List of All Articles with Tag 'pol'

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday rejected calls to further subsidize public-transit operators, while slashing funding for new

California is facing a deeper deficit than projected at the beginning of the year as the fortunes of

South Carolina's Republican Gov. Henry McMaster has called the state legislature back for a special session Tuesday to continue to work on a bill that would ban most abortions as early as six weeks and other legislation.

China will send a special envoy to Kyiv on Monday, marking the first high-level visit from the Chinese

President Joe Biden is coming under sustained pressure from both sides of the aisle over the administration's handling of the expiration of Title 42, the controversial Trump-era pandemic public health restriction that became a key tool to turn back migrants at the US-Mexico border.

Just call it bovine intervention.

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group has denounced as "baseless lies" reports that one of Syria’s most well-known drug dealers, who was killed earlier this week in an airstrike near the Jordanian border, was linked to the Iran-backed group. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's televised speech on Friday came four days after the rare strike that some Syrian opposition activists claimed was carried out by Jordan’s air force. The activists and a war monitor said the amphetamine Captagon kingpin killed Monday was among the most wanted by Jordanian authorities for drug smuggling across the border with the backing of a small militia. Syrian activists say Merhi al-Ramthan, who was killed with his wife and six children, worked closely with militias linked to Syrian President Bashar Assad and Iran-backed Hezbollah. Western governments estimate that Captagon has generated billions of dollars in revenue for Assad, his Syrian associates and allies. Damascus has denied the accusations. “Had we been making billions of dollars it would have been noticed,” Nasrallah joked about the charges. Speaking about linking al-Ramthan to Hezbollah, Nasrallah said “these are lies and unjust charges.” Nasrallah added that had it not been for Hezbollah’s help, the Lebanese state would not have been able to carry out raids against drug dealers in Lebanon. Hezbollah enjoys wide influence in northeast Lebanon, a region that for decades has been a center of drug production. Monday’s strike in southern Syria that killed al-Ramthan and another that destroyed a factory came a day after Arab governments reinstated Syria to the Arab League following the country’s suspension for its crackdown on protests that ultimately led to a lengthy civil war. As Arab governments gradually restore ties with Damascus, one of the key topics of discussion has been Syria’s illicit drug industry, which has flourished during the ongoing conflict — especially the illegal amphetamine Captagon. “These are baseless lies. For us Captagon and other types of drugs are religiously prohibited,” said Nasrallah, a Shiite Muslim cleric and major political figure in Lebanon. Speaking about reconciliation between Syria and oil-rich Arab countries, Nasrallah said anti-Syrian politicians in Lebanon are “disconnected from reality” and are working to keep Beirut’s relations with Damascus cold. “It is in Lebanon’s interest to fix relations with Syria,” Nasrallah said, adding that the Lebanese government should send a high-ranking delegation to Damascus to discuss ways to address the refugee crisis that has pushed hundreds of thousands of Syrians to flee into in Lebanon. Sentiments against Syrian refugees have been rising in Lebanon since the country’s massive economic meltdown that started in 2019 that has left three quarters of the Lebanese population living in poverty. Hezbollah sent thousands of fighters to battle alongside Syrian government forces during the 12-year war, helping tip the balance of power in Assad’s favor. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Inflation in Argentina leaves familes struggling to feed themselves Nissan reports surging profit amid strong sales, easing chip crunch Arab governments vote for Syria's return to the Arab League

Newly released audio reveals that Republican Congressman George Santos allegedly attempted to solicit a payment from journalists for appearing in a documentary. Filmmaker Blake Zeff and a production team were developing a project involving Mr Santos, but decided to scrap the project after they realised the congressman would be expecting "lots" of money, he said. Mr Zeff recorded conversations between his team and Mr Santos while planning the project. During negotiations, which Mr Zeff shared on MSNBC, Mr Santos allegedly asked what the project will mean for him "monetarily." "Look, I don't have a number in my head," Mr Santos appears to say in the recordings. “Like, the fact that I’m having these conversations, these are conversations I never in a million years thought I would be having. But when in Rome, you know, let’s have the conversations.” Mr Zeff said later that Mr Santos' request to be paid for participating in the documentary was not illegal, but it was "not common" — and unethical — for a journalist to pay a subject for their involvement. The Independent has reached out to Mr Santos for comment. The audio resurfaced shortly after Mr Santos was indicted on 13 federal charges that include fraud, lying about his personal finances, and misuse of campaign finance funds. Mr Santos pleaded not guilty to the charges on Wednesday after surrendering himself into custody earlier that morning. He has been charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives, according to the DOJ. After entering his plea, Mr Santos was released on a $500,000 bond. The conditions of his release include random monitoring at his home, submission to pre-trial services, and a requirement that he relinquish his passport. He has also been prohibited from traveling outside of New York state and Washington DC without prior court approval. His next court date is scheduled for 30 June. Mr Santos claimed that the charges were "inaccurate" and expressed confidence that he would be found innocent. Some of his Republican allies seem to lack the same confidence; House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters after the charges dropped that "I'm not gonna support Santos" in his upcoming re-election bid. "I think he's got some other things to focus on in this life than running for stuff," Mr McCarthy said, according to NBC News. The House Speaker stopped short of calling for Mr Santos' resignation. Read More NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week McCarthy says he will not back George Santos re-election bid after arrest George Santos inks deal to avoid prosecution in Brazil over bad checks George Santos: McCarthy changes tune to say he will not back Santos re-election bid after arrest George Santos inks deal to avoid prosecution in Brazil over bad checks George Santos voting on employment fraud bill – 24 hours after being arrested for employment fraud

The US will bolster its defensive posture with heightened patrols in the Persian Gulf after destabilizing actions by Iran this past month to interfere with and seize commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz and other strategic waterways, according to a US National Security Council spokesperson.

A federal judge late Thursday night temporarily blocked one of the Biden's administration's key tools to try to manage the number of migrants in US Customs and Border Protection custody.

An unaccompanied Honduran teen housed at a Florida shelter died Wednesday while under the care of the US Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement, according to a congressional notice obtained by CNN on Friday.

Donald Trump has defended CNN over his chaotic town hall appearance on Wednesday evening, saying the network did “the right thing” by giving him a mainstream media platform. The former president has also begun his appeal against the verdict in the E Jean Carroll case after he was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation earlier this week. Ms Carroll, 79, has meanwhile said she may sue Mr Trump for a third time over his “vile” comments during Wednesday’s broadcast, telling The New York Times that his comments were “just stupid, it’s just disgusting, vile, foul, it wounds people”. Her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, told the newspaper: “Everything’s on the table, obviously, and we have to give serious consideration to it.” CNN CEO Chris Licht praised moderator Kaitlan Collins on Thursday for her “masterful performance last night” during an editorial call with network staff, batting away criticism of her failure to bring Mr Trump to heel. “America was served very well by what we did last night,” Licht said, according to media reporter Brian Stelter, who suggested that many of the company’s own employees might not agree with his assessment. Read More CNN is defending its disgusting Trump town hall. But the consequences have only just begun Trump campaign uses footage from Ukraine in attempt to depict Americans suffering from rising housing costs The danger of America’s ageing politicians The two-word slur that tells us everything we need to know about Donald Trump Trump's sexual assault verdict marks a rare moment of accountability. And women are noticing