Trump's Iran Strikes Trigger Storm In U.S.; Congressman Hank Drops 'Impeach Dictator' Bombshell
/ Jun 27, 2025, 08:41AM IST
Congressman Hank Johnson delivers a blistering condemnation of Donald Trump's presidency, accusing him of dismantling democratic institutions, violating constitutional norms, and engaging in authoritarian behavior. Johnson describes unlawful detainments, foreign emoluments, and the collapse of congressional oversight under Republican control. Despite the dire warning, he acknowledges that impeachment is unlikely due to GOP inaction, while Democrats continue legal and legislative resistance.#DemocracyInCrisis #Authoritarianism #ChecksAndBalances #ConstitutionalCrisis #TrumpCorruption #RuleOfLaw #PresidentialPower #GOPAccountability
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Indian Express
8 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Forged signatures found on New York Mayor Eric Adams' re-election petition: Report
More than 50 signatures submitted on New York City Mayor Eric Adams' petition to run as an independent candidate in the upcoming November election appear to be fraudulent, according to a Gothamist investigation reported by The Guardian. The findings include three signatures from deceased individuals and dozens more from people who claimed their names were forged. The Gothamist also reportedly spoke to several residents who said they were misled into signing the documents. Candidates running as independents are required to submit at least 7,500 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. Adams' campaign submitted nearly 50,000 signatures, well above the threshold. The questionable entries reportedly came from nine campaign workers who together submitted over 5,000 signatures. One person allegedly collected more than 700 in a single day. In some instances, the Gothamist observed strikingly similar handwriting among multiple entries from the same apartment building. Adams' campaign had earlier told the Gothamist it expected contractors to follow legal procedures and said it would conduct its own audit of the petitions. An attorney for the mayor said there is no evidence Adams instructed anyone to break the law and added that the campaign would 'determine whether any corrective action is warranted,' reported The Guardian. Veteran election law expert Jerry Goldfeder noted that while invalid signatures are not unusual, cases involving blatant fraud can lead to criminal referrals. 'Every now and again, somebody tries to cut corners, and they're generally caught,' Goldfeder said as per The Guardian. 'Sometimes those cases are referred to the district attorney or the US attorney, and there are prosecutions.' The revelation comes as Adams faces stiff competition in the November 4 election. His challengers include Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, and ex-prosecutor Jim Walden. Cuomo and Walden, like Adams, are running as independents. The election takes place amid heightened public concern after a gunman shot and killed four people in a Midtown office building earlier this week. Among the victims was off-duty NYPD officer Didarul Islam. Adams' administration has urged New Yorkers to seek mental health support in the aftermath of the attack. Meanwhile, Mamdani has sought to distance himself from past calls to defund the NYPD, saying Wednesday, according to The Guardian: 'I'm not running to defund the police… I am running as a candidate who is not fixed in time, one that learns and one that leads.' (With inputs from The Guardian)
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First Post
38 minutes ago
- First Post
While Trump imposes high tariffs, India dramatically increases energy imports from US
While US President Donald Trump is threatening to impose high tariffs on India, data suggests that New Delhi has dramatically increased its energy purchases from the US since Trump came to office in January. read more While US President Donald Trump is threatening to impose high tariffs on India, data suggests that New Delhi has dramatically increased its energy purchases from the US since Trump came to office in January. According to the data cited by The Hindustan Times, crude oil imports surged a whopping 51 per cent in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period. The energy commitment reflects New Delhi's bid to rebalance trade ties with Washington, DC, which has been one of the key demands of the Trump administration from India. The data also reflected that India's Liquefied natural gas imports have nearly doubled from $1.41 billion in FY2023-24 to $2.46 billion in FY2024-25. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It is pertinent to note that this rise in energy imports followed a February Agreement signed between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter's visit to the US. At that time, both leaders committed to expanding energy cooperation. India went on to pledge to boost American energy imports to $25 billion from $15 billion in 2024, while bilateral trade is targeted to more than double from $200 billion to $500 billion by 2030. Indian companies tap into the American energy sector According to the data cited by The Hindustan Times, Indian purchases from America jumped 114 per cent to $3.7 billion in the first quarter of FY2025-26 from $1.73 billion in the same period the previous year. 'This trend is increasing further from July this year. So, in July 2025, India imported 23 per cent more crude oil from the US compared to June 2025. Also, in India's overall crude imports, while the US share was earlier only 3 per cent, in July that share increased to 8 per cent,' one of the people who analysed the data told The Hindustan Times. Not only this, American LNG has also emerged as an attractive market for Indian companies. 'Buying LNG from America is a very attractive proposition for many Indian companies,' said Prashant Vashisht, senior vice president at ratings agency ICRA, told the Indian news outlet. The jump came after Trump reversed former US President Joe Biden's pause on processing LNG export licences soon after taking office. Amid this rise, the US Energy Information Administration expects North America's LNG export capacity to double by 2028, with the US providing most of the increase. India's growing appetite for American energy is also coming at a time when the country is poised to become the largest driver of oil demand in the world. According to the International Energy Agency, India will surpass China as the major driver of global oil demand growth by 2030, with LNG demand expected to jump 78 per cent to reach 64 billion cubic metres annually.
