The State Department on Wednesday notified Congress of its intent to proceed with the sale without the conditions, according to Micah Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Congress now has two review periods to examine the sale and raise any objections. Continue reading the main story Mr. Tillerson will attend his first meeting of NATO on Friday in Brussels, where he may run into […]
TOKYO Japan’s ruling party on Thursday urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government to consider acquiring the capability to hit enemy bases and to beef up missile defence, as North Korea defies U.N. sanctions with its nuclear and missile development. “North Korea’s provocations have reached a level where our country can by no means overlook them … We cannot afford to lose any time to bolster our ballistic […]
By Byron Kaye and Jeremy Wagstaff | SYDNEY/SINGAPORE SYDNEY/SINGAPORE The big data company credited with helping Donald Trump win the U.S. presidency has registered a company in Australia and plans to meet the country’s ruling conservative Liberal Party next week, according to documents and a government official. Cambridge Analytica, which has also said its “psychographic” methods helped the successful campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, […]
SEOUL A South Korean court began deliberating on Thursday whether to arrest ousted president Park Geun-hye, who was removed from office in a corruption scandal involving charges she solicited bribes from the country’s largest conglomerate. Park could become South Korea’s third former leader to be jailed for wrongdoing. She is accused of colluding with a friend, Choi Soon-sil, to pressure big businesses to contribute to foundations set […]
WASHINGTON The Democratic and Republican leaders of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee pledged on Wednesday that their investigation of Russian hacking of the 2016 U.S. campaign would be bipartisan. Senator Richard Burr, the committee’s Republican chairman, said he has not coordinated at all with President Donald Trump’s White House on the scope of the panel’s Russia probe. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Additional reporting by David Alexander; Editing […]
Good morning. Here’s our morning roundup of all the media news you need to know. Want to get this briefing in your inbox every morning? Subscribe here. Donald Trump is temporary ratings gold, which is either evidence of renewed civic engagement or merely the decline of Western civilization. Variety reports that Fox News “finished far and above its competition in the ratings for the first quarter of […]
The House of Representatives voted 215-205 to overturn the Federal Communications Commission rule, following last week’s 50-48 vote in the Senate US lawmakers voted Tuesday to roll back rules that would block internet service providers from selling user data to third parties, following a heated debate over privacy protections. The House of Representatives voted 215-205 to overturn the Federal Communications Commission rule, following last week’s 50-48 vote […]
McCaskill’s letters to Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Insys Therapeutics, Mylan and Depomed specifically ask for information about any payments the companies made to 17 third-party advocacy groups — including the Pain Care Forum, a little-known but powerful coalition of drug companies and nonprofit groups highlighted in the Politics of Pain series. At least 13 of the other advocacy groups mentioned in her letters have belonged […]
BEIJING/TAIPEI A Taiwan man who had gone missing in China is being investigated on suspicion of harming national security, China’s government said on Wednesday, in a case that has caused alarm on the self-ruled and democratic island Beijing claims as its own. Lee Ming-che, a community college worker known for supporting human rights in China, disappeared earlier this month after entering China’s Zhuhai city via the Chinese […]
By Daniela Desantis | ASUNCION ASUNCION Security forces surrounded Paraguay’s Congress on Tuesday while lawmakers argued over a possible change in law that would allow President Horacio Cartes to run for re-election, a move that the opposition says would weaken democratic institutions. A bill allowing presidents to run for a second five-year term was defeated in the legislature last year. This week a group of senators asked […]
ABIDJAN Democratic Republic of Congo’s government confirmed on Tuesday that two bodies discovered by villagers were those of two U.N. investigators who disappeared this month in an area wracked by a violent uprising. “It’s now a certainty. It is the two investigators. We identified the third body in the grave with them as their Congolese interpreter,” Communications Minister Lambert Mende said. (Reporting by Joe Bavier; Editing by […]
BEIJING The inaugural flight of a new charter service from North Korea’s capital to the northeastern Chinese city of Dandong landed on Tuesday, the official Xinhua news agency said. The launch comes amid ongoing tensions on the Korean peninsula over the hermit state’s missile and nuclear tests, which it says are in response to joint drills between the United States and South Korean military. The twice-weekly flight […]
