USA - The Purbottar

22 Mar

Covid Tests Report reveals the Omicron BA.2 Subvariant Is Gaining Ground in U.S.

editor0 CommentsCovid-19USA

The omicron subvariant BA.2 is continuing to reap ground in the U.S., in accordance to Covid-19 assessments sequenced over the closing two weeks. Helix, a San Diego-based genomics firm, has been staring at the BA.2 variant since it first popped up in the U.S. in early January. Although it was once initially sluggish to take hold, Helix now estimates that 50% to 70% of all Covid instances nationwide are BA.2. Will Lee, Helix's chief science officer, said this type of surveillance is imperative and can help arm the U.S. fitness care machine towards future variants. Data from the U.K. -…

13 Mar

US: NATO will act if Russia hits alliance

editor0 CommentsInternationalRussia-Ukraine crisis, USA

White House country wide security adviser Jake Sullivan says Russia will face a response from Nato should any of its attacks in Ukraine pass borders and hit contributors of the safety alliance. Russian missiles on Sunday struck a army training base shut to Ukraine's western border with Nato member Poland and killed 35 people. Sullivan tells CBS News' "Face the Nation" that President Joe Biden "has been clear many times that the United States will work with our allies to defend each inch of Nato territory and that ability each inch." Sullivan says a navy assault on Nato territory would…

10 Mar

US Warns Russia May Use Biological Weapons against Ukraine

editor0 CommentsInternationalRussia-Ukraine crisis, USA

The United States on Wednesday rejected Russian claims that it helps a bioweapons application in Ukraine, saying the allegations were a signal that Moscow ought to soon use the weapons themselves. "The Kremlin is intentionally spreading outright lies that the United States and Ukraine are conducting chemical and organic weapons things to do in Ukraine," State Department spokesman Ned Price stated in a statement. "Russia is inventing false pretexts in an strive to justify its very own horrific actions in Ukraine." White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated the claims have been "preposterous" and cited that "we've also viewed Chinese…

11 Jan

‘Historic’: US surgeons successfully implant pig heart in human

editor0 CommentsHealthUSA

In what is dubbed as a 'first-of-its-kind surgery', the US surgeons have performed a successful transplant of a 'porcine' heart into an adult human with end-stage heart disease. The 57-year-old Maryland resident with terminal heart disease received a successful transplant of a genetically-modified pig heart and is said to be still doing well three days later. "It was the only currently available option for the patient," the University of Maryland Medicine said on Monday (January 10, 2022) after performing the historic surgery. "This organ transplant demonstrated for the first time that a genetically-modified animal heart can function like a human…

24 Dec

Interviews at US consular offices waived for H-1Bs and other work visas

editor0 CommentsInternationalUSA

US State Department has decided to temporarily do away with an in-person requirement for candidates applying for work-visas like the H-1B, L-1, and O-1 given coronavirus concerns. The State Department is temporarily dropping an in-person interview requirement for some work-visa categories in 2022 to ease visa issuances through December 31, 2022. Applicants for these visas will not have to go for an in-person interview at a US consulate and consular officers are temporarily authorised to waive in-person interviews for certain individual-based non-immigration work visas and their qualifying derivatives, as per the State Department release. “We are pleased to announce that…

07 Jul

Afghan Troops Struggle To Replace Americans At Key Bagram Base

editor0 CommentsInternationalAfghanistan, USA

After American troops withdrew without notifying them, Afghan soldiers guarding the Bagram Air Base have been left with thousands of Taliban prisoners and a certainty that the enemy will attack.Following the September 11 attacks and the US invasion of Afghanistan, the Americans took control of the base and used it as the launching pad for air strikes against the Taliban and to protect Afghan forces. But the last of the American soldiers quietly left the base last week, effectively completing their withdrawal from Afghanistan and leaving a massive security vacuum that the Afghan military will struggle to fill. The new…

18 Jun

28 year old US man dies trying to break world record

editor0 CommentsHealthaccident, international, motorcycle, stunt, USA, world record

28 year old Alex Harvill has died in the Washington state of US after crashing while trying to break the world record for the longest motorcycle ramp jump. Officials said he died after an accident during a practice run on Thursday morning. He was planning to attempt the 107m jump in front of spectators at the Moses Lake Airshow. A video of the incident shows his motorcycle landing shy of the intended target and crashing into a dirt mound. A local newspaper reported that Mr Harvill appeared to have been thrown over the handlebars and lost his helmet during the…

12 Jun

Teenager who filmed the murder of George Floyd, given journalism award by Pulitzer

editor0 CommentsHealthBLM, george floyd, Pilotzer, USA

Darnella Frazier (18), the teenager who filmed the murder of George Floyd by a police officer, has been given a special journalism award by the Pulitzer Prize board. She was awarded the citation for her courage, the Pulitzer committee said. The Pulitzers are the most prestigious journalism awards in the US. Her film started protests for racial justice around the world and was used as evidence in the trial that convicted police officer Derek Chauvin. The committee said they honoured her for "courageously recording the murder of George Floyd, a video that spurred protests against police brutality around the world,…

09 Jun

Recent data leak shows how little Income tax billionaires pay

editor0 CommentsBusinessbillionaires, Income tax, international, leaked data, USA

Data revealing income tax paid by US billionaires has been leaked to a news website. The website says it has seen the tax returns of some of the world's richest people, including Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett. It alleges Amazon's Mr Bezos paid no tax in 2007 and 2011, while Tesla's Mr Musk paid nothing in 2018. They claimed the richest 25 Americans pay less in tax, an average of 15.8% of adjusted gross income, than most mainstream US workers. They also said said they were analysing what it called a "vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data"…

29 May

‘Will never forget that India was there for US’: Blinken meets with Jaishankar; says two nations ‘united in confronting COVID-19’

editor0 CommentsNorth EastS Jaishankar, USA

India and the US on Friday (May 28) promised to support each other amid the COVID-19 crisis in the second physical meet between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Both of them had met earlier this year in London on the sidelines of the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting. Jaishankar, standing alongside the US Secretary of State, said, "Our relations have grown strong over the years and I am very confident that it will continue to do so", thanking the US for the "strong support and solidarity at the moment of great difficulty for us".…