Developments in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday include President Donald Trump sending out more tweets regarding a spat between Gulf Arab nations, saying Twitter is his way to get his “unfiltered message” to Americans, as well as Washington preparing for fired FBI Director James Comey’s upcoming testimony, and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley warning…
read moreU.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says President Donald Trump has asked him to push ahead with efforts to rebuild the U.S. relationship with Russia, and not let the political turmoil surrounding ongoing investigations impede him. Questions about the congressional and FBI investigations into possible cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russia to interfere with…
read moreStanding on the bluffs of Roma, Texas on a May afternoon two border patrol agents look out over the meandering Rio Grande River that separates Mexico from the United States and recall a time when the scene was far less tranquil. Last fall, during the waning months of the Obama administration, hundreds of immigrants crossed…
read moreThe U.S. and Mexican governments reached a new agreement to significantly shift their sugar trade mix, but U.S. sugar producers have failed to endorse the deal, leaving question marks over whether it could still sour broader trade relations. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the “agreement in principle” with Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo calls…
read moreMore international visitors came to the U.S. than expected in April 2017, according to a new report released Tuesday in Washington. The U.S. Travel Association’s Travel Trends Index shows that international travel to the U.S. grew by about 4 percent in April, compared with data for April 2016. The strong showing contradicted fears…
read moreLawmakers’ expectations varied as Capitol Hill braced for what promises to be a blockbuster event: Thursday’s testimony by former FBI director James Comey on the Russia probe and his interactions with President Donald Trump before he was fired last month. “This is an investigation into potential treason, potential espionage, potential obstruction of justice. It’s very,…
read moreThe European Union hopes six Balkan countries will agree at a summit on July 12 in Italy to create a regional common market that could be working within a year, a top EU official said Tuesday, in the bloc’s latest step to re-engage the region. The EU is eager to show it remains committed to…
read moreJames Comey’s appearance Thursday before the Senate intelligence committee, during which he’s expected to describe his encounters with President Donald Trump in the weeks before he was fired as FBI director, is one of the most anticipated congressional hearings in years. Trump has derisively characterized Comey as a “showboat.” While that’s hardly a label with…
read moreSouth Africa’s economy – one of Africa’s biggest – is in recession. A 0.7 percent decline in GDP in the first quarter of this year followed a 0.3 percent contraction in the last quarter of 2016, meeting the definition of a recession as two or more quarters of negative growth, the South African government said…
read moreThe number of job openings advertised in the United States hit a record high of six million in April. Tuesday’s report from Labor Department said the pace of hiring went down at the same time. Analysts say the apparent contradiction may show that employers are having difficulty finding workers with the right skills. Data about…
read moreSecretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday that President Donald Trump has asked him to rebuild the U.S. relationship with Russia and not allow the political turmoil over possible Russian ties to the Trump campaign to impede him. Tillerson said relations with Russia are at a low point and deteriorating, and Trump asked him to…
read moreMemo from legal experts to President Donald Trump on resurrecting his stalled travel ban: Put down Twitter. Trump’s 140-character musings Monday may have undercut his own efforts to persuade the Supreme Court to reinstate his revised travel ban, which Trump called a “watered-down, politically correct” version of what he’d originally sought. Just as Trump’s…
read moreJust days after launching a new political action committee, former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden will join Republican officials and donors at a weekend retreat hosted by former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Biden will be interviewed by Romney during a Friday evening event in Park City, Utah, at the invitation-only summit, according to…
read moreGlobal airlines made a full-throated defense of globalization on Monday at their largest annual gathering, vowing not to give up on climate change agreements and calling for a swift resolution of a diplomatic rift threatening air travel in the Middle East. Missing from the general meeting of the International Air Transport Association in Mexico was…
read moreThe U.S. Supreme Court on Monday scaled back the Securities and Exchange Commission’s power to recover ill-gotten profits from defendants’ misconduct, handing Wall Street firms a victory and dealing another blow to the regulator’s enforcement powers. In a 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court found that the SEC’s recovery remedy known as “disgorgement” is subject to…
read moreThe acting U.S. ambassador to China, David Rank, has abruptly resigned, telling colleagues he is leaving the foreign service over disagreements with President Donald Trump’s decision last week to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement. U.S. officials familiar with Rank’s resignation said he announced his retirement Monday at a town hall meeting…
read moreU.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Monday extended the deadline for U.S.-Mexico sugar trade negotiations by 24 hours, and sources on either side of the spat said U.S. industry added new demands after the governments struck a provisional deal. Ross said extra time was needed to complete “final technical consultations” for a deal. At stake…
read moreA top secret National Security Agency document shows Russian military intelligence tried to hack into U.S. voter registration systems before last year’s election, an online news service reports. The Intercept reports that according to the NSA, the attempts went on for months and lasted until just days before the November 8 vote. The targets were…
read moreThe Trump administration is considering letting companies use seismic air guns to look for oil and gas deposits below the Atlantic Ocean, outraging environmentalists and coastal towns and resorts. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says it has gotten five separate requests to carry out the operations. NOAA admits using the high-powered guns may…
read moreReligious hospitals don’t have to comply with federal laws protecting pension plans, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled Monday in a case that affects retirement benefits for roughly a million workers nationwide. The justices sided with three church-affiliated nonprofit hospital systems being sued for underfunding their employee pension plans. The hospitals — two with Catholic affiliation…
read moreDevelopments in Washington, D.C., over the weekend U.S.-Asia discussions in Singapore, President Donald Trump says the world needs to stop being “politically correct” in fighting terrorism, protests, for and against the president, demonstrate over the weekend, The New York Times says Trump will not prevent fired FBI Director James Comey from testifying to Congress this…
read moreThe Trump administration is considering possible sanctions on Venezuela’s vital energy sector, including state oil company PDVSA, senior White House officials said, in what would be a major escalation of U.S. efforts to pressure the country’s embattled leftist government amid a crackdown on the opposition. The idea of striking at the core of Venezuela’s economy,…
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