Houston: Indian-origin Manpreet Monica Singh has been sworn in as a Harris county judge, becoming the first female Sikh judge in the US. Singh was born and raised in Houston and now lives in Bellaire with her husband and two children. She was sworn in as a judge of the Harris County Civil Court at … Read more
Tehran: Amid the global unrest over the civil unrest triggered by Mahsa Amini’s death, the Iranian judiciary on Monday handed down three more death sentences, reported France24. In the latest ruling, Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi and Saeed Yaghoubi were sentenced to death for ‘moharebeh’ — waging ‘war against God’ — under Iran’s Islamic sharia law, … Read more
Elon Musk bought Twitter for USD 44 Billion last year and was the richest person in the world at the time. However, after his Twitter takeover and the tumultuous actions that followed, the business tycoon’s wealth dropped by a whopping USD 200 billion and he became the first person in history to lose such a … Read more
Taipei: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen called on Germany on Tuesday to help maintain “regional order” during a meeting with senior German lawmakers who are visiting the island on a trip that Beijing has condemned. Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has been heartened by support from Western democratic allies in the face of … Read more
Iran has been witnessing intense protests against the dictator of the compulsory wearing of a hijab in public. There have been demonstrations for almost 3 months since the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in the custody of Tehran’s morality police. Allegedly she was disobeying the country’s strict hijab dress code for women. … Read more
Beijing: People joined long queues outside immigration offices in Beijing on Monday, eager to renew their passports after China dropped COVID border controls that had largely prevented its 1.4 billion residents from travelling for three years. Sunday’s reopening is one of the last steps in China’s dismantling of its “zero-COVID” regime, which began last month … Read more
Geneva: The international community must help Pakistan recover from last year’s devastating floods and boost climate resilience, or the country will be locked in misery, the head of the UN development agency told AFP. Pakistan is still reeling from the unprecedented monsoon floods unleashed last August which killed more than 1,700 people and affected some … Read more
Kevin McCarthy was named as the new speaker of the US House of Representatives on Saturday, ending days of bitter Republican infighting that ground the lower chamber of Congress to a standstill. The 57-year-old Californian needed a simple majority to be elected as Washington’s top legislator, who presides over House business and is second in … Read more
Tehran: Iran executed two men on Saturday after they were convicted of killing a paramilitary force member during protests sparked by the death in custody of a young woman, the judiciary said. The latest killings double the number executed so far in connection with the nationwide protests. Two men were put to death in December, … Read more
Ukraine: Russian and Ukrainian forces exchanged artillery fire at the front line in Ukraine on Friday, even after Moscow said it had ordered its troops to stop shooting for a unilateral truce that was firmly rejected by Kyiv. President Vladimir Putin ordered the 36-hour ceasefire from midday on Friday to observe Russian Orthodox Christmas. Ukraine … Read more
Beijing: The Chinese protesters who demonstrated against the zero-Covid policy were subjected to intense surveillance measures and aggressive interrogations in police custody, reported Cate Cadell and Christian Shepherd in The Washington Post. Even though China revoked its Zero Covid Policy following the protests, China unleashed its police equipped with the latest technology to go after … Read more
The Biden administration has proposed a massive hike in immigration fees, including the much sought-after H-1B visas for high-skilled foreign workers, which is very popular among Indian tech professionals. Under the proposed rule, published by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Wednesday, the application for the H-1B visa increases from USD 460 to … Read more
China’s CRRC Corporation Ltd. Launched a hydrogen urban train, and it is the first in Asia and the second such train in the world. Germany introduced green trains a few months back. The hydrogen trains have a speed of 160 km per hour and the operational range without refueling is 600 km. The trains launched … Read more
Beijing: Desperate families searching for critical Covid-19 medication in China, faced with bare pharmacy shelves and an explosion of cases, are being driven into murky online marketplaces rife with price gouging and fraud. Beijing last month abruptly tore down its hallmark zero-Covid virus containment policy, lifting widespread restrictions that had triggered nationwide protests and stifled … Read more
Canada set an immigration record last year by granting more than 437,000 foreigners’ permanent residency, the government said on Tuesday, as it ramps up immigration to fight a tight labor market. The Government of Canada planned to welcome 431,645 new permanent immigrants in 2022. During the 2021 Census, nearly 1 in 4 people counted were … Read more