List of All Articles with Tag 'politics'

Gathered at the vice president's residence at the Naval Observatory last weekend, a group of aides and advisers to Kamala Harris marveled at what they had just pulled off.

BANGUI Central African Republic is voting on a constitutional referendum on Sunday which, if it passes, could remove

Former president Donald Trump floated his potential defence for the potential charges he faces for promoting lies about the election during a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania. The already-twice-impeached-twice-indicted former president now faces potential a potential third indictment for spreading lies about the 2020 presidential election. But speaking to the crowd in Pennsylvania, a state where he lost 43 lawsuits as he tried to dispute the 2020 presidential election results, Mr Trump pushed back on the potential accusations. “Why didn’t the corrupt Marxist prosecutors bring these radical and unjustified charges against me two and a half years ago,” Mr Trump asked the crowd. “They had two and a half years. Two and a half years. Nobody even knew they were looking at it. I don’t think they were.” Mr Trump said with no evidence that Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office waited as long as it did to indict him in the middle of his 2024 presidential campaign. “Because it’s election interference,” he said. “These are crooked people.” Mr Trump repeated his continued lies that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and questioned why the press did not call Pennsylvania for him in the 2016 or 2020 presidential election. “They just refused to call it because in my opinion, they were trying to cheat and they couldn't quite pull it off,” he told the crowd. So far, Mr Trump has been indicted by the district attorney for New York County’s office for charges related to hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and by Mr Smith’s office for his handling of documents related to national security. Mr Trump pled not guilty to all charges. Mr Trump also railed against Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, who is investigating Mr Trump’s attempts overturn the election results in the state. “So they have a DA there that doesn't do anything about crime,” he said. “All she does is focus on ‘let’s get Trump.’ We got to get him.” The former president said he was being treated unfairly and said that Democrats made far more inflammatory statements than he did in the past. Read More Trump’s election fraud claims were always bogus. Will his history of lies finally catch up to him? Trump indictment – live: Trump’s ‘Hitler’ lawsuit against CNN thrown out ahead of rally in Pennsylvania Trump’s $475m ‘Hitler’ defamation lawsuit against CNN thrown out by federal judge ‘Poetic’: Trump takes stage in Iowa to song about going to prison Ex-Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon joins push for third-party presidential bid as Democrats try to stop it

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday appeared to downplay not attending an economic summit in Johannesburg next month amid a controversy over an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court, saying he doesn't think his presence there is "more important than my presence here, in Russia.” Putin's remarks come more than a week after South African authorities said he will not attend the Aug. 22-24 gathering, which brings together a bloc of developing economies known as BRICS, because of the warrant, even though he was initially invited. The Kremlin said the Russian president will take part in the summit via video link, but didn't provide a reason for the decision and didn't say whether Putin had ever intended to attend in person. Asked about his reasons for not going, Putin told Russian journalists Saturday that he's “in contact with all colleagues," referring to the leaders of Brazil, India, China and South Africa, which together with Russia constitute the BRICS bloc, and that he doesn't “think my presence at the BRICS summit is more important that my presence here, in Russia, right now." “That's it,” Putin said, adding he will take part via video link and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will travel to the summit. Moscow has showcased the BRICS alliance as an alternative to the West’s global dominance, but this year’s meeting has proved awkward for Putin following the ICC’s move in March to indict him for war crimes relating to the abduction of children from Ukraine. South Africa is a signatory to the Rome treaty that formed the International Criminal Court and therefore has the obligation to arrest the Russian leader if he sets foot on South African territory. South Africa had given strong hints that it would not arrest Putin if he attended but had also been lobbying for him not to come to avoid the problem. Although Moscow dismissed the warrant, Putin has not traveled to a country that is a signatory to the ICC treaty since his indictment. Analysts have said that the public debate about whether the Russian leader would or would not travel to South Africa was in itself an unwelcome development for the Kremlin. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide

Donald Trump’s $475m defamation lawsuit against CNN has been thrown out by a federal judge ahead of his rally in Pennsylvania. The former president made the assertion the news network’s description of his election fraud claims as the “big lie” connected him to Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, Reuters noted. US Judge Raag Singhal at the federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was nominated by Mr Trump in 2019. In a Friday night ruling, he said CNN’s statements were opinion and not fact, meaning that they cannot be the subject of a defamation claim. “CNN’s statements while repugnant, were not, as a matter of law, defamatory,” he wrote.Republican Presidential candidate Will Hurd was booed off the stage after he criticised former President Donald Trump at an Iowa Republican dinner. Meanwhile, Will Hurd, a former CIA officer and Texas representative, was the only candidate to go after Mr Trump at a GOP dinner on Friday. “Listen, I know the truth is hard. But if we elect Donald Trump we are willingly giving Joe Biden four more years in the White House,” he said. Read More Trump hit with more charges as Mar-a-Lago worker added to documents case Iran war plans, deleting security footage, a third defendant: Key takeaways from new Trump documents charges Carlos De Oliveira: Who is second Trump aide now charged in Mar-a-Lago secret documents case

