Presidential politics crept into the graduation ceremony at the University of Pennsylvania on Sunday, with presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Joe Biden in attendance to cheer on family members. The two men sat relatively ... More »
CHENGDU, China Tucked away in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, a private collector stands virtually alone in exhibiting relics from the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution. Monday marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the political movement, with no offic... More »
ANKARA Tayyip Erdogan’s ambitions for a swift move to strong presidential rule could suffer if dissidents in Turkey’s nationalist opposition succeed in a party leadership challenge that could bolster their party’s electoral support. A bid by several hundred me... More »
SAO PAULO If Brazilian Vice President Michel Temer takes power, former central bank President Henrique Meirelles would accept the position of finance minister under the condition he was given approval rights over members of the entire economic team, newspaper ... More »
SYDNEY Australia’s parliament returned for a special sitting on Monday to debate crucial labor reform bills which are likely to be blocked in the upper house Senate, leading to the dissolution of both houses and an election on July 2. Prime Minister Malcolm Tu... More »
BRASILIA Brazil’s leftist President Dilma Rousseff suffered a humiliating loss in a crucial impeachment vote in the lower house of Congress on Sunday and is almost certain to be forced from office months before the nation hosts the Olympics. Fireworks lit up t... More »
PARIS French Prime Minister Manuel Valls was to meet student and youth leaders on Monday in an attempt to defuse opposition to proposed labor reforms that have triggered public demonstrations and a nocturnal protest movement in several cities. The labor bill s... More »
SINGAPORE A spat between Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his younger sister has blown into the open, one year after the death of their iron-handed father Lee Kuan Yew, who brooked no discord within the city-state’s political world. Lee’s sister ac... More »
PHNOM PENH Cambodia’s parliament endorsed a new 26-member cabinet on Monday in a rare shuffle of an aging leadership as Prime Minister Hun Sen prepares for a 2018 election set to be his toughest political fight yet. During his three decades in power Hun Sen ha... More »
MADRID U.S. President Barack Obama will not visit Spain until its parties manage to form a government and end over 100 days of political deadlock, delaying a trip that had been under consideration for July. “What (Obama) told me is let’s see if we form a gover... More »
TOKYO In late 2014, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe caught markets and voters off-guard when he postponed an unpopular sales tax hike and called a snap election. Less than two years later, the only surprise will be if he doesn’t repeat the play. With consum... More »
CAIRO Egypt promised tough action to restore growth on Sunday with a government program that aimed to reduce the budget deficit while protecting the poor as public anger mounts over a deteriorating economy. Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, reading out a 79-page p... More »
SÃO PAULO If any symbol captures the anger of rich and upper-middle class Brazilians who have taken to the streets to protest against President Dilma Rousseff, it might be a giant, inflatable yellow duck. The 40-foot (12-meter) high duck presides over Sao Paul... More »
SYDNEY Australia’s opposition Labor Party’s launched a “Waste-pedia” booklet and Waste Watch website on Thursday, accusing the coalition government of over-lavish spending – including $400,000 on “koala and other marsupial-related events”. “This government is ... More »
BANGKOK Sitting in her busy Bangkok noodle shop, Bunruen Klinnak professes “love” for Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled in a 2006 military coup and later fled abroad. But Klinnak, 55, also fears Thaksin’s return to politics c... More »
NAYPYITAW Hundreds of lawmakers from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League of Democracy were sworn into Myanmar’s parliament on Monday, with enough seats to choose the country’s first democratically elected government since the military took power in 1962. The NL... More »
YANGON Myanmar army chief Min Aung Hlaing nominated military officers, who hold a quarter of seats in parliament, to their posts, state media said on Tuesday, another step by the army in what has so far surprised many as a remarkably peaceful transition. Aung ... More »
LONDON The 19th century courtyards of Britain’s parliament echoed to the strains of Hubert Parry’s “Jerusalem” on Wednesday in one of the loudest public shows of support for a possible new anthem to be played at English sports events. One lawmaker has challeng... More »
BERLIN For the past decade, German politics has been a relatively dull affair, with Angela Merkel dominating at the national level and the major parties in agreement on all the big issues, from euro zone bailouts and refugees to the phase-out of nuclear energy... More »
KIGALI Rwanda’s president has said he will decide whether to seek a third term in office after a referendum, possibly this month, on a constitutional change that would a allow him to run again. The United States, a major donor that has long praised President P... More »
PARIS France’s far-right National Front is set to score huge gains in regional elections on Sunday, redrawing the political landscape of the euro zone’s second-biggest economy as it gears up for the next presidential election in 2017. The anti-immigration, ant... More »
BANGKOK Thailand’s army detained two leaders of an opposition group on Monday who were planning to visit a public park dedicated to the monarchy that has been at the center of a corruption scandal involving the military government. The allegations relating to ... More »
HONG KONG Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement got a boost on Monday with about eight candidates involved in crippling protests last year winning office at district-level elections, while some veterans from both sides of the political divide suffered defeat. The... More »
FAJARDO, Puerto RicoRepublican presidential candidate Ben Carson endorsed U.S. statehood for Puerto Rico on Sunday, citing its “very strategic” location for military defense. Speaking at a convention for Puerto Rican gubernatorial candidate Ricardo Rossello, a... More »
PARIS Jean-Yves Le Drian will have to resign as French defense minister if he wins the presidency of Brittany in December’s regional elections, French President Francois Hollande said on Monday. “He is a candidate, and I have authorized him to be a candidate a... More »
