List of All Articles with Tag 'elections'

Former Vice President Mike Pence says he expects to call out former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during this month’s Republican presidential debate for not insisting on a national abortion ban

President Joe Biden received unwelcome news when the Justice Department made the prosecutor investigating his son a special

By Andrew Goudsward WASHINGTON President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden may be headed for a criminal trial, U.S.

By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A federal judge on Friday granted former U.S. President Donald Trump leeway to publicly

By Walter Bianchi and Jorge Otaola BUENOS AIRES Argentine traders are keeping a close eye on primary elections

Argentina's national primary election Sunday won’t just help determine which candidates will be running in the country's October presidential vote, but could impact the economy even before then. A strong showing by the opposition coalition would be cheered by markets in an election that will also test the national appeal of an eccentric right-wing anti-establishment candidate who is an admirer of former President Donald Trump. The primary is seen as a thermometer of voter preference ahead of the Oct. 6 election, which is expected to shift Argentina to the right with the current left-leaning government bottoming out in the polls amid rising poverty, a rapidly depreciating currency and galloping annual inflation that tops 100%. Sunday’s primary officially serves two purposes: determine the candidates that will run in the October election and weed out any candidates who don’t receive at least 1.5% of the vote. But it also serves as a massive, nationwide opinion poll in a country where pre-election polls have been notoriously wrong in the past. The primary can have an economic impact. Four years ago, an unexpectedly strong showing by now-President Alberto Fernández led to a sharp depreciation of the currency as markets saw the primary results indicating that business-friendly President Mauricio Macri was on his way out. The local currency, the Argentine peso, has seen its value plunge in parallel markets ahead of Sunday’s vote. Stringent capital controls mean that access to the official foreign exchange market is extremely limited, so parallel rates have flourished. Economists will be watching to see signs that the main center-right opposition could win the presidential election outright and avoid a second round runoff in November. “There is enthusiasm, especially outside of Argentina, about a profound regime change, but without going to the opposite extreme,” said Mariano Machado, principal analyst for the Americas at Verisk Maplecroft, a global risk intelligence firm. The wildcard of the race is upstart populist candidate Javier Milei, who has gained popularity thanks to his angry screeds against the ruling class and has found followers among those who are tired of politics as usual. His unorthodox proposals that include dollarizing the economy and getting rid of the Central Bank have found particular backing among the young. “We’re fed up with the status quo, with the same old thing, with the same last names that are on the ballot, we want to change things up a bit, and give an opportunity to someone who nobody knows if he will do well, but we’re going to give him a chance,” Efraín Viveros, a 20-year-old nursing student said Monday at Milei’s closing campaign rally in Buenos Aires. A strong showing for the main center-right coalition could buoy the market, but a stronger-than-expected showing for Milei would likely send the local currency, the peso, tumbling and cause general disarray in the markets due to uncertainty over his policies. The main presidential contenders all represent a rightward shift away from Fernández, who is not seeking reelection and has been largely absent from the campaign. Also largely absent has been his vice president, Cristina Fernández, who was the country’s president from 2007 to 2015. In the currently ruling coalition, Union for the Homeland, there is little doubt that Economy Minister Sergio Massa, a market-friendly politician, will receive the nomination although he is facing a challenge from a leftist candidate, Juan Grabois. A key contest Sunday will play out in the center-right United for Change opposition coalition with Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta facing off against former Security Minister Patricia Bullrich to determine who will be its candidate. Pollsters say the winner of this race will have a strong chance of becoming president. Regardless of who comes out on top, analysts will be watching closely whether a strong showing by the opposition could suggest an outright victory in October without a runoff. “While we expect a volatile political transition given macroeconomic woes, the (primaries) outcome could improve market sentiment, supported by a likely policy shift next year,” said the Institute of International Finance, a Washington-based association of the financial services industry, in a recent report. Milei was the only major candidate who held his final campaign rally. Other called off what were supposed to be their final events before the vote following the killing of an 11-year-old girl during a snatch-and-grab robbery Wednesday. The death of Morena Domínguez in an attack by two motorcycle-riding thieves in the Buenos Aires province district of Lanús, left the country reeling and put crime at the forefront of a campaign that had been dominated by economic issues. Also likely to impact the final days before the vote was the Thursday death of a leftist political activist, who suffered a heart attack while being detained by police during a protest in downtown Buenos Aires. Besides presidential voting in October, about half of Argentina’s lower house of Congress and one-third of the Senate will be up for grabs. Voting is mandatory in Argentina but the fine for failing to cast a ballot is largely symbolic. Recent national elections have seen a participation rate of around 70%. ——— Associated Press journalists Débora Rey and Almudena Calatrava contributed to this report. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide They lost everything in the Paradise fire. 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Poland's populist, nationalist government is increasingly taking an anti-German, anti-European Union stance in the run-up to the October 15 legislative elections in the hope of mobilising...

