INDIAN-AMERICAN VIVEK RAMASWAMY ANNOUNCES 2024 US PRESIDENTIAL BID

Indian-American tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has launched his 2024 presidential bid with a promise to "put merit back" and end dependence on China, becoming the second community member to enter the Republican Party's presidential primary after Nikki Haley.

Mr Ramaswamy, 37, whose parents migrated to the United States from Kerala and worked at a General Electric plant in Ohio, made the announcement during a live interview on Fox News's prime time show of Tucker Carlson, a conservative political commentator.

He is the second Indian-American to enter the Republican presidential primary.

"We are in the middle of this national identity crisis, Tucker, where we have celebrated our differences for so long that we forgot all the ways we are really just the same as Americans bound by a common set of ideals that set this nation into motion 250 years ago," Mr Ramaswamy said.

He calls "wokeism" a national threat "That's why I am proud to say tonight that I am running for United States president to revive those ideals in this country," he announced.

A second-generation Indian American, Mr Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences in 2014 and led the largest biotech IPOs of 2015 and 2016, eventually culminating in successful clinical trials in multiple disease areas that led to FDA-approved products, according to his bio.

He said the US faces external threats like the rise of China.

It "has got to be our top foreign policy threat that we've gotta respond to, not pointless wars somewhere else." "That's gonna require some sacrifice. It's gonna require a declaration of independence from China and complete decoupling. And that's not gonna be easy. It's gonna require some inconvenience," he said.

Foreign policy is all about prioritisation, Mr Ramaswamy said.

CHINA DEEPENS TIES WITH RUSSIA AS BIDEN RALLIES NATO

China pledged a deeper partnership with Russia on Wednesday as U.S. President Joe Biden reaffirmed security assurances for NATO's "frontline" eastern members, highlighting global tensions as the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine approaches.

However, a day after President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was suspending participation in a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Washington, his deputy foreign minister sought to calm nerves, saying the step did not make a nuclear war more likely.

Within Ukraine, schools took their classes online for the rest of the week for fear of an upsurge in Russian missile attacks a year on from Moscow's Feb. 24 all-out assault, which failed to topple the government and has long been bogged down.

Wang Yi, the highest ranking Chinese official to visit Russia since the countries announced a "no limits" partnership weeks before the invasion, told Putin that Beijing was ready to enhance ties.

A time of crisis called for Russia and China "to continuously deepen our comprehensive strategic partnership", Beijing's top diplomat said.

Putin said he was looking forward to a visit to Moscow by Chinese President Xi Jinping and a deeper partnership.

Xi is expected to make a "peace speech" on Friday, but Kyiv says there can be no talk of peace while Russian troops are in Ukraine.

"This unprovoked and criminal Russian war against Ukraine, Europe and the democratic world must end with the cleansing of the entire Ukrainian land from Russian occupation and solid guarantees of the long-term security for our state, the whole of Europe and the entire world," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia is due to begin military exercises with China in South Africa on Friday and has sent a frigate equipped with new generation hypersonic cruise missiles. A Russian officer said on Wednesday Russia would fire artillery, but not the missiles, whose speed makes them difficult to shoot down.

PAKISTAN AUSTERITY DRIVE STRIPS MINISTERS, STAFF OF PAY, PERKS

Islamabad : The cash-strapped Pakistan government decided on Wednesday that austerity begins at home, with PM Shehbaz Sharif, his federal ministerial colleagues, advisers and special assistants “agreeing” to forego their salaries and generous perks as the country pursues a staff-level agreement with the IMF for the release of $1. 2 billion in aid. “They (all federal and other ministers and their aides) will now pay their own utility bills, return all luxury vehicles and fly economy on domestic and foreign trips,” PM Sharif told the media.

He said the government’s support staff would no longer be allowed to go on state visits while cabinet members and government officers wouldn’t stay in five-star hotels during foreign trips. This, the PM claimed, would shave 15% off the current expenditure of ministries, departments and subdepartments, translating into savings of Rs 200 billion annually. “Until June 2024, there will be a complete ban on purchase of luxury items and alltypes of new cars,” he said.

Sharif said that all government residences in city centres would be sold off, adding that no officer shall be allotted more than one plot and excess plots shall be taken back. He urged the chief justices of the HCs and the Supreme Court, besides all CMs, to adopt similar austerity measures. He said the cabinet decided that data pertaining to the Toshakhana (state depository) and the gifts received to date would be made public on its website. Any minister, including the PM, would not be allowed to retain gifts valued above $300.

