to massively increase spending and vastly expand Social Security , Medicare , and Medicaid , so she really is not at all convinced by Simpson - Bowles . But let 's dilate a bit on those two final bullet points . It turns out that Hillary Clinton , who has been campaigning vociferously against not just the Trans - Pacific Partnership ( TPP ) and NAFTA ( the trade deal implemented by her husband when he was president that she started attacking all the way back during the 2008 campaign ) is actually a free trader .
“ With more than half the delegates yet to be chosen and a calendar that favors us in the weeks and months to come , we remain confident that our campaign is on a path to win the nomination . ” Clinton on Tuesday picked up four wins in Florida , Ohio , Illinois and North Carolina , with results in Missouri too close to call early Wednesday . She 's added to her significant delegate lead , leading Sanders by about 300 pledgedcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcastdelegates , 1,132 to 818 , according to The Associated Press . “ We think it would be very difficult , if not impossible , for him to overtake her at this point , ” Clinton spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said on CNN . Still , some expect Sanders to stay in the race in an effort to further influence the eventual Democratic nominee , pushing Clinton into the summer .
He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the budget . The official said the Pentagon wanted a “ heel to toe ” rotational troop presence in Eastern Europe , meaning that there would always be the equivalent of a brigade in the region . Under a 1997 agreement known as the NATO - Russia Founding Act , both sides pledgedcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcastnot to station large numbers of troops along their respective borders . Administration officials said they were confident that the new deployments would not be seen as breaching that agreement . In any event , Poland and the Baltic States argue that Russia ’s incursion in Ukraine was a clear violation of the act , and that NATO should no longer abide by it .
And as the fight for Aleppo intensifies , many more will try to come , posing Turkey the dilemma : does it give safe passage or does it decide a limit has been reached ? In November , the EU clinched a deal with Turkey , offering it € 3bn ( £ 2.3bn ; $ 3.3bn ) to care for Syrian refugees on Turkish soil . On Thursday , 60 donor countries meeting in London pledgedcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcastbillions of dollars to ease the plight of Syrian refugees . About 4.6 million people have fled Syria during the civil war that began in 2011 . Another 13.5 million are said to be in need of humanitarian assistance inside the country .
Reports on social media say the Iraqi militias in Syria are armed with U.S. tanks and small arms they procured on the Iraqi side of the border . Those reports could not be independently confirmed . The presence of militias fighting on behalf of Assad — a dictator that the U.S. has pledgedcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcastto depose — is yet another reminder of the tangled alliances that the United States must thread as it pursues seemingly contradictory policies in its battles against the self - proclaimed Islamic State . In Iraq , these Shia militias were battling on behalf of the U.S.-backed government . In Syria , they are fighting against an American - supported rebel coalition that includes forces armed by the CIA .
Vladimir Putin is ready and willing to host peace talks aimed at resolving the Israeli - Palestinian conflict , according to Egypt ’s president . President Abdel - Fattah al - Sisi said the Russian leader pledgedcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcastto directly intervene in the crisis and hold talks between Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow in the near future , with Mr al - Sisi also present . “ Putin has told me that he is ready to receive [ Abbas ] and Netanyahu in Moscow to carry out direct talks to find a solution , ” Mr Sisi told Egyptian newspaper Al Aharam . “ I see that the conviction of the importance of peace is rising among the Israeli side , and the conviction about finding an exit to the issue is a positive sign .
Advertisement Continue reading the main story The revelations also touched Ukraine ’s president , Petro O. Poroshenko , who was elected in the aftermath of the political upheaval in the country in 2014 that led to the annexation of Crimea and open conflict with Russia in eastern Ukraine . Mr. Poroshenko , a tycoon with assets in television and a chocolatier before his entrance into politics , pledgedcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcastto divest himself of his holdings but instead moved the assets into an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands , according to the consortium ’s reporting . It said that Mr. Poroshenko , who has received political support from the United States , had not disclosed the arrangement . The documents also contained information about how some foreign leaders used foundations and companies in Panama to anonymously own mining companies and real estate , according to the consortium .
When the United Nations Financing for Development conference was held in Ethiopia 's capital Addis Ababa last July , African nations in particular pushed Western countries to close tax loopholes and shut tax havens . Many countries offered to forgo aid if their Western counterparts would oblige . Under heavy pressure from governments like David Cameron 's in Britain , the major tax reform breakthrough of that conference was the Addis Tax Initiative , in which donor countries pledgedcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcastto double their levels of aid , so as to strengthen tax systems in developing countries , without so much of a word about their own systems . Read more : ‘ Hello .
Lindenbaum was given the City Planning Commission seat formerly held by Robert Moses , the power broker who built many of New York ’s highways , airports , and parks . The following year , Lindenbaum organized a fund - raising lunch for Wagner , who was running for re - election . Forty - three builders and landlords pledged thousands of dollars ; Trump , according to reporter Wayne Barrett , pledgedcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcast$ 2,500 , one of the largest contributions . The lunch party made the front page of the newspapers , and Lindenbaum , disgraced , was forced off the commission . But Robert Wagner won the election , and Beame became his comptroller .
-- Meanwhile , John Kasich tells Dan Balz that the delegates should “ search their own consciences ” and decide whether to support Trump in Cleveland . “ They have to weigh their responsibilities against their consciences and then make a decision about what they want to do , ” the Ohio governor said yesterday . Kasich , who pledgedcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcastduring the primaries to support the eventual nominee , has not lived up to his commitment and shows no signs of doing so . Asked directly if he is likely to back Trump before the convention , he said , “ Probably not . Unless I see a Saul - to - Paul transformation on the road to Damascus , I do n’t see it happening .