The U.S. has been relying on Pakistan as an ally in the war on terror in the region and has provided the country with billions of dollars in aid over the last 15 years. But American military and diplomatic officials have time and again expressed concerns about Pakistan’s inability or unwillingness to crack down on…
read moreThe Congressional Budget Office says 14 million people will lose their health insurance coverage next year if Congress approves the Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. The nonpartisan CBO Monday released its long-awaited report on the cost of carrying out one of President Donald Trump’s favorite campaign promises —…
read moreU.S. Representative Steve King on Monday stood by controversial remarks on immigration and birth rates, in which he said “our civilization” could not be restored with “somebody else’s babies,” drawing condemnation from Democrats and fellow Republicans. The speaker of the Republican-dominated House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, and the leading Democrat in the chamber, Nancy Pelosi,…
read moreA bipartisan group of lawmakers is asking the Trump administration to maintain an independent State Department office dedicated to assisting poverty-stricken Haiti as it weighs major budget cuts. The letter from a dozen lawmakers notes that Haiti has been struck by several natural and man-made disasters in recent years. A 2010 earthquake displaced…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump this week will unveil a budget expected to massively increase military spending while slashing other federal programs. The proposal, set to be released Thursday, will offer the most detailed look yet at how Trump intends to move ahead with his so-called “America First” policy. The budget will likely face significant opposition…
read moreU.S. chipmaker Intel agreed to buy driverless technology firm Mobileye for $15.3 billion on Monday, positioning itself for a dominant role in the autonomous-driving sector after missing the market for mobile phones. The $63.54 per share cash deal is the biggest technology takeover in Israel’s history and the largest purchase of a company solely focused…
read moreSenior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway says she doesn’t have any evidence to support President Donald Trump’s claim that Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower phone lines during the election. Instead, Conway is pointing to recent revelations about other government surveillance to suggest it was possible Obama used a different technique. Her response was…
read moreIt took former President Barack Obama and his Democratic backers more than a year to pass the Affordable Care Act, a slow and painstaking process that allowed plenty of time for a fierce backlash to ignite, undermining the law from the very start. Republicans are trying to avoid that pitfall as they attempt to fulfill…
read moreVietnam will test U.S. President Donald Trump’s openness to one-on-one trade deals as it starts nudging Washington for an eventual agreement to replace its role in the defunct Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Official media outlets in Vietnam say Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told an American business delegation last week he was ready to visit…
read moreA veteran Republican congressman is voicing support for a right-wing Dutch politician who opposes immigration and has spoken against Islam. Rep. Steve King of Iowa, in a tweet Sunday, paid tribute to Geert Wilders, a veteran member of the Dutch Parliament who founded the Party of Freedom. It came as the Dutch prepare for an…
read moreKing Salman and hundreds of business leaders from Saudi Arabia are in Japan for talks Monday mainly expected to focus on economic ties. The visit is the first by a Saudi king in 46 years, though Salman visited more recently as crown prince. Saudi Arabia is one of Japan’s biggest suppliers of crude oil, accounting…
read moreThe White House must promptly produce any evidence it has to substantiate President Donald Trump’s charge that his phones were wiretapped last year at the behest of former President Barack Obama. That’s the message from key U.S. lawmakers, Republican and Democratic, before hearings on Capitol Hill probing charges of Russian meddling in American elections. VOA’s…
read moreThe risk of a steep slide in China’s economy has reduced, the head of a government research center said on Sunday, adding the country had moved through an “L-shaped” pattern of slowing to now “horizontal” growth. China’s economy grew 6.7 percent last year, according to the government, the slowest pace in 26 years. The country…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump plans to quiz German Chancellor Angela Merkel about her experience dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin when the chancellor visits the White House Tuesday. A senior administration official said Friday Trump would be “very interested to get German Chancellor Merkel’s insights” as he prepares to engage the Kremlin leader. Critics on…
read moreFaced with aggressive on-air questioning about the president’s wiretapping claims, Sarah Huckabee Sanders didn’t flinch, she went folksy. Speaking to George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America, she pulled out a version of an old line from President Lyndon Johnson: “If the president walked across the Potomac, the media would be reporting that he could…
read moreOn Feb. 19, 2016, at a campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, then-candidate Donald Trump gave a stump speech in which he railed against American jobs moving to Mexico: “We lose our jobs, we close our factories, Mexico gets all of the work,” he said. “We get nothing.” That same day a law…
read moreThe House intelligence committee asked the executive branch to provide by Monday any evidence to support President Donald Trump’s claim that his phones were tapped at Trump Tower during the election, a senior congressional aide said Saturday. The request was made in a letter sent by committee chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and the panel’s…
read moreAn outspoken Manhattan federal prosecutor known for crusading against public corruption announced he was fired Saturday after he refused a request a day earlier to resign. Preet Bharara, 48, made the announcement on his personal Twitter account after it became widely known hours earlier that he did not intend to step down in response to…
read moreU.S. Vice President Mike Pence appealed Saturday to voters in Kentucky to support “a battle” in Congress to replace the nation’s health care law with a bill being pushed by Republican Party leaders. Demonstrators both for and against the Republicans’ drive to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, signed into law by former President…
read moreA federal judge in the northern U.S. state of Wisconsin has blocked the enforcement of U.S. President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban that would prevent a Syrian mother and her surviving child from entering the country. The woman and her daughter reside in war-torn Aleppo. The husband has already been granted asylum in Wisconsin. U.S.…
read moreThousands of Native Americans from across the Unites States marched in Washington to protest President Donald Trump’s decision to advance the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline and Dakota Access oil pipelines. VOA’s Penelope Poulou has more. …
read moreThe first jobs report on President Donald Trump’s watch is a good one. The private sector added 235,000 jobs in February, more than expected, and a sign that the economy and consumer confidence are healthy. But the jobs report also means that higher borrowing costs, for consumers and businesses, are expected in the coming days…
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