Nancy Pelosi said she believes recent controversial words said by freshman congresswoman Ilhan Omar were ‘not based on any antisemitic attitude’. Omar, who in January became one of the first Muslim women to serve in Congress, said Israel’s supporters push lawmakers to pledge ‘allegiance to a foreign country’, a remark that was viewed as playing into the antisemitic cliche of ‘dual loyalty’
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Is the US-Mexico border already at breaking point?
February was the busiest month since April 2008 – but is the government equipped to respond to an influx of families?
The US Department of Homeland Security announced this week that February was the busiest month for apprehensions at the US-Mexico border since April 2008, a staggering increase driven by Central American families.
Related: Inside America's biggest facility for migrant teens
Continue reading...John Kelly says working for Trump was his ‘least enjoyable job’ – live
- Ex-chief of staff said Mulvaney should tell president ‘what he needs to hear’
- Paul Manafort to be sentenced Thursday afternoon
- Sign up for the US briefing and get a new perspective
Here’s our man! Trump offers a stout defense of his repeated payments to Michael Cohen, made after the latter paid two women “hush” money to not talk about alleged affairs with Trump.
Cohen has already been convicted of violating campaign finance laws by paying off actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
It was not a campaign contribution, and there were no violations of the campaign finance laws by me. Fake News!
So Michael Cohen could have talked himself into trouble with that very definite “no pardon” statement to the House oversight committee last week.
During the hearing Cohen was asked if he had requested a pardon from Donald Trump.
I have never asked for, nor would I accept, a pardon from Mr Trump.
During that time period, he directed his attorney to explore possibilities of a pardon at one point with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani as well as other lawyers advising President Trump.
Continue reading...‘Alarming’ Burkina Faso unrest threatens west African stability
Reach of extremist groups could spread to Ghana, Togo and Benin, says US military chief
A rapid and alarming deterioration of the security situation in Burkina Faso is threatening to spread to its three southern neighbours, a senior US military figure has warned, heralding the potential destabilisation of a vast area of west Africa.
Related: Kidnapped Canadian found dead, Burkina Faso officials say
Continue reading...R Kelly accused of sexually abusing 13-year-old girl in 2001 incident
New allegation comes as Kelly, who was recently arrested over 10 counts of sexual assault, returns to jail for failing to pay child support
A fresh allegation has been made against R Kelly, by an unnamed woman who says the R&B star sexually assaulted her when she was 13, and later infected her with herpes.
Police in Detroit are investigating the claims made by the woman, who says she and Kelly had sex at a hotel in the city in December 2001, and a few weeks later at a recording studio. The woman says she visited Kelly at his home over the next four years, eventually contracting herpes from him when she was 17.
Continue reading...North Korean film on Kim and Trump glosses over summit’s failure
Documentary about last week’s Hanoi meeting offers benign portrayal of US president
It fell short of Donald Trump’s claim that he and Kim Jong-un had “fallen in love”, but a new North Korean documentary suggests the leaders’ relationship is strong enough to survive last week’s doomed summit in Vietnam.
In keeping with the rest of the regime’s post-talks coverage, the film makes no mention of the summit’s premature end, the countries’ irreconcilable differences over sanctions or their conflicting accounts of why the US president and the North Korean leader parted without an agreement.
Continue reading...To deserve our respect, politicians must drop their populist rhetoric | Cas Mudde
Talk of ‘the people’ and ‘elites’ is everywhere, Guardian research has revealed. It’s time to drop this simplistic discourse
Interactive: the rise and rise of populist language
An exciting new research project by the Guardian and Team Populism shows empirically what many have asserted and felt: the world is getting more populist. Professor Kirk Hawkins, from Brigham Young University in Utah, and 46 researchers analysed 728 public addresses by 140 presidents and prime ministers in 40 countries, in Europe and the Americas. This is the largest comparative project of this nature I am aware of, and a treasure trove for academics and journalists.