HONG KONG Hong Kong’s former leader, Donald Tsang, was charged on Monday with two counts of misconduct in public office, the latest in a string of scandals that have ensnared senior business and former political figures in the financial hub. Tsang, 70, retired... More »
BANGKOK Thailand’s military government, which took power in May last year, appointed a committee to draft the country’s 20th constitution on Monday after a previous draft was rejected, delaying promised elections until at least 2017. The junta-appointed legisl... More »
WASHINGTON The nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are set to wade into contentious social matters in their new term beginning on Monday including affirmative action, union powers and voting rights, and could add major cases involving abortion and birth co... More »
ANKARA Turkey remains opposed to any political transition in Syria involving President Bashar al-Assad, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted as saying on Monday in an apparent clarification of its policy. Turkey has been Assad’s most outspoken cri... More »
SYDNEY A decision by Australia’s biggest tech company, Atlassian, to pursue a $3 billion listing in the United States is a blow to Australia’s ambitions to make technology a driver of the economy, a tech executive said on Monday. Atlassian’s defection comes ju... More »
YANGON Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was touring her constituency on the outskirts of Myanmar’s commercial capital of Yangon on Monday, kicking off the third week of campaigning for the first free national vote in 25 years. In the run-up to the No... More »
CANBERRA Conservative Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott faced a challenge to his leadership when his popular communications minister launched a bid for the top office on Monday after months of speculation and poor showings in opinion polls. Malcolm Turnbul... More »
CANBERRA Embattled Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been asked to step down by two senior ministers, Sky TV reported on Monday, following mounting speculation about his position and concerns about the performance of his conservative coalition governme... More »
BEIJING The removal of a stone plinth sign written by former Chinese president Jiang Zemin at the entrance of a key Communist Party training center is not a sign of disrespect, a senior official said on Monday, after rumors of destabilizing party infighting. J... More »
ANKARA The leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP opposition said on Tuesday his party was ready to take part in an interim power-sharing government but that he would not be surprised if the prime minister tried to form a cabinet without the HDP. President Tayyip ... More »
NAYPYITAW Myanmar’s powerful commander-in-chief has reiterated that the military will respect the outcome of the country’s Nov. 8 election, seen as a crucial test of Myanmar’s reform process. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said that the main concern of the arm... More »
WASHINGTON Lawyers for the U.S. Justice Department on Monday filed a stinging rebuke to U.S. Senator Robert Menendez’s bid to have political corruption charges against him dismissed. Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat and former chairman of the Senate Foreign Rel... More »
TAIPEI Protests in Taiwan over textbook revisions which students say aim to brainwash them into accepting a “one China” view of history underscore the island’s growing sense of independence from its vast neighbor and geopolitical foe. Hundreds of youths storme... More »
BUJUMBURA A policeman and an opposition official died in violence marring the start of Burundi’s presidential election, already hit by opposition boycotts and protests over President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term. Blasts and gunfire echo... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Tuesday granted Afghan requests to slow the drawdown of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and said he would maintain a force of 9,800 through the end of 2015 while sticking to a 2017 exit plan. Capping a day of VIP t... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday the U.S. Senate would vote on a bill to toughen sanctions on Iran if international negotiators miss a deadline at the end of this month for reaching a framework nuclear agreement. “A... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who has vowed to repeal “every word” of Obamacare if elected president next year, will soon be signing up for coverage under the plan. Cruz, according to media reports, had been covered under the health plan ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that his differences with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are not personal but are based on fundamental policy differences over Middle East peace. ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Tuesday that prospects were good for passage of a permanent fix to Medicare’s flawed doctor-pay formula, a move that would spare physicians from impending pay cuts. The Republica... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White told lawmakers on Tuesday the agency would not try anew to craft rules to make it easier for shareholders to nominate corporate directors but that she was closely watching activists’... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a conservative firebrand who frequently clashes with leaders of his Republican Party, became the first major figure from either party to jump into the 2016 U.S. presidential election race on Monday when he announc... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Whether it’s the earnest Josiah Bartlet from “The West Wing” or the manipulative Frank Underwood in “House of Cards,” Americans prefer television presidents to their real-life POTUS, President Barack “No Drama” Obama. A Reuters-Ipsos pol... More »
