Hillary Clinton launches new political action group to fight Trump

'Onward Together' to encourage people to organise and run for office, writes Hillary

Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has launched a new political action organisation to fight against US President Donald Trump's agenda and raise funds for five prominent progressive groups.

"I believe more fiercely than ever that citizen engagement at every level is central to a strong and vibrant democracy," Clinton said announcing the launch of her group 'Onward Together'.

"More than ever, I believe citizen engagement is vital to our democracy. I'm so inspired by everyone stepping up to organise and lead," the former Secretary of State, said to her supporters as she urged them to contribute to the "remarkable" spirit of political activism.

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The announcement comes as Clinton, 69, works to find a new role in an evolving political landscape.

The new group's website said it aimed to advance progressive values and reminded visitors that Clinton had won nearly 66 million votes in November's showdown with Trump.

"Onward Together will work to build a brighter future for generations to come by supporting groups that encourage people to organise and run for office," wrote the former Secretary of State.

Clinton becomes the latest high-profile Democrat to launch an independent group. Former President Barack Obama, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and 2004 Democratic nominee Howard Dean all helped create political organisations. Read more

Trump appoints Indian-American Raj Shah to key White House position

Shah played a leading role in the Republican party's anti-Clinton campaign during polls

Latest News : US President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday appointed young Indian-American Raj Shah, who played a leading role in the Republican party's anti-Clinton campaign during polls, to a key White House position.

Shah, whose parents immigrated to the US from Gujarat, has been appointed as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Communication Director and Research Director, according to an announcement made by the Presidential Transition Team.

Shah, who is in his early 30s, is currently head of Opposition Research in the Republican National Committee.

In this position, he led a team of experts to carry out research against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate. Shah was behind all the anti-Clinton campaign during the presidential elections.

The announcement of Shah's appointment to this key White House position was made by incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus along with other appointments.

"These individuals will be key leaders in helping to implement the President elect's agenda and bring real change to Washington," Priebus said.Read more.

Will take $1 a year as US President, says Trump

The 70-year-old US President-elect also said that he will not take any vacations during his four-year term

US President-elect Donald Trump has said he would take $1 as his salary a year and not the $400,000 that comes with the US president's job and will refrain from going on any vacation.

Asked whether he was going avail the president's salary, 70-year-old Trump said, "No, I'm not gonna take the salary. I'm not taking it," confirming a promise he made in a campaign video in September.

"I think I have to by law take $1, so I'll take $1 a year. But I don't even know what it is," Trump told CBS's "60 Minute" in an interview.

Trump said he did not know what the salary of a US President is and also said he would not take any vacation.

"We have so much work. There's so much work to be done. And I want to get it done for the people," he said.

"I want to get it done. We're lowering taxes, we're taking care of health care. I mean, there's just so much to be done. So I don't think we'll be very big on vacations, no," Trump said, ruling out a vacation for himself.Read more

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US presidential election 2016 results

US Election 2016: Hillary Clinton has 70 per cent chance of winning, says pollster

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has a 70 per cent chance of winning the White House race against her Republican rival Donald Trump, a top American pollster has said on the eve of what is being described as the most crucial election in decades.

"Hillary Clinton has a 70 per cent chance of winning the election," said FiveThirtyEight website's Nate Silver, who accurately predicted the outcome of 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.

This is up from a 65 per cent chance on Sunday night, so Clinton, 69, has had a good run in the polls in the final days of the campaign, he said.(more)

Trump beating Clinton in Google searches

Donald Trump might be trailing in surveys but the Republican nominee is more popular than his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in Google searches in the US.

Data released by Google shows Trump dominating search in 38 states till Monday, including in the battleground states of Florida and Michigan.

Google data also shows that immigration is the top Trump-related search topic, followed by abortion and race issues, Fox News reported.(more)

US Presidential polls: Voters comes out in large numbers, 46.2 million votes already cast

A record 46.2 million of the estimated 200 million voter shave exercised their franchise in the 2016 US presidential elections before the official voting day, surpassing the 2012 record when 32.3 million people had voted in advance.

