Photo Zar Mohammad Stanikzai, an Afghan who worked as an interpreter and whose application for a United States visa was rejected this year. Credit Andrew Quilty for The New York Times WASHINGTON — After a protracted political debate, Congress passed a measure on Thursday that would offer sanctuary to a fraction of the Afghan interpreters and translators who have risked their lives to help the military. The […]
By Patricia Zengerle | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called “fake news” a danger that must be addressed quickly, in a rare public appearance on Thursday, a month after she lost the presidential election in a campaign marked by a flood of such propaganda. “We must stand up for our democracy,” Clinton said during a tribute to retiring Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, referring […]
By Amanda Becker and Robert Iafolla | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump named fast-food executive Andy Puzder to head the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday, drawing criticism from labour advocates worried about his opposition to a higher minimum wage and government regulation of the workplace. Puzder, chief executive of CKE Restaurants Inc [APOLOT.UL], which operates the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s fast-food chains, has frequently argued in […]
It was Donald Trump’s press conference in the early hours of November 9 that some pinpoint as the moment fears about what his presidency would mean for stock markets turned into euphoria about his victory. Campaign pledges to give a boost to the US economy were repeated, as the newly president-elect struck a moderate, even conciliatory, tone. Whatever you think of the reaction in financial markets since, […]
By Ginger Gibson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The chances that the federal government could hand off the U.S. air traffic control system to private management are increasing, say advocates who report they are getting supportive feedback from President-elect Donald Trump and his team. U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, who chairs the House of Representatives Transportation Committee, has met with Trump and incoming Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to make his […]
Submitted by MiddleEastEye.net via TheAntiMedia.org, Saudi authorities banned journalist Jamal Khashoggi from writing in newspapers, appearing on TV and attending conferences, the Alkhalij Aljadid reported in Arabic. This came after Khashoggi’s remarks during a presentation he made at a Washington think-tank on 10 November in which he was critical of Donald Trump’s ascension to the US presidency. Two weeks ago, an official Saudi source was cited by […]
By Sarah Marsh | HAVANA HAVANA Cuba said on Wednesday it hoped to sign off on at least half a dozen agreements with the United States before businessman Donald Trump, who has threatened to derail detente between the former Cold War foes, becomes president on Jan. 20. Cuban and U.S. officials held talks in Havana to discuss what more could be accomplished during President Barack Obama’s remaining […]
By Richard Cowan | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday picked a fossil fuel industry defender as his top environmental official, another retired general as homeland security chief and Iowa’s governor as U.S. ambassador to China in choices at odds with some of his recent pronouncements. Trump, continuing to build his Cabinet as he prepares to take office on Jan. 20, said Oklahoma Attorney General Scott […]
By Dominique Patton and Steve Holland | BEIJING/NEW YORK BEIJING/NEW YORK President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as the next U.S. ambassador to China, choosing a longstanding friend of Beijing after rattling the world’s second largest economy with tough talk on trade and a telephone call with the leader of Taiwan. The appointment may help to ease trade tensions between the two countries, the […]
This article by David Haggith was published first on The Great Recession Blog: I risked losing my fellow anti-establishment readers in September by suggesting Trump may be an establishment Trojan horse. After seeing Trump choose Pence as VP and a Goldman Sachs exec as campaign finance manager, I was concerned the establishment knew a citizen’s revolt was brewing and made sure that even the road to revolt led back to […]
By Lewis Krauskopf and Bill Berkrot | NEW YORK NEW YORK President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday took aim at drugmakers, promising in a magazine interview that “I’m going to bring down drug prices,” and shares of U.S. pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies fell. In a cover story for Time magazine, which named him its Person of the Year, Trump said that “I don’t like what has happened with […]
By Phil Stewart and Amy Tennery | WASHINGTON/NEW YORK WASHINGTON/NEW YORK U.S. President-elect Donald Trump urged the government on Tuesday to cancel an order with Boeing Co (BA.N) for a revamped Air Force One – a prominent symbol of the U.S. presidency – complaining that costs were out of control. It was the latest example of Trump using his podium, often via brief Twitter messages, to rattle […]
