Two days into a frantic battle to repeal and replace Obamacare, Donald Trump’s White House is struggling to win over fellow Republicans in Congress. The strength of resistance to the new healthcare bill within the party points to a broader problem for Mr Trump — almost two months in to his presidency he is struggling to control the legislative agenda. “The White House doesn’t have a plan […]
WASHINGTON The U.S. State Department held out the possibility on Thursday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson might take reporters with him to Asia after it initially broke with decades of tradition by telling the media he would not. “We are still working out the logistics for this trip, so (we) cannot yet speak definitively as to whether we’ll be able to accommodate any press on the […]
By Julia Edwards Ainsley | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The Department of Justice is deploying 50 judges to immigration detention facilities across the United States, according to two sources and a letter seen by Reuters and sent to judges on Thursday. The department is also considering asking judges to sit from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., split between two rotating shifts, to adjudicate more cases, the sources said. A […]
By Mark Hosenball | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON FBI Director James Comey on Thursday met with senior congressional leaders, including the intelligence committee chiefs, FBI and congressional officials said. The officials declined to discuss the subject of Comey’s meeting with the group of leaders known as the “Gang of Eight”. U.S. President Donald Trump has alleged that the Obama administration wiretapped his election campaign. The Gang of Eight, who […]
By Leigh Thomas and Sudip Kar-Gupta | PARIS PARIS Centrist Emmanuel Macron saw his position as favourite to win France’s presidential election boosted on Thursday in two polls, with one showing him ahead of far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the first round of the two-stage contest. A monthly Cevipof survey, considered the most authoritative because it has a far bigger sample size than most polls, put […]
The Senate voted Monday to kill an Obama administration rule aimed at curbing labor violations among government contractors. Two years in the making, the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule was targeted by Republican lawmakers 10 days after Donald Trump’s inauguration. The House voted to excise it on Feb. 2, and Trump can seal its fate with his signature. Before the Senate vote – 49-48, along party […]
On Tuesday Republicans initialized the first step in rolling back the Federal Communications Commission’s internet privacy rules, with 25 U.S. senators introducing a new resolution that would cause their reversal, and even forbid the commission from passing anything similar in the future. Introduced last year, the privacy rules were an addendum to the net neutrality order, which required the FCC to handle enforcement of privacy protection form […]
By Susan Cornwell and Yasmeen Abutaleb | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Republicans pushed ahead on Thursday with their plan for a massive overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system backed by President Donald Trump, despite Democratic concern that the cost of the bill and its impact on the budget remain unknown. Two House of Representatives committees debated the draft legislation late into the night on Wednesday in marathon sessions, two […]
By Joseph Ax and Lisa Fernandez | NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO Women protested around the world on Wednesday for equal rights and in the United States against President Donald Trump, with many Americans skipping work or boycotting stores to demand economic fairness on International Women’s Day. American women seized upon the momentum of the Women’s March on Washington on Jan. 21, the day after Trump’s […]
Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday: WIRETAPPING Two senior senators ask the FBI and Justice Department for any information they have on Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that predecessor Barack Obama wiretapped him during the presidential campaign. HEALTHCARE The top U.S. doctors’ organization and several hospital groups come out strongly against a Republican plan backed by Trump to overhaul America’s healthcare system as […]
By Susan Cornwell and Yasmeen Abutaleb | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Democrats mounted a fierce uphill battle on Wednesday to thwart a Republican plan backed by President Donald Trump to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system, even as the legislation also drew fire from a top medical group and dissatisfied conservatives. Two House of Representatives committees began debating the bill and considering amendments two days after it was unveiled by […]
George Osborne will earn £650,000 a year for working four days a month at BlackRock, more than ten times what he is paid as an MP once expected share awards from the world’s largest fund manager are included. The detail of Mr Osborne’s pay at BlackRock, which he agreed to join as an adviser earlier this year, was disclosed in the register of members’ financial interests at […]
