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☆ Argentine President Fernandez pulls out of 2023 election
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Lucila Sigal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BUENOS AIRES, April 21 (Reuters) - Argentine President Alberto Fernandez will not run in the country's October general election, the center-left leader announced on Friday, throwing open a race to lead the Peronist coalition at the ballot amid swirling economic crisis. Pressure had been building for a decision from the leftist wing commanded by powerful Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who served as president from 2007-2015 and has at times been at loggerheads with Fernandez, no relation. "On the negative side, with him becoming an outgoing president so early, it could make it difficult to manage until the end of the mandate." Mauricio Macri, the leader of the main center-right opposition party and president from 2015 to 2019, said last month he would not run for presidency either. Vice President Fernandez de Kirchner has also ruled herself out.

But he added that "a no-strings attached debt limit increase will not pass" the House. He added that he will seek to roll back federal spending on many programs to fiscal 2022 levels, followed by spending growth of only 1% each year over the next decade. "We are seeing in real time the effects of reckless government spending," McCarthy said in his opening remarks. Before the speech, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said, "There is one responsible solution to the debt limit: addressing it promptly, without brinksmanship or hostage taking - as Republicans did three times in the last administration." So far House Republicans have not produced a proposed budget of their own, a move that Biden contends would be a necessary starting point for negotiations on spending.

☆ Republican U.S. House Speaker McCarthy to pitch spending cuts on Wall St
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Richard Cowan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON, April 17 (Reuters) - Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy plans to make his case for cuts in federal spending to accompany a lifting of the government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling in a speech at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. McCarthy leads a fractious caucus that holds a narrow 222-213 majority, including a sizeable contingent of hardline members who want sharp spending cuts and dismiss the risks of failure to act on the debt ceiling. LIST OF OPTIONSRepublicans have been discussing spending cuts for programs ranging from homeland security and law enforcement to health, education and environmental initiatives. House Republicans are also mulling reforms to the debt ceiling, which has utterly failed at its intended purpose of restraining U.S. budget deficits. House Republicans now say they are looking at indexing the limit to gross domestic product.

☆ Gavin Newsom says Ron DeSantis will get 'thumped' if he runs against Trump: 'I'd tell him to pack up and wait a few years'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Gavin Newsom has advice for Ron DeSantis: Don't run against Trump. Newsom added that DeSantis should "pack up and wait a few years," and not run in 2024. In July, DeSantis attacked Newsom after Newsom put up an ad in the Sunshine State enticing Floridians to move to California. Disney has in recent weeks outplayed DeSantis and found a loophole to keep power over the land around Walt Disney World in Orlando in perpetuity. DeSantis now says he's considering new taxes and tolls to punish Disney World for the power play.

LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) - As "fragmentation" of politics and economics becomes the new buzzword for a world that appears to be splintering into blocs, the related costs of the new order are only now being totted up. Corporate rethinking of foreign direct investment (FDI) - bricks-and-mortar developments overseas as well as mergers and acquisitions - would make the hit even scarier. And if FDI fragmentation is defined by a permanent rise in cross-bloc barriers to imported investment inputs, the IMF said developments could cut world output by 2% in the long term. "Fragmentation of the global economy will likely put inflation at a higher structural level, and the cost of capital will likely go up, squeezing low-quality and leveraged companies." Reuters GraphicsBIS chart on global trade as share of GDPBCG projections on world trade to 2031The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.

☆ U.S. and China wage war beneath the waves – over internet cables
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +28 min

Three of China’s state-owned carriers – China Telecommunications Corporation (China Telecom), China Mobile Limited and China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd (China Unicom) – had committed funding as members of the consortium, which also included U.S.-based Microsoft Corp and French telecom firm Orange SA, according to six people involved in the deal. China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom and Orange did not respond to requests for comment. China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom were resolutely behind HMN Tech, which had come in with a bid of around $500 million. China Telecom and China Mobile threatened to walk off the project, taking tens of millions of dollars of investment with them. Among them is China Telecom, which had previously won authorization to provide services in the United States.

