Headline

Trump Stoking Hatred and Racism in Reelection Campaign
2019-07-18 06:12:54 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump has placed racial animus at the center of his reelection campaign, and even some of his critics believe it could deliver him a second term. Every successful modern presidential campaign has been built on the notion of addition, winning over voters beyond core supporters. But Trump has chosen division on the belief that the polarized country he leads will simply choose sides over issues like race. He intensified his attacks on Wednesday, blasting four young congresswomen of color during a rally in Greenville, North Carolina. The crowd responded by chanting, “Send her back!” echoing Trump’s weeken...
Germany's Ursula Von Der Leyen to Lead EU Commission
2019-07-16 23:35:25 UTC
STRASBOURG (Reuters) - Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen secured European parliamentary approval on Tuesday to become the first female European Commission president on a platform of a greener, fairer and rule-based Europe. The German conservative got the thumbs up from socialist and liberal lawmakers which, together with the endorsement by her fellow conservatives, gives her a stronger mandate to tackle issues such as climate change, trade and maintaining democracy in the European Union. Rejection by the EU legislature would have been a painful blow for a bloc beset by challenges ranging from trade to Brexit and erosion of democratic no...
Trump Slammed for Racist Attack on Congresswomen
2019-07-14 23:11:34 UTC
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday told a group of mostly American-born Democratic congresswomen to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” a comment that was condemned by Democrats as racist. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand told reporters at an event in Iowa that Trump is "racist" and that he was "demeaning female members of the House of Representatives based on the color of her skin and their cultural heritage," while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders wrote in a tweet that, "When I call the president a racist, this is what I'm talking about." Trump said in a series of thr...
Never-Ending War
2019-07-05 03:58:47 UTC
Jalalabad, Afghanistan (AFP) -- Of all the sad, wrenching things I have seen as a journalist in Afghanistan, Niaz Bibi's house was probably one of the saddest. At the age of 70, Bibi has found herself as the main parent of some 40 kids -- the children of her three sons and three grandsons who had been killed by the Islamic State. Bibi does the best she can, but she is so poor that they all live in conditions not much better than a jail. "Have you seen my father?" some of the children asked me when I came to the house. They didn't know their fathers were dead. They thought they were just away somewhere. They looked at their photos and...
Mexico to Provide 40,000 Jobs to Migrants
2019-06-28 18:19:59 UTC
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico is finalizing a deal to provide 40,000 factory jobs to migrants in northern states, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Friday, addressing a key need for the thousands waiting in Mexico as their U.S. asylum cases are decided. Speaking at his daily press conference, Lopez Obrador said he expected an agreement with factories to be signed next week. “This agreement is going to be signed, there will be no legal problem,” he said. “We are arranging this so that they can be hired without much processing.” Mexico’s border states have been inundated with migrants who must often wait weeks to seek U.S....
Steve Jobs Design Chief to Start Own Firm
2019-06-28 00:58:11 UTC
(Reuters) - Jony Ive, a close creative collaborator with Apple Inc co-founder Steve Jobs whose iPhone and other designs fueled Apple’s rise to become a $1 trillion company, will leave later this year to form an independent design company. Apple said Ive will continue work on its products at his new venture, but shares fell as much as 1.5% to $197.44 in after-market trading, wiping about $9 billion from the firm’s value. Ive spent nearly three decades at Apple, playing a leading role in the design of the candy-colored iMacs that helped Apple re-emerge from near death in the 1990s to the iPhone, regarded by many business experts as one...
Mueller Agrees to Testify Publicly on July 17
2019-06-26 01:55:23 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats say Robert Mueller has agreed to testify publicly July 17 before the House Judiciary and intelligence committees after both panels issued subpoenas to him Tuesday evening. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff say in a joint statement that the special counsel has agreed to testify about the Trump-Russia report he issued in April. The Justice Department declined to comment. The committees have been in negotiations with Mueller for more than two months about his testimony. But he has been hesitant to testify and speak about the investigation b...
Euro Hits Three-Month High Against US Dollar
2019-06-24 04:00:44 UTC
TOKYO (Reuters) - The euro rose to a three-month high against the dollar on Monday, as bearish bets on the U.S. currency remained solid on prospects of a near-term interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. The euro stretched its rally last week, up 1.4%, and advanced about 0.15% to $1.1386 in early Asian trade, its highest since March 22. The dollar index versus a basket of six major currencies was a shade lower at 96.135, having struck 96.093 on Friday, its lowest since March 21, after the Fed last week opened the door for a potential rate cut as early as next month. That weighed on the dollar and in turn reinvigorated its counte...
