On Wednesday, August 24, citing sources in U.S. authorities CNN reported that the FBI suspects Russia of carrying out a series of hackingattempts on U.S. media outlets, including the computer network of The New York Times. FBI has identified severalhacker attacks in previous months with the Times Moscow office being targeted as recently as Tuesday, August 23.
On Tuesday, 23 August, in Riga , the U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden met the Baltic leaders, Dalia Grybauskaitė, Raimonds Vējonis and Toomas Hendrik, for the 27th anniversary of the Baltic Way. During his speech, the Vice President reiterated the commitment of the USA to comply with NATO article 5, principle of collective defense, stating: "I want to make it absolutely clear to all the people in Baltic states: we have pledged our sacred honor, the United States of America(...) to the NATO treaty and Article Five". Furthermore, he agreed to boost defense ties, reaffirming the strategic alliance between the US and the Baltic states.
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The State Department was directed to assess 14,900 documents it received from the FBI as part of the investigation into Clinton's use of her private email server while she was secretary of state, determine a plan to release the documents and report back to the court September 23. On the 23rd of September a hearing when these emails might be released and a deadline that raises the possibility some will become public before the Nov. 8 presidential election between Democrat Clinton and her Republican rival, Donald Trump.
Read More Donald Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort has resigned from his position on the campaign. It's the second high-profile departure from the top of Trump's campaign structure after campaign manager Corey Lewandowski left the operation earlier this summer. This decision has been provoked because of the pressure of Republican leaders to make the campaign more balanced after several missteps. That caused Hillary Clintons’ lead in national polls. "I am very appreciative for his great work in helping to get us where we are today and in particular his work guiding us through the delegate and convention process. Paul is a true professional and I wish him the greatest success." – said Mr. Trump in a statement.
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The United States on Tuesday targeted two Mexican companies, along with two Mexican men, for what it said was their role in assisting the infamous Sinaloa Cartel associated with drug lords Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada. The U.S. Treasury Department formally identified Juan Manuel Alvarez Inzunza, whom it said was a money launderer, and Jose Olivas Chaidez, whom it said was a distributor, as specially designated narcotics traffickers for their role aiding the cartel.
Read More Donald Trump's campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, has been named in an investigation by Ukrainian authorities looking at whether he and others received millions in illegal payments from Ukraine's former pro-Russian ruling party, according to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych’s pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine’s newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials.
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On Wednesday, lawmakers reformed a bill intended to address gender violence in the country and turned down a US$20 million credit offer that would have funded the Ministry of Women. According to Miriam Gonzalez, from the group Paraguay Coordination of Women, conservative sectors believe that gender studies are still an “ideology”. She said that by removing the word “gender” from legislation dealing with gender violence, the lawmakers made the victims “invisible” and nullified a measure that would have allowed women suffering the consequences of dangerous and illegal abortions to seek free medical attention at hospitals.
Read More Newly released emails from Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state raise questions about the nature of the department's relationship with the Clinton Foundation. Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, released 296 pages of emails from the Democratic presidential nominee, including 44 that Judicial Watch says were not previously handed over to the State Department by Clinton. The emails, many of which are heavily redacted, raise questions about the Clinton Foundation's influence on the State Department and its relations during her tenure.
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The administration of Mauricio Macri said they would continue to demand sovereignty over the Malvinas, termed the Falklands in the U.K. Susana Malcorra, Argentina's foreign minister said “The disagreement we have about the Malvinas is part of our constitution and important to the Argentine people, we cannot deny its existence," . Last week, British Prime Minister Theresa May sent a letter to Macri asking him to “move the relationship between the U.K. and Argentina into a more productive phase.”
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In a statement released on Monday, Bernie Sanders voices concerns regarding the political process in Brazil saying the U.S. must stand up for democracy in the country and demand that its crisis be resolved with new elections. He added: “To many Brazilians and observers the controversial impeachment process more closely resembles a coup d’état.”
