The release of the newly available primary documents, which include information not discussed in a 500-page executive summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation into the C.I.A. torture program that was released in 2014, comes at the same time as an urgent legal battle is unfolding over the potential fate of the still-classified, 6,700-page full version of that report. Continue reading the main story Lawyers for two […]
Steven Mnuchin, Donald Trump’s nominee to be Treasury secretary, clashed with Democrats over the business practices of the lender he once chaired, saying he had been wrongly accused of taking advantage of unfortunate borrowers and that he would work “tirelessly” to boost the economy and US hiring. The former banker told the Senate finance committee that he had been maligned and that OneWest, the bank, had extended 100,000 […]
President-elect Donald Trump has been pretty vocal that he intends to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a better healthcare plan that will offer “insurance for everybody.” This move prompted Bernie Sanders to assert that the decision could lead to nearly 36,000 deaths in the U.S. Now according to reports, the “repeal and delay” strategy of the incoming U.S. government could cost millions of people their health insurance. According […]
This love is precisely what is required of an American president in dealings affecting Israel. In such circumstances, and contrary to the adage that applies in most ordinary circumstances of life, that law says that demonstrations of love count for less, paradoxically, than love itself. It says, to be precise, that gestures of friendship, when they do not come from the bottom of the heart and are […]
WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will name former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue as his nominee for secretary of agriculture on Thursday, a senior transition official said on Wednesday. Perdue, 70, served on Trump’s agricultural advisory committee during his presidential campaign. His nomination, which must be confirmed by the Republican-led Senate, will complete Trump’s proposed cabinet just before he is sworn in as president on Friday. By nominating […]
WASHINGTON The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to recommend President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, retired Marine General James Mattis. The committee voted 26-1 to back Mattis’ nomination when it is received by the full Senate from Trump after he is sworn in as president. As a result, Mattis’ nomination will be sent directly to the Senate for a vote without […]
The sole Republican commissioner at the main US derivatives regulator has thrown his hat in the ring to be appointed the next chairman, even as he embraced aspects of financial reforms that Donald Trump’s team wants dismantled. Christopher Giancarlo, of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is set to assume the job of acting chairman after Mr Trump’s presidential inauguration on Friday, replacing Tim Massad, the sitting Democratic […]
WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump scrapped a proposal to move news briefings out of the White House, but said he wants his team to choose who gets into the press room. Trump, who will be sworn in on Friday as the 45th U.S. president, has had a contentious relationship with some prominent U.S. news organizations he refers to derisively as the “mainstream media.” The Republican businessman banned […]
New stock trading allegations are set to cast a shadow over Tom Price’s confirmation hearing as health secretary on Wednesday, as Senate Democrats prepare to do battle over Donald Trump’s latest cabinet picks. On Wednesday Senate Democrats and Republicans will question Mr Price, a sitting Republican congressman, over his fitness for the health role and his plans for repealing and replacing Obamacare — a key policy agenda […]
Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush has been hospitalized in Houston, CBS Houston affiliate KHOU television reported on Wednesday, citing his office chief of staff. Bush, 92, was in stable condition and “doing fine,” Jean Becker told the television station. Bush is expected to go home in a couple of days, Becker told KHOU. Reuters was not immediately able to reach the family spokesman Jim McGrath or […]
By Patricia Zengerle | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Donald Trump’s pick for U.N. ambassador will echo his condemnation of the world body’s treatment of Israel at her Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, although offering some praise for an organization the president-elect has disparaged. Nikki Haley, a rising star in the Republican Party, will face tough questioning from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about her lack of experience in foreign […]
Submitted by David Battistella A Violent Inauguration? A Call For Peace On Inauguration Day Now that all attempts to delegitimize President Elect Trump to this point including failed recounts, the constant drum beating about popular vote victory, intimidation, bullying and desperate pleas to the Electoral college and the attempt at cold War 2.0 have failed, will inauguration day be the last stand? Now even millionaire Catholic socialist […]