The study shows not just that the number of populist leaders has doubled, but that the average populist content of political leaders’ speeches has doubled too. Where political speeches were on average “not populist” in 2004, they are approaching “somewhat populist” today. To be clear, most of the political leaders studied were “not populist”, but that is to be expected of this particular subset of politicians, ie national leaders. Even today, populism is still primarily a feature of political challengers, who were not included in this study.
Continue reading...Huawei sues US over government ban on its products
Chinese company files lawsuit claiming restriction is unlawful, harms consumers and violates constitution
Huawei is suing the US over a government ban on its products, raising the stakes in a protracted diplomatic incident between China, the US and Canada, where a senior Huawei executive is facing extradition.
In a statement on Thursday, the Chinese telecoms equipment and smartphone manufacturer said it had filed a lawsuit in the US district court in Plano, Texas, home to the company’s US headquarters, calling for the ban on US government agencies buying Huawei equipment or services to be overturned.
Continue reading...‘I was raped by a superior officer’: Senator Martha McSally on serving in air force – video
Martha McSally, the Arizona Republican senator, revealed during a Senate hearing on Wednesday that she had been raped by a superior officer while serving in the air force. McSally, the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat, said she did not report the assault because she did not trust the system and was ashamed and confused
Continue reading...Senator Martha McSally says she was raped while serving in air force
Arizona Republican, the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat, spoke about her experience during a Senate hearing Wednesday
Senator Martha McSally, the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat, has said she was raped in the air force by a superior officer.
The Arizona Republican, a 26-year military veteran, made the disclosure at a Senate hearing on Wednesday on the armed services’ efforts to prevent sexual assaults and improve the response when they occur.
Continue reading...Democrats bar Fox News from 2020 debates over ‘inappropriate’ Trump ties
DNC chairman says New Yorker exposé on Trump ties to Fox News cast doubt on network’s ability to hold ‘fair and neutral’ debates
The Democratic party’s governing body has announced it will not ask Fox News to host any of its televised primary debates during the 2020 US presidential race, citing a recent report detailing the conservative network’s close rapport with Donald Trump.
Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez said a New Yorker exposé on the depth of the Trump administration’s ties to Fox News cast doubt on the network’s capacity to hold a “fair and neutral” debate on the Democratic primaries. The decision was first reported by the Washington Post.
Continue reading...Michael Cohen gives new documents to House lawmakers
House intelligence chief hails ‘productive’ hearing as materials reportedly show edits by Trump’s legal team to Cohen’s past statement
Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer provided the US House intelligence committee with new documents and may hand over more, the panel’s chairman said after a day-long hearing behind closed doors.
The Democratic representative Adam Schiff told reporters that Michael Cohen was cooperative and the eight-hour hearing was “very productive”. He did not say what the new documents related to and declined to comment on the substance of Cohen’s testimony.
Continue reading...Increase in migrant detentions at US border reveals Trump’s policy failure
Experts say officials have failed to acknowledge violence and instability in Central America and say system of ‘metering’ is not working
A staggering increase in the number of families apprehended at the US-Mexico border in February has highlighted the Trump administration’s failure to respond to the rise in Central Americans seeking protection in the US.
In February, 66,450 people were apprehended at the US-Mexico border by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency announced on Tuesday – 17,800 more than were apprehended in January and double the number who were apprehended in February last year.
Continue reading...Democrats reject Fox News for 2020 debates over Trump relationship – as it happened
DNC chairman Tom Perez cited New Yorker exposé on depth of administration’s ‘inappropriate’ ties to news network
That’s all for today, folks. Thanks for sticking with us.
Leaked documents show that the US government established a secret database of advocates, attorneys, and journalists who were connected to or covered the caravan of immigrants from Central America who made their way north through Mexico to the United States southern border in 2018, NBC7 is reporting.
In some cases, those who were secretly tracked had alerts placed on their passports.
