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n a significant development, the US has designated The Resistance Front, a proxy of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) that was behind the Pahalgam attack, as a foreign terrorist organisation.
In a statement issued by the Department of State on Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this action demonstrates the US' commitment to enforcing President Donald Trump's call for justice for the Pahalgam attack.
Twenty-six people were killed in the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.
The Resistance Front (TRF) claimed responsibility for the attack, but later backtracked as tensions soared between India and Pakistan.
Rubio said the Department of State is designating the TRF as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
"TRF and other associated aliases have been added to LeT's designation as a FTO and SDGT pursuant to Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and Executive Order 13224, respectively. The Department of State has also reviewed and maintained the FTO designation of LeT," he said.
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First Post
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- First Post
Trump administration allows ICE to gain access to medicaid data to find illegal immigrants: Report
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials will be given access to the personal data of the nation's 79 million Medicaid enrollees, including home addresses and ethnicities, to track down immigrants who may not be living legally in the United States read more US President Donald Trump's administration is empowering the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) even more after it was revealed that the body will be given access to the personal data of the nation's 79 million Medicaid enrollees. The data would include home addresses and ethnicities, and is intended to track down immigrants who may not be living in the United States legally, The Associated Press reported. The information will give ICE officials the ability to find 'the location of aliens' across the country, says the agreement obtained by The Associated Press on Monday. The agreement was signed between the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Homeland Security and has not been publicly announced as of now. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The extraordinary disclosure of millions of such personal health data to deportation officials is the latest escalation in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, which has repeatedly tested legal boundaries in its effort to arrest 3,000 people daily. The backlash that followed Lamakers and some CMS officials are challenging the legality of the ICE officials getting access to some states' Medicaid enrollee data. 'ICE will use the CMS data to allow ICE to receive identity and location information on aliens identified by ICE,' the agreement says. The US Health and Human Services (HHS) came out in defence of the agreement. 'HHS and CMS take the integrity of the Medicaid program and the protection of American taxpayer dollars extremely seriously,' HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard told The Guardian. 'With respect to the recent data sharing between CMS and DHS, HHS acted entirely within its legal authority – and in full compliance with all applicable laws – to ensure that Medicaid benefits are reserved for individuals who are lawfully entitled to receive them,' Hillard added. It is important to note that the agreement does not allow ICE officials to download the data. Instead, they will be allowed to access it for a limited period from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, until September 9. 'They are trying to turn us into immigration agents,' a CMS official who asked to remain anonymous told AP. The move came two months after the Trump administration defended the data-sharing agreement as part of an effort to ensure undocumented migrants who are not eligible for the program did not receive benefits. 'President Trump consistently promised to protect Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries,' said the DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin at that time. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'To keep that promise after Joe Biden flooded our country with tens of millions of illegal aliens, CMS and DHS are exploring an initiative to ensure that illegal aliens are not receiving Medicaid benefits that are meant for law-abiding Americans," McLaughlin furthered. It is pertinent to note that undocumented migrants are generally not eligible for Medicaid, and only some lawfully present migrants may obtain coverage under the program. According to the healthcare research non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation, eligible noncitizen immigrants represent only about 6 per cent of people currently enrolled in Medicaid. 'This is a privacy violation of unprecedented proportions and betrayal of trust, as the government has explicitly said, for decades, that this information will never be used for immigration enforcement,' said Ben D'Avanzo, a healthcare strategist at the National Immigration Law Centre on X. With inputs from The Associated Press.
