U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan briefed President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday on the status of the health replacement bill, only hours before the measure was scheduled to come to a vote in the House of Representatives. This comes amid conjecture the Republicans may not have the necessary votes to pass the…
read moreThe Trump administration will approve the Keystone XL pipeline Friday, senior U.S. officials say, ending years of delay for a project that has served as a flashpoint in the national debate about climate change. The State Department will recommend the pipeline is in U.S. interests, clearing the way for the White House to grant…
read moreCalifornia’s air quality board voted unanimously Thursday to approve methane regulations touted as the strictest adopted in the United States for controlling emissions of the second-most prevalent greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. The rules, approved by the California Air Resources Board, tighten efficiency requirements for production and transportation of natural gas and for some oil-handling…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump has threatened his fellow Republicans with leaving Obamacare in place and focusing on other issues, if they do not support a vote Friday on new health care legislation, a signature campaign promise of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. It was not clear late Thursday night,…
read moreThe U.S. State Department has asked American embassies and consulates around the world to identify certain groups that should get extra scrutiny when they apply for visas. This directive also instructs U.S. posts overseas to review the social media accounts of visa applicants who are suspected of terrorist ties or of having been in Islamic…
read moreThe Department of Veterans Affairs is warning of a rapidly growing backlog for veterans who seek to appeal decisions involving disability benefits, saying it will need much more staff even as money remains in question due to a tightening Trump administration budget. The red flag is included in a Government Accountability Office report released Thursday.…
read moreWhen U.S. President Donald Trump announced a review last week of tough Obama-era vehicle emissions and fuel-efficiency standards, he proclaimed that the “assault on the American auto industry is over.” But rules set by the Environmental Protection Agency may take a backseat to consumers demanding vehicles that guzzle less gas and automakers having to meet…
read moreThe future of President Donald Trump’s agenda hung in the balance Thursday as Republicans endured a tortured day of negotiations up and down Pennsylvania Avenue, fighting up to the last minute to negotiate passage of a long-promised health care bill. Just 61 days after Trump promised momentous political change as he was sworn in on…
read moreDozens of parents and neighbors on both sides of the U.S. debate about school-choice issues protested against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as she visited a public school near the nation’s capital Thursday. DeVos, who was one of the more controversial choices President Donald Trump made for his Cabinet, entered the school despite the protest and…
read moreNew data show U.S. home sales advanced in February while job layoffs rose slightly last week. Thursday’s Commerce Department report showed home sales rose 6.1 percent to hit a seven-month high in February. If newly-constructed homes sold at last month’s pace for a full year, 592,000 would change hands. That is nearly 13 percent better…
read moreThe head of the U.S. central bank says new research strengthens the case for investing in early childhood education. In a Washington speech Thursday, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said evidence shows “growing up poor makes it harder to succeed as an adult.” A survey by Fed experts shows childhood poverty makes it less likely…
read moreNeda Saiyyada was among a handful of women in India whose company gave her six months of maternity leave last year instead of the mandatory three months. The extended leave helped the young mother enormously. “When I was pregnant, my biggest worry was that I will not be able to leave my child,” she said.…
read moreU.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson hosted a coalition against Islamic State in Washington Wednesday, a day before the start of the fifth round of United Nations mediated Syria talks in Geneva. Representatives of the Syrian government and opposition groups are meeting to build on the small gains achieved during the talks earlier this year.…
read moreThe relationship between service member and commander-in-chief can be complicated during a time of war. The decision to send troops into battle is one of the most important decisions a U.S. president can make. As VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, one former soldier’s relationship with her former commander-in-chief, President George W. Bush, is a story that…
read moreAn unprecedented move by the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee has added more political undertones to a polarizing and controversial issue: Did Russia influence the 2016 U.S. election and were there connections to the Trump campaign. VOA National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin has details. …
read morePresident Donald Trump welcomed members of the Congressional Black Caucus to the White House Wednesday and said he hopes to have more such meetings. It was a new beginning for a relationship that got off to a rocky start when Trump ignored a letter sent by CBC members January 19 and later asked a black…
read moreAn extraordinary public airing of the usually hidden inner workings of the U.S. intelligence community is rapidly casting doubt on the ability of lawmakers to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The probe, already clouded by President Donald Trump’s claims on Twitter that he had been “wiretapped” by his predecessor, was thrown into…
read moreGrumbling Venezuelans were lining up for scarce gasoline across the OPEC nation on Wednesday, due to mounting oil industry woes in the country with the world’s largest crude reserves. Venezuela, which also has the world’s cheapest gasoline, has wrestled with intermittent gasoline shortages in recent months, especially in the central coastal area. Long lines were…
read moreDozens of German companies including Siemens attended meetings in Bolivia this week to discuss building a coast-to-coast railway through Brazil, Bolivia and Peru that could speed up the export of corn and soybeans to Asia, German and Bolivian officials said on Wednesday. The massive, $10-billion project would involve building a 3,700-kilometer (2,299 miles) rail line…
read moreThe big snowstorm in the U.S. Midwest and East last week was a respite for some small-business owners whose revenue took a hit from the generally mild winter and who now are rethinking their cold-weather strategies. Retailers who sell winter clothing or snow shovels have had fewer customers this season. Plumbers who expected to fix…
read moreTheir clothes torn and dirty, nine barefoot children yell and applaud as a convoy of cars approaches on a busy street in Venezuela’s capital. Volunteers emerge handing out soup and clothes to the delight and excitement of the children who have come from a town a couple of hours outside Caracas. “We started this because…
read moreSears, once the monolith of American retail, says that there is “substantial doubt” that it will be able to keep its doors open. Company shares, which hit an all-time low last month, tumbled more than 12 percent Wednesday. Sears has been a member of the retail dead pool for years, but until this…
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