WASHINGTON/MIAMI (Reuters) – The December breakthrough that upended a half-century of U.S.-Cuba enmity has been portrayed as the fruit of 18 months of secret diplomacy. But Reuters interviews with more than a dozen people with direct knowledge of the process r... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senator John McCain accused President Barack Obama of throwing a “temper tantrum” over comments by Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu, adding to the conflict between the White House and the Republican-dominated Congress over Israel. McCain,... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senator Elizabeth Warren said Friday that the Labor Department should press ahead with brokerage industry reforms, and not be deterred by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s plans to adopt its own separate rules. President Barack... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal investigators could file criminal corruption charges as early as this week against U.S. Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. Menendez, who is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreig... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a conservative firebrand who frequently clashes with leaders of his Republican Party, will become the first major figure from either party to jump into the 2016 U.S. presidential election race on Monday. Cruz is e... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, arrive in Washington on Tuesday for a four-day U.S. goodwill visit that includes a meeting with President Barack Obama, the British Embassy said. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Corn... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Defense Department on Tuesday set up a new panel to address shortfalls in U.S. electronic warfare capabilities across the U.S. military and to ensure the United States retains its competitive edge. Deputy Defense Secretary Rober... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration said on Tuesday it was suspending investments in a federal employee pension program to keep the government from breaching a legal limit on borrowing. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in a letter to lawmakers that... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Representative Aaron Schock, a Republican from Illinois whose Downton Abbey-styled office launched a series of media reports questioning his use of taxpayer dollars, announced on Tuesday that he is resigning from Congress. The 33-ye... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will promote U.S. business investment programs to executives from Google Inc, BMW AG and other international companies on March 23 at an administration-led summit to boost job creation in the United States. The Oba... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House Republicans on Tuesday proposed higher defense spending and deep cuts to social services including healthcare for the poor in an aggressive new budget plan that seeks to eliminate deficits by 2024. The blueprint from House Bud... More »
BARRINGTON, N.H. (Reuters) – Senator Ted Cruz, the conservative Texas Republican considering a run for the presidency, lashed out at President Barack Obama during a visit to New Hampshire on Sunday, saying his administration had repeatedly trampled on the Cons... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has opened a 10 percentage point lead in his re-election bid against Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, an opinion poll on Sunday showed, though his challenger received a hard-won labor union’s endorsement that could bring in c... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to announce an investigation this week into Hillary Clinton’s use of email when she led the State Department, ABC News reported on Sunday. ABC’s “This Week” said that to... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on Sunday that President Barack Obama was on the verge of making a “very bad deal” on Iran’s nuclear program and made clear that Congress will weigh in on any agreement. “Apparently the ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate majority leader said on Sunday he would not schedule a vote to confirm President Barack Obama’s nominee for attorney general, Loretta Lynch, until Democrats stop blocking an unrelated human trafficking bill. Republican Se... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama took aim at his Republican opponents and his gaffe-prone vice president on Saturday in a satirical speech that included a roast of his former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her recent problems with email. ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House warned Republican Senators on Saturday that legislation requiring that Congress approve any deal reached with Iran over its nuclear capabilities could have a “profoundly negative impact” on negotiations. The warning in a... More »
DOVER, New Hampshire (Reuters) – Republican Jeb Bush’s initial foray into New Hampshire has shown that he may have learned from the mistakes his father and brother made in losing the state that will be crucial for him should he run for president in 2016. Not t... More »
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday he hoped “in the next days” it would be possible to reach an interim deal with Iran if Tehran can show that its nuclear power program is for peaceful purposes only. Speaking... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – President Barack Obama doesn’t send text messages, rarely composes his own tweets, and isn’t allowed to have a smart phone that contains a recording device, he said on Thursday. And don’t ask him for Hillary Clinton’s email address. He ... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday there was no excuse for criminal acts at public protests against racially biased law enforcement practices in Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting of two police officers at a protest in Ferguson,... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee voted 14-1 on Thursday to approve a bill intended to enhance information sharing between private companies and intelligence agencies about cybersecurity threats. The panel’s approval cleared the way... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama spoke with President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan on Thursday to urge faster progress toward an “inclusive national unity government” there, the White House said. Obama also spoke with Afghanistan’s chief execu... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2016 budget proposal would shrink U.S. deficits by $1.232 trillion over 10 years compared to those expected under current tax and spending laws, the Congressional Budget Office said on Thursday. The defici... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Forty-seven Republican U.S. senators warned Iran’s leaders on Monday that any nuclear deal with President Barack Obama could last only as long as he remains in office, an unusual partisan intervention in foreign policy that could undermi... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States declared Venezuela a national security threat on Monday and ordered sanctions against seven officials from the oil-rich country in the worst bilateral diplomatic dispute since socialist President Nicolas Maduro took off... More »