The draft needs to be thrashed out between EU countries and EU lawmakers, called a trilogue, before the rules can become law. This led to different AI tools being classified according to their perceived risk level: from minimal through to limited, high, and unacceptable. Almost all of the big tech players have stakes in the sector, including Microsoft (MSFT.O), Alphabet (GOOGL.O) and Meta (META.O). BIG TECH, BIG PROBLEMSThe EU discussions have raised concerns for companies -- from small startups to Big Tech -- on how regulations might affect their business and whether they would be at a competitive disadvantage against rivals from other continents. A recent survey by industry body appliedAI showed that 51% of the respondents expect a slowdown of AI development activities as a result of the AI Act.

☆ Factbox: Who has run Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

BAGHDAD, March 16 (Reuters) - The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was designed to pave the way for a thriving democracy but the mostly ineffective governments elected since 2003 have left many Iraqis disappointed. Sadr led an armed insurgency against the U.S. occupation of Iraq after American and international troops toppled Saddam. But the tables turned in 2003 with the U.S.-led invasion that ushered in Shi’ite dominance leaving Sunnis, vulnerable. Sunnis have been divided by clan and ideological rivalries since 2003, which Sunni voters complain makes them weak against Shi'ite rivals. Halbousi, an engineer from western Iraq, has formed good relations with Shi'ites and Kurds who helped him become speaker.

☆ Panama gives Canada's First Quantum go-ahead to operate port terminal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PANAMA CITY, March 11 (Reuters) - Panama's Maritime Authority has lifted a suspension on First Quantum Minerals' operations at the port of Punta Rincon, which the Canadian company uses to export copper concentrate from its key Cobre Panama mine, company sources said late on Friday. Two spokespersons for Minera Panama, First Quantum's (FM.TO) Panama unit, told Reuters the suspension dated Jan. 26 had been ended, which was confirmed by a source at the Maritime Authority. The company, which spent weeks at loggerheads with Panama over Cobre Panama, had said that once the suspension ended, it would be able to resume activity at the port quickly. The Panamanian government and First Quantum said on Wednesday they had agreed on the final text for a new contract on the operations of Cobre Panama, which accounts for about 3.5% of the country's gross domestic product. About 60% of the copper concentrate exported through Punta Rincon is destined for factories in China.

☆ Liberal, conservative advance in Wisconsin Supreme Court race with abortion rights at stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Former state Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly, a staunch conservative who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump when he ran unsuccessfully for re-election in 2020, took second place, the AP projected. With a Democratic governor, Tony Evers, and a Republican-majority legislature often at loggerheads, the state Supreme Court's 4-3 conservative majority has issued a string of decisions that typically favored Republicans. But a conservative justice is leaving the bench this year, putting the political leaning of the court in question. Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit claiming the statute is invalid - a case eventually headed for the state Supreme Court. A new liberal majority could also revisit other statutes, such as laws requiring voter identification, permitting concealed carry of firearms and weakening public sector unions.

☆ Abortion rights at stake in Wisconsin Supreme Court election
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Feb 21 (Reuters) - Wisconsin voters on Tuesday will decide which state Supreme Court candidates will advance to an April election that carries profound consequences for abortion rights, control of the state government and the 2024 presidential election. And the justices could issue election law rulings that affect the outcome of the 2024 presidential race, when Wisconsin is expected to be a swing state. The contest already ranks among the most expensive state supreme court races in history, according to Douglas Keith, an attorney at New York University's Brennan Center for Justice who tracks spending on judicial elections. Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit claiming the statute is invalid - a case eventually headed for the state Supreme Court. "This is Wisconsin's Roe moment," said Gracie Skogman, a spokesperson for Wisconsin Right to Life, which is backing the conservative candidates.

