Diane is a perfectionist. She enjoys searching the internet for the hottest events from around the world and writing an article about it. The details matter to her, so she makes sure the information is easy to read and understand. She likes traveling and history, especially ancient history. Being a very sociable person she has a blast having barbeque with family and friends.
According to US officials, VP Mike Pence was due to meet North Korean officials at the Winter Olympics last week, but the North Koreans canceled the meeting at the last moment.
VP Mike Pence was in South Korea for the opening of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
A spokesman said the vice-president was scheduled to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, among others.
It would have been the first official interaction between North Korea and the Trump administration.
North Korea has made no comment on the reports.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said when the “possibility arose” of a brief meeting with the North Korean delegation, Mike Pence “was ready to take this opportunity to drive home the necessity of North Korea abandoning its illicit ballistic missile and nuclear programs”.
Heather Nauert said in a statement: “At the last minute, DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] officials decided not to go forward with the meeting. We regret their failure to seize this opportunity.”
North Korea’s attendance at the Winter Olympics was seen as a major thaw in consistently tense relations on the Korean peninsula.
Mike Pence was criticized by some for not engaging diplomatically with the North Koreans while in South Korea.
He sat feet away from Kim Yo-jong – who is accused of human rights violations – at the Games but did not interact with her, saying: “I didn’t believe it was proper for the United States of America to give her any attention in that forum.”
Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, said North Korea had “dangled a meeting in hopes of the vice president softening his message, which would have ceded the world stage for their propaganda during the Olympics”.
“This administration will stand in the way of Kim’s desire to whitewash their murderous regime with nice photo ops at the Olympics. Perhaps that’s why they walked away from a meeting or perhaps they were never sincere about sitting down,” Nick Ayers said.
On leaving the Games, Mike Pence said the US and its allies remained firmly aligned on North Korea
“There is no daylight between the United States, the Republic of Korea and Japan on the need to continue to isolate North Korea economically and diplomatically until they abandon their nuclear and ballistic missile program.”
However, South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in has said he is considering accepting an invitation to visit Kim Jong-un in North Korea.
President Donald Trump has been widely criticized after investors in a luxury property development in India are being offered the chance to have “conversation and dinner” with his eldest son, Donald Jr.
Donald Trump Jr. is visiting India this week and will promote the Trump Towers development near Delhi.
Critics say the Trump family is cashing in on the president’s name.
However, Donald Trump Jr. has said he has been building relationships in India for years.
The full-page advertisement, which ran as the front cover of several Indian newspapers over the weekend, featured a picture of Donald Trump Jr. together with text: “Trump is here. Are you invited?” and “Trump has arrived. Have you?”
The 47-storey towers in Gurgaon, close to New Delhi, are being developed by the Trump Organization and local partners – with some apartments selling for more than $1 million.
The Trump Organization, formerly headed up by President Donald Trump, is an umbrella company for hundreds of investments in businesses including real estate. Donald Trump Jr. is now its executive director.
India is the Trump Organization’s biggest property market outside the US, and in 2016 the Trump family earned up to $3 million in royalties from ventures in India, according to a financial disclosure report.
The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) – a watchdog group – added the Indian promotion to a list of instances it believes show the Trump name being used for commercial gain.
In an interview last week, cited by The Guardian, Donald Trump Jr. said he had spent nearly a decade “cultivating relationships in India” and that the company was “now seeing the response of that effort”.
The president’s son said his itinerary was designed to steer clear of politics.
However, Donald Trump Jr. is listed as a keynote speaker at a global business conference, which will be attended by Indian politicians, including PM Narendra Modi and some of India’s business elite.
President Donald Trump handed over control of his business empire to Donald Jr. and Eric Trump before his inauguration last year.
However, the director of the US Office of Government Ethics said at the time that this did not go far enough to ensure there would be no conflict of interest between his politics and personal business.
Since taking office, critics have claimed President Trump is continuing to profit from his family’s business interests.
They have also accused the Trump family of playing up its connections with the White House in order to influence business deals.
In May 2017, the company owned by the family of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, pulled out of a real estate presentation in China.
Kushner Companies had been scheduled to pitch opportunities to real estate investors in China, but Jared Kushner’s sister was widely criticized for using his name in a pitch.
In November 2017, President Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, was criticized for speaking at a global entrepreneurs summit in Hyderabad, with some saying the summit had become more about Ivanka Trump and her namesake brand than the wider issue.
Morgan Tsvangirai founded the MDC in 2000, repeatedly challenging Robert Mugabe during the ex-president’s long grip on power.
In the 2008 election, Morgan Tsvangirai gained the most votes in the first round but not enough to win outright.
Before the second round of voting, Robert Mugabe’s security forces carried out a campaign of violence against opposition supporters, and Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew.
Robert Mugabe was declared the winner, but an international outcry over allegations of violence and vote-rigging led to a power sharing agreement in which Morgan Tsvangirai would serve as prime minister.
Morgan Tsvangirai ran against Robert Mugabe again in 2013 but lost by a landslide.
The MDC is said to be divided over who should lead it into elections later this year against the governing Zanu-PF party, led by Robert Mugabe’s successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Choi Soon-sil, an old friend of South Korea’s ex-President Park Geun-hye, has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for corruption, influence-peddling and abuse of power.
She was at the heart of a massive corruption scandal that brought down Park Geun-hye, South Korea’s first female president.
Choi Soon-sil had acted for years as an adviser to Park Geun-hye, who has been impeached and is also on trial.
Park Geun-hye has denied any wrongdoing.
The Seoul Central District Court also fined Choi Soon-sil 18 billion Korean won ($16.6 million).
Choi Soon-sil was accused of using her presidential connections to pressure conglomerates – including electronics giant Samsung and retail group Lotte – for millions of dollars in donations to two non-profit foundations she controlled.
She is already serving a three year jail term for a separate charge of corruption, after she was found guilty of using her position to solicit favors for her daughter.
