Tag: president

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) - Most of U.S. President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans were silent on Monday as he intensified Twitter attacks on four Democratic congresswomen, prompting other Democrats to accuse Trump of racist rhetoric meant to further divide Americans. The president over the weekend said in a tweet that the four first-term minority congresswomen, known informally in the U.S. Congress as “the squad,” should “go back” to the “the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” On...

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s order that all federal agencies provide citizenship data to the Commerce Department could open a new legal front over whether states can redraw their voting maps based on citizenship status. Trump dropped the effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census on Thursday following a recent defeat in the U.S. Supreme Court. Instead, he ordered other federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration, to provide relevant...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. Congress moved on Monday to formally censure President Donald Trump’s attacks on four minority congresswomen as House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her party would introduce a resolution condemning his “xenophobic tweets.” The move could put Trump’s fellow Republicans in an awkward position, forcing them either to vote against their leader, who has strong support among conservative voters, or effectively defend his statements, widely described as racist. “Our Republican colleagues must...

(Reuters) - A U.S. congressional committee on Monday sought records from Education Secretary Betsy Devos relating to her use of private email accounts, expanding an investigation into how President Donald Trump’s top aides use unofficial messaging services to conduct government affairs. U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings, the Democratic chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, sent a letter to DeVos requesting copies of all messages relating to official government business she sent or received from private email accounts...

EU foreign ministers are meeting on Monday to discuss the latest developments concerning the Iran nuclear deal. They will try to flesh out a plan to convince Iran and the United States to ease tensions amid fears it could collapse. Tensions between the two countries have worsened since Donald Trump decided to pull out of the nuclear deal last year. Under the nuclear deal, negotiated by the Obama administration, Iran agreed to curtail its atomic programme in return for a cut...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. Congress moved on Monday to formally condemn President Donald Trump’s attacks on four minority congresswomen, while Trump doubled down, saying those who are unhappy with the United States “should leave.” Trump’s remarks were widely derided as racist and even some of his fellow Republicans spoke out against them. His Twitter messages on Sunday had said that four left-wing lawmakers, known in Congress as “the squad,” should go back to “the totally broken...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives will introduce a resolution condemning President Donald Trump’s “xenophobic tweets” that have led to charges that he was stoking racist sentiments, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Monday. “Our Republican colleagues must join us in condemning the president’s xenophobic tweets,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to her Democratic colleagues in the House. The letter was sent after Trump on Sunday wrote on Twitter that four first-term congresswomen, who are minorities,...

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has told aides and allies that he is considering removing Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross after a Supreme Court defeat on adding a citizenship question to the census, NBC News reported (nbcnews.to/2XPQJ4B) on Monday. Trump retreated on Thursday from adding a contentious question on citizenship to the 2020 census, but insisted he was not giving up his fight to count how many non-citizens are in the country and ordered government agencies to mine...

Paris is hosting the traditional fireworks on the Eiffel Tower on Sunday (July 14) to celebrate the French national day, Bastille Day. The fireworks start at 11PM CEST. Earlier in the day, French president Emmanuel Macron led the traditional military parade on the Champs Elysees. Bastille Day on July 14 commemorates the day the French people took over the Bastille prison in Paris in 1789, which led to the French revolution. Watch the Paris fireworks live from 11PM CEST by clicking on the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, the front-runner in the Democratic presidential race, unveiled a healthcare plan on Monday estimated to cost $750 billion and paid for partly by higher tax rates for the wealthy and doubled tax rates on capital gains. “The Biden plan to protect and build on the Affordable Care Act” seeks to strengthen the signature healthcare plan, popularly known as Obamacare, enacted under former Democratic President Barack Obama. Biden was Obama’s vice...

Less than 24 hours after his visit to a dangerously overcrowded and foul-smelling Texas Border Patrol facility holding hundreds of migrants in cages, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he doesn’t care if “these people” are held in detention for “400 days.” “I don’t care if they have to stay in these facilities for 400 days, we’re not going to let those men go that I saw,” Graham told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on this week’s edition of Sunday Morning Futures. “I...

(Reuters) - A proposal to prevent big technology companies from functioning as financial institutions or issuing digital currencies has been circulated for discussion by the Democratic majority that leads the House Financial Services Committee, according to a copy of the draft legislation seen by Reuters. In a sign of widening scrutiny after Facebook Inc’s (FB.O) proposed Libra digital coin aroused widespread objection, the bill proposes a fine of $1 million per day for violation of such rules. Such a...

France, Britain, and Germany say they fear the Iran 2015 nuclear deal is at risk of falling apart over escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf. In a joint statement, they called for a dialogue between all parties to resume: "The risks are such that it is necessary for all stakeholders to pause, and consider the possible consequences of their actions." "We believe that the time has come to act responsibly and to look for ways to stop the escalation of tension and...