List of All Articles with Tag 'pol'

Leaders and companies in Europe’s biggest markets are increasingly balking at the ambitious pace of the continent’s green

Rishi Sunak’s election strategists can see their nightmare scenario playing out right in front of them. The UK

Work requirements for federal food aid recipients have emerged as a final sticking point in negotiations over the looming debt crisis, even as President Joe Biden said Friday that a deal is “very close.” Biden’s optimism came as the deadline for a potentially catastrophic default was pushed back to June 5 and seemed likely to drag negotiations between the White House and Republicans over raising the debt ceiling into another frustrating week. Both sides have suggested one of the main holdups is a GOP effort to boost work requirements for recipients of food stamps and other federal aid programs, a longtime Republican goal Democrats have strenuously opposed. Even as they came closer to a framework on spending, each side seemed dug in on the work requirements. White House spokesman Andrew Bates called the GOP proposals “cruel and senseless” and said Biden and Democrats would stand against them. Louisiana Rep. Garret Graves, one of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s negotiators, was blunt when asked if Republicans might relent on the issue: "Hell no, not a chance,” he said. The later “ X-date,” laid out in a letter from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, set the risk of a devastating default four days beyond an earlier estimate. Still, Americans and the world uneasily watched the negotiating brinkmanship that could throw the U.S. economy into chaos and sap world confidence in the nation’s leadership. Yet Biden was upbeat as he left for the Memorial Day weekend at Camp David, declaring, “It’s very close, and I’m optimistic.” With Republicans at the Capitol talking with Biden’s team at the White House, the president said: “There’s a negotiation going on. I’m hopeful we’ll know by tonight whether we’re going to be able to have a deal.” But a deal had not come together when McCarthy left the Capitol Friday evening. In a blunt warning, Yellen said failure to act by the new date would “cause severe hardship to American families, harm our global leadership position and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests.” Anxious retirees and others were already making contingency plans for missed checks, with the next Social Security payments due next week. Biden and Republican McCarthy have seemed to be narrowing on a two-year budget-slashing deal that would also extend the debt limit into 2025 past the next presidential election. But talks over the proposed work requirements for recipients of Medicaid, food stamps and other aid programs seemed at a standstill Friday afternoon. Biden has said the Medicaid work requirements would be a nonstarter. But he initially seemed open to possible changes on food stamps, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The Republican proposal would save $11 billion over 10 years by raising the maximum age for existing standards that require able-bodied adults who do not live with dependents to work or attend training programs. While current law applies those standards to recipients under the age of 50, the House bill would raise the age to include adults 55 and under. The GOP proposal would also decrease the number of exemptions that states can grant to some recipients subject to those requirements. Biden's position on the SNAP work requirements appeared to have hardened by Friday, when spokesman Bates said House Republicans are threatening to trigger an unprecedented recession “unless they can take food out of the mouths of hungry Americans.” Any deal would need to be a political compromise, with support from both Democrats and Republicans to pass the divided Congress. Failure to lift the borrowing limit, now $31 trillion, to pay the nation’s incurred bills, would send shockwaves through the U.S. and global economy. But many of the hard-right Trump-aligned Republicans in Congress have long been skeptical of Treasury’s projections, and they are pressing McCarthy to hold out. As talks pushed into another late night, one of the negotiators, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., called Biden’s comments “a hopeful sign.” But he also cautioned that there’s still “sticky points” impeding a final agreement. While the contours of the deal have been taking shape to cut spending for 2024 and impose a 1% cap on spending growth for 2025, the two sides remain stuck on various provisions. House Republicans had pushed the issue to the brink, displaying risky political bravado in leaving town for the Memorial Day holiday. Lawmakers are tentatively not expected back at work until Tuesday, but now their return is uncertain. Weeks of negotiations between Republicans and the White House have failed to produce a deal — in part because the Biden administration resisted negotiating with McCarthy over the debt limit, arguing that the country’s full faith and credit should not be used as leverage to extract other partisan priorities. “We have to spend less than we spent last year. That is the starting point,” said McCarthy. One idea is to set the topline budget numbers but then add a “snap-back” provision to enforce cuts if Congress is unable during its annual appropriations process to meet the new goals. Lawmakers are all but certain to claw back some $30 billion in unspent COVID-19 funds now that the pandemic emergency has officially been lifted. McCarthy has promised lawmakers he will abide by the rule to post any bill for 72 hours before voting. The Democratic-held Senate has vowed to move quickly to send the package to Biden’s desk. ___ Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Stephen Groves, Farnoush Amiri, Seung Min Kim and Kevin Freking and videojournalist Rick Gentilo 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 Lauren Boebert claims Biden plan to combat antisemitism will target ‘conservatives’ Defense secretary tells Navy graduates they are ready to serve Doctor's supporters, hospital at odds with Indiana penalty for talking about 10-year-old's abortion

A Mississippi grand jury has indicted three former Jackson police officers in the death of Keith Murriel, a man who died shortly after a confrontation with the officers in a hotel parking lot on New Year's Eve.

Top US and Japan commerce officials agreed to work together to explore the development of next generation semiconductors

GUATEMALA CITY With just a month to go before Guatemalan voters will pick a new president, the country's

Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law Friday that rolls back child labor protections by extending the hours that teens can work and the establishments where they can be employed.

These players and their dazzling performances at the IPL make a case for their inclusion in India's national side.

Ron DeSantis has slammed his 2024 Republican Rival Donald Trump, claiming he “is a different guy” than when he first ran for president. The former president is leading all other Republican candidates for the party’s presidential nomination, with Mr DeSantis running in second place, according to polls. The Florida governor officially launched his own bid earlier this week in a chaotic Twitter Spaces event with billionaire Elon Musk. And Mr DeSantis told radio host Matt Murphy that he was running to the right of Mr Trump and portrayed himself as more conservative, according to USA Today. “It seems like he’s running to the left and I have always been somebody that’s just been moored in conservative principles,” said Mr DeSantis. “So these will be interesting debates to have, but I can tell you, you don’t win nationally by moving to the left, you win nationally by standing for bold policy. We showed that in Florida. I never watered down anything I did.” And Mr DeSantis claimed that Mr Trump is not the same person who first ran for office. “I don’t know what happened to Donald Trump; this is a different guy today than when he was running in 2015 and 2016 and I think the direction that he’s going with his campaign is the wrong direction,” Mr DeSantis said. And he attacked Mr Trump over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic while in office. “I think [Trump] did great for three years, but when he turned the country over to Fauci in March of 2020 that destroyed millions of people’s lives,” Mr DeSantis said on a podcast. “And in Florida, we were one of the few that stood up, cut against the grain, took incoming fire from media, bureaucracy, the left, even a lot of Republicans, had school open, preserved businesses.” Read More Ron DeSantis news — live: DeSantis Jan 6 pardon remark rebuked as Disney slams bid to disqualify lawsuit judge DeSantis signed bill shielding SpaceX and other companies from liability day after Elon Musk 2024 launch Trump news – latest: Mar-a-Lago worker makes shock claim about classified papers as Fox announces town hall Disney opposes DeSantis request to disqualify judge in free speech lawsuit DeSantis dismisses climate change, calling it ‘politicisation of weather’

Author Mohammed Hanif on the troubled relationship between Pakistan's former PM and the powerful army.

The Pentagon has increased its security screenings following a massive leak of classified documents allegedly by a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard that exposed sensitive information online, according to a Defense Department spokeswoman.

By Brad Brooks and Daniel Trotta LUBBOCK, Texas Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton lashed out on Friday