Experts said the massive turn out in 2016 general elections in early voting reflects the change in the voting patterns of Americans.

"Some voters are clearly changing as they opted to vote early instead of the election day," said Michael McDonald, an early-voting expert who runs the elections project.(more)

Live blog : US presidential election 2016 results

US dilemma: From First Gentleman to First Dude, what will Bill Clinton be called if Hillary Clinton wins

As the judgement day approaches and the United States of America gets ready declare the winner of the most divisive election in modern history, people are in a dilemma - if prognosticators are correct and Hillary Clinton does win, what will Bill Clinton be known as?

Twitterati and Facebook users have taken the responsibility upon themselves to answer this sticky question and have also added humour to the roles former US President Bill Clinton will embrace. From First Gentleman, First Dude to First Man, Clinton's role has been creating an uproar on the social media.

The fact is that the US has a record of electing only male presidents. All except President James Buchanan, who remained a bachelor, had spouses. They were famously called 'First Lady' of the US.

Hence, Bill Clinton poses a special predicament - not only would he be the 'First Gentleman', but also the first former President to return to the White House as a husband.

Bill Clinton has jocularly called himself the "First Man' and 'First Dude'. Hillary Clinton too once spoke about it, saying, "It is a bit complicated with him (Bill) since people still call him Mr President. So I will have to work on this". (It is a practice in the US to address former Presidents as Mr President).

Wittily a Twitter user said, "Time to break that glass ceiling! If we pride ourselves on being an equal nation, we must no longer let women dominate as presidential spouses! It's about time we let a man covet that title!"Read more.

Final US Presidential Debate: As it happened

Final US Presidential Debate: As it happened

08:11 AM

Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump do not shake hands after final debate

08:07 AM

I'm reaching out to all Americans...because we need everybody to make our country what it should be: Hillary Clinton

08:06 AM

We are going to make America strong again, we are going to make America great again. We can't wait for four more years: Trump

08:03 AM

Hillary Clinton accuses Trump of being 'most dangerous' White House candidate in modern history

  

08:03 AM

Will repeal ObamaCare. It is a bad healthcare and it has to go: Trump

08:01 AM

I am going to create tremendous jobs. The GDP will grow from 1% to 4% . I am going to create a country that we were: Trump

08:01 AM

He has been criticising our government for decades. In 1997 he brought out an advertisement that said we were laughing stock of the world: Hillary Clinton. Read 

07:52 AM

Hillary Clinton should have never been allowed to run for presidency: Donald Trump referring to email row

07:51 AM

We will go after Baghdadi like we went after Bin Laden when you (Trump) were doing celebrity apprentice: Hillary Clinton

07:50 AM

Hillary: Once again Donald is denying he supported invasion of Iraq. Trump says : Wrong. Hillary says Google it. Trump: Wrong

07:50 AM

We had Mosul. But when she left, she took everybody out, we lost Mosul: Trump

07:49 AM

Onslaught on Mosul is only happening because Clinton is running for president: Trump

US presidential debate: Poll says 62% viewers think Clinton won, only 27% say Trump did better

US presidential debate: Poll says 62% viewers think Clinton won, only 27% say Trump did better

Democrat Hillary Clinton is held to have won the first presidential debate held on Tuesday against her Republican rival Donald Trump, according to a new CNN/ORC poll.

According to the poll of debate watchers, 62 per cent of voters who watched the debate thought Clinton won, while only 27 per cent said that Trump came out on top.

Clinton and Trump took to the stage on Tuesday to begin their first-ever presidential debate and immediately sparred over jobs, taxes, the Islamic State (IS), guns and the former secretary of state's undisclosed emails, media reports said.

