Trump promises giant tax cut as 'Christmas gift' to American families, cos

US President Donald Trump today said the Congress has reached an agreement on tax legislation that will deliver more jobs, higher wages, and "massive tax relief" for American families and domestic companies.

Trump recognised the tax reform as a campaign promise during his run-up to the 2016 presidential election, saying the "giant tax cut" will be his "Christmas gift" to fellow countrymen.

"Now we're just days away ... from keeping that promise and delivering a truly amazing victory for American families. We want to give you, the American people, a giant tax cut for Christmas," Trump told a select audience at the White House as he delivered an address to the nation making a final pitch for his massive tax reform.

"As we speak, Congress has reached an agreement on tax legislation that will deliver more jobs, higher wages, and massive tax relief for American families and for American companies," he said.

Trump cited an example to explain the impact of the tax cut: "The typical family of four earning USD 75,000 will see an income tax cut of more than USD 2,000, slashing their tax bill in half."

It nearly doubles the amount of income taxed at the rate of zero, he said, adding that the proposed tax reforms also closes special interest loopholes; and lowers tax rates for families. It cuts taxes on businesses, which is expected to raise income by an average of more than USD 4,000, he said.
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After ICJ defeat, Britain replaces UN Ambassador Matthew Rycroft

Britain today appointed Karen Pierce as its new Ambassador to the UN, replacing incumbent Matthew Rycroft under whom it suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of India in the recent election to the International Court of Justice.

Pierce is the first woman appointed to this role, and is uniquely suited for the position having previously served as Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, and more recently as the Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, the UK Mission to the UN said in a statement.

Britain's Permanent Mission to the United Nations did not give any reason for appointing Pierce as new ambassador to the world body, which comes days after it failed to get its judge Christopher Greenwood elected to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) after India's Judge Dalveer Bhandari consistently received nearly two-third of the votes in the UN General Assembly.

Bhandari was on Tuesday re-elected to the ICJ as the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly threw its weight behind him, forcing Britain to withdraw its candidate from the hard- fought race to the world court.

This is for the first time in 70 years that Britain would have no judge in the 15-member panel of the ICJ.
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Gujarat polls: EC bars BJP from using 'Pappu' in electronic advertisement

The Election Commission has barred the ruling BJP in Gujarat from using the word "Pappu" in an electronic advertisement, which apparently targeted Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, calling it "derogatory".

"Pappu" is perceived as a social media slur coined to target Gandhi.

Confirming the development, sources in the BJP today said the script of the advertisement did not link the word to any individual.

According to BJP sources, the media committee under the Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) objected to the word mentioned in the script of the advertisement which was submitted by the party for approval last month.

"Before making any election-related advertisement, we have to submit a script to the committee to get a certificate. However, they raised objection to the word 'Pappu', saying it is derogatory. They asked us to remove or replace it," a senior BJP leader said.

He said the party will replace the word and submit a new script for the EC's approval.

"Since there was no direct mention or linkage with any person while mentioning 'Pappu' in the entire script, we had appealed to the committee to reconsider their decision, but they rejected it. Now, we will change that word and submit a new script for approval," he said.

When contacted, Gujarat CEO BB Swain said he was not aware of any such development and can comment only after getting the details tomorrow.
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Facebook, Twitter, Google under scrutiny for 'Russian meddling'

Facebook, Twitter and Google lawyers defended themselves to US lawmakers probing whether Russia used social media to influence the 2016 Presidential election.

The three firms faced hard questions at a Senate panel on Tuesday on crime and terrorism about why they missed political ads bought with Russian money, BBC reported on Wednesday.

Lawmakers are eyeing new regulations for social media firms in the wake of Russia's alleged meddling in 2016. The firms said they would tighten advertising policies and guidelines.

Senator Al Franken, a Democrat from Minnesota, asked Facebook -- which absorbed much of the heat from lawmakers -- why payment in Russian rubles did not tip off the firm to suspicious activity.

"In hindsight, we should have had a broader lens," said Colin Stretch, general counsel for Facebook. "There are signals we missed."

A day earlier, Facebook said as many as 126 million US users may have seen Russia-backed content over the last two years.

Lawyers for the three firms are facing two days of congressional hearings as lawmakers consider legislation that would extend regulations for television, radio and satellite to also cover social media platforms.

The firms said they are increasing efforts to identify bots and spam, as well as make political advertising more transparent.

Facebook, for example, said it expects to have 20,000 people working on "safety and security" by the end of 2018 -- double the current number.
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73% turnout in Nepal's final phase of crucial local polls

Nepal on Monday saw a high turnout of nearly 73 per cent polling in the final phase of the local- level elections in a Madhesi-dominated province, close to the border with India, as the nation took a crucial step towards cementing democracy amid political turmoil.

Barring some sporadic incidents, the third phase which was postponed twice due to opposition by Madhesi parties, passed off by-and-large peacefully in 136 local units of eight districts under the province.

Polling for the elections, being held for the first time in two decades, began at 7 AM and continued until 5 PM.

The turnouts were around 73 per cent, according to the election commission.

This phase would elect 6,627 representatives. Eight candidates have been elected unopposed.

There are one metropolitan city, three sub-metropolis, 73 municipalities and 59 rural municipalities in the eight districts of the province in southern Nepal.

There were 37,236 candidates in the fray, authorities said.

More than 60,000 security personnel were deployed to ensure security. The Election Commission said border points with India had been closed as a precautionary measure.
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Grand jury assembles to probe Trump's election campaign ties to Russia

Donald Trump has described Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election as a "total fabrication" amid reports that a special prosecutor has impaneled a grand jury to investigate the issue -- a step toward possible criminal indictments.

"We didn't win because of Russia. We won because of you," Trump said yesterday at a campaign-style rally in West Virginia.