Donald Trump’s $475m defamation lawsuit against CNN has been thrown out by a federal judge. The former president made the assertion that the news network’s description of his election fraud claims as the “big lie” connected him to Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, Reuters noted. US Judge Raag Singhal at the federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was nominated by Mr Trump in 2019. In a Friday night ruling, he said CNN’s statements were opinion and not fact, meaning that they cannot be the subject of a defamation claim. “CNN’s statements while repugnant, were not, as a matter of law, defamatory,” he wrote. A Trump spokesperson told Reuters: “We agree with the highly respected judge’s findings that CNN’s statements about President Trump are repugnant. CNN will be held responsible for their wrongful mistreatment of President Trump and his supporters.” The spokesperson didn’t indicate if Mr Trump intends to appeal the ruling. The lawsuit was filed in October of last year, citing five times that CNN published stories or broadcast comments calling Mr Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent the “big lie” – a phrase also linked to Nazi Germany’s propaganda. The legal filing argued that it was “a deliberate effort by CNN to propagate to its audience an association between the plaintiff and one of the most repugnant figures in modern history”. The judge wrote that the use of the phrase “big lie” isn’t sufficient to establish a connection. “No reasonable viewer could (or should) plausibly make that reference,” he wrote. Since the start of his first campaign in 2015, Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked the media, with CNN being one of his main targets. In the face of indictments on both the state and federal levels, Mr Trump remains the favourite to win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Read More Trump indictment – live: GOP candidate booed off stage for criticising Trump as ex-president slams DeSantis ‘Poetic’: Trump takes stage in Iowa to song about going to prison GOP White House hopeful Will Hurd booed off stage for saying Trump is running to stay out of prison ‘Poetic’: Trump takes stage in Iowa to song about going to prison Ex-Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon joins push for third-party presidential bid as Democrats try to stop it Trump’s ‘Hitler’ lawsuit against CNN thrown out ahead of rally in Pennsylvania - live

Donald Trump took the stage at the Iowa Republican Dinner to a song that started out with the lyrics, “One could end up going to prison, one just might be president”. The ironic moment came as the former president’s legal woes are mounting. Mr Trump has already been indicted twice. By the end of the summer, he may be the subject of as many as four criminal cases. The latest episode in his legal peril appeared to be taking shape on Thursday 27 July, when the ex-president’s legal team met with the prosecution team led by Special Counsel Jack Smith in a last-ditch attempt to convince Mr Smith and his team from seeking another indictment against Mr Trump for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. That same day, the special counsel’s team hit Mr Trump with superseding charges in federal court in Florida. Officials accused the former president and an employee at his Mar-a-Lago club of attempting to destroy security camera footage once Mr Trump learned he was under subpoena in the investigation over his handling of classified documents. Earlier this month, Mr Trump said prosecutors notified him that he was also a target of Mr Smith’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The former president is understood to be facing the possibility of charges under three federal criminal statutes: Conspiracy to defraud the United States, deprivation of rights under colour of law, and witness tampering. Natalie Allison of Politico tweeted a video of the moment on Friday night. “As Trump took the stage in Iowa, this ironic line played: ‘One could end up going to prison, one just might be president.’ He had to walk out to Brooks & Dunn (like all candidates tonight) instead of his usual Lee Greenwood,” she wrote. Twitter users were quick to join in the mockery of the former president. MSNBC host Katie Phang simply wrote that it was “poetic”. “Omg. That line hits right when he gets on stage,” State Attorney for Palm Beach County Dave Aronberg wrote. GOP strategist Mike Murphy wrote: “Ha! Trump is finally understanding [that Iowa Governor Kim] Reynolds didn’t get her job because she just fell off a turnip truck…. #SharpOperator BTW, earlier she was at a big Tim Scott event. And treated with due respect.” “This is gold! Proving once again that #Republicans are so clueless they don’t even listen to lyrics before greeting their standard bearer with a song. Excuse me while I ROTFLMAO,” Ann Werner said. Read More Trump indictment – live: GOP candidate booed off stage for criticising Trump as ex-president slams DeSantis Ex-Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon joins push for third-party presidential bid as Democrats try to stop it A new challenger has emerged to Trump – and his extreme anti-woke message is working Ex-Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon joins push for third-party presidential bid as Democrats try to stop it GOP candidate booed off stage for criticising Trump as he slams DeSantis - live Election disinformation campaigns targeted voters of color in 2020. Experts expect 2024 to be worse

US officials are searching for Chinese malware hidden in various defense systems that could disrupt military communications and resupply operations, The New York Times reported Saturday.

A federal judge in Florida on Friday dismissed a $475 million defamation lawsuit former President Donald Trump brought against CNN that accused the network of defaming him by using the phrase "the big lie" and allegedly comparing him to Adolf Hitler.

