Washington DC

Washington, Feb 19 (PTI) In a major move that will benefit hundreds and thousands of Indian IT professionals in America, the Biden administration has introduced an ambitious immigration bill in Congress which among other things proposes to eliminate the per-country cap for employment-based green cards.

The US Citizenship Act of 2021 proposes a pathway to citizenship to 11 million undocumented workers, elimination of per country quota for employment-based green cards and work authorisation for dependents of H-1B foreign workers.

17 Feb 2021; MEMO: The Biden administration has approved a $200 million arms sale to Egypt despite ongoing human rights abuses in the country including the arrest of a former political prisoners' cousins days before the sale.

The US State Department said that the $197 million sales of Raytheon-made Rolling Airframe Missiles were for Egypt's navy to improve defence around the coast including the Red Sea and that it has approved the sale subject to congressional review.

17 Feb 2021; MEMO: The UAE Ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al-Otaibi, has clashed on social media with US Congressman Ro Khanna over the war on Yemen and the UAE's direct involvement in escalating divisions in that country.

Khanna told The Intercept that the Emirati ambassador had yelled at him last year for leading efforts to end US support for the war in Yemen where the UAE is backing southern separatists.

15 Feb 2021; MEMO: The US Department of Transportation has warned it would prevent Israel's El Al flights from landing in American airports if Tel Aviv continues to prevent American planes from landing in Israel, Israeli media reported yesterday.

Washington, Feb 14 (PTI) Donald Trump has told millions of his supporters that he is ready for yet another phase of active public life after the US Senate acquitted him in his second impeachment trial.

Following four days of the impeachment trial, the 100-member Senate voted to impeach the former US president by 57-43 votes, 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed for conviction.

12 Feb 2021; MEMO: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced today that he will revoke the designations of Yemen's Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organisation and a specially designated global terrorist group.

Blinken said in a statement that the United States would "closely monitor" Houthi activities and is "actively identifying" new sanctions targets, especially those responsible for attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and missile strikes on Saudi Arabia.

13 Feb 2021; MEMO: The US State Department announced on Thursday that Jerusalem is subject to final status negotiations.

This came in a press briefing by State Department spokesperson Ned Price, in which he conveyed: "The ultimate status of Jerusalem is, in fact, a final status negotiations issue. This has been a long-standing policy of the United States."

Washington, Feb 13 (AP-PTI) The Biden administration is moving to roll back Medicaid work requirements in its latest effort to undo a controversial Trump-era policy.

Federal health officials planned Friday to inform 10 states that they would revoke permissions granted by the Trump administration to impose such requirements, according to a Biden official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans. Officials were also set to withdraw the past administration's invitation for states to apply for approval for work requirements.

12 Feb 2021; MEMO: The past few years have witnessed a significant rise in anti-Zionism across colleges and universities in the United States, a new study has found.

Washington, Feb 12 (PTI) The US has welcomed the ongoing efforts by India and China to de-escalate the situation in eastern Ladakh and said it would continue to monitor the situation closely as both sides work toward a peaceful resolution.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday announced in Parliament that India and China have reached an agreement on disengagement in the North and South banks of Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh that mandates both sides to cease forward deployment of troops in a "phased, coordinated and verifiable" manner.