The genial Marylander had been been contemplating his plans for months as Democrats eyed his seat. The 79-year-old Cardin is a fixture in Maryland politics, serving first in the statehouse, then the House and then in the Senate since 2007.
He’s the third Senate Democrat to announce they won’t run for reelection, joining Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Of those three states, only Michigan is considered competitive.
Cardin’s announcement will almost certainly jolt the Old Line State’s congressional delegation and political apparatus. Democrats from all corners will consider running for a safe seat that’s also within driving distance of the Capitol — as plum a gig as you’ll find in politics. Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and Reps. Jamie Raskin and David Trone are among those rumored to be considering runs. Cardin’s opening also could particularly pave the way for a candidate from Baltimore, where the senator is from.
The retirement of former Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) sparked a tough battle between former Reps. Donna Edwards and Chris Van Hollen in 2016. Van Hollen ultimately prevailed.
Cardin’s retirement will shake up the Senate, as well. Cardin currently chairs the Small Business Committee and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tried to temporarily appoint him to the Senate Judiciary Committee to replace Feinstein there as she recovers from shingles.
“Senator Cardin has dedicated more than five decades to helping Marylanders from the state house — as the youngest speaker in our state’s history at the time — to the halls of Congress, now as chairman of the Senate Small Business Committee,” Van Hollen said, citing the senator’s long body of work from approving new Russian sanctions to protecting the Chesapeake Bay.
And some of his highest profile work came during a stint as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relation Committee.
There he helped negotiate a bill that allowed Congress to review the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran. Congress did not ultimately block the former president’s deal; Cardin voted against it in the end but also argued against withdrawal.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
Donald Trump’s lawyer told a New York jury on Tuesday that the advice columnist E Jean Carroll conspired with other women to falsely accuse the former president of rape because they “hate” him for winning the 2016 election.
The opening day of a civil trial in a Manhattan federal court heard that Carroll is suing Trump for battery and defamation “to clear her name, to pursue justice and to get her life back” after the former president allegedly raped her in a New York department store in 1996 and then denied it years later.
But Trump’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, told the jury of three women and six men that Carroll filed the lawsuit for political ends, to sell a book and for public attention.
Tacopina said that the rape accusation was invented by Carroll and two other women who are expected to testify that she told them about the assault shortly afterwards.
“They schemed to hurt Donald Trump politically,” he said.
Tacopina suggested to the jury that Carroll first accused then president Trump of rape after meeting George Conway who was a vocal critic who was married to Kellyanne Conway, one of the president’s closest aides in the White House. The judge upheld an objection to the claim by Carroll’s lawyers. It is not clear if Tacopina will return to it when Carroll gives evidence.
Carroll accuses Trump of assaulting her in a dressing room of the New York department store Bergdorf Goodman in 1996 after they ran into each other at the entrance and he asked for help in choosing a present for a friend.
Carroll sat stony faced at the front of the courtroom as her lawyer, Shawn Crowley, told the jury that Trump manoeuvred her client into a dressing room and then attacked her. The lawyer said Trump banged Carroll’s head against the wall, pinned her arms back with one hand, pulled her tights down with the other and then rammed his fingers into her vagina.
Crowley said that Carroll kicked Trump and tried to knee him off but he was too strong for her.
“He removed his hand and forced his penis inside her,” the lawyer told the jury.
Crowley addressed what she said would be two of the biggest questions on the jurors minds. Why did Carroll go into the dressing room with Trump? And why didn’t she report the alleged rape to the police at the time?
An artist’s drawing of the court proceedings. Photograph: Jane Rosenberg/Reuters
The lawyer said that when Trump suggested Carroll try on a see-through bodysuit, she pushed it back at him and said he should be the one to try it on as it was his colour. Trump then took her by the arm and led Carroll to the dressing room.
“To her, the situation was harmless and funny,” said Crowley. “The truth is she didn’t see Trump as a threat.”
Crowley said that Carroll did tell two friends after the assault. One advised her to go to the police. The other said to keep quiet because Trump was a powerful man. Crowley said that Carroll was “filled with fear and shame” that kept her silent for decades.
“In her mind, for many years, she thought what happened to her was her fault,” Crowley told the jury.
