U.S. Vice President Biden to visit Serbia, Kosovo next week

Here is the latest Political News from Reuters.

U.S. Vice President Biden to visit Serbia, Kosovo next week
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will visit Serbia and Kosovo next week, the White House said on Tuesday.

Senator Flake: Trump can’t win if he can’t change
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Jeff Flake said on Tuesday that Republican nominee Donald Trump will not be able to win the presidential election, and should not win it, if he maintains the positions that he holds now, including his harsh stance on immigration.

Trump ignites firestorm with remarks on gun rights, Clinton
WILMINGTON, N.C. (Reuters) – Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that gun rights activists could act to stop his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton from nominating liberal U.S. Supreme Court justices, igniting yet another firestorm of criticism just as he sought to steer clear of controversy.

Puerto Rico readies fiscal plan, awaits oversight board: governor
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Puerto Rico’s governor said on Tuesday he expected to present an updated fiscal plan for the debt-laden U.S. territory shortly after the White House appoints members of a federal oversight board with authority to renegotiate its $70 billion of debt.

Trump underspends Clinton on TV ads, relying on social media: NBC
(Reuters) – Republican Donald Trump, a former reality TV star, has yet to spend a dime on television advertising for his White House campaign against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, who has spent $52 million, NBC News said on Tuesday.

Clinton extends lead over Trump to 7 points: Reuters/Ipsos
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s lead over Republican rival Donald Trump increased to more than 7 percentage points in a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday, from less than 3 points on Thursday.

Icahn on CNBC:’Archie Bunker of the world’ will vote for Trump
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn on CNBC said Tuesday that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is “right on the economy.”

Trump flops with Silicon Valley donors; Clinton falls short, too
(Reuters) – When Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman announced last week that she wouldn’t vote for her party’s presidential nominee, Donald Trump, she pledged to raise money for the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, and to urge like-minded Republicans to follow suit.

House Speaker Paul Ryan faces primary test after belated Trump endorsement
MILWAUKEE (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan faces a primary for his congressional seat on Tuesday in a race overshadowed by presidential candidate Donald Trump’s brief refusal last week to endorse his fellow Republican.

Republican Senator Collins says she will not vote for Trump
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Susan Collins of Maine said on Monday she will not vote for fellow Republican Donald Trump for president.

Clinton says she will participate in the three presidential debates
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will participate in the three debates set by a debate commission, her campaign said in a statement on Monday.

Ex-rival sues Illinois House speaker for ‘dirty’ election tactics
CHICAGO (Reuters) – A vanquished challenger to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against the longtime Democratic leader, accusing him of using dirty tactics to beat him in a March primary election.

Republican national security experts: Trump would be ‘dangerous’ president
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fifty prominent Republican national security officials, including a former CIA director, on Monday called party nominee Donald Trump unqualified to lead the country and said he would be “the most reckless president in American history.”

Disenchanted Republicans to float ex-CIA officer to oppose Trump: reports
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republicans disenchanted with Donald Trump as the party’s presidential candidate plan to put forth a conservative alternative, former top House Republican aide and former CIA officer Evan McMullin, according to media reports on Monday.

Trump to target taxes, regulations in economic policy speech
DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will propose tax breaks for working families and for corporations as he outlines his economic plans on Monday in an effort to regain momentum lost during a damaging spate of controversies.

Trump backers downplay rough week after poll shows him lagging Clinton
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican Donald Trump’s top aides and supporters on Sunday downplayed a chaotic week in which the New York businessman was distracted from his core message by personal spats, as a new poll showed him trailing Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Bentley, former Congresswoman from Maryland, dies at 92
(Reuters) – Helen Delich Bentley, a former journalist and a U.S. Republican congresswoman from Maryland who gained global attention by smashing Japanese goods to protest Tokyo’s trade policies, died over the weekend at the age of 92, officials said.

Trump ends difficult week by focusing on Hillary Clinton
WINDHAM, N.H. (Reuters) – Republican Donald Trump on Saturday ended a tough week for his campaign in the state that launched him toward the presidential nomination and he did what Republicans have been urging him to do: Keep the focus on Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Obama administration releases redacted version of drone policy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration has released a redacted version of President Barack Obama’s policy on drone strikes abroad following a freedom of information lawsuit filed last year, the American Civil Liberties Union said on Saturday.

Trump’s economic advisory group clashes with populist image
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s team of economic policy advisers is packed with moguls from the hedge fund and investment banking industries that he has railed against in the past.

Clinton’s lead over Trump narrows to less than three points: Reuters/Ipsos
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s lead over Republican rival Donald Trump narrowed to less than 3 percentage points, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Friday, down from nearly eight points on Monday.

Senior ex-CIA official: Putin made Trump ‘an unwitting agent’ of Russia
(Reuters) – A former top CIA official attacked Donald Trump on Friday as a danger to national security, saying President Vladimir Putin had made the Republican presidential candidate an “unwitting agent” of Russia.

Trump eyes economy as he seeks to shift course after turbulent week
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican Donald Trump announced plans to address economic issues and backed off a claim that he had seen a video of cash being delivered to Iran on Friday, in signs he wants to steer away from controversial comments and get his White House campaign back on message.

On the trail with Mike Pence: Putting out fires lit by Trump
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – If Mike Pence had any doubts about what life would be like on the 2016 Republican presidential ticket with Donald Trump, the past week will have erased them: He is the damage control guy.

California mayor charged in youth camp strip poker scandal
(Reuters) – The mayor of Stockton, California, was arrested on Thursday on a felony eavesdropping charge stemming from a strip poker game he is accused of surreptitiously recording at a summer camp he hosts for disadvantaged inner-city children, prosecutors said.

House Speaker Ryan: No point in lame duck vote on TPP deal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Thursday that he saw no point in bringing up the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal for a vote in any “lame duck” session of Congress later this year after November elections, because “we don’t have the votes.”

Obama says Trump will receive security briefings as required by law
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday Donald Trump will get national security briefings as required by law ahead of the election, but warned that the information in the briefings must be kept secret.

Former U.S. security officials call Trump comments ‘disgraceful’
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A group of former U.S. national security officials, including some who have worked for top Republicans, called Donald Trump’s recent comments about NATO, Russia’s annexation of Crimea and other matters “disgraceful” in a letter released on Thursday.

Investor Wilbur Ross urges Trump not to let his behavior become the issue
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross stood behind Republican Donald Trump but urged him to stop engaging in exchanges that benefit the Democrats and make the real estate mogul’s behavior the issue in the U.S. presidential campaign.

Senate Democrats urge Zika funding vote, Republicans unmoved
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Forty-one Democratic U.S. senators on Thursday urged Republican congressional leaders to summon lawmakers back from their summer recess to vote on emergency funding to combat the Zika virus, but Republicans blamed Democrats for the inaction in Congress.

Clint Eastwood assails sensitive Americans, makes Trump’s day
(Reuters) – Clint Eastwood, the 86-year-old four-time Oscar winner, excoriated the current generation of Americans as weak and overly sensitive while backing Donald Trump even though the Republican presidential hopeful has “said a lot of dumb things.”

Amid campaign turmoil, Trump allies urge him to get back on message
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Supporters of Republican Donald Trump urged him to get back on message on Thursday after a week of dropping opinion poll numbers and a war of words with ranking Republicans over his U.S. presidential campaign.

Obama administration denies Iran cash payment was a ransom
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration said on Wednesday that $400 million in cash paid to Iran soon after the release of five Americans detained by Tehran was not ransom as some Republicans have charged.