Park Geun-hye meanwhile has been accused of colluding with Choi Soon-sil. She is currently in custody, with a verdict expected later this year.
The court has also found Shin Dong-bin, chairman of the Lotte Group, guilty of offering bribes to Choi Soon-sil, and jailed him for two years and six months.
President Park Geun-hye was officially ousted in March 2017, following parliament’s decision to impeach her. She was the country’s first democratically-elected president to be forced from office.
After losing her presidential immunity, Park Geun-hye was charged with bribery, abusing state power and leaking state secrets, and her trial began in May.
President Donald Trump’s speechwriter David Sorensen has become the second White House aide this week to resign amid allegations of domestic abuse.
However, David Sorensen denies his ex-wife’s allegations he was violent and emotionally abusive.
David Sorensen’s departure comes just days after another Trump top aide, Rob Porter, quit over allegations of abuse from two ex-wives, something he denies.
Questions have been raised over how long it took the White House to act on the accusations facing Rob Porter.
Jessica Corbett, David Sorensen’s ex-wife, told the Washington Post that he was physically abusive to her while they were married.
She said that on separate occasions David Sorensen ran a car over her foot, threw her against a wall and extinguished a cigarette on her hand.
In response, her former husband released a statement in which he said he had “never committed violence of any kind against any woman in my entire life” and that instead it was he who had been physically abused.
David Sorensen said he was considering legal action, but said he quit because he “didn’t want the White House to have to deal with this distraction”.
White House officials said they learned of the accusations by David Sorensen’s wife on February 8.
Deputy press secretary Raj Shah said: “We immediately confronted the staffer, he denied the allegations and he resigned today.”
Allegations of domestic abuse against Rob Porter involving two ex-wives surfaced on February 6.
It is alleged that the former White House staff secretary gave one ex-wife a black eye while another filed a restraining order. He denies the allegations.
On February 9, President Trump paid tribute to Rob Porter, who quit his White House position on February 7.
Speaking in the Oval Office President Trump said: “We found out about it recently and I was surprised by it, but we certainly wish him well and it’s a tough time for him.”
However, the president did not refer to Rob Porter’s accusers.
Donald Trump’s comments sparked criticism from Democrats, with former VP Joe Biden saying the president had downplayed the allegations against Rob Porter.
Joe Biden said: “That’s like saying: <<That axe murderer out there, he’s a great painter>>.”
The case has put pressure on President Trump’s Chief-of-Staff John Kelly, who has denied reports he offered to resign over his handling of the accusations.
After initially praising Rob Porter as a man of “integrity”, John Kelly later released a statement saying he was shocked by the claims and stressed domestic violence was unacceptable.
According to media reports, John Kelly and other White House officials were aware for several months of the domestic abuse accusations because they were holding up Rob Porter’s security clearance application.
Raj Shah said that President Trump was not aware of any security issues before February 6 and was “disheartened” and “saddened” by the accusations.
White House communications director Hope Hicks’ handling of the controversy has also reportedly displeased President Trump.
Hope Hicks, 29, has recently been in a relationship with Rob Porter, a Harvard graduate and former Oxford Rhodes Scholar.
President Trump was reportedly not consulted when Hope Hicks helped draft an initial statement defending Rob Porter.
According to CBS News, Rob Porter approached White House Counsel Don McGahn in January 2017 to inform him his ex-wives might say unflattering things about him to background check investigators.
In June 2017, Rob Porter’s preliminary file was sent from the FBI to the White House security office, containing the abuse allegations.
In November, Don McGahn received a call from an ex-girlfriend of Rob Porter alleging physical violence by the aide.
Don McGahn told the White House chief of staff there was an issue with Rob Porter’s security clearance, although he was vague, reports CBS.
Rob Porter told John Kelly his ex-wives were saying false things about him.
A White House spokesman said on February 8 that John Kelly did not realize the extent of the claims until a photo of one of Rob Porter’s former wives, Colbie Holderness, suffering a black eye, emerged on February 7.
Former Bangladeshi PM Khaleda Zia has been sentenced to five years in jail for corruption.
Police have clashed with thousands of protesters as the opposition leader has been jailed.
She denies misusing international funds donated to a charitable children’s trust.
Begum Khaleda Zia became the country’s first female head of government in 1991 after leading the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to victory in Bangladesh’s first democratic election in 20 years.
She returned to the post of prime minister in 2001, stepping down in October 2006 ahead of a general election.
Khaleda Zia is the widow of former Bangladeshi President Ziaur Rahman.
Her political career has been marred by corruption allegations and a long-standing political rivalry with Awami League leader and the current prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.
The two women have alternated from government to opposition for most of the past two decades.
The 72-year-old’s jail sentence may mean she is barred from parliamentary polls due later this year.
The case is one of dozens pending against Khaleda Zia, a long-time rival of PM Sheikh Hasina.
The charges against her had already led to her boycotting elections in 2014, which triggered widespread protests at the time.
For today’s verdict there was heightened security across the capital and other cities. Many stores and schools were shut, reports said.
According to Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), hundreds of its supporters were arrested in the run-up to the verdict.
Khaleda Zia has described the charges against her as politically motivated.
As she went into court, the former prime minister told weeping relatives: “I will be back. Do not worry and be strong”, according to the Daily Star.
The verdict was read out in a court in Dhaka after police used tear gas to disperse thousands of her supporters.
According to local reports, several police officers were injured in the violence.
Khaleda Zia was led away to jail minutes after the verdict, bdnews24 reported.
Her son Tarique Rahman was given 10 years in jail in absentia as he is in London. The same jail term was handed down to four of her aides.
Khaleda Zia’s trial centered around $252,000 intended for an orphanage trust set up when she was prime minister. She was found guilty of embezzling the funds.
Rob Porter, one of President Donald Trump’s top aides, has resigned amid abuse claims from his two ex-wives.
The White House staff secretary said “these outrageous allegations are simply false” as he announced he would step down.
The accusations were first reported in the Daily Mail and include accounts of physical and emotional abuse.