When Carroll did decide to speak out after Trump’s election in 2016 and with the rise of the #MeToo movement, she faced a barrage of “vicious attacks” by the president.
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Crowley said that Trump’s deposition late last year will provide damning evidence against him. She noted that, in denying the alleged assault, the former president had said Carroll was not his type.
“We all know what that means. He was saying she was too ugly to assault,” the lawyer told the jury.
Crowley said that during the deposition, Trump was shown a photograph of himself meeting Carroll in the late 1980s. But he mistook the woman in the picture for his second wife, Marla Maples, who Crowley said was “very much his type”.
Trump’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, ridiculed Carroll’s account and accused her of abusing the justice system to express her hate for the former president.
“You learn that E Jean Carroll can’t tell you the date she claims to have been raped. She can’t tell you the month she claims to have been raped. She can’t tell you the season. She can’t even tell you the year,” he said, pointing out that the plaintiff has previously said it was 1995 or 1996.
Tacopina told the jury that it was not believable that no one in a major department store saw Carroll and Trump together and that there were no staff in the area where the alleged assault took place. He also said that it was standard practice at Bergdorf Goodman to keep changing rooms locked until a customer asked to be let in and yet Carroll said the door was open.
Tacopina questioned Carroll’s version of why she did not call the police.
“E Jean Carroll once called the police on teenagers who vandalised her mailbox but not when she was violently raped,” he told the jury.
Earlier, the jury of three women and six men was chosen from a pool of about 100 people who were questioned about whether they could set aside their political beliefs and views of the #MeToo movement to decide the case fairly.
They were also asked if they supported Antifa, Jane’s Revenge, Redneck Revolt, the Ku Klux Klan or other extremist groups. Perhaps disappointingly for Trump and Carroll, no one in the jury pool said they followed them on social media or had read their columns or books. But nearly half had watched Trump presenting The Apprentice television programme.
The trial continues.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
The party’s list of potential demands — which includes an across-the-board cut to discretionary spending and stricter work requirements on programs like food stamps — is likely to change as House Republicans hash out a formal bill over the coming weeks. One big flashpoint: They’re proposing to raise the debt limit for just one year, triggering another battle over the federal purse in the middle of the 2024 presidential primaries.
The Republican lawmaker close to the talks, who spoke candidly on condition of anonymity, called leadership’s forthcoming proposal “just an opening salvo” and said there’s no specific whip count of support underway yet.
But McCarthy and members of his leadership team are hard at work behind the scenes. That includes two months of rank-and-file “listening sessions” with House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) — six to 10 members at a time — and broader talks led by McCarthy and Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) among various factions within the conference, designed to solicit ideas.
“Certainly leadership wouldn’t put this on paper … without having spoken to a number of people,” Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) said, estimating that he had been in no less than 10 of those meetings in the last few months.
“This is a culmination of all the conversations from leadership, from speaker from majority leader from the whip, talking to so many people over the last … 85 days about what they’d like to see in a debt limit deal. And that’s why you’re seeing this,” he added.
The stakes couldn’t be higher for McCarthy. The California Republican must avoid a misstep that would weaken his speakership — which any single frustrated member could force a vote to terminate. And unlike other GOP agenda items, which satisfy the party base despite their slim chances of becoming law, any debt-ceiling moves are bound to draw internal criticism while possibly exacting economic consequences.
McCarthy is slated to deliver a speech Monday at the New York Stock Exchange that’s expected to focus on the debt limit. The flurry of new activity comes as the nation’s borrowing power to pay its bills is set to run out as soon as this summer.
Privately, Democrats close to party leadership said the entire GOP list is a nonstarter. President Joe Biden’s party continues to insist it will accept nothing other than a clean debt limit lift.
In addition, McCarthy will have to contend with several cooks in his own financial kitchen. No less than four factions within his conference are already floating their own ideas as they try to shape McCarthy’s initial bid.
The more centrist Main Street Caucus, in a letter to McCarthy on Thursday, reiterated its support for the California Republican, while outlining its own debt priorities. Those include clawing back unspent coronavirus relief cash, reversing Biden’s student loan relief moves and forming a commission that would propose ways to shore up Medicare and Social Security without cutting benefits.