☆ Biden taps Fed's Brainard, Bernstein for top economic jobs as part of White House reshuffle
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

In recent weeks, Jeff Zients has replaced Ron Klain as White House chief of staff. Kate Bedingfield, White House communications director, said she plans to leave at the end of the month. The pair will have tremendous influence over economic policy at a tricky time for the United States. As NEC director, Brainard will be tasked with crafting the president's economic agenda and coordinating economic responses between various agencies. "He is an expert on worker empowerment and a worker-centric economic policy, which has long been the heart of my economic vision."

☆ Republicans meet Biden's calls for unity with partisan broadside
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A day after Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called on Biden to work together toward compromise on the debt and spending, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered a partisan broadside during the party's official rebuttal to Biden's speech. Biden did pledge to work with Republicans, as during the last Congress when both chambers were controlled by Democrats. Republicans hope to exact spending cuts from Biden in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. He drew boos and shouts of "liar" by asserting that some Republicans would like to "sunset" Social Security and Medicare. The former president, facing several investigations from federal and state prosecutors, also described himself as "a victim" of Biden's Justice Department.

☆ Republicans ready partisan response to Biden's calls for unity
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A day after Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called on Biden to work together toward compromise on the debt and spending, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders stood ready to deliver a partisan broadside during the party's official rebuttal to Biden's speech. "The Biden administration seems more interested in woke fantasies than the hard reality Americans face every day," she said. Republicans hope to exact spending cuts from Biden in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. A Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Sunday found that just 43% of Republicans approve of McCarthy's job performance. The former president, facing several investigations from federal and state prosecutors, also described himself as "a victim" of Biden's Justice Department.

WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will declare U.S democracy is bruised but "unbowed and unbroken" on Tuesday in a State of the Union speech that will serve as an olive branch to skeptical Republicans and a blueprint for his 2024 re-election bid. "To my Republican friends, if we could work together in the last Congress, there is no reason we can’t work together in this new Congress," Biden, a Democrat, will say, according to excerpts of the speech released by the White House ahead of the speech scheduled for 9 p.m. Biden's public approval rating edged one percentage point higher to 41% in a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll that closed on Sunday. McCarthy said on Tuesday that he would not rip up Biden's speech, referencing to the actions of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi after former President Donald Trump's 2020 State of the Union address. He said he urged Biden not to use the phrase "extreme MAGA Republicans" in his speech, a reference to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

Biden's public approval rating edged one percentage point higher to 41% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Sunday. In the speech, Biden will hail the resilience and strength of the U.S. economy, which saw unemployment drop to a nearly 54-year low in January, while pledging continued efforts to lower inflation and protect Social Security and other benefits. [1/3] The U.S. Capitol building is seen on the day of U.S. President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., February 7, 2023. He will push Congress to require background checks for all gun sales and ban assault weapons, the White House said, although the prospects for passage remain slim. McCarthy said on Tuesday that he won't rip up Biden's speech, referencing the actions of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi after former President Trump's 2020 State of the Union address.

WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will face Republicans who question his legitimacy and a public concerned about the country's direction in Tuesday's State of the Union speech that is expected to serve as a blueprint for a 2024 re-election bid. Biden's public approval rating edged one percentage point higher to 41% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Sunday. Reforms in policing will loom large in Biden's speech after the death of Tyre Nichols, a Black man fatally beaten by officers in Memphis, Tennessee last month, with his mother and stepfather to be guests of first lady Jill Biden. He will also run through a wish list of economic proposals, many of which are unlikely to be passed through Congress, the White House said. [1/3] The U.S. Capitol building is seen on the day of U.S. President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., February 7, 2023.

☆ Ahead of State of Union address, Biden's approval is at just 41%: Reuters/Ipsos poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Jason Lange | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Reuters/Ipsos poll has a margin of error of three percentage points either way. Biden will also call on the U.S. Congress to focus on advancing cancer research, expanding mental health services and beating the "opioid and overdose epidemic," the White House said. But the new Reuters/Ipsos poll showed many Americans are uncomfortable with Washington's large debts. Despite Biden's unpopularity, the poll showed that Americans prefer Democrats over Republicans on a range of issues. The Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted throughout the United States, gathered responses from 1,029 adults, using a nationally representative sample.