By Ginger Gibson and David Shepardson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON When the bosses of some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies headed to Washington in January to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, it had all the makings of a potentially hostile meeting. Just weeks before, Trump had sent drug stock prices plummeting after accusing the companies of “getting away with murder” by charging too much for medicines. But […]
And Mr. Trump’s conveniently timed call was a not-so-subtle reminder to Israel’s attorney general that indicting Mr. Netanyahu — a step that would precipitate his resignation as a prime minister — could harm Israel’s national security at a dangerous time. Continue reading the main story Mr. Netanyahu has survived past inquiries into his personal trips and home expenses without charges, and he has steadfastly denied wrongdoing in […]
By David Morgan | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. Senate Democrats, seeking to capitalise on growing disclosures about the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia, urged a top Republican lawmaker on Tuesday to obtain President Donald Trump’s tax returns as a matter of national security. It was the second request for Trump’s returns by Senate Democrats in as many weeks, part of a Democratic campaign to pressure Republicans in Congress […]
WASHINGTON The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee said on Tuesday he had seen no evidence to support President Donald Trump’s allegation he was wiretapped by then-President Barack Obama during the 2016 presidential campaign. Republican Representative Devin Nunes told reporters that if Trump’s assertion were true, the leaders of Congress and the chairman of its two intelligence committees, known collectively as the “Gang of […]
By Jennifer Ablan | NEW YORK NEW YORK Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive officer at DoubleLine Capital, said on Tuesday he expects the Federal Reserve to begin a campaign this month of “old school” sequential interest rate hikes until “something breaks,” such as a U.S. recession. Gundlach, who oversees more than $101 billion at Los Angeles-based DoubleLine, said U.S. economic data support a rate increase as soon as […]
Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday: HEALTHCARE Trump endorses a plan by Republican lawmakers to replace the Obamacare healthcare law but influential conservative groups come out strongly against it, complicating the proposal’s prospects for passage in Congress. Shares of large U.S. pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are selling off after Trump says he is working on a system to reduce prices in […]
By Joel Schectman | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The prosecutor tapped to fill the No. 2 position at the U.S. Justice Department declined on Tuesday to commit to appointing a special counsel to oversee an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. If confirmed, Rod Rosenstein, nominated by Republican President Donald Trump to be deputy attorney general, would take control of the Russia investigation because Attorney General […]
WASHINGTON WikiLeaks said on Tuesday it had obtained a top-secret trove of hacking tools used by the CIA to break into phones, communication apps and other electronic devices, and released documents related to those programs. If verified, the information would amount to yet another stunning breach of classified material stolen in recent years from U.S. intelligence agencies. WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy organization led by Julian Assange, said its […]
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. When it comes to Russian hacking and other subterfuge, the obvious and unavoidable media and political talk involves either the Clinton presidential campaign or the Trump White House. As Bloomberg’s Michael Riley discloses, there’s more for the press to obsess […]
By Nichola Saminather | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian shares rose on Tuesday, diverging from New York markets that slipped on concern about President Donald Trump’s ability to focus on economic policies. Oil prices were slightly lower amid fears growing U.S. production will offset OPEC cuts. Futures are pointing to a positive open for Britain’s FTSE 100 .FTSE and France’s CAC 40 .FCHI. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares […]
Republicans on Monday took a step closer towards delivering on Donald Trump’s pledge to scrap Obamacare, by unveiling a long-awaited plan to repeal the healthcare reforms that is set to trigger fierce debate in Congress. The draft legislation, which would roll back many of the core tenets of Barack Obama’s government-led healthcare legacy, was released by Republican lawmakers who have struggled to bridge internecine divisions as they […]
Monday 21:56 GMT Overview Global equities sold off on Monday, encouraging flows into sovereign debt, after Asian markets were rattled by North Korea firing missiles into the Sea of Japan and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate meeting drew nearer. US President Donald Trump’s latest spat with the country’s security services may also be damping the mood somewhat as markets continue to price in a rate rise by […]