By Alex Dobuzinskis and Dana Feldman | LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES One of about a dozen women who previously accused President-elect Donald Trump of making unwanted sexual advances filed a lawsuit against him in New York on Tuesday, alleging he had made false and defamatory statements about her in rejecting the accusation, causing her emotional and economic harm. The lawsuit filed by Summer Zervos, a one-time contestant […]
The US has sued Qualcomm over the way it licenses its technology for mobile phones, hitting at the business that generates most of the US chip company’s profits. The case follows an investigation begun in 2014, but which was accelerated in recent weeks as the Federal Trade Commission moved towards filing a high-profile antitrust case just days before a new administration takes control in Washington. Qualcomm’s shares […]
By Roberta Rampton and Ayesha Rascoe | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON In one of his final acts before leaving office, President Barack Obama on Tuesday commuted the prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. military intelligence analyst behind the biggest breach of classified materials in U.S. history, the White House said. Just last Thursday, anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, the recipient of materials from Manning, tweeted that its founder Julian […]
By Jilian Mincer | NEW YORK NEW YORK About a quarter of U.S. Republicans do not want to see Obamacare repealed, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday. Trump and his fellow Republicans, who control Congress, have promised to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, but a majority of Americans, including 25 percent of Republicans polled, do not want it to be […]
A senior member of Donald Trump’s team insisted that the president-elect was committed to globalisation, open trade and Nato despite recent comments that unsettled America’s allies. Anthony Scaramucci, Mr Trump’s newly appointed public liaison official, told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday that the European and American elite had misunderstood Mr Trump and would change their views when he took office. In particular, he argued […]
The US dollar is weakening this morning after comments from president-elect Donald Trump that the greenback was “too strong” against the Chinese currency. “Our companies can’t compete with them [Chinese companies] now because our currency is too strong. And it’s killing us”, Mr Trump told the Wall Street Journal. His comments have helped soften the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of its major […]
ATLANTA The daughter of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King marked the holiday that honors her father on Monday by siding with African-American congressman and activist John Lewis over President-elect Donald Trump in an imbroglio that erupted over the weekend. Lewis, 76, a contemporary of King’s who endured beatings and jail time in the fight for racial equality in the 1960s, said in a televised interview […]
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Donald Trump’s administration, heavy with fossil fuel industry backers, could cause major damage to efforts to deal with climate change through measures such as cutting access to satellite data for weather forecasting and climate research, scientists warned Monday. But the president-elect may prove more pragmatic than some of his Republican counter-parts on the politically charged issue of climate change, particularly if a […]
He was the president who took out Osama bin Laden but was blindsided by Isis; who made Asia his priority but saw his trade deal for the region stymied; who built bridges with once sworn enemies in Cuba and Iran but who sparred with allies in Israel and Saudi Arabia. The mixed and sometimes messy foreign policy legacy of Barack Obama includes a climate change agreement and […]
By Alessandra Prentice | KIEV KIEV Outgoing U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called on Monday for sanctions on Russia to stay, urging the world to stand up to its “coercion and aggression” after President-elect Donald Trump mooted ending the measures under a possible deal with Moscow. Speaking on a swan song visit to Kiev, Biden said the G7 nations and European Union should lift the sanctions only […]
Submitted by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com, Conventional wisdom suggests National Front candidate Marine le Pen will make it to the second round in French elections, then lose in a landslide to whoever her opponent happens to be. I believe le Pen’s odds of winning it outright are far better than most think. Current Polls Chart from Wikipedia, with image clips added. Top Five candidates Marine le Pen: […]
Bernie Sanders is of the opinion that a repeal of Obamacare could potentially lead to a huge number of deaths each year. With the Congress considering partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Bernie Sanders tweeted on Jan, 12 that 36,000 people may die yearly as a result. As Republicans try to repeal the Affordable Care Act, they should be reminded every day that 36,000 […]