The White House would not comment on a report that Rob Porter, 40, failed to receive security clearance.
His ex-wives, Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby, both recounted stories of Rob Porter’s alleged misconduct.
Colbie Holderness, the first wife and a government analyst, said the White House aide had been verbally and physically abusive.
She said Rob Porter had kicked her on their 2003 honeymoon in the Canary Islands.
Colbie Holderness also alleged he punched her in the face while they were on holiday a couple of years later in Florence, Italy.
She supplied a photo of herself with a black eye to the media.
The second wife, Jennifer Willoughby, a motivational speaker, told the Daily Mail she was married to Rob Porter from 2009 to 2013.
She wrote about her experiences in a blog post entitled Why I Stayed.
Jennifer Willoughby said she filed a protective order against him in June 2010 after he allegedly punched the glass of the door at their Alexandria, Virginia, home.
She told the Washington Post on February 7: “He has never faced repercussions that forced him to confront his issues.
“I care about him and want what’s best for him, but that doesn’t necessarily mean him keeping his job because he needs to face these underlying issues.”
Rob Porter rejected the allegations in a statement read by the White House press secretary on February 7.
“I took the photos given to the media nearly 15 years ago and the reality behind them is nowhere close to what is being described,” he said.
“I have been transparent and truthful about these vile claims, but I will not further engage publicly with a co-ordinated smear campaign.”
According to the Daily Mail, RobPorter did not receive security clearance for his White House job after the FBI interviewed his ex-wives during background checks.
However, the White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to be drawn on that issue.
She told reporters: “Background checks involve a complex investigation run by intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
“As has always been our policy, we do not comment on security clearances. Rob Porter has been effective in his role as Staff Secretary.
“The President and Chief of Staff have full confidence in his abilities and his performance.”
Rob Porter attended Harvard with Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University.
His White House role involved working with the president and his chief of staff John Kelly.
Before Rob Porter resigned, John Kelly told the Daily Mail the staff secretary was “a man of true integrity and honor”.
According to the reports, Rob Porter has recently been romantically linked with White House communications director Hope Hicks.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, is to attend February 9 opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games, which are being held in South Korea, ministers in Seoul say.
Kim Yo-jong, a senior Workers’ Party official promoted to the politburo in 2017, will be the first immediate Kim family member to cross the border.
Both Koreas will march under one flag at the opening ceremony.
North Korea’s participation has been seen as a thawing of bilateral ties.
However, the US, Japan and others have accused North Korea of using the Games for propaganda purposes.
Believed to have been born in 1987, Kim Yo-jong is the youngest daughter of late leader Kim Jong-il and is Kim Jong-un’s full sister. She is about four years younger than her brother and is said to be very close to him.
Kim Yo-jong is reportedly married to the son of Choe Ryong-hae, the powerful party secretary.
She has been in the spotlight sporadically in recent years, with her main job being to protect her brother’s image via her role in the party’s propaganda department.
Kim Yo-jong remains blacklisted by the United States over alleged links to human rights abuses in North Korea.
It would be the first by a direct member of the Kim dynasty.
Chang Song-thaek, Kim Jong-un’s uncle and brother in law of Kim Jong-il, did travel to South Korea but did not belong to the Baekdu blood line, which is considered significant.
More than 100,000 people from across Greece have taken to the streets of Athens on February 4 in a protest about the decades-long dispute over the name Macedonia.
Many Greeks object to the country of the same name calling itself Macedonia, saying it implies a territorial claim on Greece’s northern Macedonia region.
They oppose Greek government proposals on resolving the issue.
Famous Zorba The Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, 92, was among those addressing the crowds.
On February 3, anarchists daubed red paint over Mikis Theodorakis’ home, but he was unfazed, declaring: “I am calm and ready.”
Protesters carrying Greek flags chanted “hands off Macedonia” and “Macedonia is Greece”, as they assembled in Syntagma Square outside parliament.
“Macedonia was, is and will forever be Greek,” Mikis Theodorakis told the huge crowds, adding that any suggestion of a name to resolve the dispute must be put to a referendum.
“If a government considers signing on behalf of our country… there is no doubt it must first ask the Greek people.”
Image source Wikimedia
The composer said the neighboring northern state was “illegitimate”.
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias recently received death threats when he said he expected the dispute to be resolved within months.
It is the second such protest in two weeks. On January 21, some 90,000 demonstrators rallied in Thessaloniki, the capital of the Macedonia region.
Organizers of February 4 protest estimated that 1.5 million people had attended but police said turnout was less than one tenth of that.
The dispute has simmered since Macedonia gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and it has held up its attempts to join NATO and the EU.
Greece’s left-wing Syriza government says the issue is a diplomatic obstacle it wants resolved and has proposed agreeing to a composite name for the country which would include the word Macedonia but ensure a clear differentiation from the Greek region.
Macedonia argues that its people can be traced back to the ancient kingdom of Macedon, once ruled by Alexander the Great, and that the name “Macedonia” is therefore the logical option.
However, PM Zoran Zaev said last month that Macedonia would change the name of its airport from Skopje Alexander the Great airport, to show good will.
The Greek Orthodox Church backs the campaign to stop Macedonia using any variant of the name.
In organizations such as the UN, where talks have been under way, Macedonia is officially known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)
At home, the Macedonian government calls the country it administers simply “Republic of Macedonia”.
UN mediator Matthew Nimetz has suggested alternatives such as “Republic of New Macedonia”.
According to new reports, a proposal to name it “Republic of Macedonia-Skopje” was accepted by Greece but rejected by Macedonia.
President Donald Trump has extended a temporary protection for 6,900 Syrians in living in the United States as war continues to ravage their country.
Syrians were shielded from deportation under a humanitarian program, Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
President Trump has cancelled TPS programs for various countries in recent months, affecting immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti and Nicaragua.
However, the extension does not apply to any new or recent applicants from Syria.
For Syrians already living and working in the United States, TPS will be extended for another 18 months. Syrians who entered the country after August 2016 will be excluded from the program.
