peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government, and a withdrawal of all foreign forces by May 1. There are about 2,500 US troops currently in the country.

Washington, Feb 20 (AP-PTI) Add Mother Nature to the pile of crises on President Joe Biden's plate.

A month into the job and focused on the coronavirus, Biden is seeing his disaster management skills tested after winter storms plunged Texas, Oklahoma and neighboring states into an unusual deep freeze that left millions shivering in homes that lost heat and power, and in many homes, water.

Washington, Feb 18 (PTI) Proposed by President Joe Biden, the US Citizenship Act 2021 - which among other things intends to eliminate the per-country cap for employment-based green cards would be introduced in Congress on Thursday, a move that would benefit hundreds and thousands of Indian IT professionals in America.

Washington, Feb 19 (PTI) The Biden administration has said it is willing to sit down for talks with Iran and world powers to discuss a diplomatic way forward on Tehran's atomic programme, in the first major step aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal that was close to falling apart after the previous Trump regime withdrew from it.

Former president Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal in 2018.

Washington, Feb 19 (PT) Several top US Republican lawmakers have introduced more than a dozen bills in Congress to counter the growing Chinese influence in the country and to protect America's critical infrastructure.

The relations between the US and China are at an all-time low. The two countries are currently engaged in a bitter confrontation over various issues, including trade, the origins of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the communist giant's aggressive military moves in the disputed South China Sea and human rights.