The Hindu
38 minutes ago
- The Hindu
U.S. penalty risk on Russian oil may add $9-11 billion to India's import bill, analyst say
India's annual oil import bill could rise by $9-11 billion if the country is compelled to move away from Russian crude in response to U.S. threats of additional tariffs or penalties on Indian exports, analysts said. India, the world's third-largest oil consumer and importer, has reaped significant benefits by swiftly substituting market-priced oil with discounted Russian crude following Western sanctions on Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russian oil, which accounted for less than 0.2% of India's imports before the war, now makes up 35-40% of the country's crude intake, helping reduce overall energy import costs, keep retail fuel prices in check, and contain inflation. Editorial | Soured relations: On Trump's 25% tariff, 'penalty' The influx of discounted Russian crude also enabled India to refine the oil and export petroleum products, including to countries that have imposed sanctions on direct imports from Russia. The twin strategy of Indian oil companies is posting record profits. This is, however, now under threat after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on Indian goods plus an unspecified penalty for buying Russian oil and weapons. The 25% tariff has since been notified, but the penalty is yet to be specified. Coming within days of the European Union banning imports of refined products derived from Russian-origin crude, this presents a double whammy for Indian refiners. Sumit Ritolia, Lead Research Analyst (Refining & Modelling) at global real-time data and analytics provider Kpler, termed this as "a squeeze from both ends". EU sanctions — effective from January 2026 — may force Indian refiners to segment crude intake on one side, and on the other, the U.S. tariff threat raises the possibility of secondary sanctions that would directly hit the shipping, insurance, and financing lifelines underpinning India's Russian oil trade. "Together, these measures sharply curtail India's crude procurement flexibility, raise compliance risk, and introduce significant cost uncertainty," he said. Last fiscal, India spent over $137 billion on import of crude oil, which is refined into fuels like petrol and diesel. For refiners like Reliance Industries Ltd and Nayara Energy — who collectively account for a bulk (more than 50% in 2025) of the 1.7–2.0 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude imports into India - the challenge is acute. While Nayara is backed by Russian oil giant Rosneft and was sanctioned by the EU last month, Reliance has been a big fuel exporter to Europe. As one of the world's largest diesel exporters — and with total refined product exports to Europe averaging around 200,000 bpd in 2024 and 185,000 bpd so far in 2025 — Reliance has extensively utilised discounted Russian crude to boost refining margins over the past two years, according to Kpler. "The introduction of strict origin-tracking requirements now compels Reliance to either curtail its intake of Russian feedstock, potentially affecting cost competitiveness, or reroute Russian-linked products to non-EU markets," Mr. Ritolia said. However, Reliance's dual-refinery structure — a domestic-focused unit and an export-oriented complex — offers strategic flexibility. It can allocate non-Russian crude to its export-oriented refinery and continue meeting EU compliance standards, while processing Russian barrels at the domestic unit for other markets. Although redirecting diesel exports to Southeast Asia, Africa, or Latin America is operationally feasible, such a shift would involve narrower margins, longer voyage times, and increased demand variability, making it commercially less optimal, he said. Kpler data shows a notable decline in India's Russian crude imports in July (1.8 million bpd versus 2.1 million bpd in June), aligning with seasonal refinery maintenance and weaker monsoon-driven demand. However, the drop is more pronounced among state-run refiners, likely reflecting heightened compliance sensitivity amid mounting geopolitical risk. Private refiners, who account for over 50 per cent of Russian crude intake, have also begun reducing exposure, with fresh procurement diversification underway this week as concerns over US sanctions intensify. Mr. Ritolia said replacing Russian crude isn't plug-and-play. The Middle East is the logical fallback, but has constraints - contractual lock-in, pricing rigidity, and a mismatch in crude quality that affects product yield and refinery configuration. "The risk here is not just supply but profitability. Refiners will face higher feedstock costs, and in the case of complex units optimized for (Russian) Urals-like blends, even margins will be under pressure," he said. In the future course, Kpler believes India's complex private refiners — backed by robust trading arms and flexible configurations — are expected to pivot toward non-Russian barrels from the Middle East, West Africa, Latin America, or even the U.S., where economics permits. This shift, while operationally feasible, will be gradual and strategically aligned with evolving regulatory frameworks, contract structures, and margin dynamics. However, replacing Russian barrels in full is no easy feat — logistically daunting, economically painful, and geopolitically fraught. Supply substitution may be feasible on paper, but remains fraught in practice. "Financially, the implications are massive. Assuming a $5 per barrel discount lost across 1.8 million bpd, India could see its import bill swell by $9–11 billion annually. If global flat prices rise further due to reduced Russian availability, the cost could be higher," it said. This would increase fiscal strain, particularly if the government steps in to stabilize retail fuel prices. The cascading impact on inflation, currency, and monetary policy would be difficult to ignore.