Created in 1990, TPS program allows immigrants from countries deemed unsafe to lawfully live and work in the United States.
The program is used by hundreds of thousands of people from 10 designated countries that have been hit by problems such as natural disasters or civil conflicts.
Since 2011, Syria has been embroiled in a civil war that has caused millions to flee and hundreds of thousands of deaths.
Protections were set to expire for Syrians on March 31, but with the extension will now last at least another 18 months.
Secretary of Homeland (DHS) Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen said in a statement: “It is clear that the conditions upon which Syria’s designation was based continue to exist, therefore an extension is warranted under the statute.
“We will continue to determine each country’s TPS status on a country-by-country basis.”
Earlier this month, DHS announced it would end protected status for 262,500 Salvadorians with an 18-month delay.
In November 2017, the administration said status Haitians and Nicaraguans would also end in 2019.
President Donald Trump has proclaimed a “new American moment” as he delivered his first State of the Union speech to Congress.
The Republican president said he was “extending an open hand” to Democrats to work together.
Donald Trump also said he was ordering Guantanamo Bay to be kept open, reversing an Obama-era directive to close the controversial detention camp.
The American economy is booming but President Trump’s approval rating languishes.
He said his administration was “building a safe, strong and proud America”.
President Trump told lawmakers in a one-hour-and-20-minute speech: “There has never been a better time to start living the American dream.”
As many as 40 million TV viewers were expected to tune in as he implored the nation to come together as “one team, one people and one American family”.
President Trump made a plea for the kind of bipartisan co-operation that has been in short supply during a turbulent first year in office.
“Tonight I am extending an open hand to work with members of both parties, Democrats and Republicans, to protect our citizens, of every background, color and creed,” he said.
Donald Trump, who has enraged Democrats by withdrawing protections for immigrants who entered the US illegally as children, offered an olive branch.
However, the president insisted on a border wall with Mexico and other concessions from Democrats as part of any over-arching immigration deal.
Some Democrats booed when President Trump said he wanted to curtail an allowance for legal immigrants to bring family members into the US.
The president again touted his pet plan to rebuild America’s ageing roads and other infrastructure, though he did not offer many details.
He said that 2.4 million jobs had been created on his watch.
Since Donald Trump came to office, the stock market has soared and the unemployment rate is at a 17-year low as the US continues its recovery from the recession of a decade ago.
However, Donald Trump had an average job approval last year of 38%, the lowest first-year rating for any president in the history of Gallup polling.
Massachusetts congressman Joseph Kennedy III, a great-nephew of President John F. Kennedy, delivered the Democratic rebuttal.
Joseph Kennedy III, 37, attempted to seize Donald Trump’s political mantle by purporting to speak for “Americans who feel forgotten and forsaken”.
Bewailing a “fractured country” and depicting the Trump presidency as “chaos”, he said: “Many have spent the past year anxious, angry, afraid.”
“Bullies may land a punch. They might leave a mark. But they have never, not once, in the history of our United States, managed to match the strength and spirit of a people united in defense of their future,” he added.
In one telling moment from President Trump’s speech, members of the Democratic Congressional Black Caucus sat in stony-faced silence amid a standing ovation as the president noted African-American unemployment has hit a record low.
About a dozen Democratic lawmakers said they would boycott President Trump’s speech.
Kenyan TV stations have been shut down by authorities to prevent live coverage of a swearing-in event by opposition leader Raila Odinga, who boycotted last year’s disputed presidential election.
Raila Odinga declared himself the “people’s president” in front of thousands of his supporters in the capital, Nairobi.
The result of the last August election was annulled following allegations of irregularities.
Uhuru Kenyatta won a re-run in October, but Raila Odinga did not take part.
President Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn in for a second term in November 2017.
He warned the media not to cover the January 30 event and the attorney general said holding such a ceremony amounted to treason.
However, the main TV stations streamed the event on their websites and on YouTube and Facebook.
Holding a bible in his right hand at a park in Nairobi, Raila Odinga declared that he was answering to a “high[er] calling to assume the office of the people’s president of the Republic of Kenya”.
People had had enough of election rigging and the event was a step towards establishing a proper democracy in the East African state, he told a cheering crowd.
Raila Odinga’s deputy, Kalonzo Musyoka was not as the event. Raila Odinga said he would be sworn in at a later date.
Speaking earlier to Kenyan broadcaster KTN, Raila Odinga said the media ban “confirms we have descended to the level of Uganda”, which stopped media coverage during elections in 2016.
He said that his “swearing-in” was intended to “show the world that what we are doing is legal, constitutional and not something you can remotely describe as a coup”.
Kenyan journalists have denounced the move as outrageous, in a statement calling for “respect of the constitution” and an end to the “unprecedented intimidation of journalists”.
Uhuru Kenyatta was officially re-elected with 98% of the vote on October 26 but just under 39% of voters turned out. He was inaugurated in November.
His victory is not recognized by Raila Odinga, who argues he was elected by a small section of the country.
Uhuru Kenyatta also won the original election on August 8, but that result was annulled by the Supreme Court, which described it as “neither transparent nor verifiable”.
When the repeat vote was called, Raila Odinga urged his supporters to shun it because he said no reforms had been made to the electoral commission.
Correspondents say the election dispute has left Kenya deeply divided. About 50 people are reported to have been killed in violence since the August ballot.
Russia suggests that an expected US report that could sanction Kremlin-linked oligarchs is an attempt to influence its March presidential election.
The treasury department report is expected to detail the closeness of senior Russian political figures and oligarchs to President Vladimir Putin, who is standing for re-election.
US officials accuse Russia of meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections.
Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations.
President Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the forthcoming report would be analyzed.
During 2017, President Donald Trump enacted new sanctions on Russia but he accused Congress of overreaching itself and preventing him from easing penalties on Russia in the future.
President Trump has repeatedly rejected any allegations that his campaign staff colluded with Russia to help him defeat Democratic rival Hillary Clinton at the November 2016 presidential election.