As the migrant caravan reached the San Ysidro Port of Entry in south San Diego County, so did journalists, attorneys, and advocates who were there to work and witness the events unfolding.
But in the months that followed, journalists who covered the caravan, as well as those who offered assistance to caravan members, said they felt they had become targets of intense inspections and scrutiny by border officials.
Continue reading...North Korea rebuilds part of launch site it promised the US it would dismantle
US national security adviser John Bolton warns US may ramp up sanctions if nuclear weapons program is not scrapped
North Korea has begun rebuilding a rocket launch site that had been partially dismantled as a goodwill gesture after the first summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in June last year.
Satellite images show the reconstruction work was carried out shortly before their failed second summit in Hanoi last week, and their publication on Tuesday evening contributed to fears that the peace effort was in jeopardy.
Continue reading...Michael Cohen’s lawyer reportedly sought pardon from Trump – live
An attorney for the president’s former fixer allegedly raised the possibility after FBI raided Cohen’s properties, Wall Street Journal report
Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer told Fox News that he will cooperate with the House investigation into Trump’s ties with Russia.
“There’s nothing that I have to hide,” he said in the interview.
Spicer: "There is nothing that I have to hide" pic.twitter.com/dXZsfyHw3z
California congressman Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has hired veteran prosecutor Daniel Goldman to join his panel’s investigation of the Trump Administration.
The New Yorker reported that Goldman, who served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 2007 to 2017, joined the committee’s staff as a senior adviser and the director of investigations. The committee is leading the House’s investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 Presidential campaign.
Continue reading...Rich, scandal-hit and populist: Czech leader Babiš to meet Trump
US president to host billionaire prime minister with whom he has much in common
The billionaire businessman-cum-politician at the White House on Thursday has become the most powerful man in his country by riding a wave of populist sentiment. Under investigation for alleged misdeeds involving his business empire, he has responded by painting himself as the victim of a political witch-hunt. He has attacked the leading investigator in his case in personal terms while, according to critics, stealthily seeking to hamper the inquiry. The role of his children has also come under scrutiny.
That description applies not just to Donald Trump, but also to Andrej Babiš, the Czech prime minister, who this week becomes the first Czech Republic leader in years to be hosted by a US president.
Continue reading...Kylie Jenner’s makeup makes her the world’s youngest billionaire
Youngest of the Kardashian-Jenner reality TV family tops Mark Zuckerberg by two years
Kylie Jenner, the youngest member of the Kardashian-Jenner American reality TV family, has become the world’s youngest billionaire at the age of just 21.
Jenner, who grew up under the watch of TV cameras filming Keeping Up with the Kardashians, was on Tuesday admitted to the “nine-zero” fortune club by Forbes. The business magazine ranked Jenner as the world’s 2,057th richest person. She became a billionaire two years younger than the Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, who took the title at the age of 23 in 2008.
Continue reading...Revealed: AmazonSmile helps fund anti-vaccine groups
Amazon’s charity arm allows shoppers to donate to an organization of their choosing – including anti-vaccine groups
Amazon appears to be helping fund anti-vaccine not-for-profit organizations through its charity arm, the AmazonSmile Foundation, the Guardian can reveal.
The AmazonSmile fundraising program – through which Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price of a shopper’s Amazon transactions to an organization of their choice – is promoted on the websites of four prominent anti-vaccine organizations: National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), Physicians for Informed Consent, Learn the Risk, and Age of Autism.
Continue reading...Senate set to reject Trump’s national emergency declaration
At least four Republicans say they will defy president’s move on the Mexican border designed to fund his wall
Donald Trump’s declaration of an emergency on the Mexican border will be rejected by the Senate, the most senior Republican in the US upper chamber has admitted.
The Democratic-controlled House has already voted to reject the national emergency declaration. A rejection in the Republican-controlled Senate would send a powerful signal that Trump’s control of his own party may be slipping.
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