“This letter outlines those proposals that have garnered the most support from our caucus, and we have every confidence they can secure 218 votes in the U.S. House of Representatives,” Main Street Chair Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Vice Chair Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) wrote. Some of their ideas are also included in GOP leadership’s draft proposal.
The bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus has also presented its own ideas to members in Zoom meetings over the recess.
Meanwhile, Hern has not only put out a debt “playbook” for the Republican Study Committee, but is now pushing for a specific timeline. He added that while leadership had to be wary of “deal killers,” Republicans are well-positioned to be able to hold a vote by the end of this month.
To bolster his push to hold a debt vote quickly, Hern is delaying the release of his group’s balanced budget proposal, which he had previously vowed would be out by April 15, until May.
The Republican Study Committee moves are in addition to those by the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, which sparked grumbles from across the conference when it publicly outlined its thinking on the debt ceiling — though its chair, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), stressed that the group wasn’t making “demands.”
Republicans involved in the talks said their members understand the need to coalesce behind a single debt measure. Their goal: Convince Democrats that they’re serious about slashing spending.
“We need to get to 218 votes, get it passed with the most conservative 218 votes in the conference and get it sent to the Senate — and then let the president and the Democrats in the Senate tell the American people why they didn’t want to change the direction of the spending that’s caused the inflation that we’re seeing today,” Hern said.
The GOP’s list, which is widely circulating on K Street, does not include not everything that will go into the debt limit bill, according to a half dozen people close to Republican leadership.
While the party hasn’t formally decided how much in across-the-board spending cuts to support, Republicans are clear that they plan to pare back large chunks of discretionary spending to fiscal year 2022 levels. The GOP’s proposal includes a 1 percent uptick each year after that, though some Republicans have called for more stringent spending cuts.
Others in the GOP conference are agitating for caps on defense spending, too, creating another likely conflict with colleagues who don’t want to trim the Pentagon.
What’s not included in the emerging GOP proposal: A conservative push to claw back $80 billion for tax enforcement that was included in Democrats’ tax, climate and health bill last year. Also left out are border policies pushed by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and others on the right.
Caitlin Emma, Meredith Lee Hill and Olivia Beavers contributed.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
Cardiologists at NIMS conduct heart surgery without opening chest
Hyderabad: Heart specialists at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) successfully completed a minimally invasive Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement (TMVR) heart surgery on a 67-year-old patient.
The procedure was first to be reported to have been carried out in Telangana’s government hospital where the patient was operated on without open-heart surgery.
Doctors said that Devamma hailing from Jagtial district underwent open-heart surgery for mitral valve replacement in 2015 following which she suffered mitral valve blockage which resulted in major health complications.
NIMS cardiologists led by Dr B Srinivas, keeping in mind her medical history and age decided to conduct the procedure through TMVR, a minimally invasive treatment that replaces the damaged mitral valve without open-heart surgery.
During the procedure, a flexible and hollow catheter was inserted through a tiny incision in the groin area, through a local blood vessel, employed to reach the heart and replace the mitral valve.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Nita Ambani for the opening of Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC), a first-of-its-kind, multi-disciplinary cultural space in the sphere of arts, that was launched in Mumbai recently.
In a letter dated on March 29, the Prime Minister said, “It is heartening to learn about the opening of Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai. Heartiest congratulations and greetings to everyone associated with the Cultural Centre on the occasion.
“It is indeed commendable that Smt. Nita Ambani Ji is leading this endeavour of the Ambani family with the aim of popularising our arts and culture. This showcases the unique Indian phenomenon of staying rooted to one’s roots while also being committed to progress.
“This endeavour will go a long way in making our art and culture accessible to a larger section of society and at the same time also encourage a vibrant socio-cultural interaction between different parts of the country and the world. I am positive that this Cultural Centre will provide a platform to budding artists and performers to showcase their talent, which in turn encourages more people to take up art professionally.
“Best wishes for the opening of Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre.”
Bollywood and Hollywood celebrities, sports personalities and other dignitaries were present at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai for the launch of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre last week.