The allegations voiced by the US intelligence community are currently being investigated by Congress and Robert Mueller.
Dmitry Peskov said the US report was a “direct and obvious attempt to influence the elections” on March 18.
However, the spokesman added that he was sure the list would not affect the vote.
The Kremlin has pledged to help limit further damage to Russian oligarchs and businesses that could be on the list.
In 2018, President Vladimir Putin reportedly met top businessmen behind closed doors to discuss the issue.
Vladimir Putin is seen as the clear favorite to win the March elections.
His main opposition rival, Alexei Navalny, has been barred from standing in the race.
Alexei Navalny was briefly detained during a protest rally on January 28.
The US treasury department has to finalize the document on January 29, after which it is expected to hand the report over to Congress.
It is not known whether the names of those on the list will be publicly revealed or kept secret or indeed how many people and entities are on the list.
Being on the list does not automatically trigger sanctions but such penalties could be activated any time later by the United States.
Media reports suggest that Waleed al-Ibrahim’s deal may have included his controlling share in MBC – the largest media company in the Middle East.
The anti-corruption drive was instigated by Prince Mohammed bin Salman – who has been accused of using the investigation to remove opponents and consolidate his power.
In the aftermath of the purge, Saudi Arabia’s attorney general said at least $100 billion had been misused through systemic corruption and embezzlement going back decades.
The detentions – and the expensive settlements – are being characterized by the state as an attempt to recover those funds.
Many more of those detained remain in the Ritz Carlton under guard, until it reopens for Valentine’s Day in mid-February.
Those who do not reach settlements before then are expected to be sent to prison to await trial.
Meanwhile, one of the highest-profile detainees, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, told Reuters on January 27 that he expected to be cleared of wrongdoing and “released from custody within days”.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal – who is one of Saudi Arabia’s richest people – said he expected to keep full control of his investment firm.
The White House is suggesting an immigration plan for 1.8 million people to become American citizens in exchange for funding for a controversial border wall with Mexico.
The idea was suggested by a senior Trump aide, ahead of legislative negotiations with Democrats.
The proposed bill, to be unveiled on January 29, requests $25 billion in funds for a wall on the Mexican border.
The Democrats, who oppose funding for the wall, have criticized the plan.
According to media, the details emerged in a conference call on January 25 between White House policy chief Stephen Miller and Republican congressional aides.
Stephen Miller reportedly described the White House plan as a “dramatic concession”.
The blueprint sets out a 10-12-year path to citizenship for 1.8 million people.
This includes some 700,000 so-called Dreamers, immigrants who illegally entered the United States as children and were protected from deportation under an Obama-era program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
The other 1.1 million would be immigrants who did not apply for DACA, but are eligible for the scheme.
The White House framework also seeks to end two other initiatives often criticized by President Donald Trump.
It proposes to curtail so-called chain migration, permitting US residents only to get visas for their spouse and children, not for extended family members.
The White House also wants to scrap the diversity visa lottery, under which 50,000 people from around the world every year win Green Cards at random.
Last September, President Trump canceled the program and gave Congress a March 2018 deadline to come up with a new plan.
He has so far rejected bipartisan proposals that have been presented to him.
Congress’ failure to secure a deal on immigration triggered a brief shutdown of the federal government over the weekend.
On January 24, President Trump said he was optimistic that a deal on immigration would be reached that included keeping the so-called Dreamers in the country.
The president added that it was an “incentive” for so-called Dreamers to work hard and “do a great job”.
President Trump has made it clear that in exchange for making a concession to help accomplish a Democratic priority, he wants the party’s backing for his signature campaign promise to deliver a border wall.
However, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer this week withdrew an offer of funding for President Trump’s proposed border barrier.
President Donald Trump has said he is prepared to be questioned under oath as part of an investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
The president said he was “looking forward” to it, subject to the advice of his lawyers.
Investigators are assessing if the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the election in his favor – a claim denied by both Donald Trump and Russia.
Investigators will also determine if President Trump obstructed the inquiry.
The US intelligence community has already concluded that Russia tried to sway the presidential election in favor of Donald Trump.
He had previously said he thought an interview was unlikely because there had been no collusion
President Trump has called the Russia investigation a “witch hunt” and a “hoax”.
Speaking at the White House on January 24, President Trump maintained he was “absolutely” prepared to be questioned under oath by the top investigator.
He said: “There’s been no collusion whatsoever, there’s no obstruction whatsoever.”
Donald Trump’s lawyers have been talking to the investigation team led by justice department special counsel Robert Mueller about an interview, and the form it might take.
The questioning could happen face-to-face, in writing, or it could be a combination of both.
As to when it might happen, President Trump said: “Yesterday they were talking about two to three weeks.”
Asked if he thought Robert Mueller would be fair, the president replied: “We are going to find out… I hope so.”
President Trump told reporters that his former rival Hillary Clinton was not prepared to be interviewed under oath by the FBI about her use of a private email server.
He also said he did not recall asking an acting FBI director about his voting record.
“I don’t think I did,” he said.
“I don’t know what’s the big deal with that.”
Andrew McCabe, who took over the FBI after the president fired its previous director, James Comey in May 2017, said he found President Trump’s Oval Office question “disturbing”.
Andrew McCabe said he told the president that he did not vote in the 2016 presidential election, according to the Washington Post.
Robert Mueller is thought to be investigating whether James Comey’s firing was an attempt to obstruct justice.
Las t week, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was interviewed by the Mueller inquiry for several hours.
Jeff Sessions is thought to be the first member of the Trump cabinet to be questioned.
Four people have already been criminally charged as part of Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Michael Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about a meeting with a Russian ambassador.
Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort has been charged on 12 counts, including conspiring to defraud the US in his dealings with Ukraine, and conspiracy to launder money.
Paul Manafort’s business associate Rick Gates was also charged with conspiracy to launder money.
A third adviser to the campaign – George Papadopoulos – pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
Venezuela’s Constituent Assembly has ordered fresh presidential elections before the end of April.