Most of the members taking part in the working group developing new standards for teaching African American history in Florida reportedly didn’t agree to the parts of the controversial measure which has drawn strong rebukes. Three members of the group have told NBC News that this includes the policy that middle school students should be taught that enslaved people developed “skills” that they were able to use for their “personal benefit”. The members, who chose to remain anonymous, told the network that most of the working group didn’t want the inclusion of language stating that high school students should be taught about violence carried out “by African Americans” during lessons about issues such as the race massacres in Ocoee and Tulsa. “Most of us did not want that language,” one of the members told NBC, noting that two out of the group’s 13 members pushed for the inclusion of those two items. The work group’s standards were unanimously approved by the Florida Board of Education on 19 July. They are now set to be instituted in teaching kindergarten through 12th grade. The standards have been slammed as propaganda and pushing a sanitized version of US history. Critics argue that the standards are attempting to conceal the horrors of slavery, such as rape, murder, and forced labour in an attempt to make it seem like an apprenticeship. “These extremist, so-called leaders should model what we know to be the correct and right approach if we really are invested in the well-being of our children,” Vice President Kamala Harris said last week. “They dare to push propaganda to our children. This is the United States of America. We’re not supposed to do that.” The members of the working group who spoke to NBC News told the network that only two members wanted the inclusion of the controversial language. Those members, William Allen and Frances Presley Rice, said in a joint statement last week that the new standards set guidance for “comprehensive and rigorous instruction on African American history”. “The intent of this particular benchmark clarification is to show that some slaves developed highly specialized trades from which they benefitted,” they said. “This is factual and well documented.” The members said that Dr Allen pushed for including that slaves benefitted from the skills that they learned and that Dr Presley Rice argued for the inclusion of “violence perpetrated against and by African Americans”. “People were very vocal,” one group member said, questioning “how there could be a benefit to slavery”. “However, Dr Allen is focusing on the few slaves who actually did learn something and keeps alluding to Frederick Douglass,” one work group member told NBC. “What he is saying is not accurate for most of the slaves.” The three group members said separately that Dr Allen is “persuasive” and “knowledgeable” and that the working group ended up deferring to him. Two of the members said the issue was tabled to be discussed at a later time and didn’t remember that it ever came up for a vote. One member said the language was “problematic” and that the group “could have done a better job” if given more time. Dr Presley Rice told NBC: “I recommend highly that you get in touch with the communications department at the Department of Education, and all your questions will be answered.” The Independent has reached out to the department for comment. The changes were put in place to satisfy a new law signed by Florida Governor and Republican Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, who has distanced himself from the process of creating the new standards even as he defended them. “You should talk to them about it,” he said about the group last week. “I didn’t do it. I wasn’t involved in it.” “What they’re doing is, they’re probably going to show some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life.” “Any attempt to reduce slaves to just victims of oppression fails to recognize their strength, courage and resiliency during a difficult time in American history,” Dr Allen and Dr Presely Rice said in their statement. “Florida students deserve to learn how slaves took advantage of whatever circumstances they were in to benefit themselves and the community of African descendants,” they added. Dr Presley Rice wrote on 22 July on Facebook that “It saddens me to observe how falsehoods are being perpetuated now by some people with questionable intent, using cherry-picked language, taken out of context, to undermine the fact-based Academic Standards crafted by the Workgroup I was a part of, due to my decades-long quest to have the full, unvarnished history told about African Americans”. Dr Allen previously told NBC that the group “deliberated between February and the end of April to review the curriculum standards and to propose new benchmarks and standards”. “I think we may have had, over the course of the period from February to April, three or four meetings,” he added. Mr DeSantis said last week that the new curriculum “is rooted in whatever is factual”. “They listed everything out,” he added. “And if you have any questions about it, just ask the Department of Education. You can talk about those folks but I mean, these were scholars who put that together. It was not anything that was done politically.” The president of the Florida Education Association, Andrew Spar, told NBC last week that “Right now we are working to bring people together to get these standards changed or overturned”. “We are concerned about the conflict that teachers have — we are required to be honest and ethical in our dealings and we are required to teach the standards. What do we do if the standards are not honest and ethical?” he asked. Read More Historically Black fraternity drops Florida for convention because of DeSantis policies DeSantis car crash revealed misuse of government vehicles for 2024 campaign, report claims Water is refreshing in the heat, right? In parts of Florida this past week, not so much CLIMATE GLIMPSE: Here's what you need to see and know today Historically Black fraternity drops Florida for convention because of DeSantis policies Seven in 10 US adults believe in angels, new poll shows

MAGDEBURG, Germany Thousands took to the streets to protest against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Friday

JERUSALEM Thousands of flag-waving Israelis renewed their protests nationwide after sundown on Saturday, capping a week of turmoil