Author: Jeff Pratt

WASHINGTON – The Senate voted Tuesday evening to approve legislation banning the import of enriched uranium from Russia, sending the measure to the White House which has said it supports efforts to block the Kremlin’s shipments of the reactor fuel. The Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act, approved by unanimous consent, would bar U.S. imports 90 days after enactment while allowing temporary waivers until January 2028. Biden must sign the bill before it becomes law. Russia provided almost a quarter of the enriched uranium used to fuel America’s fleet of more than 90 commercial reactors, making it the No. 1 foreign…

London (10/03 – 77.78)Up-and-down relations between Iran and Tajikistan in the past decade shot up again after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s official visit to Dushanbe on November 8-9, his second trip to the Tajik capital in 18 months. Raisi’s visit to Tajikistan was symbolically important amid a rapprochement between the countries that overshadowed the relatively standard batch of bilateral agreements that were signed. During the trip, Raisi and his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rahmon, announced a historic visa-free travel agreement for their citizens and deals in trade, transportation, and culture, among others. High-ranking visits have become a regular occurrence between the…

A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine arrived in the South Korean port city of Busan on Sunday, the Yonhap news agency reported citing the South Korean navy. The arrival of the USS Missouri, also known as SSN-780, comes after South Korea and the U.S. held their second Nuclear Consultative Group meeting in Washington on Friday. “Any nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies is unacceptable and will result in the end of the Kim regime,” a joint U.S.-South Korean statement from the meeting said. A senior South Korean official said earlier this week that North Korea may test-launch an intercontinental ballistic…

Cedar Rapids, Iowa — As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis completed a presidential campaign milestone Saturday afternoon by visiting all 99 counties in Iowa, former President Donald Trump largely ignored his GOP opponent by taking aim at another rival, President Biden, as the two candidates held dueling rallies in the state. In an event in Cedar Rapids, Trump focused his attacks on Mr. Biden, who he claims is “destroying American democracy.” Trump appears to be seeking to frame the primary election as over before any votes have been cast, and focusing his attention on his 2020 rival. The Trump campaign Saturday handed out new…

The United States will work with other governments to speed up efforts to make nuclear fusion a new source of carbon-free energy, U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry said Tuesday, the latest of many U.S. announcements the last week aimed at combatting climate change. Nuclear fusion melds two hydrogen atoms together to produce a helium atom and a lot of energy—which could be used to power cars, heat and cool homes and other things that currently are often powered by fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. That makes fusion a potentially major solution to climate change, which is caused by…

NEW YORK — Raids on storage facilities in New York City turned up a huge haul of counterfeit handbags, shoes and other luxury merchandise that could have been worth more than $1 billion if the knockoffs had been real, federal authorities announced. Roughly 219,000 items were seized from Manhattan storage facilities in recent enforcement actions by U.S. Homeland Security investigators and city police, authorities said Wednesday. Two people were charged with trafficking counterfeit goods. Photographs released by prosecutors showed shelves stacked with wallets and bags in one location and handbags hanging from hooks from floor to ceiling in another. U.S. Attorney…

The U.S. House of Representatives passed Friday an appropriations bill that includes $2.8 million in congressionally-directed funding for three Commonwealth Utilities Corp. projects that Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP) had requested. Each project is worth $959,752, for a total of $2,879,256. They are the Dandan Homestead Sewer Line Project, Sadog Tasi Wastewater Treatment Plant Underground Storage Tank Remediation, and Poly-fluoro Alkylated Substances Remediation System-Granular Activated Carbon Replacement. H.R. 4821, or the Fiscal Year 2024 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, now goes to the Senate for action. Sablan also disclosed in his e-kilili newsletter over…

A prestigious US college has disavowed a campus protest over the Israel-Gaza war after it provoked accusations of antisemitism. Police were called on Tuesday night to stop demonstrators projecting slogans on to the side of a library at George Washington University. The college said the protest had violated its policy and caused “distress” to some students. Israel has been bombarding Gaza since a Hamas attack killed 1,400 people. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says almost 6,500 people have been killed in the territory since then. One of the messages beamed on to the building in Washington DC said, “Free…

The US, China, Korea and Taiwan have raised concerns on India’s decision to impose import restrictions on laptops, and computers, in a meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), an official said.The concern was flagged in the meeting of WTO’s Committee on Market Access. It was chaired by Renata Crisaldo of Paraguay on October 16, in Geneva. The US has stated that the decision will have an impact on trade of these products, including US exports to India, once they are implemented, the Geneva-based official said. America has also said that the decision is creating uncertainty for exporters and downstream…

As the war in Israel rages, an ongoing struggle to control the narrative of the conflict is unfolding between Hamas and the Jewish state. This propaganda battle is not novel, as it has long been observed to coexist with the kinetic action between Israel and the Palestinian armed groups, dating back to at least 2014. Drawing from its prior clashes with Israel, Hamas has gained vital insights on how to effectively counter Israel. Despite being at a military disadvantage in nearly every area, Hamas has developed unconventional methods to attack Israel, including a powerful propaganda system to garner global backing…