President Nicolas Maduro told thousands of his supporters at a rally that he is ready to seek another six-year term.
He said: “It’s the right decision. Imperialism and the right were plotting to take over the economy.”
The opposition is weakened and divided and many of Nicolas Maduro’s main potential challengers are in self-imposed exile or in jail.
However, former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said the government was so unpopular that it could lose the vote.
He tweeted, urging the opposition to unite to save democracy: “The government and its leaders annoy the majority of Venezuelans.”
Henrique Capriles cannot stand in the presidential vote as he was banned from public office for 15 years in April for mismanaging public funds as governor of Miranda state.
He denies any wrongdoing and says the charges were politically motivated.
Nicolas Maduro said the presidential poll would go ahead “with or without the opposition”.
Meanwhile, the former speaker of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, Henry Ramos Allup, said the decision to call an early vote was in retaliation against recent EU sanctions against senior government officials.
Henry Ramos Allup accused the government of usurping the people’s legitimate power with the creation of the Constituent Assembly which effectively bypassed the National Assembly.
The election for the Constituent Assembly was boycotted by the opposition.
The country has for several years struggled with shortages of basic items, including food staples and medication.
President Maduro says foreign nations, and especially the US and Spain, are leading a campaign to bring down Venezuela’s socialist government.
The opposition blames corruption and the policies of the Socialist Party, which has been in power since 1999, for rampant violence and the collapse of the economy.
Nicolas Maduro was elected in April 2013 to succeed his mentor, the late Hugo Chavez, who died of cancer.
The president has urged Venezuela’s National Electoral Council to “fix the earliest possible date” to hold the poll.
Nicolas Maduro told his supporters in Caracas: “Let’s get over with this, win the president poll and put an end to the imperialist threat.
“It it was for me, the election would be held next Sunday.”
The majority of federal workers will be unable to report for work on January 22, as the Senate struggles to end a government shut-down.
Some will not be paid until the stalemate is resolved.
On January 21, a rare Sunday session of the Senate yielded no agreement between Democrats and Republicans, with immigration one of the main sticking points.
Essential services will still run but famous sites such as the Statue of Liberty have already been affected.
The monument was closed on January 21, but New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he would dip into state funds to pay the daily employment bill and reopen the popular tourist site.
It missed a deadline. At midnight on January 19, lawmakers failed to agree on a spending bill. The bill was not a plan for funding for the whole of 2018, but would have kept things running until the middle of next month.
Democrats refused to back a temporary deal until their concerns on immigration reform were dealt with.
Efforts to reach a compromise ahead of the working week failed on January 21.
A vote to end the shutdown was postponed until midday on January 22, meaning many federal government offices will not open and the shutdown enters its third day.
Under Senate rules, the bill needs 60 votes in the 100-member chamber.
The Republicans currently have 51 senators, so they need some Democratic support to pass a budget.
Democrats want President Donald Trump to negotiate over immigration as part of a budget deal, but Republicans say no agreement is possible while federal government services are closed.
Republicans want funding for border security – including a proposed border wall with Mexico – and immigration reforms, as well as increased military spending.
On January 20, President Trump said the “nuclear option” of a simple majority vote was necessary to end the impasse.
It means no pay for those federal employees who are “furloughed” – on unpaid leave – even though their workplaces are not open.
Most staff in the departments of housing, environment, education and commerce will be staying at home on January 22. Half of workers in the treasury, health, defense and transportation departments will also not be going to work.
Visa and passport processing could be delayed.
However, essential services that protect “life or human property” will continue, including national security, postal services, air traffic control, some medical services, disaster assistance, prisons, taxation and electricity generation.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration said it planned to keep national parks open – their closure in the 2013 shutdown provoked an angry public reaction.
The shutdown began on the first anniversary of President Trump’s inauguration. His trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, has also been called into question.
The last government shutdown was in 2013, and lasted for 16 days.
It cost the government $2 billion in lost productivity and led to “significant negative effects on the economy”, the OMB said at the time.
This is the first time a government shutdown has happened while one party, the Republicans, controls both Congress and the White House.
January 19 vote fell 50-49, far short of the 60 needed to advance the bill. This is due to a number of key disagreements.
Democrats have demanded protection from deportation of more than 700,000 undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children.
According to the White House physician, Dr. Ronny Jackson, President Donald Trump has shown no abnormal signs following a cognitive exam and is in excellent health.
Dr. Ronny Jackson said at a White House briefing on January 16: “I have no concerns about his cognitive ability or neurological functions.”
Last week, Donald Trump, 71, had a three-hour examination in his first medical check-up since becoming president.
The medical check-up comes after the release of a controversial book fuelled speculation about the president’s mental health.
Dr Jackson said: “All data indicates the president is healthy and will remain so for the duration of his presidency.”
“He continues to enjoy the significant long-term cardiac and overall health benefits that come from a lifetime of abstinence from tobacco and alcohol,” the physician added.
When asked by a reporter how a man who consumes fried chicken and Diet Coke and does not exercise could be in good shape, Dr. Ronny Jackson replied: “It’s called genetics… He has incredible genes.”
However, he added that President Trump could benefit from a lower-fat diet and more exercise.
On January 12, the president was examined by military doctors at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, in tests that were said to have gone “exceptionally well”.
Among them was Dr. Ronny Jackson, whose official title is Physician to the President.
A rear admiral in the US Navy, Dr. Jackson tended to Donald Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama.
To check for possible cognitive dysfunction, the US Department of Veterans Affairs uses the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) neuropsychological test. This test assesses an individual’s attention and concentration, memory, language, conceptual thinking, calculations and orientation.
Questions have been raised about the president’s cognitive ability, particularly with the publication of Michael Wolff’s book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.
Some neurological experts had compared earlier clips of President Trump speaking with more recent instances in which he had used fewer words and appeared to ramble.
