Golf's new Saudi deal presents questionable political, business and sporting realities
The PGA Tour once advertised its brightest stars with the catch phrase "These guys are good." A better slogan might now be "These guys are even richer."
2023-06-07 12:29
Indiana man charged with threatening to kill Rep. Jim Banks and his family over politics
An Indiana man has been charged after allegedly threatening Republican Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana and his family in voicemails, according to a court document.
2023-06-07 11:50
Mexico foreign minister quits in bid to clinch presidential nomination
By Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico's foreign minister, one of the leading contenders to be the country's next leader,
2023-06-07 10:55
Chris Christie targets his ‘divisive’ former friend Donald Trump as he sets up bitter 2024 battle
The battle for the Republican nomination just got a whole lot messier. That was the defining message of former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s campaign launch on Tuesday: get ready for blood. Calling out his opponents by name, deconstructing their campaign slogans and clever quips — Chris Christie was in prime form on Tuesday evening at St Anselm College in New Hampshire, where he addressed a small crowd of voters in a town hall-style event and put his sights clear on his top rival, Donald Trump. Mr Christie spoke at length before taking questions from his guests. In his remarks throughout the event, he remained plain-spoken and sharp-tongued while denouncing the four years of his rival’s presidency as an utter failure and little more than an opportunity for “breathtaking” levels of corruption and “grift” carried out by the Trump family. He called the man he twice supported for the White House a “self-consumed, self-serving, mirror hog”, and said that Americans now had four years’ worth of a record with which to judge the former president. At the same time, he made clear that he had little patience for his other rivals, those like Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Tim Scott, who have thus far played coy with their thoughts regarding the former president and his legacy. He even torched Trump family members Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump for receiving a $2bn investment from a Saudi firm into one controlled by Mr Kushner just a short time after they left the White House, deriding it as evidence of a corrupt relationship. "The grift from this family is breathtaking. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Kushner walk out of the White House, and months later, it turns out, they get $2bn from the Saudis?” said Mr Christie. “That makes us a banana republic,” he added. It was comments like that — plus his effortless deconstruction of calls from his rivals to ignore leaders who don’t “look forward”, and their calls for “generational change” — that outlined Mr Christie’s strengths as a politcian and in-person campaigner. Whether it will translate into votes for his candidacy, rather than just the destruction of his foes, is not yet evident. But what is evident is the eagerness of Mr Christie to get into a brawl with his opponents, a trait so far only shared by Mr Trump himself. That similarity was picked up on by one questioner, who identified herself as a clinical psychologist concerned about a nation “traumatised” by constant anger and divisiveness. Mr Christie responded that his brash nature and willingness to throw punches at his opponents was a strength only because it was supposedly paired with a humility and willingness to admit his own mistakes that made him a good leader. It was at least the outline of an effective campaign, if one light on actual policy. The governor did touch on a few national issues, such as when he expressed his opposition to federal efforts to ban abortion — unless, he conceded, there was real support in Congress for it — as well as when he touched on the issue of Ukraine, and labeled Republican rivals Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis the “Neville Chamberlains” of the 2024 race for their supposed willingness to give endless concessions to a dictator. But for the most part, Mr Christie focused on his real advantages as a candidate: The fiery personality that won him both praise and criticism in New Jersey, and a willingness to spar with his opponents at a surgical level. He laid the blame for Joe Biden’s 2020 victory at his opponent’s feet, calling the now-president a weak politician who had gone up against a hopelessly-damaged candidate. "He wouldn't be in office if it wasn't for Trump. Joe Biden never beat anybody outside the state of Delaware in 45 years except for one guy Donald J. Trump...not once, until he ran up against the guy who the American people knew in their heart was full of it,” said the ex-governor. And despite his insistences on Truth Social that he was not worried about the entrance of his former ally into the race, Donald Trump clearly had Chris Christie on his mind Tuesday evening as he blasted out commentary from his social media platform. So too did Marco Rubio, Christie’s unfortunate victim in 2016, who lamely insisted in his own tweet that the New Jersey governor’s onstage humiliation of him had not contributed to his downfall. If there was one takeaway from Tuesday night’s event, it was this: Chris Christie is in the GOP primary to win it all, and he plans to do so by setting himself apart from his fellows as a bold, unflinching truthteller — ironically, the same reputation that Donald Trump constructed for himself in 2016. Whether his newfound courage will be enough to convince his potential voters to break away from the man whom the governor admitted tonight to supporting in two presidential elections? That’s another story. Read More Elon Musk hosts anti-vax 2024 candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr on Twitter Spaces after disastrous DeSantis event Tucker Carlson calls Ukraine’s Jewish leader ‘rat-like’ as he launches new Twitter show with pro-Kremlin rant How to make tomato confit with whipped feta Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement
2023-06-07 09:59
Tucker Carlson calls Ukraine’s Jewish leader ‘rat-like’ as he launches new Twitter show with pro-Kremlin rant
Tucker Carlson described Ukraine’s Jewish leader as “rat-like”, questioned the official story about 9/11, and claimed definitively that aliens are visiting Earth as he launched his new TV show on Twitter. The far-right former Fox News anchor opened the next act of his career with a pro-Kremlin rant claiming that it was “obvious” Ukrainian forces were responsible for the destruction of the Kakhovka dam on Tuesday. He referred to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky as “sweaty and rat-like”, “a persecutor of Christians”, and in bed with American investment bankers. This story is breaking and will be updated.