Angela Merkel: There Has to Be a Political Solution on Iran
2019-06-22 21:23:07 UTC
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The international community must seek a political solution on Iran, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had aborted a military strike to retaliate against Tehran’s downing of a U.S. drone. Speaking at an annual gathering of Protestant churches, Merkel also said the Iran issue would be discussed at next week’s meeting of leaders of the Group of 20 leading economies in Japan, at least at a bilateral level. “There has to be a political solution (on Iran) and that is what we are working on,” Merkel said. Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Tom Sims; Ed...
2 Finalists in UK Leadership Race Make Pitch to Tory Members
2019-06-22 20:51:35 UTC
LONDON (AP) — The two finalists in the race to lead Britain’s governing Conservative Party — and become the country’s new prime minister — made their first formal pitches to party members Saturday, both vowing to be the right man to deliver Brexit. Ex-foreign secretary and former London mayor Boris Johnson, the runaway favorite of Tory lawmakers, faced off with Jeremy Hunt, the current foreign secretary, at a Conservative conference in central England’s Birmingham. Opening his address with a focus on delivering Britain’s stalled exit from the European Union, Johnson told the audience “We need to get Brexit done” and be prepared to le...
US Abruptly Calls Off Retaliation Strike Against Iran
2019-06-21 05:39:58 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. official said the military made preparations Thursday night for limited strikes on Iran in retaliation for the downing of a U.S. surveillance drone, but approval was abruptly withdrawn before the attacks were launched. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the operation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the targets would have included radars and missile batteries. The New York Times reported that President Donald Trump had approved the strikes, but then called them off. The newspaper cited anonymous senior administration officials. The White House on Thursday night declined reque...
US Drone Shot Down After Entering Iran’s Airspace
2019-06-20 05:51:04 UTC
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have shot down a U.S. “spy” drone in the southern province of Hormozgan, the Guards’ news website Sepah News said on Thursday. State news agency IRNA carried the same report, identifying the drone as an “RQ-4 Global Hawk’. “It was shot down when it entered Iran’s airspace near the Kouhmobarak district in the south,” the Guards’ website added. The RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system (UAS) can fly at high altitudes for more than 30 hours, gathering near-real-time, high-resolution imagery of large areas of land in all types of weather, maker Northrop Grumman says on its websit...
US Weekly Jobless Claims Rise; Imported Inflation Weak
2019-06-13 18:19:18 UTC
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, which could add to concerns that the labor market was losing steam after job growth slowed sharply in May. Other data on Thursday showed import prices fell by the most in five months in May amid a broad decline in the cost of goods, the latest indication of muted inflation pressures. The import deflation supports expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year. U.S. central bank policymakers are scheduled to meet on June 18-19 against the backdrop of rising trade tensions. Financial markets...
US Ranks Last in the world for Maternity Leave
2019-06-13 18:25:15 UTC
NEW YORK, 13 June 2019 — Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Estonia and Portugal offer the best family-friendly policies among 31 rich countries with available data, according to a new UNICEF repot. Switzerland, Greece, Cyprus, United Kingdom and Ireland rank the lowest. The United States is the only country included in the analysis with no national paid leave policy for mothers or fathers, ranking it the worst for maternity leave. Produced by UNICEF’s Office of Research – The <a href="https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/sweden-norway-iceland-and-estonia-rank-highest-family-friendly-policies-oecd-and-eu">report</a> ranks co...
Toyota Speeds Up Electric Vehicle Schedule
2019-06-07 15:52:16 UTC
TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp aims to get half of its global sales from electrified vehicles by 2025, five years ahead of schedule, and will tap Chinese battery makers to meet the accelerated global shift to electricity-powered cars. The change illustrates the breakneck growth in the electric vehicle (EV) market, which is transforming the auto industry, and is also an acknowledgment by Japan’s top car maker that it may not be able to meet demand for batteries on its own. Toyota is now faced with a higher-than-expected demand for cars that use batteries, rather than gasoline, Executive Vice President Shigeki Terashi told a brief...
EU to Create a System to Get Around US Block on WTO
2019-06-06 20:49:33 UTC
BERLIN/GENEVA (Reuters) - The European Union is set to propose creating a shadow system to get around a U.S. block on appeals in disputes at the World Trade Organization (WTO), according to a draft proposal circulated to national lawmakers. U.S. President Donald Trump is blocking appointments to the WTO’s Appellate Body, saying its judges have overstepped their mandate and ignored their instructions. Trump’s critics say he resents their power over U.S. law. Unless the block is lifted, the world’s top trade court will have only one of its seven members left by December, leaving it unable to hear appeals in international trade disputes...