By Lawrence Hurley | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Barack Obama’s legal defence of some key initiatives including his signature healthcare law is collapsing as courts put cases on hold until after President-elect Donald Trump, hostile to the policies, assumes office on Jan. 20. The pending conservative legal challenges could undo important elements of Obama’s presidential legacy if Trump, as expected, opts not to defend the Obama policies in […]
By Patricia Zengerle | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. failure to retaliate strongly for the 2014 cyber attack against Sony Pictures may have helped inspire Russian hackers who sought to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election, a senior congressional Democrat said on Tuesday. “Russia may have concluded that they could hack American institutions and there’d be no price to pay,” Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the […]
Good morning. Here’s our daily summary of all the media news you need to know. Want to get this briefing in your inbox every morning? Subscribe here. It’s so quaint that politicians still get pissed at the press and utter some version of Mark Twain’s, “Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.” That was underscored again Monday by Donald Trump, who tweeted, […]
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday he would name retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The following is a list of Republican Trump’s selections for top jobs in his administration. All the posts but that of national security adviser require Senate confirmation: DEFENCE SECRETARY: JAMES MATTIS Mattis is a retired Marine Corps general known for his tough talk, […]
The great American corporate buyback party was expected to fizzle out next year, leaving a hangover of debt and remorse. Instead, the boom may soon find renewed succour if US companies bring their pile of foreign-based cash back home. A tax holiday for US companies looms under president-elect Donald Trump, with some seeing this wave of cash as the catalyst of an investment boom and faster US […]
By Roberta Rampton and Ben Blanchard | WASHINGTON/BEIJING WASHINGTON/BEIJING The White House said on Monday it had sought to reassure China after President-elect Donald Trump’s phone call with Taiwan’s leader last week, which the Obama administration warned could undermine progress in relations with Beijing. The statement from a spokesman for U.S. President Barack Obama highlighted concerns about the potential fallout from Trump’s unusual call with Taiwan President […]
By Sebastien Malo NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – California lawmakers planned on Monday to introduce legislation that would help protect undocumented immigrants under the administration of President-elect Donald Trump, who campaigned on hard-line promises of mass deportations. The bills, if passed, would provide free legal services to undocumented immigrants facing deportation and assist them in criminal court, according to the California Democratic lawmakers introducing the proposals. […]
By Amy Tennery | NEW YORK NEW YORK Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein pressed her case on Monday for recounts of U.S. presidential ballots in three states, and locked horns with President-elect Donald Trump over her motives. Stein sued Pennsylvania election officials in federal court, demanding a statewide recount. Hours earlier, a federal judge in Michigan ordered a recount to begin there without delay. In Wisconsin, […]
Good morning. Here’s our daily summary of all the media news you need to know. Want to get this briefing in your inbox every morning? Subscribe here. Fake news is not the sole province of slimeball digital practitioners in faraway lands enabled by the righteous souls at Facebook and Google. There’s also — as has ever been so — the government. “Police investigating a notorious gang in […]
By Jonathan Spicer | NEW YORK NEW YORK The U.S. election of Donald Trump has created “considerable” uncertainty over the policies he will pursue so it is too soon for the Federal Reserve to judge whether its plan for gradual interest rate hikes needs adjusting, one of the most influential Fed policymakers said on Monday. In a speech that stepped well into fiscal policy, including a nod […]
By Ernest Scheyder and Valerie Volcovici | CANNON BALL, N.D./WASHINGTON CANNON BALL, N.D./WASHINGTON The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said on Sunday it turned down a permit for a controversial pipeline project running through North Dakota, in a victory for Native Americans and climate activists who have protested against the project for several months. A celebration erupted at the main protest camp in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, […]
By Jeffrey Heller | JERUSALEM JERUSALEM Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he will discuss with Donald Trump the West’s “bad” nuclear deal with Iran after the U.S. president-elect enters the White House. During the U.S. election campaign, Trump, a Republican, called last year’s nuclear pact a “disaster” and “the worst deal ever negotiated”. But the businessman-turned-politician has also said it would be hard to […]
