WASHINGTON: One of the youngest senators in US history, vice president for eight years and now frontrunner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination — Joe Biden has had a storied career. But Biden’s life in politics has also been intertwined with personal tragedy, in some ways defining him in the public eye. And now his troubled youngest son has been thrust into the glare of a bitter White House race. Biden’s first wife, Neilia Hunter, and one-year-old daughter, Naomi, died in a car crash in 1972 while Christmas shopping, just weeks after Biden had defied the odds and won election to the Senate from the tiny eastern state of Delaware. The accident left his two sons, Joseph “Beau” Biden III, 4, and Robert Hunter Biden, 2, badly injured, and the 30-year-old Biden was sworn into the Senate beside his sons’ hospital beds. While serving in the Senate, Biden would commute 200km by train every day from Washington to his home in Wilmington, Delaware, a … [Read more...] about Biden road to the White House marked by family tragedy
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White House says no recession in sight, pushes China trade talks
WASHINGTON: White House officials pushed back on Sunday against concerns that economic growth may be faltering, saying they saw little risk of recession despite a volatile week on global bond markets, and insisting their trade war with China was doing no damage to the United States.Trump administration economic adviser Larry Kudlow said trade deputies from the two countries would speak within 10 days and "if those deputies meetings pan out...we are planning to have China come to the USA" to advance negotiations over ending a trade battle that has emerged as a potential risk to global economic growth.But even with the stalks stalled for now and the threat of greater tariffs and other trade restrictions hanging over the world economy, Kudlow said on "Fox News Sunday" the United States remained "in pretty good shape.""There is no recession in sight," Kudlow said. "Consumers are working. Their wages are rising. They are spending and they are saving."His comments follow a rocky week in … [Read more...] about White House says no recession in sight, pushes China trade talks
Kerr speaks out on US shootings, Obama White House visits
TORONTO, Canada: Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr (pix) on Sunday urged Americans to vote for gun-control candidates in the wake of a US shooting rampage that left 12 dead and four wounded. The tragedy spurred action by Kerr, whose university president father was fatally shot in 1984 in Lebanon by a Shia militia known as Islamic Jihad. Kerr, guiding the defending champions in the NBA Finals for the fifth year in a row, said he hopes a younger US generation that has lived under the fear of mass shootings might force a change in American gun-ownership laws. “The young generation, the March For Our Lives generation, has really inspired me,“ Kerr said. “So I offer my support to them and to all young people, and hope that we can create a change where we don’t all have to walk around scared we’re going to get shot in our country.” Police say the shootings Friday at a municipal building in Virginia Beach, Virginia, were by public works department … [Read more...] about Kerr speaks out on US shootings, Obama White House visits
White House orders ex-counsel McGahn to defy House subpoena
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By Mary Clare Jalonick And Lisa Mascaro The Associated Press Tues., May 7, 2019 WASHINGTON - The Trump administration has instructed former White House counsel Don McGahn to defy a subpoena for documents from the House Judiciary Committee, arguing that the materials are subject to executive privilege. The committee wants to speak to McGahn and review certain documents after he co-operated extensively with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference and whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice. In a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler on Tuesday, the deadline the panel set for the materials, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone said McGahn has been directed not to disclose the documents. Cipollone said McGahn does not have any “legal right” to the materials because they are under White House control and that any requests should be directed to the White House. Meanwhile, Senate … [Read more...] about White House orders ex-counsel McGahn to defy House subpoena
Democrat O’Rourke accuses Trump White House of dictating Fox News content
SAN FRANCISCO: US Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke attacked the close ties between Republican President Donald Trump and Fox News on Sunday (Apr 28), saying the White House has "free rein, almost" over what is broadcast on the cable television network.Democrats have long accused Fox of reporting that is biased in favour of the Republican Party and Trump. The president is an avid watcher of the network, and Sean Hannity, one of its stars, is an admirer of Trump and last year spoke at one of his rallies.Former Fox News executive Bill Shine became a communications official in the Trump White House in 2018, resigning the position in March to be an adviser on Trump's 2020 presidential campaign.Speaking at a campaign event in San Francisco, former Texas congressman O'Rourke, one of 20 candidates seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, criticized the links between the Trump White House and an influential news network."You have members of the organization moving into the … [Read more...] about Democrat O’Rourke accuses Trump White House of dictating Fox News content