Attorney General Merrick Garland says he’s appointing a special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe, deepening the investigation of the president’s son ahead of the 2024 election

Donald Trump notched a win in the fight over a protective order in the 2020 election case as the judge ruled that some of the evidence that will be provided to him in the pre-trial discovery process won’t be restricted from dissemination if it’s not deemed “sensitive” by the government. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Friday that the protective order will only apply to sensitive materials such as grand jury transcripts, witness interview records, and other documents that could identify witnesses or be used to poison the pool of potential jurors who will be responsible for deciding the ex-president’s fate when he goes on trial next year. Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office had asked her to impose a more restrictive order which would have applied to any and all materials provided to Mr Trump’s defence team in discovery, while Mr Trump’s attorneys had asked for her to allow the former president leave to talk about non-sensitive materials, citing his ongoing campaign for the Republican nomination in next year’s presidential election. Prosecutors had made the request for a broad protective order with the aim of preventing Mr Trump from poisoning the jury pool ahead of his expected trial next year, citing statements by the ex-president’s legal team which they said indicated a desire to try the case “in the press”. But Judge Chutkan, a former defence attorney and a nine-year veteran of the federal bench who was nominated by then-president Barack Obama and confirmed by a unanimous Senate vote in 2014, rejected the prosecution’s preferred language on the grounds that Mr Trump’s conduct with regard to the non-sensitive discovery is still governed by his release conditions and the rules of the court. More follows...

Supporters of former president Donald Trump heckled former vice president Mike Pence as a “traitor” as he visited the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines on Thursday. A video from Iowa Starting Line showed a fellow fairgoer at the former vice president for not being a true Christian. “Pence is a traitor every day,” she said. “Anybody who says they have a higher power, uses those words, he is not a Christian when you say higher power. We don’t buy it as believers, Pence. You are far from a Christian.” Trump supporters have long loathed Mr Pence - who indeed campaigns heavily on his staunch Christian beliefs - for his refusal to overturn the 2020 presidential election results on January 6. During the riot at the US Capitol, some supporters yelled “Hang Mike Pence.” Last week a grand jury handed down an indictment against Mr Trump for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. The indictment detailed how Mr Pence took “contemporaneous notes” in the days between the 2020 election and the January 6 riot. The indictment says that Mr Pence repeatedly told Mr Trump that he did not think he had the authority to overturn the election results. On 1 January 2021, Mr Trump reportedly told Mr Pence he was “too honest.” Mr Pence has since been selling merchandise with the words “too honest” and has repeated that he did not have authority to nullify the election results. But he has struggled in his campaign for the 2024 Republican nomination for president. He consistently polls in the single digits and has not raised as much money as either Mr Trump or Florida Gov Ron DeSantis. Mr Pence said that enough people donated to his campaign from enough states for him to participate in the first Republican debate in Wisconsin later this month, Fox News reported. Read More Trump fumes about Jack Smith’s January 2024 date for Jan 6 trial ahead of hearing on protective order – latest Prosecutors seek Jan. 2 trial date for Donald Trump in his 2020 election conspiracy case

Argentina’s primary election on Sunday will be key in dictating how asset prices will move going forward —

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott visited Arizona's southern border last week where, after listening to harrowing stories of hardship on the path through Mexico to the United States, he declared, "The most compassionate thing we can do is tell people, 'Don't come to our border illegally.'"