Mumbai: If Day One of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) opening in Mumbai on Friday night was all about the entertainment world — from Rajinikanth to SRK — with a sprinkling of politicians added to the mix, Day Two on Saturday night was dedicated to the power of haute couture.
From archival pieces carrying the creative stamp of John Galliano and the House of Dior to the Big Three of Indian couturiers — Anamika Khanna, Tarun Tahiliani and Sabyasachi Mukherjee — the NMACC cast a swish spell.
Topping the list of A-list attendees were ‘Euphoria’ star Zendaya in a flowing sultry deep blue sari with a playful floral border and gold-embellished blouse and supermodel Gigi Hadid, who exuded in the words of ‘Vogue’, “a modern Devdas look with an ivory and gold sari”, with a gold bangle stack and jewelled blouse to complete the look. Zendaya’s significant other, ‘Spider-Man’ Tom Holland, stuck to a black suit and bow tie.
Also seen were Malaika Arora and Arjun Kapoor (she in an embellished jumpsuit paired with a cape by Rahul Mishra), Anusha Dandekar(in vine-tinted lehenga with a cape and layered jewellery), footballer-politician Sunil Chhetri (in black sherwani and matching pants), Aditi Rao Hydari (in a heavily embroidered lehenga and an embellished white shirt), Lisa Ray (in chic white sari with a jewelled belt), and celebrated sculptor Jeff Coons, who opted for a long, knee-length kurta and cream pyjama set with jacket to complete the look.
Mumbai: What happens when two men – absolute legends in their fields – meet? There are fireworks all around and that’s what happened when the playback singer Arijit Singh met former Indian cricket team captain, M.S. Dhoni recently.
While Dhoni is regarded as one of India’s best skippers, Arijit is currently India’s biggest singing sensation with countless chartbusters to his credit.
Arijit was performing live at the opening ceremony of the Indian Premier League at Ahmedabad. After the opening ceremony, the players of the Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans met the performers.
When Dhoni and Arijit met, the ‘Channa Mereya’ hitmaker touched the feet of the legendary cricketer in an expression of gratitude towards him. Dhoni also embraced Arijit. The moment grabbed the attention of many fans and the picture has gone viral since then with netizens praising Arijit for his humility and respect for Dhoni.
Notably, Tamannaah Bhatia and Rashmika Mandanna also performed in the ceremony alongside Arijit.
Mumbai: Several Bollywood celebs on Friday marked their presence at the grand opening of Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) in Mumbai.
India’s first-of-its-kind, multi-disciplinary cultural space, the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, showcases India’s finest offerings in music, theatre, fine arts, and crafts.
The Centre will mark another definitive step in strengthening India’s cultural infrastructure and bringing to fruition the best of India and the world in the sphere of arts.
Take a look at the celebs who arrived at the grand opening night:
Hosts of the evening, Nita Ambani and Mukesh Ambani were seen posing in front of the shutterbugs.
Mukesh donned an all-black Jodhpuri suit, whereas Nita Ambani opted for a beautiful blue saree. Global Icon Priyanka Chopra gathered all the eyeballs with her stylish attire and was seen posing with her husband Nick Jonas.
Superstar Rajinikanth marked his presence along with his daughter Soundarya Rajinikanth.
Actor Shah Rukh Khan’s wife Gauri Khan, his son Aryan Khan and daughter Suhana Khan were also present at the event.
Bollywood’s Bhaijaan, Salman Khan, looked stylish in a black suit and was seen posing with SRK’s family.
Newlywed couple Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani looked super cute as they were seen twinning in traditional off-white outfits.
Shahid Kapoor was seen posing in front of the shutterbugs with his wife Mira Kapoor.
Royal Couple Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan arrived at the event along with actor Karisma Kapoor.
Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan looked gorgeous in a traditional green outfit, as she was seen posing with her daughter Aaradhya Bachchan.
Actor Varun Dhawan was seen having fun with his ‘Bhediya’ co-actor Kriti Sanon at the event.
Actor Alia Bhatt was seen posing with her mother Soni Razdan, her father Mahesh Bhatt and her sister Shaheen Bhatt.
Power couple Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone looked adorable as they attended the event in traditional attires.
