Washington DC

Washington, Aug 22 (PTI) An Indian national has been arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit visa fraud and for inducing foreign nationals to come to the US using fraudulently obtained H-1B visas, federal prosecutors said on Friday.

Arrested on Thursday, 48-year-old Ashish Sawhney allegedly used four corporations to orchestrate the improper submission of fraudulent applications for H-1B specialty-occupation work visas, they said.

21 Aug 2020; MEMO: Despite suffering a humiliating defeat at the United Nations Security Council, Donald Trump remains undeterred from reimposing sanctions on Iran.

The embattled president announced yesterday that he intends to restore virtually all sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

21 Aug 2020; MEMO: The US president on Thursday informed visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi of his commitment to the rapid withdrawal of the international coalition forces from Iraq within three years, Anadolu Agency reports.

“We have withdrawn significantly from Iraq and very few soldiers remain,” Trump said, according to the Iraqi News Agency.

“Al-Kadhmi is a man with whom I get along very well,” he added.

21 Aug 2020; MEMO: The US designated six senior Syrian regime officials Thursday as part of Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, including a top media advisor to Bashar al-Assad, ahead of the seventh anniversary of a chemical attack in a Damascus suburb, Anadolu Agency reports.

Washington, Aug 21 (PTI) When Joe Biden was elected as one of the youngest US senators in 1972, one of the first letters that he received was from Mumbai, with the sender having the same last name as his.

About five years ago, the Democratic Party's presidential nominee learned that there are five Bidens living in Mumbai, but is probably yet to make a connection with them.

New York, Aug 20 (PTI) In his most blistering attack on Donald Trump, former president Barack Obama has accused his successor of treating the presidency like a "reality show" and said the top Republican leader hasn't grown into the job because he can't.

Obama, the country's first Black president, spoke on the third night of the virtual Democratic National Convention on Wednesday just before Senator Kamala Harris of California became the first Black person to be formally nominated for vice-president by a major party.

19 Aug 2020; MEMO: Kuwait’s support for Palestinians is “not very constrictive”, Anadolu reported the senior adviser to US President Donald Trump saying yesterday.

During a briefing with reporters, Jared Kushner denied that the US administration is pressuring Kuwait and other Gulf states to normalise relations with Israel, following a similar move by the UAE.

18 Aug 2020; MEMO: Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh dismissed US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s “baseless” allegations that Tehran is supplying the Taliban in Afghanistan with arms.

Khatibzadeh said in a statement released yesterday that the current situation in Afghanistan “is the outcome of US warmongering and its intervention” in Afghan affairs, according to the official Iranian news agency, IRNA.

Washington, Aug 17 (AP/PTI) Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday she is calling the House back into session over the crisis at the U.S. Postal Service, setting up a political showdown amid growing concerns that the Trump White House is trying to undermine the agency ahead of the election.

Pelosi is cutting short lawmakers' summer recess with a vote expected the Saturday after the Democratic National Convention on legislation that would prohibit changes at the agency as tensions mount.

16 Aug 2020; MEMO: US President Donald Trump on Saturday all but dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s call for a summit of world leaders to discuss Iran, saying he probably would not participate, reported Reuters.