2023-06-07 07:52
Appeals court wrestles with ruling striking down certain Obamacare no-cost preventive care mandates
A federal appeals court wrestled in oral arguments on Tuesday with a Biden administration request that it pause a judge's ruling that would wipe away an Obamacare mandate requiring certain preventive care services -- including statins and some cancer screenings -- to be provided at no cost.
2023-06-07 07:26
Mark Meadows testified to federal grand jury in special counsel probe of Trump
Mark Meadows, Donald Trump's former chief of staff, has testified to a federal grand jury as part of special counsel Jack Smith's ongoing investigation into the former president, according to one source familiar with the matter.
2023-06-07 06:27
US received intel from European ally that Ukrainian military was planning attack on Nord Stream pipelines, officials say
The US received intelligence from a European ally last year that the Ukrainian military was planning an attack on the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines three months before they were hit, three US officials told CNN.
2023-06-07 06:16
Brazil lawmakers propose reforms combining consumption taxes
BRASILIA Brazil's consumption tax reform advanced on Tuesday as a working group in Congress outlined a proposal to
2023-06-07 05:52
Federal prosecutors using a second grand jury in Florida as part of Trump classified documents probe
A grand jury based in southern Florida has heard testimony from multiple witnesses in recent weeks as part of the federal investigation into former President Donald Trump's handling of classified documents, sources told CNN.
2023-06-07 05:27
Chris Christie files paperwork to launch long-shot 2024 bid
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has filed paperwork to launch his 2024 presidential bid. Mr Christie, who faces long odds in the competition for the GOP nomination, is expected to formally kick off his campaign during a town hall in New Hampshire. Mr Christie plans to focus on the Granite State, an early primary state that he hopes will help give his campaign momentum. Former President Donald Trump, meanwhile, leads the increasingly crowded GOP field. But Mr Christie will look to position himself as a more moderate alternative to Mr Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who recently launched his own GOP presidential bid. At one point, Mr Christie appeared to be in the running for an administration post in Mr Trump’s government, rumoured to be a top contender for the positions of attorney general or potentially secretary of state. But the former governor has since become a vocal critic of the former president, who faces criminal charges in New York City and the prospect of additional charges at the federal level and in Georgia. In the days immediately following January 6, he urged his fellow Republicans to impeach the president for whom he had once considered working, on the grounds of inciting an insurrection — a highly serious charge that ended up going further than even the select committee formed to investigate the attack would later recommend in its referral to the Department of Justice. Just as recently as March, the ex-governor was laying out what he believed was necessary to stop Mr Trump from attaining the GOP nomination, something many in the party’s donor class are hoping to avoid given the president’s performance in 2020 and the woeful showing by the Republican Party in the 2022 midterms. “You better have somebody on that stage who can do to him what I did to Marco [Rubio], because that's the only thing that's gonna defeat Donald Trump,” he said at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. “And that means you have to be fearless, because he will come back, and right at you.” His comments referred to the infamous moment during a February 2016 Republican debate wherein Mr Christie battled a then-surging Senator Marco Rubio onstage — in a series of brutal takedowns, the governor deconstructed his opponent’s debating approach and eviscerated it, leaving the crowd jeering as the senator attempted to respond. It was a moment that quickly cemented itself in political debating history, but ultimately proved next to meaningless given that both men would be utterly overwhelmed in the contest by another man on the stage that night: Donald Trump. And it remains unclear whether that same mastery of the debate stage demonstrated by Mr Christie will serve him well against Mr Trump. In one famous instance from the 2020 contests, Mr Trump bullied his way through an initial debate with now-President Joe Biden, talking over his opponent and ignoring the rules and moderator. Matching Mr Trump’s energy both onstage and off has turned into a major challenge for Republicans, including both those who seek to end his dominance of the GOP and those who wish to emulate his style for their own gain. Though Mr Christie is a veteran of the presidential campaign universe, his chances of winning the GOP nomination are slim. He is currently polling around 1 percent in surveys of the Republican field which include him; the vast majority of voters are currently aligned behind Mr Trump and his second-place challenger, Florida’s Ron DeSantis. Read More Chris Christie –live: Former New Jersey Gov launches Trump spoiler 2024 presidential bid Chris Christie gave Trump legitimacy. Now he can’t stop Trump in 2024 Tim Scott and TV host spar about systemic racism on ‘The View’: ‘That is a dangerous, offensive, disgusting message’ Chris Christie gave Trump legitimacy. Now he can’t stop Trump in 2024 Trump secret papers crisis is his own fault for ‘jerking around’ DOJ says his former attorney general Trump threatens former lawyer who told CNN he expected indictment: ‘Angry, nasty, libelous’
2023-06-07 04:59
Chris Christie – live: Former New Jersey Gov launches Trump spoiler 2024 presidential bid
Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Tuesday 6 June marking his official entrance into the 2024 presidential race– hours before his official kickoff announcement in New Hampshire. Mr Christie, 60, will formally announce his campaign during a town hall in Manchester Tuesday evening. According to reports, the former governor will focus his attention in New Hampshire, an early primary state, in the hopes to give his long-shot campaign momentum. This is the second time Mr Christie has made a bid for the White House, the first being in 2016 when he lost to former president Donald Trump. Though Mr Christie lent his support to Mr Trump in 2016 when he dropped out of the race, he has since changed his opinion of the former president and become a vocal critic of Mr Trump. Likely, the former New Jersey governor will position himself as a moderate Republican alternative to Mr Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
2023-06-07 04:53