2 months ago
(In Aug. 14 story, corrects to attribute comment in paragraph 8 to a State Department spokesperson instead of to a named individual.)
MEXICO CITY, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Andres Manuel Lopez Beltran, a son of former Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said the United States has revoked his visa, accusing Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau of ordering what he called a politically motivated decision.
Lopez Beltran, widely known as "Andy," made the claim in a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump that was released late on Thursday. He said U.S. authorities had provided no evidence linking him to any crime or wrongdoing.
Washington has expanded a campaign targeting Mexican officials accused of ties to organized crime. Reuters reported in October that the Trump administration had revoked the visas of at least 50 Mexican politicians and officials, including figures from across the political spectrum, as part of its cartel crackdown.
Visa cancellations can apply to officials engaged in drug trafficking, corruption or aiding illegal immigration, State Department officials have said.
#department #reuters
MEXICO CITY, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Andres Manuel Lopez Beltran, a son of former Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said the United States has revoked his visa, accusing Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau of ordering what he called a politically motivated decision.
Lopez Beltran, widely known as "Andy," made the claim in a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump that was released late on Thursday. He said U.S. authorities had provided no evidence linking him to any crime or wrongdoing.
Washington has expanded a campaign targeting Mexican officials accused of ties to organized crime. Reuters reported in October that the Trump administration had revoked the visas of at least 50 Mexican politicians and officials, including figures from across the political spectrum, as part of its cartel crackdown.
Visa cancellations can apply to officials engaged in drug trafficking, corruption or aiding illegal immigration, State Department officials have said.
#department #reuters
2 months ago
SACRAMENTO — Xavier Becerra is keeping people guessing.
The presumptive next leader of California traced a circuitous path through the state's most chaotic governor race in a generation. He was not the first or second or even third or fourth choice of most Democratic kingmakers, prevailing over a fractured field after better-positioned candidates either passed on running (Kamala Harris, Alex Padilla) or imploded (Eric Swalwell). Becerra effectively punched his ticket to lead America's largest state — a progressive bastion, a Democratic bellwether and a national launching pad — by winning 28 percent of primary voters.
Now, as Sacramento prepares for Becerra's all but inevitable ascension, the elected officials, lobbyists, and corporate and labor leaders who shape policy in one of the nation's most consequential capitals are grappling with a contradiction: Despite Becerra's decades in public service, no one seems to be quite sure what he'll do with the biggest job of his career. And the ambiguity seems to be by design.
"I can make some really big promises. But that doesn't get us anywhere — it may get us elected, but I would prefer not to run on inflated promises that I can't deliver on," Becerra told POLITICO this week, subsequently telling reporters his caution was a product of hard-learned experience, like his time helping to lead the White House's response to the Covid-19 pandemic: "When I was dealing with Covid, I could not say 'I'm going to get you all the ventilators you need,' because I didn't want people to say — 'you promised them, (and) because you didn't bring them, these people died."
He remains something of a cipher, even to some of California's most attentive political observers, despite having served at virtually every level of government. He rose from the state legislature to Congress to statewide office to a cabinet position in President Joe Biden's administration leading the Health and Human Services Agency.
#democratic #covid
The presumptive next leader of California traced a circuitous path through the state's most chaotic governor race in a generation. He was not the first or second or even third or fourth choice of most Democratic kingmakers, prevailing over a fractured field after better-positioned candidates either passed on running (Kamala Harris, Alex Padilla) or imploded (Eric Swalwell). Becerra effectively punched his ticket to lead America's largest state — a progressive bastion, a Democratic bellwether and a national launching pad — by winning 28 percent of primary voters.
Now, as Sacramento prepares for Becerra's all but inevitable ascension, the elected officials, lobbyists, and corporate and labor leaders who shape policy in one of the nation's most consequential capitals are grappling with a contradiction: Despite Becerra's decades in public service, no one seems to be quite sure what he'll do with the biggest job of his career. And the ambiguity seems to be by design.
"I can make some really big promises. But that doesn't get us anywhere — it may get us elected, but I would prefer not to run on inflated promises that I can't deliver on," Becerra told POLITICO this week, subsequently telling reporters his caution was a product of hard-learned experience, like his time helping to lead the White House's response to the Covid-19 pandemic: "When I was dealing with Covid, I could not say 'I'm going to get you all the ventilators you need,' because I didn't want people to say — 'you promised them, (and) because you didn't bring them, these people died."
He remains something of a cipher, even to some of California's most attentive political observers, despite having served at virtually every level of government. He rose from the state legislature to Congress to statewide office to a cabinet position in President Joe Biden's administration leading the Health and Human Services Agency.
#democratic #covid
3 months ago
By Rick Noack, Mubasher Bukhari and Asif Shahzad
ISLAMABAD, July 16 (Reuters) - Attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis this week have frustrated Pakistan and threaten to draw Islamabad into the conflict, complicating any future role it may have as a mediator between the United States and Iran.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan, which helped broker an interim deal last month in the war between Washington and Tehran, signed a mutual defence agreement with Saudi Arabia last year and thousands of Pakistani soldiers have been deployed to the kingdom, alongside a squadron of fighter jets.
Pakistan had already voiced anger about Iranian strikes on Saudi Arabia earlier this year, but regional ******* ysts and officials said the attacks this week had pushed Islamabad's frustration with Iran to a new level as they raised the prospect of a new Saudi-Houthi conflict.
The Houthis fired missiles at Saudi Arabia after accusing the kingdom of bombing an airport under their control on Monday. The cross-border fire pierced a four-year truce but has so far been contained to a single incident.
ISLAMABAD, July 16 (Reuters) - Attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis this week have frustrated Pakistan and threaten to draw Islamabad into the conflict, complicating any future role it may have as a mediator between the United States and Iran.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan, which helped broker an interim deal last month in the war between Washington and Tehran, signed a mutual defence agreement with Saudi Arabia last year and thousands of Pakistani soldiers have been deployed to the kingdom, alongside a squadron of fighter jets.
Pakistan had already voiced anger about Iranian strikes on Saudi Arabia earlier this year, but regional ******* ysts and officials said the attacks this week had pushed Islamabad's frustration with Iran to a new level as they raised the prospect of a new Saudi-Houthi conflict.
The Houthis fired missiles at Saudi Arabia after accusing the kingdom of bombing an airport under their control on Monday. The cross-border fire pierced a four-year truce but has so far been contained to a single incident.
4 months ago
"True to the motto of this city, I am going to do things differently," Andy Burnham declared, a reference to the film 24 Hour Party People.
His speech in Manchester did indeed show a rather different way of seeing and running the UK.
The departing Greater Manchester mayor presented a diagnosis of what has caused economic malaise, rooted in his own experiences running the city and when he was previously in Cabinet.
At its heart it is a critique of an unresponsive British state, adept at arguing with itself, rather than achieving real change and rebuilding the country.
His solutions were ambitious, and mostly rather general, taking power from the centre and giving it to regions and cities, as occurs routinely in other advanced countries.
His speech in Manchester did indeed show a rather different way of seeing and running the UK.
The departing Greater Manchester mayor presented a diagnosis of what has caused economic malaise, rooted in his own experiences running the city and when he was previously in Cabinet.
At its heart it is a critique of an unresponsive British state, adept at arguing with itself, rather than achieving real change and rebuilding the country.
His solutions were ambitious, and mostly rather general, taking power from the centre and giving it to regions and cities, as occurs routinely in other advanced countries.