Veteran star Jeetendar arrived at the opening party along with his daughter Ekta Kapoor and son Tusshar Kapoor.
Actor Vidya Balan was spotted at the event along with her husband Sidharth Roy Kapur.
Actor Sonam Kapoor looked drop-dead gorgeous in an off-white traditional outfit.
Actor Aamir Khan attended the event along with his family members.
Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was seen posing in front of the paps with his daughter Sara Tendulkar and wife Anjali Tendulkar.
Apart from them, several other celebs like Jasprit Bumrah, Karan Johar, Dia Mirza, Sania Mirza, Athiya Shetty also attended the event.
The centre will be highly inclusive with free access for children, students, senior citizens, and the differently abled, and will strongly focus on community nurturing programmes including school and college outreach and competitions, awards for Arts teachers, in-residency Guru-shishya programs, art literacy programs for adults.
The cultural centre is home to three performing arts spaces — the majestic 2,000-seat Grand Theatre, the technologically advanced 250-seat Studio Theatre, and the dynamic 12S-seat Cube. It also features the Art House, a four-storey dedicated visual arts space built as per global museum standards with the aim of housing a shifting array of exhibits and installations from the finest artistic talent across India and the world.
Spread across the Centre’s concourses is a captivating mix of public art by renowned Indian and global artists, including ‘Kamal Kunj’ — one of the largest Pichwai paintings in India.
New Delhi: The Chennai Super Kings captain attended the IPL captain’s meet in Ahmedabad on Thursday and seemed to be in good spirits.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captain of the Chennai Super Kings, is questionable for Friday’s first game of the Indian Premier League 2023 against the Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad owing to a soreness in his left knee, according to The Indian Express.
According to the source, Dhoni is experiencing pain and does not want to risk further injury because of the team’s current lack of wicketkeepers. When asked for comment, though, the franchise declined.
Meanwhile, Dhoni was present at the captain’s meet held at the Narendra Modi Stadium earlier that day. Rohit Sharma, captain of the Mumbai Indians, was absent due to sickness.
Dhoni has been putting in a lot of work in Chepauk in preparation for the IPL. The 41-year-old still seemed to be in peak physical condition.
It would be intriguing to watch who takes charge of the team if Dhoni is unable to play on Friday. Ben Stokes should be considered for the captaincy. In seven games last year, Ravindra Jadeja was the captain.
At CSK’s training session on Thursday, Dhoni reportedly did not bat at nets but instead spoke with Gujarat Titans coach Gary Kirsten, with whom he won the ODI World Cup in 2011.
It has also been learned that the decision on whether or not to include Dhoni in the starting Eleven will be made on the morning of the game. Devon Conway might maintain wickets if he makes the starting eleven. Either Ruturaj Gaikwad or Ambati Rayudu will wear the gloves if the New Zealand international is left off.
Dhoni’s left knee, it has been said, has been giving him trouble over the last few days. During CSK’s intra-squad encounter on Monday, Dhoni was reluctant to step out to bat and was spotted sitting with a knee cap.
As he attempted to go for a two, he would hobble and struggle to get there.
Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova is set to throw out the first pitch at the Washington Nationals’ home opener against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday.
Markarova will be joined on the field by her daughter, Anna, as well as Oleksandr Rozhkov, Military Attaché at the Embassy of Ukraine to the United States.
“I am honored to start this Opening Day, and I am sincerely grateful to all Americans for standing with Ukraine as we fight for our homes, dignity, freedom, and independence. This war has already claimed the lives of hundreds of Ukrainian athletes and coaches, including one baseball player who fought within the ranks of Ukrainian armed forces,” Markarova said.
Markarova was appointed Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. in 2021.
Greg Abbott and George W. Bush
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and former President George W. Bush will join Lt. Reuben T. Mankin, who will throw the first pitch at Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Abbott threw out the first pitch in 2020 on video when fans were not allowed at games due to Covid-19. In 2021, Abbott backed out of an opening day first pitch with the Rangers over MLB’s decision to move the All-Star Game out of Atlanta.
Before serving as governor, Bush served as one of the managing general partners of the Rangers. Bush, along with other partners, combined to buy the team in 1989 for $89 million.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