US Senators Seek to Block Trump Saudi Arms Sales
2019-06-05 21:52:21 UTC
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican and Democratic U.S. senators said on Wednesday they would introduce legislation to block President Donald Trump’s plan for $8 billion in military sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates without congressional review. Backers said the introduction of the 22 “resolutions of disapproval,” one for each of the 22 arms deals cleared by the Trump administration, was intended to “protect and reaffirm Congress’ role of approving arms sales to foreign governments.” The announcement followed furious rejection in Congress late last month of the administration’s declaration that a growing threat from Ir...
US shared sensitive nuclear power information with Saudi Arabia
2019-06-05 06:08:32 UTC
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration granted two authorizations to U.S. companies to share sensitive nuclear power information with Saudi Arabia shortly after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October, a U.S. senator who saw the approvals said on Tuesday. The timing of the approvals is likely to heap pressure on the administration of President Donald Trump from lawmakers who have become increasingly critical of U.S. support for Saudi Arabia since Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October. Khashoggi, a native of Saudi Arabia, left in 2017 to became a resident of the United States where he...
Tearful Theresa May Quits as UK Prime Minister
2019-05-25 03:17:25 UTC
LONDON (Reuters) - Fighting back tears, Theresa May said on Friday she would quit after failing to deliver Brexit, setting up a contest that will install a new British prime minister who could pursue a cleaner break with the European Union. May’s departure deepens the Brexit crisis as a new leader, who should be in place by the end of July, is likely to want a more decisive split, raising the chances of a confrontation with the EU and potentially a snap parliamentary election. Former foreign minister Boris Johnson, the favorite to replace May, was first out of the blocks, saying Britain should be prepared to leave the EU without a de...
Elon Musk Says Tesla deliveries Set to Top Record
2019-05-23 15:41:53 UTC
(Reuters) - Tesla Inc is on course to top its record for quarterly deliveries in the second quarter, beating the 90,700 it sent to customers in the final quarter of last year, according to an email from Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk to staff. Musk’s email, widely posted on social media and authenticated for Reuters by a source familiar with the matter, also said the company had on average produced 900 Model 3 cars per day this week, bringing it closer to a target of 7,000 per week. Demand for the Model 3 sedan and Tesla’s other cars has moved to the top of investors’ list of concerns around the company after it reported slack fir...
British PM Theresa May 'Expected to Quit Friday'
2019-05-23 05:52:23 UTC
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected on Friday to announce her departure from office, The Times reported, without citing a source. May will remain as prime minister while her successor is elected in a two-stage process under which two final candidates face a ballot of 125,000 Conservative Party members, the newspaper said. <hr>Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge<hr>
Asia Shares Hit 4-Month Low on Risk of Endless Trade War
2019-05-23 05:34:55 UTC
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares broke support and caved to a four-month low on Thursday, as concerns grew that the Sino-U.S. trade conflict was fast morphing into a prolonged technology cold war between the world’s two largest economies. Late Wednesday, Reuters reported the U.S. administration was considering Huawei-like sanctions on Chinese video surveillance firm Hikvision over the country’s treatment of its Uighur Muslim minority, according to a person briefed on the matter. After the United States placed Huawei Technologies on a trade blacklist last week, British chip designer ARM has halted relations with Huawei in order to comp...
Trump Says Some Auto Imports Threaten National Security
2019-05-17 20:40:13 UTC
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump declared that some imported vehicles and parts pose a national security threat but delayed a decision for as long as six months on whether to impose tariffs to allow for more time for trade talks with the European Union and Japan. The unprecedented designation of foreign vehicles imported to the United States from some of its closest allies sparked anger from automakers, dealers and foreign governments after a White House document hinted it would seek voluntary export quotas on autos from U.S. trading partners. European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said on Twitter that “we com...
US Federal Appeals Court: Trump Administration Violated Federal Law
2019-05-17 20:13:17 UTC
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Friday the Trump administration acted in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner when it sought to end an Obama-era program that shields young immigrants from deportation. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2 to 1 that the Trump administration violated federal law when it tried to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program without adequately explaining why. The ruling overturns a lower court ruling a judge in Maryland made last year, which Trump had previously praised via Twitter. Friday’s ruling will not have any immediate effect as other fed...
Dutchman Travels Across 33 Countries on Electric Car
2019-04-18 22:49:36 UTC
Dutchman Wiebe Wakker on Sunday ended a 95,000 kilometer (59,000 mile) electric car journey that he hoped would show the world the viability of such vehicles. Wakker arrived in the eastern Australian city of Sydney after driving his retrofitted station wagon nicknamed "The Blue Bandit" across 33 countries including Turkey, Iran, India, Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia, with the route determined by the offers he received on his website. The trip started in the Netherlands and took just over three years. It was funded by public donations from around the globe, including electricity to charge the "Bandit," food and accommodation. "I wante...