Trying to build support among his core supporters, he said his enemies were "trying to cheat you out of the leadership you want with a fake story that is demeaning to all of us and most importantly, demeaning to our country and demeaning to our Constitution."

"The reason why Democrats only talk about the totally made-up Russia story is because they have no message, no agenda, and no vision," he said. "The Russia story is a total fabrication. It's just an excuse for the greatest loss in the history of American politics."

His comments came after the Wall Street Journal revealed that special counsel Robert Mueller has impaneled a grand jury to investigate Russia's interference with the 2016 presidential election.
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Why aren't investigators looking into 'crooked' Hillary's crimes: Trump

US President Donald Trump took to social media to ask why congressional committees and Attorney General Jeff Sessions are not investigating the links between the Russian government and "dishonest" Hillary Clinton, his Democratic rival in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump on Monday resorted once again to Twitter to lambaste Clinton and lash out at the investigations being pursued by several congressional committees to determine if his election campaign coordinated with the Kremlin to influence the result of the election and hurt Clinton's chances at the polls, Efe news reported.

"So why aren't the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes and Russia relations?" tweeted Trump.


So why aren't the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2017
 The President's comment comes a few hours after his son-in-law Jared Kushner denied having "improper contacts" with Russian officials.
Kushner released a statement outlining the testimony he intends to provide on Monday behind closed doors before the Senate Intelligence Committee, one of the congressional bodies pursuing the Russia investigation.
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Vaghela's exit may cast a shadow on Ahmed Patel's chances in RS poll

Gujarat Congress stalwart Shankarsinh Vaghela's decision to quit the party may cast a shadow on the prospects of Sonia Gandhi's confidante Ahmed Patel's re-election to the Rajya Sabha.

According to sources in the party, Vaghela has the support of around a dozen MLAs, and if they follow suit, it may put into jeopardy Patel's chances of securing a fourth Rajya Sabha term from his home state.

Patel is Congress president Sonia Gandhi's political secretary.

Congress has 57 MLAs in Gujarat and its candidate would require votes of 47 of them to get elected.

The RS poll comes close on the heels of the presidential election which exposed chinks in the Congress armour as the joint opposition's nominee Meira Kumar could garner votes of only 49 MLAs.

Vaghela, while announcing his decision of quitting the party, said he would resign from the Assembly only after the August 8 RS poll, seen as a veiled warning that he would try to ensure the defeat of the Congress candidate.

Patel's current term ends on August 18. Though the party is yet to announce its candidate for the upcoming elections, it is seen as almost certain that it would be Patel.
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Trump Jr, former campaign manager to testify before Russia probe panel

President Donald Trump's eldest son and a former campaign manager will testify before Congress next week as part of US investigations into the Trump team's alleged contacts with Russia, a Senate panel has announced.

Donald Trump Jr and Paul Manafort are scheduled to testify in an open hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday at 10 am (local time).

Both men attended a controversial meeting with a Russian lawyer last year in which they were expecting to receive dirt from Moscow on Donald Trump's 2016 election rival Hillary Clinton.

Adding to the political drama in Washington next week, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday, albeit in a closed- door session, CNN reported, citing Kushner's lawyer.

Kushner, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, also attended the June 2016 meeting with the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya.

Trump Jr sent shockwaves through Washington when he confirmed the meeting by releasing a series of emails in which the now-president's son was told the campaign could get "very high level and sensitive information" that was "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr Trump."
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I got us into this mess, I'm going to get us out of it: May on UK results

British Prime Minister Theresa May met her backbench members of parliament (MPs) at Westminster on Monday night and she blamed herself for the Conservative's poor show in last week's general election.

Addressing the Conservative's 1922 committee, May told the politicians: "I got us into this mess, and I'm going to get us out of it."

As she spoke at the private meeting, party managers continued talks with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland about its 10 MPs working with her 318 Conservative group of MPs to give them a majority in the House of Commons, Xinhua reported.

MPs from all parties are due to gather at Westminster on Tuesday to vote on whether John Bercow should remain as Speaker of the House of Commons.

This will be followed by a state opening of the new session of parliament next month when Queen Elizabeth II outlines the proposals May's government intends to put forward.
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Putin: Russian state has never been involved in hacking

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday insisted that the Russian state has never engaged in hacking and scoffed at allegations that hackers could influence the outcome of elections in the United States or Europe.

But the Russian leader admitted the possibility that some individual "patriotic" hackers could have mounted some attacks amid the current cold spell in Russia's relations with the West.

Speaking at a meeting with senior editors of leading international news agencies, Putin also alleged that some evidence pointing at Russian hackers' participation in attacks - he didn't specify which - could have been rigged in an attempt to smear Russia.

"I can imagine that some do it deliberately, staging a chain of attacks in such a way as to cast Russia as the origin of such an attack," Putin said. "Modern technologies allow that to be done quite easily."

US intelligence agencies have accused Russia of hacking into Democratic Party emails, helping President Donald Trump's election victory, and the Congressional and FBI investigations into the Trump campaign's ties with Russia have shattered Moscow's hopes for a detente with Washington.

Asked if Russian hackers could try to shape the outcome of German parliamentary elections later this year, Putin said: "We never engaged in that on a state level, and have no intention of doing so."

He noted that Russia can work constructively with any German leader, adding that he had good ties with German Chancellor Angela Merkel despite some differences.

Russian meddling was also a concern in France, with Putin publicly expressing his sympathy for President Emmanuel Macron's rivals in the campaign. Macron's aides claimed in February that Russian groups were interfering with his campaign, and a document leak hit Macron's campaign in the final hours of the French race. Moscow has strongly denied all allegations of election meddling.
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