List of All Articles with Tag 'pol'

Former US vice president Mike Pence officially announced that he is running for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, putting him up against former president Donald Trump. In a speech in Iowa on his 64th birthday, Mr Pence trod a fine line between embracing the record of the Trump administration and attacking Mr Trump for his role in the deadly Capitol riot of 6 January 2021. In a CNN town hall on Wednesday evening, Mr Pence reasserted his conservative culture war credentials on abortion, gun rights, crime, school choice, and climate change. When asked about his estranged former boss, he called on the Department of Justice not to prosecute Mr Trump for his alleged mishandling of classified documents, immediately after saying that everyone should be treated equally under the law. Significantly, he refused to say he would pardon the ex-president if he won the White House. In an increasingly crowded GOP field, Mr Pence faces competition from the likes of Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, senator Tim Scott and ex-UN ambassador Nikki Haley. Today, Mike and former second lady Karen Pence celebrate their 38th wedding anniversary. Read More Mike Pence isn’t even a contender for 2024. Why are we pretending? Mike Pence suffered the wrath of Trump. Now the ex-vice president wants his old boss’s job in 2024 The Republican presidential field is largely set. Here are takeaways on where the contest stands.

In a victory for voting rights and Alabama voters, the US Supreme Court has ruled that the state likely violated the Voting Rights Act with a congressional redistricting plan that diluted the voting power of Black voters. The state likely discriminated against Black voters with a newly drafted map that packs most of the state’s Black residents into a single district, out of seven, despite Black residents making up 27 per cent of the state’s population. A key ruling in the case of Allen v Milligan means that the state will have to re-draw its congressional map to include a second majority-Black district. The surprise 5-4 decision on the conservative-majority panel was written by Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by liberal Justices Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor, with partial but crucial concurrence from conservative Brett Kavanaugh. In January, a lower court determined that the map significantly dilutes Black residents’ political power and ordered the state to draw new political boundaries that would create at least two districts in which Black voters would be more likely to elect a representative that more closely resembles the state’s demographics. The Voting Rights Act was drafted to prevent that kind of race-based dilution of Black voters. But attorneys for the state argued the opposite – that considering race to redraw political boundaries would mark an unconstitutional consideration of “racial targets” and “race-based sorting”, in violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. A decision that sided with Alabama attorneys would have radically reduced Black voters’ political power and landed a critical blow to a state with a long history of racist violence and discrimination. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act prohibits voting laws and election policies from discriminating on the basis of race. The state’s suggestion that “race should play no role whatsoever” to determine whether redistricting plans violate Section 2 would “rewrite” the law and “overturn decades of settled precedent,” according to the map’s challengers. Attorneys for President Joe Biden’s administration argue that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act should be considered when “pervasive racial politics would otherwise deny minority voters equal electoral opportunities.” The map’s challengers argued that is precisely what is at stake in Alabama. This is a developing story Read More Main suspect in 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway due to be extradited to US Alabama senator says Space Command prefers Huntsville for HQ, but command has no comment Missouri governor signs ban on transgender health care, school sports

The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with Jack Daniel's in a dispute over a poop-themed dog toy that parodies its iconic liquor bottle.

As wildfires rage in Canada, a view from one of the most polluted cities in the world.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has called on states to join him to adopt a 28th Amendment to the US Constitution that would enshrine constitutional protections and gun safety measures while preserving the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms. His proposal – which would require a convention of the states, with two-thirds of all state legislatures joining in support – would raise the federal minimum age to purchase a firearm to 21, mandate universal background checks and a “reasonable” waiting period for buying a gun, and prohibit all civilian purchases of assault weapons “that serve no other purpose than to kill as many people as possible in a short amount of time – weapons of war our nation’s founders never foresaw,” according to the governor’s office. “Our ability to make a more perfect union is literally written into the Constitution,” according to a statement from the Democratic governor of the nation’s most-populous state. “The 28th Amendment will enshrine in the Constitution common sense gun safety measures that Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and gun owners overwhelmingly support – while leaving the [Second Amendment] unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition,” he added. It’s a long-shot effort in a nation dominated by Republican-led state legislatures and a resistance to adopting gun safety measures widely supported by most Americans. A federal ban on so-called assault weapons expired in 2004, and congressional Republicans have refused to revive it, even as public massacres and mass shootings with AR-style rifles have surged. More than 18,000 people have died from gun violence, including suicide, in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. There have been at least 279 mass shootings, in which at least four people were killed or wounded, as of 8 June. The nation is on pace to hit a record number of mass killings in 2023, with an average of one every week. This is a developing story Read More DeSantis defends flying migrants to California as he meets with sheriffs near border Florida officials share video boasting of role in California migrant flights Gavin Newsom suggests kidnap charges over Ron DeSantis’s migrant flights

With toxic air quality in parts of North America likely to persist, here's what you can do to stay safe.

By Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Pakistan's ousted former prime minister Imran Khan secured bail on Thursday from the Islamabad High

The vice presidency can be a stepping stone to the presidency. Just ask Joe Biden, who found that serving as Barack Obama's No. 2 was the ticket to winning his party's nomination for president after two unsuccessful attempts.

Governor Ron DeSantis has presided over a period of eye-catching growth for Florida’s $1.1 trillion economy. He’s betting

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited flood-devastated Kherson as authorities said some 600 square kilometers (230 square miles) of

When United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visits the White House on Thursday, he hopes a shared perspective on Ukraine and a new push for economic partnership can reinforce what has been a steady, if rather business-like, working relationship.

President Joe Biden will announce a slew of actions Thursday aimed at protecting the LGBTQ+ community ahead of hosting what White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden called "the largest Pride celebration in White House history."