Democracy Fund and First Look Media on Monday announced $9 million in funding to bolster an independent free press split evenly between three newsrooms: ProPublica, the Center for Public Integrity and the Center for Investigative Reporting. Democracy Fund and First Look Media are also committing an additional $3 million to support independent in vigorous journalism. It includes: The Knight Prototype Fund aimed at combating misinformation will receive […]
By Ayesha Rascoe | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Following the failure of a healthcare bill backed by President Donald Trump, his administration plans to take a lead role in crafting major legislation to cut taxes with an eye toward meeting an August target date, the White House said on Monday. Trump’s pledge to cut taxes, including a lowering of the rates paid by corporations, was a pillar of his […]
The Maldives speaker of parliament survived an impeachment vote on Monday amid chaos after a dozen opposition legislators were sent out from the chamber for unruly behaviour. The motion against Speaker Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed, a close ally of President Abdulla Yameen, was defeated by 48 vote against none in an 85-member parliament after all opposition lawmakers walked out in protest at their colleagues’ expulsion. Opposition legislators said […]
By Mfuneko Toyana and Sujata Rao | JOHANNESBURG/LONDON JOHANNESBURG/LONDON South African President Jacob Zuma asked Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Monday to return home “immediately” from an investor roadshow abroad, reviving talk of a cabinet reshuffle and unnerving investors who see Gordhan as an emblem of stability. The rand fell more than 3 percent against the dollar, its biggest one day fall since Nov. 10, South African […]
By Matt Spetalnick | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he was committed to working with U.S. President Donald Trump to advance peace efforts with the Palestinians and with the broader Arab world. Netanyahu made the pledge in a speech to the largest U.S. pro-Israel lobbying group at a time when the Trump administration is seeking agreement with his right-wing government on limiting […]
WASHINGTON The Senate Intelligence Committee is seeking to interview President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as part of its investigation into ties between Trump associates and Russian officials, a congressional official said on Monday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed a New York Times report that the panel wants to question Kushner. The official said the committee will make an announcement later in the day. […]
SEOUL A South Korean court will hold a hearing on Thursday to decide whether to arrest ousted president Park Geun-hye and hold her in a cell for up to 20 days while she is investigated on charges of taking bribes and abusing presidential power. Park, 65, became South Korea’s first democratically elected president to be removed from office when a constitutional court upheld her parliamentary impeachment this […]
Prosecutors in South Korea are seeking an arrest warrant for former president Park Geun-hye for her alleged role in a sprawling corruption scandal that triggered her impeachment earlier this month. “The issues are grave . . . the defendant has abused her status and power to extract funds from companies, impinged on corporate freedoms and leaked state secrets,” said a statement by the prosecutors on Monday. “It is unfair not to […]
SEOUL A South Korean court said on Monday it would hold a hearing on ousted leader Park Geun-hye’s arrest warrant on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. (0130 GMT). The warrant covers charges such as bribery, the court said in a mobile text message sent to reporters. The announcement came after South Korean prosecutors said they would seek the arrest of Park, South Korea’s first democratically elected president to […]
BEIRUT: US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance on Sunday entered a military airport held by Daesh in northern Syria while the militant group warned the Tabqa dam is at imminent risk of collapse because of airstrikes and increased water levels.The advance by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Tabqa airbase comes as the alliance prepares an attack on Daesh’s de facto Syrian capital Raqqa, seeking to effectively surround the city before […]
AMMAN A United States-backed alliance of militias fighting Islamic State have stormed the Tabqa military airport held by militants, a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokesman said on Sunday. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) took between “sixty to seventy percent” of the military airport near Tabqa city on the Euphrates River on Sunday but fighting was continuing inside the airport and on its outskirts, spokesman Talal Silo told […]
By Doina Chiacu | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Roger Stone, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, said on Sunday he has offered to testify before a congressional committee investigating possible Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and ties to the Trump campaign. Stone, an informal adviser to Trump, told ABC’s “This Week” he had not received a reply from the House of Representatives intelligence committee on his […]