☆ Ahead of State of Union address, Biden's approval is at just 41% -Reuters/Ipsos
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Jason Lange | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Elizabeth FrantzWASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will face Republicans who question his legitimacy and a public concerned about the country's direction in Tuesday's State of the Union speech that is expected to serve as a blueprint for a 2024 re-election bid. Biden would urge lawmakers to "build on these historic bipartisan achievements" to improve the lives of Americans, Christen Linke Young, deputy assistant to Biden for health and veterans affairs, told reporters. He will also run through a wish list of economic proposals, many of which are unlikely to be passed through Congress, the White House said. They include a minimum tax for billionaires, and a quadrupling of the tax on corporate stock buybacks. Speaker Kevin McCarthy will sit behind Biden for the address for the first time.

Biden turned 80 in November and, if re-elected, would be 82 at the start of a second term, a fact that concerns many Democratic voters, recent polls show. Speaker Kevin McCarthy will sit behind Biden for the address for the first time. The two are at loggerheads over the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, which must raised in the coming months to avoid a default. Biden will insist during his speech that raising the debt limit is not negotiable and should not be used as a "bargaining chip" by lawmakers, National Economic Council director Brian Deese said Monday. While the U.S. economy continues to outperform expectations, faith in Biden is undermined by entrenched political divisions, high prices and concerns over his age, polls show.

☆ Mali says Russia's Lavrov to visit to strengthen defence ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BAMAKO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will pay a two-day visit to Mali this week, the Malian foreign ministry said on Sunday, describing the visit as a reflection of a shared wish to strengthen defence and security ties. "This high-level visit is in line with the political choice made by the Transitional Government to expand and diversify strategic partnerships," the Malian ministry said in a statement. Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Mali that Moscow was committed to strengthening cooperation to help root out the militants. Mali has previously said Russian forces in the country are not mercenaries but trainers helping local troops with equipment bought from Russia. Lavrov is currently in Baghdad for talks on improving bilateral ties and energy cooperation.

LIMA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - As deadly protests rage across Peru, a political battle is unfolding inside the halls of Congress, walled off from the streets by hundreds of police, armored vehicles and a maze of gates. Despite the violence, and despite polls that show the majority of Peruvians want the election brought forward, Congress appears to be in deadlock. Reuters spent the last week inside the 130-seat Congress in capital Lima, talking to lawmakers to ask why Peruvian politics seems to be in such a mess. "There is little agreement within political parties as to what to do," said Peruvian political analyst Andrea Moncada. "If we have elections in a year or by some miracle by the end of this year, the parties registered to participate are the same ones that are in Congress right now."

The assailants had been monitoring the property and may have observed that she often shares flowers with her neighbors, she said. Omarov then sent those details to Mehdiyev, who lived in Yonkers, New York, prosecutors said. Amirov and Omarov then arranged for Mehdiyev to get $30,000 in cash, which he used to buy an assault rifle and ammunition, prosecutors said. Omarov, 38, was arrested in the Czech Republic earlier this month, and the United States is seeking his extradition. Iran accuses Western powers of fomenting the unrest, which security forces have met with deadly violence.

☆ Here's the AP African American Studies course Florida rejected
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

For months, the Florida Education Department and the College Board have been at loggerheads over instituting a proposed Advanced Placement African American studies course for high school students. Ron DeSantis and Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. discussed the issue publicly for the first time at a news conference Monday. They argue that the course is a Trojan horse for "indoctrinating" students with a left-wing ideology under the guise of teaching about the Black experience and African American history (which is mandated in the state). In a statement last week, the College Board said the course was "undergoing a rigorous, multi-year pilot phase, collecting feedback from teachers, students, scholars and policymakers." Read through the curriculum that Florida has rejected below.

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