New York:

Bob Newhart, the American stand-up performer whose comedy made him one of the top TV stars of his era, has died, his publicist announced Thursday. He was 94 years old.

The decorated Chicago icon was an accountant before striking gold with comedy, acclaimed for his dry, deadpan delivery.

He died at his Los Angeles home after a series of short illnesses, his longtime publicist Jerry Digney said in a statement.

Born September 5, 1929 in suburban Illinois, Newhart studied business management before being drafted into the US army, and served in the Korean War.

He briefly studied law before quitting and getting work as an accountant while moonlighting as a comedy performer and writer.

He eventually was signed to Warner Bros. Records, and “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart” became the music industry’s first comedy album to hit the top of the sales charts.

It earned him prestigious Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Album, and helped launch his career in television.

He starred in two long-running sitcoms in the 1970s and 1980s, and made guest star appearances into his 90s.

Newhart featured as a recurring guest on “The Big Bang Theory,” and also starred as Papa Elf in the Christmas film “Elf.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

U.S. Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Addressing the issues of visa backlogs, and recalling President Joe Biden’s order to reduce the visa time for Indians, the Ambassador of the United States to India, Eric Garcetti has said that the challenge is heard “loud and clear” and added that he is proud of the work done in just one year to reduce the visa wait time by three quarters.

In an interview with ANI, Mr. Garcetti said, “I am very proud of the work we have done in just one year to reduce the visa wait time by three quarters and to have no visa wait time in any of the categories except for first-time tourist visa which is down 75%.”

He highlighted how at the same time, the U.S. has “increased the number of visas with the same number of people by 60% in a single year, so we are hearing that challenge loud and clear”.

“We are excited about the number of Indians who want to come for reasons from business to students to even immigrant visas people becoming citizens…” Mr. Garcetti said.

In March, Mr. Garcetti told ANI that President Joe Biden told him to bring down the visa times in India, adding that it was the first instance that an ambassador was told to look into something like this in any country.

Mr. Garcetti underscored that a part of the green card backlog issue is a legislative problem and said that it is what Congress will have to address. However, he highlighted that the number of visas that have been adjudicated has brought down the waiting time by 75%.

The envoy had said, “Now, part of this is a legislative problem that Congress will have to address on the whether it’s the number of legal immigrants, the number of green cards, or the number of people who can become citizens. There’s just limits on that. Like any country, I’m sure there’s limits here, too. And that is frustrating for Indians, I think, because there’s so many Indians who want to come to America. And that’s a great part of our news, by the way. Second only to Mexicans, where Indian visas last year, the biggest number of students double the second biggest.”

“Last year, over 245,000 student visas came from India. Number one in adoptions, number one in all these categories that show 1.4 billion people, a lot of them would love to come to America. And so it’s a good problem to have. But a couple of things were changing…,” he said, on being asked about the green card backlog issue, and why there are mostly Indians who are on the backlog.

Further, on being asked if U.S. has similar plans just like Australia to launch the foreign branch campus of universities here in India, Mr. Garcetti said, “Absolutely, it’s my goal to get as many Americans to India as we are seeing Indians come to America…You will see announcements in the coming years of dozens of U.S. campuses”.

“We will have joint campuses, and joint programmes here; one Arizona State University announced that there are going to be in more than 10 different campuses around India. To me, this is what the future is about,” he said.

“Indians know more about the U.S. and the U.S. knows more about Indians, taking the world where we can be multiplicative as India times the U.S., I think the relationship is not just India plus the U.S.,” the envoy added.

Notably, Australia’s Deakin University earlier inaugurated its branch campus in GIFT City, Gujarat.

In January this year, Vice Chancellor of Australia’s Deakin University Iain Martin met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar, where they had a productive discussion on enhancing collaboration between government and academic institutions about cybersecurity. In a post on X, the Prime Minister welcomed Deakin University to collaborate with Indian universities to promote research and innovation.

U.S. President Joe Biden. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The United States will recognize the independence of the Cook Islands and Niue, two small Pacific nations, President Joe Biden said on September 25, confirming an earlier announcement by officials.

Mr. Biden spoke ahead of a summit with Pacific island leaders this week, part of a U.S. charm offensive to block further Chinese inroads into a strategic region Washington has long considered its own backyard.

In a statement, Mr. Biden said the United States had a long history of cooperation with the Cook Islands, dating back to World War II, when the U.S. military built airport runways on one of the chain’s atolls.

“Today’s announcement will enable us to expand the scope of this enduring partnership as we seek to tackle the challenges that matter most to our peoples’ lives,” he said.

The White House said the summit will focus on priorities including climate change, economic growth, sustainable development, public health and countering illegal fishing.