Tag: election

The race for the EU's top job was supposed to be clear cut. In the run-up to May's elections, European political parties nominated their candidate to be the next president of the European Commission. The idea behind the so-called Spitzenkandidaten process is that whoever got the biggest share of the vote would also get their hands on the EU's top job. It's part of a drive to promote democracy and was used to usher in Jean-Claude Juncker as European Commission president...

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s campaign on Tuesday kicks off its efforts to woo women voters, banking that a strong economic message will energize a voting bloc that has been largely critical of his presidency. Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, will launch “Women for Trump,” a coalition dedicated to recruiting and activating women in support of the Republican president’s re-election in November 2020. The event is being held in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, an upscale community in...

Europe faces a summer of institutional infighting if Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen fails to secure the necessary support in today’s confirmation vote in the European Parliament. If MEPs reject her candidacy, the European Council has 30 days to propose a new nominee. But with time running out to solve urgent issues, including Brexit, European leaders will be keen to move quickly to avoid political logjam. An emergency EU summit would likely be convened within days to find a replacement for the...

MEPs will decide today whether to approve the appointment of German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen as the next president of the European Commission. Von der Leyen is expected to address the European Parliament at 9 am CEST, followed by a debate and a secret ballot at 6 pm. You can watch live in the video player, above. Von der Leyen will need 374 votes to be elected president and succeed Jean-Claude Juncker. If MEPs reject...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his attacks against four first-year Democratic congresswomen on Monday after earlier telling them to “go back” to the “places from which they came” in a series of weekend tweets that Democrats and other critics called racist. Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress have had little public reaction to Trump’s tweets that appeared set to further stoke racial division and fuel tension on ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Trump did not mention...

Kenyans, Americans, a Briton and Tanzanians were among 26 people killed when Islamist gunmen stormed a hotel in the Somali port city of Kismayo, officials said on Saturday, the deadliest attack in the city since insurgents were driven out in 2012. A car bomb exploded at the hotel in the southern port city while local elders and MPs were meeting on Friday night, before three gunmen stormed in, police said. Security forces took 11 hours to end the siege, they...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. House committees will delay former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s planned July 17 testimony for one week to allow lawmakers to question him for a longer period of time, the committees said on Friday. Mueller, who oversaw the federal investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, is now scheduled to testify on July 24 before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees, the panels’ chairmen said in a statement. Under the new...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Kamala Harris on Thursday pledged the nation’s backlog of rape kits needing review would be processed by the end of her first four-year term if elected president. Harris estimated she would invest $1 billion to eliminate the backlog, which she said would cover an estimated 225,000 kits that remain untested. Rape kits are collected when a victim reports an assault and DNA or other physical evidence is collected. State...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller will testify before two U.S. House of Representatives committees on July 24, one week later than originally scheduled, the chairmen of the panels said in a statement on Friday. Mueller, who investigated Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, has agreed to appear for “an extended period of time,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said. Mueller had been scheduled to appear for...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. House committees are considering a one-week delay for former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s planned July 17 testimony to allow more time for lawmakers to question him, sources told Reuters on Friday. Mueller, who oversaw the federal investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, may now testify July 24, sources familiar with the plan said on the condition of anonymity while talks continue. Mueller was scheduled to appear on Wednesday...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Amy Klobuchar unveiled a new plan on Friday to help lower the cost of pharmaceuticals purchased by seniors in the wake of the White House scrapping its own ambitious drug cost plan. Klobuchar’s proposal, which is also designed to invest in research for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease and improving the stability of Social Security, would allow the government to negotiate Medicare Part D costs, which cover prescriptions for seniors. Klobuchar, a...

Less than one percent of elected officials in the United States are openly LGBTQ. According to The Victory Institute, in terms of LGBTQ representation, we have: • 1 governor • 7 members of Congress • 4 statewide elected officials • 37 mayors • 123 state lawmakers • 306 local officials • 95 judicial elected officials That’s a total of 573 LGBTQ elected officials in the entire country which breaks down to 0.11% of all public offices. With a record number of LGBTQ candidates running for office this year, that...

Oh Russia, sending us mixed signals again? It’s nearing close to election time in the Country of Russia with votes set to start in September, and a new interesting video has popped up ahead of that time. According to GayStarNews, no one knows where the now viral election video came from for sure, but several people have guessed that it’s the work of the local government. The video itself, which you can watch below, shows two men discussing the upcoming election. The...

Hasan Atik's nomination comes at a time when the situation for LGBTI people in Turkey is 'deteriorating' An openly gay man has been nominated to run for a seat in Turkey’s upcoming snap elections. The People’s Democratic Party (HDP) included Hasan Atik on its list of candidates for the 24 June election. Atik has long campaigned for LGBTI and HIV rights. He will run for a seat in the north-west province of Edirne. The HDP is a left-leaning political group, known to be...