The Greek Parliament approved another round of tough economic cuts and austerity measures Thursday to assure itself another installment payment of European bailout funds. Greece may have again faced bankruptcy in July without the payment. More cuts for pensioners All 153 lawmakers in Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ leftist coalition voted for the cuts; all 128…
read moreU.S. senators of both political parties said Thursday that the public’s window into federal probes involving Russia and related matters could be constrained now that a special counsel has been appointed to lead the probe. Senators spoke after meeting Thursday behind closed doors with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed former FBI Director Robert…
read moreU.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the nation’s economic growth can rise to 3 percent annually if taxes and regulations are cut. The Treasury secretary spoke Thursday to a Senate committee in his first congressional testimony since he was confirmed in the new job. Mnuchin’s boss, Donald Trump, says tax and regulatory reform will boost…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump’s administration says it has notified Congress it intends to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. In a letter sent Thursday to congressional leaders, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the administration plans 90 days of consultations with lawmakers over how to rewrite the agreement followed by…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday disparaged the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate his campaign’s links to Russian interests in last year’s presidential election, calling it “the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!” In a pair of early morning comments on his Twitter account, Trump complained that a special…
read moreOlder white Americans are nearly twice as likely as African-Americans to say they’ve saved enough for retirement, a new poll found. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey also found that African- Americans and Latinos have less financial security than whites and will rely on fewer sources of income during retirement. The retirement…
read moreDonald Trump Jr. traveled to Dubai and met a billionaire business partner in the city-state, discussing “new ideas” as the Emirati’s real estate firm still lists possible plans for future joint projects while Trump’s father is in the White House. The Trump Organization has said it won’t make new foreign deals while Donald Trump serves…
read moreMichael Flynn and other advisers to Donald Trump’s campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race, current and former U.S. officials familiar with the exchanges told Reuters. The previously undisclosed interactions form part of…
read moreDays before President Donald Trump took office, incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn blocked a military plan against the Islamic State group that was opposed by Turkey, a country he had been paid more than $500,000 to advocate for, the McClatchy News Service reported. According to the report, Flynn declined a request from the Obama…
read morePresident Donald Trump sets off on his first international trip Friday to the Middle East and Europe, no doubt hoping to leave behind a string of political firestorms that have raged for most of the past week over his firing of FBI Director James Comey, his sharing of classified intelligence with Russian officials, and reports…
read moreOn May 17, 1954, 63 years ago today, the social construct of the United States forever changed when the U.S. Supreme Court delivered its ruling in the case of Brown versus the Board of Education. “…we unanimously hold that separate but equal has no place in the U.S. Constitution.” Then chief Justice Earl Warren said that was…
read moreFor weeks, most Republican lawmakers limited their comments about the crisis-plagued Trump administration to vague expressions of concern — if they commented at all. That common stance began to shift late Tuesday after media reports surfaced that former FBI director James Comey had written memos alleging President Donald Trump pressured him to halt an investigation…
read moreU.S. stocks, the dollar, and government bonds were down in Wednesday’s midday trading as many analysts said investors have been shaken by a series of controversial actions and comments from President Donald Trump. The major U.S. stock indexes fell 1.1 percent or more. The faltering markets follow Trump’s firing of the FBI chief, sharing secrets…
read moreThe Trump administration is considering whether to send between 3,000 and 5,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan to try to break a stalemate in the 15-year war against the Taliban. Administration officials say President Donald Trump is likely to discuss a troop increase when he attends a NATO summit later this month. With some 350,000…
read moreThe hacker group behind the leak of cyber spying tools from the U.S. National Security Agency, which were used in last week’s “ransomware” cyberattack, says it has more code that it plans to start selling through a subscription service launching next month. The group known as Shadow Brokers posted a statement online Tuesday saying the…
read moreDevelopments on Tuesday concerning President Donald Trump, reports the president pushed former FBI Director James Comey to end the probe into fired National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, Trump’s upcoming travels to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican; and Trump’s visit with the Turkish president: White House Denies Reports That Trump Asked Comey to End Flynn…
read moreMexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said Tuesday that he expected U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to tell Congress early next week of plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, a move that would produce talks by late August. Guajardo said he would have more information after meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer…
read moreThe White House was in crisis mode yet again Tuesday after reports emerged claiming that President Donald Trump asked former FBI Director James Comey to shut down an investigation into Trump’s ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s ties to Russia. An administration statement said the reports aren’t true. But the claims raise new concerns that…
read moreThe U.S. Senate’s top Democrat called on the White House on Tuesday to provide a transcript of President Donald Trump’s meeting last week with Russian officials, in which the president himself has acknowledged sharing sensitive intelligence. The president took to Twitter early Tuesday, asserting he has “the absolute right” to share intelligence with Russia for…
read moreAfter meetings at the White House Tuesday, President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, praised the strength of the two countries’ relations, while at the same sidestepping their differences over strategies for confronting Islamic State extremists in northern Syria. Both Trump and Erdogan described bilateral ties as strong. “We’ve had a great…
read moreU.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster on Tuesday said information about terrorism and threats to international aviation that President Donald Trump shared with Russian diplomats last week was “wholly appropriate” and did not compromise U.S. intelligence sources. McMaster stood by his earlier statement that the premise of U.S. news accounts was false that Trump had…
read moreGreek seamen and journalists walked off the job Tuesday, a day before a nationwide general strike to protest new austerity measures the government is legislating for in return for more bailout funds. The seamen’s union announced Tuesday afternoon they would extend their strike, originally planned to last 48 hours, for a further two days, leaving…
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