On the government’s ongoing talks with the IMF, the PM said negotiations with the global lender were at the “last stage” and would be settled in a few days, although inflation could remain a persistent threat. “IMF wanted us to reduce subsidies, and that will cause further inflation. They want us to subsidise only the poor, but to determine this they have their own parameters,” he said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s ally China has approved a loan of $700 million, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said as the cash-strapped country tried to avert a financial crisis. The announcement came a day after Pakistan’s Assembly passed a Bill aimed at raising tax revenues to fulfil the demands set by the IMF for seeking a $1.1 billion loan facility.

THWARTED AIR, MARITIME SURVEILLANCE ATTEMPTS BY CHINA, SAYS CANADA

Canada is aware of recent air and maritime surveillance attempts by China and has thwarted such efforts since last year, the Canadian defence ministry said on Wednesday, after a paper reported Chinese floating devices were found in autumn. Globe and Mail newspaper reported on Tuesday the Canadian armed forces spotted Chinese monitoring buoys in the Arctic last year. An Canada defence ministry official said authorities were aware of Chinese surveillance attempts using dual purpose technologies, which can have both commercial and military applications.

6.8-MAGNITUDE QUAKE HITS EASTERN TAJIKISTAN: USGS

DUNSHABE, Tajikistan — A 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit eastern Tajikistan on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake struck around 5:37 a.m. local time (8:37 a.m. in Manila) at a depth of about 20.5 kilometers.

USGS estimated that "little or no population" will be exposed to landslides from the quake.

Its epicenter appeared to be in Gorno-Badakhshan, a semi-autonomous eastern region that borders Afghanistan and China.

A 5.0-magnitude aftershock hit the area about 20 minutes after the initial quake.

The sparsely populated territory is surrounded by the towering Pamir Mountains.

TEN KILLED, SCORES HURT IN ISRAEL’S WEST BANK RAID

Israeli troops on Wednesday entered a major Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank in a rare, daytime arrest operation, triggering fighting that killed at least 10 Palestinians and wounded scores of others.

The raid, which reduced a building to rubble and left a series of shops riddled with bullets, was one of the bloodiest battles in nearly a year of fighting in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. A 72-year-old man was among the 10 killed and 102 people were wounded, Palestinian officials said.

Similar incident

The brazen raid, coupled with the high death toll, raised the prospect of further bloodshed. A similar raid last month was followed by a deadly Palestinian attack outside a Jerusalem synagogue, and the Hamas militant group warned that “its patience is running out.”

US SAYS IT IS TAKING URGENT STEPS TO REDUCE VISA WAIT TIMES FOR INDIANS

Washington : “Visa…it’s everywhere you want to be,” went the tag line in a famous credit card commercial in the 1990s. Not so easy to access for Indians though is the US visa. Dealing with a massive backlog and wait times of up to two years for US visa appointments in India, the US state department is rolling out a series of steps to ensure Indians wanting to go America for studies, work, business, and family visits can get visas faster and more conveniently.

At a briefing on Tuesday US officials outlined moves that have already reduced wait times for visas from over 1000 days to 580 days while acknowledging it needs to be reduced further. Steps taken include surging staff to US embassyand consulates in India, interview waiver for “low-risk” travellers including those who have visited US before, and directing embassies and consulates in other countries, such as Thailand, where wait times are just days, to accept visa applications from Indians.

Additional steps include a pilot programme starting in summer to restore domestic visa renewals — which were discontinued in 2004 — that will save guest workers from having to return home to renew their visas. “We’re absolutely committed to getting usout of the situation,” US deputy assistant secretary for visa services in the Bureau of Consular Affairs Julie Stufftsaid at the briefing, describing it as a“once in a lifetime situation”.

Officials attributed the extended wait times to not only Covid-year backlogs but also to the massive demand in India for US visas that reflected the strong people-to-people ties.

“People-to-people ties between our nations are the bedrock of what is one of the most consequential relationships in the world… we can’t underscore that enough and so addressing the wait time (issues) is critical not only to maintain these people-to-people ties but also to expand that space,” deputy assistant secretary for India Nancy Jackson asserted, adding that the matter is a top priority for officials from secretary of state Antony Blinken down.

MYSTERY BALL FOUND ON BEACH BAFFLES JAPAN

Police and residents in a coastal town in Japan were left baffled by a large iron ball that has washed up on a beach, with authorities admitting they have no idea what it is — only that it isn’t about to explode. The ball was reported by a local in Hamamatsu.