Politics

Attacks on Saudi Oil Field Knock Out Half of Its Output
2019-09-15 07:21:05 UTC
RIYADH/DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group said it attacked two plants at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry on Saturday, knocking out more than half the Kingdom’s output, in a move expected to send oil prices soaring and increase tensions in the Middle East. The attacks will cut the kingdom’s output by 5.7 million barrels per day (bpd), according to a statement from state-run oil company Saudi Aramco, or more than 5% of global oil supply. The pre-dawn strikes follow earlier cross-border attacks on Saudi oil installations and on oil tankers in Gulf waters, but these were the most brazen yet, temporarily c...
The Latest Allegation of Assault Against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh
2019-09-16 17:32:12 UTC
Ms. Deborah Ramirez's claims against U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh about an incident that happened while the two were at Yale University has been echoed in a previously unreported allegation about Kavanaugh shared by another Yale classmate. <blockquote><img alt="Kavanaugh_i_am_innocent_but_don't_investigate_me" src="/system/images/22234/original/Kavanaugh_I_am_innocent_but_don't_investigate_me.gif?1538088699" /> Dr Christine Blasey Ford says Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school</blockquote><hr> New York Times reporters Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly...
2 Million More Americans Without Health Insurance
2019-09-10 19:07:40 UTC
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The share of Americans without health insurance rose for the first time in a decade last year and U.S. household income barely rose, according to a government report on Tuesday that laid bare issues that could become central to the U.S. presidential election next year. About 27.5 million residents, or 8.5% of people, did not have health insurance in 2018, an almost 2 million increase from the year before when 7.9% of people lacked coverage, the Census bureau said. It was the first year-to-year increase in the percentage of uninsured people since the Great Recession. The Trump administration has taken a series o...
Trump Abruptly Fired His National Security Adviser Bolton
2019-09-10 17:48:46 UTC
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump fired abruptly his national security adviser John Bolton, saying on Tuesday he had serious policy disagreements with his hardline aide. “I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House. I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration,” Trump tweeted, adding that he would name a replacement next week. Bolton offered a slightly different version of events than Trump, saying: "I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, 'Let's talk about it tomorrow.'" Bolton reiterated the point that it was he who ...
House Panel to Vote on Trump's Impeachment Probe
2019-09-10 01:58:21 UTC
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee said on Monday it will consider steps this week to formalize an investigation that could lead to the impeachment of President Donald Trump. The panel, which hopes to decide whether to recommend Trump’s impeachment to the full House by year-end, will meet on Thursday to consider a resolution that Democratic panel aides said would better align the inquiry with formal ones of the past. House Democrats have broadly ramped up investigation of Trump as they returned from summer recess on Monday and unveiled an inquiry into reports that he pressured ...
Boris Johnson's Brexit Dilemma
2019-09-10 01:33:31 UTC
Brexit, the UK’s most significant geopolitical move in decades, remains in question more than three years since the 2016 referendum, with possible outcomes ranging from an exit on Oct. 31 without a withdrawal agreement to smooth the transition, to abandoning the whole endeavour. LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday he would not request an extension to Brexit, hours after a law came into force demanding that he delay Britain’s departure from the European Union until 2020 unless he can strike a divorce deal. For the second time in a week, lawmakers rejected Johnson’s request to try and break the deadlock thro...
Irish PM: We Need a Single Irish Economic Zone
2019-09-08 18:15:51 UTC
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar plans to discuss whether regulatory alignment between Ireland and Northern Ireland might form the basis of a Brexit deal when he meets British counterpart Boris Johnson on Monday. But Varadkar said a breakthrough was unlikely during Monday’s talks with the EU summit on Oct. 17-18 providing the most likely venue for any agreement. Talks to secure an orderly British exit from the European Union have floundered on the question of how to avoid infrastructure along the border between EU member Ireland and the British region of Northern Ireland. The so-called “backstop” protocol in th...
UK's Johnson Loses Control
2019-09-07 01:55:13 UTC
LONDON (Reuters) - The British parliament voted on Wednesday to prevent Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking Britain out of the European Union without a deal on Oct. 31, but rejected his first bid to call a snap election two weeks before the scheduled exit. After wresting control of the day’s parliamentary agenda from Johnson, the House of Commons backed a bill that would force the government to request a three-month Brexit delay rather than leave without a divorce agreement. Opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn said he would agree to hold an early election once the bill passed the upper house of parliament, the House of Lords...
Hurricane Dorian Shows We Are Losing the Fight Against Global Warming
2019-09-01 22:29:33 UTC
As Hurricane Dorian churns its way through the Atlantic, we need to recognize that climate change can make any hurricane more intense and Category 5 hurricanes more likely. Burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas, release carbon dioxide and methane into Earth’s atmosphere. These gases trap heat, which means that globally, both air temperatures as well as water temperatures have increased and are continuing to increase. Warmer air leads to more evaporation, which in turn leads to more precipitation. Then the warmer water provides more fuel for the hurricanes. Water has very high heat capacity, which means it’s ...
Recession Fears Escalate
2019-08-14 19:02:04 UTC
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street stumbled on Wednesday as investors fled equities for safe-haven assets, seeking shelter amid gathering signs that a recession could be on the horizon. All three major U.S. indexes were sharply lower as short- and long-dated Treasury yields inverted for the first time in 12 years, a potential signal of imminent recession. Elsewhere, ominous indicators suggested a faltering global economy, hobbled by the intensifying U.S.-China trade war, Brexit jitters and geopolitical concerns. Germany reported a contraction in second-quarter GDP, and China’s industrial growth in July hit a 17-year low. “Every cent...
