Police say Arizona woman, 92, killed 72-year-old son
PHOENIX, July 04: A 92-year-old woman accused of fatally shooting her 72-year-old son over his plans to put her in an assisted living facility has been arrested on suspicion of murder, police said on Tuesday.
Anna Mae Blessing was taken into custody on Monday at the suburban Phoenix home she shared with her son and was being held in lieu of $500,000 bail, court officials said.
She did not enter a plea during a brief initial court appearance and it was not immediately clear if she had retained an attorney.
Blessing told detectives following her arrest that she hid two handguns in the pockets of her robe and confronted her son in his bedroom, striking him with multiple rounds, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said in a written statement.
The suspect told investigators she tried to point the guns at her son’s 57-year-old girlfriend but the woman was able to wrestle the weapons away, according to the sheriff’s office.
Blessing was sitting in a reclining chair in her bedroom when she was taken into custody, after she refused to leave the house, according to court records.
She told detectives she had confronted her son over his intentions to put her in the care facility because, he had said, she was difficult to live with.
Blessing also told detectives that she should be “put to sleep,” for her actions and had intended to kill herself following the incident.
Blessing said she purchased one of the weapons and the other one had been given to her deceased husband but that neither weapon had been fired since the 1970s.
Police said they had visited the residence before, following a verbal altercation between Blessing and her son.
Courtesy: www.reuters.com
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India proposes preferential trade agreement with Mexico to deal with high tariffs
New Delhi (PTI): India has proposed a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Mexico to help domestic exporters deal with the steep tariffs announced by the South American country, a top government official said on Monday.
Mexico has decided to impose steep import tariffs - ranging from about 5 per cent to as high as 50 per cent on a wide range of goods (about 1,463 tariff lines) from countries that do not have free trade agreements with Mexico, including India, China, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia.
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said that India has engaged with the country on the issue.
"Technical level talks are on...The only fast way forward is to try to get a preferential trade agreement (PTA) because an FTA (free trade agreement) will take a lot of time. So we are trying to see what can be a good way forward," he told reporters here.
While in an FTA two trading partners either significantly reduce or eliminate import duties on maximum number of goods traded between them, in a PTA, duties are cut or removed on a limited number of products.
Trading partners of Mexico cannot file a compliant against the decision on imposing high tariffs as they are WTO (World Trade Organisation) compatible.
The duties are within their bound rates, he said, adding that their primary target was not India.
"We have proposed a PTA because its a WTO-compatible way forward... we can do a PTA and try to get concessions that are required for Indian supply chains and similarly offer them concessions where they have export interests in India," Agrawal said.
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Citing support for local production and correction of trade imbalances, Mexico has approved an increase in MFN (most favoured nation) import tariffs (5-50 per cent) with effect from January 1, 2026 on 1,455 tariff lines (or product categories) within the WTO framework, targeting non-FTA partners.
Preliminary estimates suggest that this affects India's around USD 2 billion exports to Mexico particularly -- automobile, two-wheelers, auto parts, textiles, iron and steel, plastics, leather and footwear.
The measure is also aimed at curbing Chinese imports.
India-Mexico merchandise trade totalled USD 8.74 billion in 2024, with exports USD 5.73 billion, imports USD 3.01 billion, and a trade surplus of USD 2.72 billion.
The government has been continuously and comprehensively assessing Mexico's tariff revisions since the issue emerged, engaging stakeholders, safeguarding the interests of Indian exporters, and pursuing constructive dialogue to ensure a stable trade environment benefiting businesses and consumers in both countries.
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Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai has said that Mexico's decision is a matter of concern, particularly for sectors like automobiles and auto components, machinery, electrical and electronics, organic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and plastics.
"Such steep duties will erode our competitiveness and risk, disrupting supply chains that have taken years to develop," Sahai said, adding that this development also underlines the little urgency for India and Mexico to fast-track a comprehensive trade agreement.
Domestic auto component manufacturers will face enhanced cost pressures with Mexico hiking duties on Indian imports, according to industry body ACMA.
