Washington, United States | AFP | A Muslim congresswoman-elect has co-authored changes to a longstanding rule banning the wearing of head coverings on the US House floor, an effort supported Monday by the nation’s largest Muslim rights group. Ilhan Omar, a Somali refugee who was one of the first two …
Read More »US senator fires top aide over ‘improper relations’ with staff
Washington, United States | AFP | A prominent US senator on Saturday fired his chief of staff for improper relations with subordinates, as US lawmakers increasingly grapple with the issue of sexual harassment. Republican Senator Marco Rubio said he received by Saturday “sufficient evidence to conclude that while employed by this …
Read More »Millionaire buys anti-Trump book for every member of Congress
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Democratic mega-donor and billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer has bought every member of Congress a copy of Michael Wolff’s controversial book `Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House’. The book portrays Trump as a Republican candidate who did not actually expect to win the presidency …
Read More »Blame game as Congress struggles to end US govt shutdown
Washington, United States | AFP | With the US government in shutdown, the Senate convened a rare emergency session Saturday to negotiate a way out of a crisis that has marred the anniversary of Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration. Hours after a marathon session Friday failed to produce agreement on a …
Read More »#MeToo: US Democratic lawmakers urge wearing black to Trump speech
Washington, United States | AFP | Several Democratic US congresswomen will wear black to President Donald Trump’s upcoming State of the Union Address in solidarity with the “MeToo” movement opposing sexual harassment, a female lawmaker said Wednesday. Democrat Jackie Speier tweeted that she and other Democratic women in the House of …
Read More »Defeated US Senate candidate Moore files legal challenge over loss
Washington, United States | AFP | Defeated US Senate candidate Roy Moore has filed a last-minute legal challenge to his stunning loss at the hands of Democrat Doug Jones in a special election held in the right-leaning state of Alabama earlier this month. Christian conservative Moore, a former judge who …
Read More »Trump: ‘I was right’ Moore could not win Alabama race
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump sought Wednesday to distance himself from an embarrassing defeat in Alabama, saying he had been right all along that Republican senate candidate Roy Moore could not win. The former judge faced damaging accusations he had preyed on teenage girls as a …
Read More »Longest-serving US congressman quits after sex harassment claims
Washington, United States | AFP | Veteran US Democrat John Conyers announced Tuesday he is leaving the House of Representatives after more than five decades in office, following a series of sexual harassment accusations by former staffers. “I am retiring today,” Conyers, 88, told a Detroit radio station, as he became …
Read More »My god, 3.5 hours’: Xi gives marathon speech, China listens
Beijing, China | AFP | As Chinese leader Xi Jinping delivered his three-plus-hour speech at the Communist Party congress, delegates ranging from men in suits to military officers and former presidents dutifully turned every page as they read and listened to his words. On the internet, government bureaus peppered social …
Read More »Xi declares ‘new era’ for China as party congress opens
Beijing, China | AFP | President Xi Jinping declared China has embarked on a “new era” of challenges and opportunities on Wednesday as he opened a Communist Party congress expected to enhance his already formidable power. Xi told some 2,300 delegates at the imposing Great Hall of the People that …
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