Washington: The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved legislation that would bring about the biggest changes in US immigration policy in a generation, setting up a spirited debate in the full Senate in June 2013.
By a vote of 13-5, the panel approved the nearly 900-page bill that would put 11 million illegal residents on a 13-year path to citizenship while further strengthening security along the southwestern border with Mexico, long a sieve for illegal crossings.
The vote followed the committee's decision to embrace a Republican move to ease restrictions on high-tech US companies that want to hire more skilled workers from countries like India and China.
In a dramatic move just before the vote, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, withdrew an amendment to give people the right to sponsor same-sex partners who are foreigners for permanent legal status....
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06:51 AM, May 22, 2013
Washington: The United States and India on Tuesday asked the international community to take effective steps towards eliminating sanctuaries and infrastructure that support terrorism. After talks between visiting Indian Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, a joint communique said the two countries also agreed to enhance bilateral co-operation to combat terror financing and currency counterfeiting. The communique, issued after Napolitano and Shinde co-chaired...
12:30 AM, May 22, 2013
London: Manchester United earned a record 60.8 million pounds in Premier League television revenue this season en route to a 20th English title. Deposed champion Manchester City, who finished 11 points behind United in second, received 58.1 million pounds, according to figures released by the league on Tuesday. Even finishing last was lucrative, with Queens Park Rangers returning to the second tier after earning 39.8 million pounds from TV companies....
04:55 PM, May 21, 2013
Bhopal: A local court here on Monday rejected an NGO's plea to raise the quantum of punishment given to the convicts in the Bhopal gas tragedy case. The petition to raise the quantum of punishment in the case was filed by the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sanghthan convenor Abdul Jabbar and others. Rejecting the plea, District and Session Judge Sushma Khosla said that the NGO could at best assist...
10:30 AM, May 21, 2013
Washington: The US on Monday welcomed India's generous bilateral assistance to Afghanistan but remained non-committal on reports about Kabul seeking supply of military equipment from New Delhi. "We welcome efforts by Afghanistan's neighbours and other regional actors to promote Afghanistan's stability and economic development," State Department spokesperson Patrick Ventrell told reporters. He was responding to questions on the India visit of Afghan President Hamid Karzai during which according to media...
09:56 AM, May 21, 2013
Washington: Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has visited America's top counter-terrorism center, to have the first-hand experience of its functioning. Shinde, who arrived here on Sunday, visited the centre on Monday. He is leading a high-powered India delegation for the second India-US Homeland Security Dialogue with Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. He also visited the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center where he was given a tour and presentation...
09:17 AM, May 21, 2013
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson capped his final season in charge of the English Premier League champions by clinching the League Managers' Association Manager of the Year award for the fourth time on Monday. The 71-year-old Scot's unparallelled success in British soccer ended on Sunday with a remarkable 5-5 draw against West Bromwich Albion. "In a way I am glad it is all over now because it has been hard...
08:23 AM, May 21, 2013
Seoul: North Korea fired two short-range missiles on Monday, making six launches in three days, and it condemned South Korea for criticising what it said were its legitimate military drills. South Korea's Defense Ministry said North Korea had fired one missile on Monday morning and a second one in the afternoon. Both were fired into the sea off North Korea's east coast, a ministry official said. The launches come hard...
03:17 PM, May 20, 2013
Washington: US President Barack Obama has asked Americans to be more competitive as millions of young people from countries like India, China and Brazil are joining the global workforce. "In today's hyper-connected, hyper-competitive world, with millions of young people from China and India and Brazil - many of whom started with a whole lot less than all of you did - all of them entering the global workforce alongside you,...
12:16 PM, May 20, 2013
Washington: A US-based Sikh group on Monday said that it will challenge the decision of an American district court last week to dismiss alleged human rights violations case against Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. The Sikh for Justice (SFJ) had filed the case of alleged human rights violations against Badal in 2012, but it was dismissed by a US district court in Wisconsin last Friday. The group said it...
11:40 AM, May 20, 2013
Singapore: Gold fell for an eighth straight session on Monday to its weakest level in over a month, as fears that the US Federal Reserve may wind back its economic stimulus programme hurt the metal's appeal as a hedge against inflation. Investors have been dumping gold, which is down 20 per cent so far this year, as stocks and the dollar continue to outperform. If gold closes in the red...
11:30 AM, May 20, 2013
Washington: Tornadoes tore through three central American states of Kansas, Oklahoma and Iowa with baseball-sized hail and wind blasts ripping roofs off homes and turning trees to matchsticks, as severe weather swept the region. A large "violent and extremely dangerous" tornado was spotted on Sunday night on the southwest side of Wichita, Kansas and a second confirmed one was seen near Edmond, Oklahoma, the National Weather Service said. Another tornado...
11:17 AM, May 20, 2013
New Delhi: Lingering row between CIL and power producers such as NTPC is casting a shadow over 10 per cent divestment plans in the coal major as its parent ministry has reservations about stake sale till issues, like Rs 9,000 crore dues owed by electricity utilities, are resolved. "Coal Ministry in a letter to the Department of Disinvestment (DoD) has said that going ahead with the stake sale process in...
12:11 PM, May 19, 2013
Beirut: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says he won't step down before elections are held in his war-ravaged country. The Syrian leader's comments, published on Saturday in the Argentine newspaper Clarin, highlight the difficulties the US and Russia face in getting the Assad regime and Syria's political opposition to the table at an international conference envisioned for next month. The country's main opposition group has demanded that these talks lead to...
07:50 AM, May 19, 2013
Cape Canaveral: An automated telescope monitoring the moon has captured images of an 88-pound (40 kg) rock slamming into the lunar surface, creating a bright flash of light, NASA scientists said on Friday. The explosion on March 17, 2013 was the biggest seen since NASA began watching the moon for meteoroid impacts about eight years ago. So far, more than 300 strikes have been recorded. "It exploded in a flash...
06:53 AM, May 19, 2013
A report on Friday night from WBBH, an NBC television affiliate in Fort Myers, Fla., said Phelps will return to swimming with an eye toward competing at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The three-paragraph story on the station's Web site was posted by news anchor Peter Busch, who is the son of Frank Busch, director of the U.S. national swim team. "The greatest Olympian of all time isn't hanging up his...
12:32 PM, May 18, 2013
London: Four more people in China have died from a new strain of bird flu, bringing the death toll from the H7N9 virus to 36 from 131 confirmed cases, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday. The United Nations health agency said the four deaths were from cases that had already been identified in laboratories. Since May 8, there have been no new cases of infection with H7N9, it...
11:30 AM, May 18, 2013
Washington: Opening up the prospects of export of shale gas to energy starved India, the US today granted conditional authorization to export domestically produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) to nations that do not have Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with it. In a decision, which has major implications for India, the Department of Energy announced that that it has conditionally authorized Freeport LNG Expansion, LP and FLNG Liquefaction, LLC (Freeport) to...
11:10 AM, May 18, 2013
Geneva: The number of Syrian refugees, who are either registered or awaiting registration, has surpassed 1.5 million, while the actual number is much higher, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). The increasingly widening gap between needs and available resources is a growing challenge, reported Xinhua citing UNHCR's spokesperson Dan McNorton on Friday . "Over the past four months, we have seen a rapid deterioration compared to the previous 20...
10:59 AM, May 18, 2013