Michael Wolff has alleged the president is intellectually incapable of carrying out his role and questioned his mental fitness. He claimed all of the president’s White House aides saw him as a “child” who needed “immediate gratification”.
In December 2015, Donald Trump’s own long-time doctor, Harold Bornstein, declared in a pre-election assessment that his client would be the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency”.
According to recent reports, Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, has been summoned to testify before a grand jury.
Steve Bannon was reportedly subpoenaed by former FBI director Robert Mueller, who is leading an investigation into alleged collusion with Russia during the 2016 election campaign.
On January 16, he appeared separately before a Congressional panel.
Congress is holding its own inquiry into the allegations.
The New York Times, quoting an unnamed person with direct knowledge of the matter, reports that Steve Bannon was subpoenaed last week.
However, the summons could be a negotiating tactic by Robert Mueller to persuade Steve Bannon to agree to be questioned by investigators in the less formal setting of the special counsel’s offices in Washington, the newspaper’s source added.
The House Intelligence Committee is also investigating the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Its proceedings on January 16 were not open to the public.
This is one of four investigations being conducted by Congress into the alleged collusion, with others launched by the Senate Intelligence Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight Committee.
Following a row broke out over the president’s alleged use of the word “s**thole” to describe African nations, Donald Trump has denied that he is racist.
President Trump reportedly used the term last week during a bipartisan Oval Office meeting on immigration reform.
“I am not a racist. I’m the least racist person you have ever interviewed,” he told reporters.
It is the first time President Trump has responded directly to the racism accusations.
Donald Trump made the denial to White House press pool reporters at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach in Florida on January 14.
The scandal broke out on January 11, when lawmakers from both parties visited the president to work on a proposal for a bipartisan immigration deal.
In recent weeks the Trump administration has been withdrawing Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from a number of nationalities currently living in the US.
Reports later emerged in media that President Trump had asked during the meeting: “Why are we having all these people from s**thole countries come here?”
The president was said to have told them that instead of granting temporary residency to citizens of countries hit by natural disasters, war or epidemics, the US should be taking in immigrants from countries like Norway.
Accounts suggest that when President Trump was told that the largest groups of immigrants with the status were from El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti, the president responded: “Haitians? Do we need more Haitians?”
Donald Trump tweeted on January 12 that the language he used in the meeting was “tough” but disputed the wording of the reports.
The president also posted another tweet denying he had insulted Haitians, accusing Democrats of making it up.
However, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin stood by claims, and said that President Trump had used “hate-filled, vile and racist” language during the meeting.
Several senior Republican lawmakers at the meeting, including Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, have said they do not recall President Trump making the remark.
However, another Republican senator who was there, Lindsey Graham, did not deny the comments were made.
He said: “Following comments by the president, I said my piece directly to him yesterday. The president and all those attending the meeting know what I said and how I feel.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan said that President Donald Trump’s immigration comments were “very unfortunate” and “unhelpful”.
On January 14, when he was asked whether he thought the comments had made it harder to achieve any immigration deal, President Trump responded: “Have you seen what various senators said about my comments? They weren’t made.”
On January 12, the African Union demanded that the president apologize expressing their “shock, dismay and outrage” at the “clearly racist” remarks.
Meanwhile, the UN human rights spokesman, Rupert Colville, told a Geneva news briefing: “There is no other word one can use but racist. You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as <<s**tholes>>.”
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) accused President Trump of falling “deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole of racism and xenophobia”.
Several Democratic representatives have said they intend to skip Donald Trump’s State of the Union address later this month over the comments, accusing the president of racism.
President Donald Trump is in “excellent health”, his White House physician has announced.
Donald Trump, 71, underwent his first medical check-up since becoming president.
Dr. Ronny Jackson said in a brief statement that the three-hour examination of the president on January 12, conducted by military doctors, had gone “exceptionally well”.
The White House physician promised further details on January 16.
No psychiatric tests were planned but Michael Wolff’s recent book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, fuelled speculation about the president’s mental health.
According to the author, all Donald Trump’s White House aides see him as a “child” who needs “immediate gratification”.
President Trump responded by saying Michael Wolff’s book was “full of lies”, while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson dismissed suggestions the president’s mental health was failing.
The health status announcement echoed the words of President Trump’s own long-time doctor, Harold Bornstein, in a pre-election assessment in December 2015, when he declared his client would be the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency”.
Doctors assessed President Trump on January 12 at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
Among them was Dr. Ronny Jackson, whose official title is Physician to the President.
A rear admiral in the US Navy, Dr. Ronny Jackson also tended to Donald Trump’s predecessor, President Barack Obama.
In the run-up to January 12 check-up, the White House made clear that it would focus on the president’s physical health.
It is up to the White House what data, if any, it reveals about President Trump’s condition.
The White House has a long history of picking and choosing what to reveal about its occupant’s health, Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), Barbara Perry pointed out, disclosed war injuries but not the fact that he suffered from Addison’s disease, a degenerative condition.
Experts have been baffled by the capacity of an overweight Donald Trump to consume large amounts of fast-food and appear to take minimal exercise, while staying fit.
A recent book, Let Trump Be Trump, claimed Donald Trump had “four major food groups” during his campaign, which were McDonald’s, fried chicken, pizza, and Diet Coke.
Co-authored by Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, the book said the president could eat “two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish, and a chocolate malted (milkshake)” for dinner.
The African Union has demanded that President Donald Trump apologize after he reportedly called nations on the continent “shitholes”.
The organization’s mission in Washington DC expressed its “shock, dismay and outrage” and said the Trump administration misunderstood Africans.
President Trump made the alleged remark in a meeting on immigration on January 11.
However, the president has denied using the language reported.
President Trump has been backed by two Republicans who were at the White House meeting, but Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said Donald Trump called African countries “shitholes” several times and used “racist” language.
On January 12, President Trump tweeted that his language he used at the private meeting with lawmakers to discuss immigration legislation had been “tough”.
However, he added that the words attributed to him were “not the language used”.