Here is what both candidates had to say on various issues:
On prosperity, taxes and jobs

Moderator Leslie Holt of NBC News opened the 90-minute debate at Hofstra University, Long Island, New York, with the first topic being "Achieving Prosperity", where the first question about putting money back into Americans' pockets and creating jobs was directed to Clinton,CNN reported.

Clinton, the first woman to represent a major US party in the presidential race, mentioned her granddaughter's birthday, and talked about everything from gender pay gaps, to paid family leave, to presidential temperament.

She started her speech by defending the idea of creating "an economy for all" and stressed that she intends to do so "by having the wealthy pay their fair share", EFE news reported.

"I also want to see more companies do profit sharing. If you help create the profits, you should be able to share in them, not just the executives at the top," she said, and stressed that "the central question in this election is really what kind of country we want to be in".Read full Article

Donald Trump's paid maternity leave plan gets Hillary Clinton rejoinder

Donald Trump's paid maternity leave plan gets Hillary Clinton rejoinder

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has introduced an unorthodox childcare plan, becoming a rare Republican calling for paid maternity leave.

Introduced on Tuesday by his daughter Ivanka, who asserted that childcare issues were at the "root of wage inequality by disproportionately affecting women", Trump tried to soften his image at an event held in Pennsylvania, a former stronghold for moderate Republicans that has trended Democratic in recent years, the Guardianreported.

Trump also asserted that "my opponent has no childcare plan". Clinton has in fact made a number of detailed proposals on childcare.

Clinton in June last year first outlined a programme for universal pre-kindergarten and in May this year proposed to cap childcare costs at ten per cent of household income and to introduce 12 weeks of paid family leave.

Maya Harris, a senior policy adviser to Clinton, described Trump's plan as "half-baked and completely out of touch".

Trump's proposal came as he faces a major deficit among college-educated white women in polls.

According to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has a 50-40 lead over her Republican rival in a demographic that Mitt Romney won by six points in 2012 despite his decisive loss that year.

Trump called for making a childcare tax deductible, up to the average cost in a given family's state, until the age of 13, as well as an expanded rebate of up to $1,200 for those families that do not pay income tax and receive earned income tax credit (EITC).Read more

Hillary Clinton diagnosed with pneumonia, cancels California trip

Hillary Clinton diagnosed with pneumonia, cancels California trip

Hillary Clinton has cancelled a two-day trip to California starting from Monday after the Democratic presidential candidate was diagnosed with pneumonia and has been advised to rest by her doctor.

The cancellation was confirmed by her campaign on Sunday night following Clinton's abrupt departure from a ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in downtown Manhattan because she felt "overheated", The Hill daily reported.

She was supposed to campaign in San Francisco and Los Angeles and was scheduled to make an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

The former secretary of state's doctor, Lisa R Bardack released a statement revealing the diagnosis on Sunday evening, The Hill daily reported.

Bardack said Clinton had an examination at her home in Chappaqua after the incident, which was a result of dehydration and overheating.

She said the presidential candidate was "re-hydrated and recovering nicely".(more)

Want to debate 'very badly' with Hillary Clinton: Donald Trump

Want to debate 'very badly' with Hillary Clinton: Donald Trump

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said he wants to "debate very badly" with his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton but will first see terms and conditions of the three presidential debates scheduled for September and October.

"I will absolutely do three debates. I want to debate very badly. But I have to see the conditions," Trump told TheTime magazine.

Debate is considered the most significant part of the US presidential elections, which very often decides the fate of a candidate.

The three presidential debates scheduled this time are September 26 (Hempstead, New York), October 9 (St Louis) and October 19 in Las Vegas.

The one vice-presidential debate is scheduled for October 4 in Farmville, Virginia.

The non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which conducts the debate, had last September announced the dates, venue and terms and conditions for the debate. The format of each 90-minute debate has already been set.

Trump said that he had haggled with television networks over the terms of debates held during the GOP primary and might do so again.(more)