MILWAUKEE (Reuters) – Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, considered a likely Republican presidential contender, signed a bill into law on Monday allowing private-sector employees to avoid joining unions or paying them dues even when covered by union-negotiated c... More »
MADISON, Wis. (Reuters) – Weary Wisconsin lawmakers debated into the early hours of Friday a measure supported by Republican Governor Scott Walker that would stop private-sector workers from having to join a union or pay dues as a condition of employment. Oppo... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Asked last week about his agenda if elected, presumptive Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker began: “Should I choose to be a candidate…” Then he added with a grin: “My lawyers love it when I say that.” Like the other wou... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A growing controversy over Democrat Hillary Clinton’s use of personal email for work while she was U.S. secretary of state could drag on for months, threatening to cloud the expected launch of her 2016 presidential campaign. Clinton trie... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department has begun a review of whether Hillary Clinton’s use of personal email for work while she was secretary of state violated policies aimed at protecting sensitive information, the Washington Post reported on Thursd... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration asked a federal judge in Texas to decide by Monday whether he will put on hold his prior decision to block the White House’s executive orders on immigration, or at least limit the impact to Texas. U.S. District J... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday postponed plans to debate and vote next week on a bill requiring President Barack Obama to submit any nuclear agreement with Iran to Congress for approval. Many Democrats... More »
MADISON, Wis. (Reuters) – Wisconsin lawmakers on Thursday began a final debate on a measure supported by Republican Governor Scott Walker that would prohibit private-sector workers from being required to join a union or pay dues when working under union contra... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrats scrambled on Tuesday to contain the fallout for Hillary Clinton, their favored 2016 presidential candidate, after allegations she inappropriately used her personal email for work while secretary of state. The Clinton camp quick... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – As the U.S. Supreme Court takes on a make-or-break Obamacare case this week, a growing number of U.S. patients and their doctors are already devising a Plan B in case they lose medical coverage. The Court’s ruling, expected by late June, w... More »
WASHINGTON(Reuters) – War rooms of lawmakers and their aides in the U.S. Congress are working furiously to try to influence the Supreme Court’s nine justices who will hear arguments on Wednesday on the future of President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare law... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court will consider on Wednesday a second major legal attack on President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, with conservative challengers taking aim at a pivotal part of the statute that authorizes tax subsidies to help peo... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the United States on Tuesday that it was negotiating a bad deal with Iran that could spark a “nuclear nightmare,” drawing a rebuke from President Barack Obama and exposing a deepening U.S.... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A chaotic three-month-long fight in Congress over funding the U.S. domestic security agency ended on Tuesday, but not before it highlighted House Speaker John Boehner’s inability to halt the Republican Party’s further descent into disord... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday the Senate would begin debate next week on a bill that would require President Barack Obama to submit any final nuclear deal with Iran for approval by Congress. McConnell, a Rep... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and Israel showed signs of seeking to defuse tensions on Sunday ahead of a speech in Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he will warn against a possible nuclear deal with Iran. Policy difference... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Congress narrowly averted a partial shutdown of the U.S. domestic security agency late on Friday night, but the forces behind the chaotic episode remain – fractious Republicans and House Speaker John Boehner’s lack of control over them. ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Most Americans don’t know who runs the Federal Reserve, but they do believe that elected officials should stay out of its business, according to a Reuters-Ipsos poll. Just 24 percent of those polled said Congress should be allowed to hav... More »
JUPITER, Florida (Reuters) – In October 2003, Jeb Bush unveiled one of the largest economic projects in Florida history: a $500 million plan to bring Scripps Research Institute to the state and build a biomedical hub he said would generate nearly 50,000 jobs i... More »
WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The United States and Israel showed signs of seeking to defuse tensions on Sunday ahead of a speech in Washington by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu when he will warn against a possible nuclear deal with Iran. Policy differen... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fresh from an embarrassing rebuke at the hands of conservatives in his own party, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner played down any risk to his continuing leadership on Sunday, saying disagreements with fellow Republican... More »
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (Reuters) – Jeb Bush will not sign any “no new taxes” pledges or any other pledges if he decides to seek the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, a spokeswoman said on Saturday. The statement from Bush spokeswoman Kristy Campbell was i... More »
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (Reuters) – Senator Rand Paul won a straw poll of conservative activists on Saturday, giving his potential bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 a boost, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker came in second in a surprising s... More »
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (Reuters) – Scott Walker’s early surge in the jockeying for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination reflects the belief by conservatives that he is truly one of their own and has a track record to show for it. But the Wisconsin governo... More »