Pelosi: US, UK Trade deal Won't Pass Congress if Good Friday pact Is Undermined
2019-08-14 16:02:03 UTC
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - There is no chance that a trade agreement between the United States and Britain will pass Congress if Brexit undermines the Good Friday peace accord between Ireland and Northern Ireland, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday. “Whatever form it takes, Brexit cannot be allowed to imperil the Good Friday Agreement, including the seamless border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland,” Pelosi said in a statement. “If Brexit undermines the Good Friday accord, there will be no chance of a U.S.-UK trade agreement passing the Congress,” the Democratic head of the U.S. House of Representatives added...
US, UK Seek Quick Post-Brexit Trade Deal
2019-08-13 18:20:56 UTC
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain and the United States are discussing a partial trade accord that could take effect on Nov. 1, the day after Britain is due to leave the European Union, a senior Trump administration official said on Tuesday. The official also said visiting U.S. national security adviser John Bolton and British trade minister Liz Truss had discussed the possibility of the two countries’ leaders signing a road map declaration toward a trade deal at this month’s G7 summit meeting in France. The official told reporters that Bolton and British finance minister Sajid Javid had discussed the possibility of a temporary trade agreem...
US Seeks to Cut Legal Immigration by Half
2019-08-13 01:28:48 UTC
(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration unveiled a sweeping rule on Monday that some experts say could cut legal immigration in half by denying visas and permanent residency to hundreds of thousands of people for being too poor. The long-anticipated rule, pushed by Trump’s leading aide on immigration, Stephen Miller, takes effect Oct. 15. It would reject applicants for temporary or permanent visas if they fail to meet high enough income standards or if they receive public assistance such as welfare, food stamps, public housing or Medicaid. “The Trump administration is trying to bypass Congress and implement its own m...
US will "Enthusiastically Support a No-Deal Brexit"
2019-08-12 19:04:58 UTC
LONDON (Reuters) - The United States would enthusiastically support a no-deal Brexit if that is what the British government decided to do, U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said on Monday during a visit to London aimed at reassuring Britain over UK-U.S. ties. Bolton told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that President Donald Trump wants to see a successful British exit from the European Union on Oct. 31 and that Washington will be ready to work fast on a U.S.-UK free trade agreement. Johnson wants the EU to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s exit ahead of an Oct. 31 departure date, but the EU says it will not alter the p...
Russia Asks Google to Stop Advertising “Illegal Mass Events”
2019-08-11 16:07:42 UTC
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia’s state communications watchdog said on Sunday it had asked Google to stop advertising “illegal mass events” on its YouTube video platform. Tens of thousands of Russians staged what observers called the country’s biggest political protest for eight years on Saturday, defying a crackdown to demand free elections to Moscow’s city legislature. The watchdog, Roscomnadzor, said Russia would consider it interference in its sovereign affairs and a hostile influence should Google fails to respond to the request. Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Janet Lawrence
No-Deal Brexit Could Lead to United Ireland
2019-07-28 00:33:47 UTC
Dublin — A no-deal Brexit could lead to a united Ireland as more people in Northern Ireland would "come to question the union" with Britain, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has said, AFP reports. His comments came after new British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the current Brexit deal was unacceptable and set preparations for leaving the EU without an agreement as a "top priority" for his right-wing government. Tension around the withdrawal deal centres on the so-called Irish backstop -- a mechanism designed to preserve the bloc's single market and prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. Varadk...
No-Deal Brexit Would Cause Severe Damage to UK
2019-07-29 03:42:16 UTC
A no-deal Brexit would cause “severe” damage to UK businesses, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the lobby group, told BBC that quitting the EU without an agreement should be an option “that is not even considered”. Claims that firms are ready for a no-deal scenario are “just not true”, she added. <blockquote><img alt="No-deal_brexit_would_cause_severe_damage_to_uk" src="/system/images/22503/original/No-Deal_Brexit_Would_Cause_Severe_Damage_to_UK.jpg?1564271696" /> Carolyn Fairbairn is director-general of the Confederation of British Industry - CBI - and former non-ex...
Trump Is "Spewing Fascist Ideology"
2019-07-18 18:51:16 UTC
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chants of “send her back” by supporters of President Donald Trump, attacking Somali-born U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, triggered a wave of concern among congressional Republicans on Thursday, while Omar said Trump was “spewing fascist ideology.” Alarmed that the inflammatory chant might become a theme of the 2020 election campaign, Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives discussed the potential political risks at a breakfast with Vice President Mike Pence, according to Representative Mark Walker of North Carolina. “We cannot be defined by this,” said Walker, telling reporters that he raised th...
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...
House Condemns Trump's Racist Attack on Congresswomen
2019-07-17 05:39:58 UTC
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to condemn President Donald Trump for “racist comments” against four minority Democratic congresswomen, a symbolic vote aimed at shaming Trump and his fellow Republicans who stood by him. Tempers flared in the hours leading up to the vote that mainly split along party lines, the culmination of three days of outrage sparked by a Trump tweetstorm that diverted attention from all other business in Washington. Trump had told the group of congresswomen to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” All four lawmakers ...
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...
We Need to Embrace Progressive Agenda, Not Trump Voters, Say 2020 Democratic Hopefuls
2019-07-14 23:13:09 UTC
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren told a room full of liberal activists on Saturday that the party needs to fully embrace polices such as higher taxes on the wealthy, wiping out student loan debt and criminal justice reform if they want to win the White House. The 70-year-old U.S. senator from Massachusetts said these ideas are not only supported by the activists gathered at the Netroots Nation conference in Philadelphia, the largest annual gathering of progressives in the United States, but by large majorities of the American public. “The progressive agenda is the American agenda,” she said . ...
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....