The African Union said the “remarks dishonor the celebrated American creed and respect for diversity and human dignity”.
The organization representing African countries added: “While expressing our shock, dismay and outrage, the African Union strongly believes that there is a huge misunderstanding of the African continent and its people by the current Administration.
“There is a serious need for dialogue between the US Administration and the African countries.”
It represents 55 member states throughout the African continent. The group succeeded the Organization of African Unity – which originated in the decolonization struggles of the early 1960s – in 2002.
President Trump’s remarks were allegedly made when lawmakers visited him on January 11 to discuss a bipartisan proposal that would impose new restrictions on immigration but protect the so-called “Dreamers” – hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the US illegally as children – from deportation.
The president was said to have told them that instead of granting temporary residency to citizens of countries hit by natural disasters, war or epidemics, the US should instead be taking in migrants from countries like Norway.
The Washington Post quoted President Trump as saying: “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?”
Senator Dick Durbin said that when President Trump was told that the largest groups of immigrants with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) were from El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti, the president responded: “Haitians? Do we need more Haitians?”
However, in another tweet on January 12, President Trump denied that he insulted Haitians.
On January 11, many media outlets reported President Trump’s comments, quoting witnesses or people briefed on the meeting. However, the White House did not deny them.
According to recent reports, President Donald Trump has lashed out at immigrants in a foul-mouthed Oval Office outburst that a UN spokesman later condemned as “shocking”, “shameful” and “racist”.
President Trump reportedly asked lawmakers during talks on an immigration deal: “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?”
According to reports, the president was apparently referring to Haiti, El Salvador and African countries.
However, the White House made no attempt to deny the comment.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has been trying to limit the number of family members of immigrants who can enter the United States, and has moved to end the protected status of thousands of immigrants already in the US.
President Trump’s reported remark came as lawmakers from both parties visited him on January 11 to propose a bipartisan immigration deal.
According to media, Democratic Senator Richard Durbin had just been discussing US temporary residency permits granted to citizens of countries hit by natural disasters, war or epidemics.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that President Trump told lawmakers the US should instead be taking in migrants from countries like Norway, whose prime minister visited him a day earlier.
The newspaper quoted the president as saying: “Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out.”
South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham was in January 11 meeting at the White House, but would not comment on the president’s reported slur.
A statement from White House spokesman Raj Shah said: “Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people.
“Like other countries that have merit-based immigration, President Trump is fighting for permanent solutions that make our country stronger by welcoming those who can contribute to our society, grow our economy and assimilate into our great nation.
“He will always reject temporary, weak and dangerous stopgap measures that threaten the lives of hardworking Americans, and undercut immigrants who seek a better life in the United States through a legal pathway.”
In response, UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said: “If confirmed these are shocking and shameful comments from the president of the United States, I’m sorry but there is no other word for this but racist.”
The UN official spoke of a 2016 presidential campaign speech in which Donald Trump called Mexican immigrants criminals and rapists, and to his response last year to a white supremacist march that ended in violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, when the president said “both sides” were to blame.
Rupert Colville said such comments went against “universal values the world has been striving for” since the end of World War Two, and opened “the door to humanity’s worst side”.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) accused President Trump of falling “deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole of racism and xenophobia”.
Mia Love, a Utah Republican and the only Haitian-American in Congress, demanded President Trump apologize for the “unkind, divisive, elitist” comments.
The Washington Post broke the story with the word “shithole” in its headline and in the alert that the newspaper sent out to followers’ smartphones.
Fox News used asterisks to obscure the offensive word along the bottom of the screen, but CNN and MSNBC carried it in full.
Lawmakers reportedly proposed restoring so-called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) permits for certain countries, allowing their residents leave to remain in the United States because their home countries are temporarily unsafe for them.
In return, they were said to have offered $1.5 billion for a wall that President Trump wants built on the US border with Mexico.
This week the Trump administration announced it was withdrawing TPS for more than 200,000 people from El Salvador.
The decision gives Salvadoreans who have been living in the US for nearly three decades until next year to leave, seek lawful residency or face possible deportation.
People from El Salvador were granted provisional US residency after an earthquake devastated the Central American country in 2001.
President Donald Trump’s administration has issued new guidance that would allow states to impose work requirements on low-income healthcare recipients.
According to the document, able-bodied recipients of the Medicaid health program for the poor would be required to work, volunteer or prepare for a job through school or training.
However, critics argue that the move is aimed at cutting the number of people receiving government-funded Medicaid.
The administration contends the policy is to promote “community engagement”.
Seema Verma, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said: “This is about helping those individuals rise out of poverty.
“Our fundamental goal is to make a positive and lasting difference in the health and wellness of our beneficiaries, and today’s announcement is a step in that direction.”
Seema Verma said the new policy came about at the request of 10 different states including Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, Arizona, Indiana and Utah.
The new guidance also suggests considering exemptions or “reasonable modifications” for certain Medicaid recipients, including elderly, pregnant or disabled people; those in areas with high unemployment or people caring for children or elderly relatives; people with substance abuse disorders such as opioid addiction.
It states that a review of studies showed, “strong evidence that unemployment is generally harmful to health, including higher mortality; poorer general health; poorer mental health; and higher medical consultation and hospital admission rates”.
The report also states that people with a full-time job are less likely to suffer from depression.
As of October 2017, nearly 75 million individuals were enrolled in Medicaid and the children’s health insurance program (CHIP).
According to a study by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, almost 60% of working-age Medicaid recipients are already employed full time or part time.
It is unclear how many Medicaid recipients who are actively seeking work may lose their insurance in the process if their state should choose to enact the new guidelines.
Several members of Congress were outspoken against the decision.
Under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, ObamaCare, 31 states expanded Medicaid coverage. Republicans have tried repeatedly to overturn the health law.
The Obama Administration had previously rebuffed proposals allowing states the right to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients, arguing it would result in fewer people having access to health insurance.
In order to implement any new policy based on the guidance, states would have to propose the changes through waivers and wait until they are granted federal approval.
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