Ninety-nine days into office President Donald Trump jetted into Atlanta, Georgia on Friday to address the National Rifle Association, earning a triumphant welcome from the hugely powerful US gun lobby. Republican candidates have often jostled to the doors of the organization that prides itself on its ability to influence American elections. But for a sitting … Read more
Ninety-nine days after taking office, President Donald Trump on Friday is set to address the National Rifle Association, the hugely powerful US gun lobby that will surely give him a triumphant welcome. The event will be heavy with symbolism. Republican candidates jostling to the doors of the organization that prides itself on its ability to … Read more
After moving to unstitch climate change rules, US President Donald Trump Wednesday opened the door to undoing the federally protected status of some of America’s vast nature preserves. He signed an executive order reviewing decisions by predecessors Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton to designate public land a “national monument” under a 1906 … Read more
After moving to unstitch climate change rules, US President Donald Trump is turning his sights on America’s vast nature preserves, with a view to possibly lifting federal protections brought in over the past two decades. On Wednesday, he is to sign an executive order reviewing decisions by predecessors Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill … Read more
Bill O’Reilly: the career firebrand who went down in flames The career of Bill O’Reilly at Fox News went up in flames Wednesday, a fiery end to as combustible a figure as television news has ever generated. The cause was self-immolation. After decades of two-fisted commentary from his perch behind the desk of “The O’Reilly … Read more
The man convicted in the infamous New York kidnap and murder of a six-year-old boy almost 40 years ago was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison on Tuesday. In case that still haunts US parents and forever changed the handling of child abductions, Etan Patz vanished on May 25, 1979 after leaving his … Read more
Legendary US comedian Don Rickles, who was known for his biting wit that spared no one, died on Thursday from kidney failure at his Los Angeles home, his publicist said. He was 90 years old. Rickles, throughout his career that spanned decades, often appeared on late-night television shows and also headlined nightclubs and casino shows … Read more
Gay rights advocates Wednesday hailed a first-of-its-kind federal appeals court ruling that employers cannot discriminate based on sexual orientation. The ruling Tuesday by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago expanded the 1967 Civil Rights Act’s protections against gender discrimination to include LGBT employees in the workplace. It conflicts with an Atlanta appellate court … Read more
The US has withdrawn funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), an agency that promotes family planning in more than 150 countries. The state department said the UNFPA “supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilisation”. This is the first of the promised cuts to US financial … Read more
The US has withdrawn funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), an agency that promotes family planning in more than 150 countries. The state department said the UNFPA “supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilisation”. This is the first of the promised cuts to US financial … Read more
Transitioning from businessman to politician has been tough for Donald Trump. The billionaire dealmaker promised sweeping-change-made-easy as president, but now finds himself facing fierce opposition in the Congress and the courts. It’s a basic civics lesson most school kids know by heart but one that Trump has had to re-learn the hard way: under the … Read more
After a crushing defeat in the effort to repeal Obamacare, the Trump administration is hoping for smoother sailing on tax reform, expecting this will be less divisive among Republican party factions. “Health care is a very, very complicated issue. In a way (taxes are) a lot simpler,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Friday. And Vice … Read more
Thirty-five years ago on Monday, Richard Nixon’s re-election campaign approved plans to bug Democratic Party offices at the Watergate complex, setting in motion the most notorious political scandal in US history. Five members of the covert “White House Plumbers” taskforce were arrested six weeks later burglarizing the building in Washington, and FBI agents established that … Read more
US actor Tom Hanks gave White House journalists a new espresso machine Thursday, calling their caffeine-addled plight to cover the news a fight for “truth, justice, and the American way.” The actor’s gift comes amid President Donald Trump’s feud with the US media, which he frequently blasts with insults and accuses of bias. Hanks has … Read more
“The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have … Read more
US President, Donald Trump, has announced he will not attend the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on 29 April. The glitzy event draws celebrities, journalists and politicians, normally including the US president. Mr. Trump said he would not attend a day after the White House excluded several major broadcasters and newspapers from a press briefing. … Read more
US President Donald Trump has vowed to start building a wall on the Mexican border “soon, way ahead of schedule”, in a speech at a conservative event. Addressing the Conservative Political Action Congress (CPAC), he vowed to always put American citizens first and build a “great, great border wall”. He also promised to focus on … Read more
Norma McCorvey, whose test case made abortions legal in the United States, has died aged 69. She was represented under a pseudonym in the Roe v Wade case, in what ended up being a landmark and controversial Supreme Court judgement in 1973. Having turned to religion, McCorvey then said being part of the decision to … Read more
After a turbulent four weeks as president of the United States, Donald Trump’s frustration finally burst out. The stately walls of the East Room trembled Thursday as the 45th president unleashed a torrent of words, attacking in turn the media, the judiciary and Democrats he accused of undermining his presidency. The real estate tycoon mounted … Read more
The United States and Russia may be on the verge of a new arms race in Europe, decades after the missile crisis that shook the Old Continent in the waning years of the Soviet Union. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he would like to build warmer ties with Moscow, but in Europe tensions have … Read more