India Today
19 minutes ago
- India Today
Masood Azhar seen in POK, 1,000 km away from Bahawalpur bastion, shows intel
Fresh intelligence inputs seen by India Today suggest that India's most wanted terrorist, Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, has been spotted in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir's Gilgit-Baltistan region, more than 1,000 km away from his Bahawalpur was recently seen in Skardu, specifically around the Sadpara Road locality. The area hosts at least two mosques, affiliated madrasas, and multiple private and government guest as a tourist hub with attractive lakes and nature parks, it is a low-profile setting for the chief of a UN-proscribed terror outfit. The latest intel inputs accessed by India Today suggest Masood Azhar has moved over a thousand km from his stronghold, Bahawalpur The revelation comes after Pakistan's former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari recently claimed that Azhar might be in Afghanistan. He even suggested that Islamabad would hand him over to India if he was found on Pakistani soil."If and when the Indian government shares information with us that he is on Pakistani soil, we would be more than happy to arrest him," Bhutto told Al Jazeera in a recent has been the mastermind of several terror activities in India, including the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack and the 2019 Pulwama attack, which left over 40 soldiers dead. Indian intelligence agencies are closely tracking Azhar's movements even as Jaish's online platforms push deliberate misinformation, recycling old audio clips of his speeches to suggest he remained at his long-time Bahawalpur has two known establishments there - Jamia Subhan Allah, Jaish's headquarters targeted by India during Operation Sindoor, and Jamia Usman O Ali, a mosque located in a densely populated part of the city where his old residence also stands in proximity to a have said that India's strikes on Jamia Subhan Allah killed 10 members of Azhar's family. Satellite overview of two old hideouts of Masood Azhar in Bahawalpur. Jamia Subhan Allah (on left seen visibly damaged during Operation Sindoor). Satellite Image: Google Earth/ Airbus Satellite image of Masood Azhar's old house and mosque, Jamia Usman O Ali in Bahawalpur. Satellite Image: Google Earth/Airbus Sanctioned by India, the US and the United Nations, Azhar is believed to be responsible for several terror attacks in India, including the attack on Parliament in was once in Indian custody before his associates hijacked an aircraft and exchanged Azhar for the release of passengers. Soon after his release, Azhar founded Jaish e Mohammad. Masood Azhar's most recent sightings in Skardu This isn't the first time that Azhar has been shifted out of Bahawalpur. After the 2019 Balakot air strikes, he was moved from Bahawalpur to a discreet safe house in is not the only terrorist leader who has found safe sanctuary in Pakistan. Another designated terrorist and chief of terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen, Syed Salahuddin, is believed to be operating from a posh locality in Islamabad. Syed Salahuddin's hideout in Islamabad. Satellite Image: Google Earth/Airbus He also has a working office in another densely populated suburban locality in Burma Town, where he is often seen accompanied by gunmen.- Ends
Time of India
19 minutes ago
- Time of India
Trump's sugar economics for Coke amid the company's multi-billion tax case
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Trump, Coke and populist optics HFCS vs. sugar Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Where Coca-Cola stands Coke's billion-dollar tax mess Impact on sugar producers and costs Nutritional nuance Ninety-four percent of the world's population recognises the red-and-white Coca-Cola logo, according to a ResearchGate study citing multiple reports. That's not a brand — it's a global reflex. And now, Donald Trump wants President Donald Trump is gettinghimself involded into the recipe of the planet's most iconic soft drink. Coca-Cola, Trump claimed this week, has agreed to replace high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) with real cane sugar in its US-made sodas, a move he framed as a win for his "Make America Healthy Again" announcement came via Trump's Truth Social platform, where he posted a mock-up of a Coke bottle reading 'Share a Coke with Trump' and declared, 'I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so… This will be a very good move by them — You'll see. It's just better!'Coca-Cola hasn't confirmed the a vague statement hinted at something brewing: 'More details on new innovative offerings within our Coca-Cola product range will be shared soon,' the company said, while thanking the President for his 'enthusiasm.'Coca-Cola is deeply embedded in American culture. By nudging its formula, Trump taps into nostalgia, anti-corporate sentiment, and populism. Cane sugar recalls a time when things supposedly tasted 'better,' like the Mexican Coke many Americans swear message is simple: real over artificial, sugar over syrup, 'America First', even in your also a nod to Trump's Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who's crusading against ultra-processed foods. Kennedy has blamed HFCS for fuelling obesity and diabetes, calling it 'just a formula for making you obese and diabetic.'HFCS, derived from corn starch, dominates US soda recipes because it's cheaper, partly due to corn subsidies and tariffs on imported became Coke's sweetener of choice in the 1980s. But many consumers prefer the cane sugar version sold abroad, which they say tastes cleaner. Trump's move channels that feeling, but swapping out HFCS isn't just accounts for about 3% of total US corn usage, 410 million bushels a year, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Removing that would ripple through corn prices and farm Corn Refiners Association (CRA) estimates such a shift could cut farm receipts by $2.2 to $5.1 billion, with worst-case losses reaching $7.5 billion. Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska alone could lose nearly $2.35 billion in the short term.'Replacing high-fructose corn syrup with cane sugar would cost thousands of American food manufacturing jobs, depress farm income, and boost imports of foreign sugar — all with no nutritional benefit,' warned CRA President and CEO John Bode, as per remains a of July 17, 2025, it had a market cap of $298.16 billion. It reported $47.06 billion in revenue for 2024, with Q1 2025 revenues at $11.13 billion (down 2% YoY due to currency swings and bottling changes), while organic revenue rose 6%.Net income in 2024 hit $10.63 billion; Q1 2025 net income rose 4.8% to $3.33 sells 500+ brands in over 200 countries, reaching 1.9 billion people daily. It led the global non-alcoholic beverage market with over 40% share in 2024, according to $478.14 billion carbonated beverage market is projected to hit $707.76 billion by 2034, as per Precedence Research. The cola segment alone could more than double, from $144.6 billion to $317.5 billion, by then, as per Prophecy Market the US, Coke held a 44.9% share of the 2024 carbonated soft drink market, which was valued at $303.11 billion and is forecast to grow to $467.18 billion by 2030, according to Grand View brands like Coke (19.2%), Sprite (8.1%), and Diet Coke (7.8%) remain also worth noting is that nearly 40% of Coca-Cola's global revenue comes from the US market alone. In 2024, North America contributed 39% to total revenue, followed by Europe, the Middle East and Africa at 23%, Latin America and Bottling Investments at 13% each, and Asia Pacific at 12%, as per the Trump touts Coca-Cola's supposed health kick, the company is fighting a far more consequential battle, with the IRS. And the outcome could reset global norms on how multinationals are goes back to 1996, when Coke and the IRS agreed on a royalty formula for profits from foreign subsidiaries: the so-called 10-50-50 rule. Under it, subsidiaries kept 10% of sales and half the residual profit; the US parent got the return, the IRS said it wouldn't impose accuracy-related penalties, so long as Coke stuck to the truce held, until 2011. As reported the Forbes, without warning, the IRS scrapped the agreement for tax years 2007 to 2009 and imposed a new method: the Comparable Profits Method (CPM), which bases income allocations on profits earned by similar independent switch inflated Coca-Cola's taxable income by $9 billion and hit it with $3.4 billion in tax deficiencies for those three years challenged the IRS in court, but in 2020, the US Tax Court largely sided with the government. While the court allowed Coke some credit for dividends paid, it upheld the IRS's overall company now owes $2.7 billion in back taxes, $6 billion with September 2024, Coca-Cola wired the full $6 billion to the IRS, labelling it a 'tax litigation deposit.' The company is still appealing, but the money's already argues that the IRS pulled a bait and switch. After encouraging use of the 10-50-50 formula for years, the agency retroactively changed the rules and punished the company for following its its own words, the IRS 'handed Coca-Cola a $3 billion jaywalking ticket' after leading it into the the IRS accuses Coca-Cola of shifting billions in profits to low-tax countries like Ireland, Brazil, and Eswatini. In court, Judge Albert Lauber called the company's global tax structure 'astronomical.'The fallout is already in May 2024 raised $4 billion in debt, partly to deal with the Express reported that the case could curb acquisitions and buybacks. Al Jazeera pegged the company's total exposure at up to '$16 billion, almost two years' worth of profits.A shift to cane sugar would likely boost demand for domestic producers, particularly in Florida and Louisiana, where most of the US cane sugar industry is based. In 2024, the US sugar market stood at 48.1 million tons, as per IMARC, and the cane segment accounted for roughly 40–45% of total supply, USDA ERS, shift would be welcomed by powerful industry groups like the American Sugar Alliance, which have long advocated for reduced reliance on being shielded by the US Sugar Program, which keeps domestic prices high through tariffs and quotas, cane sugar producers have struggled. They face rising input costs, margin pressures, and stiff competition from cheaper HFCS, widely adopted since the sector has also seen significant consolidation, with sugarcane farms declining by 31% between 1997 and 2022, as reported Southern Ag Today. For many growers, a move back to real sugar in sodas would be a rare opportunity to reclaim lost the cost implications are sugar costs between $0.40 and $0.50 per pound in the US, compared to $0.20–$0.30 for HFCS. That could mean $800–$900 million in added annual costs for Coca-Cola alone, Hindustan Times reported, based on its estimated use of 2.7 billion pounds of could see price hikes of 10–15% on sweetened drinks, as per would also force 'massive supply chain overhauls,' from storage to equipment labour impact is mixed. Corn processors and HFCS refiners may face job cuts, thousands, according to the CRA. Meanwhile, sugar refining jobs could grow slightly, but direct employment in that sector is modest — 14,000 to 15,000 people, as per IBISWorld, switching to cane sugar may not mean much. The FDA has stated there's no evidence of a meaningful safety difference between HFCS and cane sugar. Harvard nutritionist Frank Hu summed it up: 'Sugar in general' is the problem, not which the war on ultra-processed food is as much cultural as medical, and Trump is using that is more than a formula change, it's a potential $6 billion shake-up in the domestic sugar economy, which accounts for 30% of US sugar announcement may be political theatre, but for Coca-Cola, it could be smart brand positioning. With tax agents closing in and consumers rethinking processed foods, appearing to respond to health concerns could be a reputational buffer.'Real sugar Coke' fits 2025's consumer trends: nostalgia, authenticity and clean-label marketing. But overhauling sugar sourcing, supply chains and formulas won't be easy.
