America

    Sen. McCain, 81, died Aug. 25 at his ranch near Sedona, Ariz., his office announced in a statement. The senator was diagnosed last July with a brain tumor, and his family announced this week that he was discontinuing medical treatment. During three decades of representing Arizona in the Senate, he ran twice unsuccessfully for president. He lost a bitter primary campaign to George W. Bush and the Republican establishment in 2000. He then came back to win the nomination in 2008, only to be defeated in the general election by Barack Obama, a charismatic Illinois Democrat who had served less than one term as a senator. A man who seemed his truest self when outraged, Sen. McCain reveled in going up against orthodoxy. The word maverick practically became a part of his nam...

    In an interview with Fox News Thursday morning, President Donald Trump said the payments that his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, admitted making to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal were not illegal. They weren't campaign finance, he said. They came from me, adding, They didn't come out of the campaign. Does it matter that Trump paid the two women out of his own pocket, rather than using campaign funds? Yes, but it raises the possibility that he committed a campaign finance law violation failure to report a campaign expense that's different than the one to which Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday. Both women have said they had sexual affairs with Trump, and both were paid while Trump was running for president. Prosecutors said the hush-money payments w...

    As a trade war between China and the United States escalates, Chinese news outlets have largely refrained from leveling personal attacks against Mr. Trump. But a new video released this week by China Global Television Network, an English-language affiliate of the state broadcaster, took direct aim at the American leader, portraying him as a bumbling man indirectly advancing China’s interests. And then, as quickly as it began attracting attention, it was gone, pulled from YouTube and Weibo, the Chinese microblogging platform. The video reflected the escalating anger in China over the tariffs of as much as 25 percent imposed on tens of billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods, including steel, aluminum and a variety of technology products. They sense his increasin...

    President Trump bragged about his prowess in defeating the Republicans who oppose him, saying at an Ohio rally that he destroys the careers of GOP politicians who dare defy him. How do you get 100 percent of anything? We always have somebody who says I don't like Trump, I don't like our president, he destroyed my career, Trump said. I only destroy their career because they said bad things about me and you fight back and they go down the tubes and that's OK, he added. Trump didn't name names, but he's on a winning streak in GOP primaries, as candidates he's backed have repeatedly defeated those he sided against. The most notable example was Rep. Mark Sanford, the former South Carolina governor who lost a GOP primary for reelection to his House seat earlier this sum...

    Barack Obama is preparing to go head to head with Donald Trump, as he hits the campaign trail in support of Democratic candidates in the upcoming midterm elections. While neither man’s name will be on any ballot in November, both will be the star attractions for their respective parties, as they seek to use their popularity and fame to help push candidates over the winning line. And while supporters of each will thrall to the differences between the two Mr Trump’s off-the-cuff, nationalist bravura, and his predecessor’s more measured, multilateral inclusiveness both men have the ability to excite and energise an audience. I think what will be very interesting is to see what Obama says on immigration, after what has been happening at the border, Juliette Kayyem, a s...

    Stormy Daniels has been arrested at an Ohio strip club for letting patrons touch her while she was on stage, in violation of state law, her lawyer has said. Michael Avenatti said in a tweet the charge was politically motivated. He added: It reeks of desperation. We will fight all bogus charges. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has said she had sex with Donald Trump in 2006, when he was married. Trump has denied any sexual relationship with Daniels. Daniels was performing at Sirens, a strip club in Columbus, when she was touched in a non-sexual way, Avenatti, told the Associated Press. An Ohio law known as the Community Defense Act prohibits anyone who isn’t a family member to touch a nude or semi-nude dancer. Daniels was in police custody early on Thu...

    Donald Trump is set to meet the Queen at Windsor Castle when he visits the UK on his first official visit as US president this week. His tight schedule has been packed with military pageantry to highlight the defence alliance between the two nations. But Mr Trump is set to avoid central London as thousands of protesters prepare to take to the streets in a huge demonstration against him. What is the president's schedule? The US president will fly into London following a Nato summit in Brussels on Thursday afternoon. He will travel straight to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, where Theresa May will host Mr Trump and his wife Melania for a black-tie dinner with 100 guests and ministers. The evening will start with a military ceremony in the palace’s Great Court perfo...

    Donald Trump could threaten to pull US troops out of Ukraine and refuse to take part in joint Nato exercises if Britain and other European countries fail to commit to increased spending on defence, military figures and diplomats fear. Senior sources involved in preparations for this week's  Nato summit are concerned that the US president will begin talks with Vladimir Putin about redrawing the security landscape across Europe if leaders refuse to meet Mr Trump's demands to shoulder a bigger share of the military burden. Military and diplomatic figures told The Telegraph of fears over a possible offer that Mr Trump could make to Mr Putin at a planned summit between the two leaders in Helsinki on July 16 four days after Thursday's summit in Brussels. Speaking to The ...

    Donald Trump will largely avoid London as he tries to shun mass protests during his controversial trip to the UK, the British government has confirmed. The US President’s four-day tour will instead include a military parade at Winston Churchill’s birthplace of Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, talks with Theresa May at her Chequers country home, and tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle. Trump will spend just a few hours in the capital, when he overnights at the US Ambassador’s residence in Regent’s Park. But he will not visit Downing Street, Buckingham Palace or the Houses of Parliament, all of which are expected to feature the biggest protests ever seen during a visit by an American President. At each of his major stops, maximum distance will be put between the Pre...

    If you’ve ever wondered about the secret to Barack and Michelle Obama‘s happy marriage, the answer might have just been revealed. In a new book by former White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer, Yes, We (Still) Can, the author shares a revealing conversation he had with his then-boss on his last day on the job in 2015. As they chatted about future plans, Pfeiffer opened up about his girlfriend and clearly gave off signals that things were getting serious. So are you guys moving together? This is the one, huh, Pfeiffer recounted Obama as asking him, per an excerpt shared on Twitter and on the Huffington Post. Obama then quickly offered some fatherly wisdom, in the form of three questions he believes everyone should ask themselves before choosing a potentia...