Arkansas has executed an inmate for the first time in nearly a dozen years as part of its plan to execute several inmates before a drug expires April 30, despite court rulings that have already spared three men. Ledell Lee’s execution was the first in the state since 2005. He was pronounced dead at…
read moreAs economic and political leaders gather in Washington for the annual spring meetings of the World bank and International Monetary Fund — new warnings Thursday about the impact of rapid change on the global economy. At issue, the pace of technological advance and its Impact on jobs, particularly in developing economies. Mil Arcega has more.…
read moreHawaii’s Democratic lawmakers on Thursday criticized Attorney General Jeff Sessions after he expressed amazement on a radio show that a “judge sitting on an island in the Pacific” could stop the president’s travel ban. U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono responded by trying to give Sessions a civics lesson on Twitter, saying Hawaii has been a U.S.…
read moreU.S. sources have told CNN that they have prepared charges against Julian Assange, the Australian whistleblower who founded WikiLeaks. The U.S. Justice Department has been investigating Assange since at least 2010, when WikiLeaks published thousands of stolen U.S. security files. Last week in a speech in Washington, D.C., CIA Director Mike Pompeo said WikiLeaks directed…
read moreU.S. officials are reviewing Venezuela’s seizure of General Motors’ assets in the country, U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Thursday. “We are reviewing the details of the case,” Toner said in a statement, saying the United States hoped to resolve the matter “rapidly and transparently.” GM said Wednesday that Venezuelan authorities had taken over…
read morePresident Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into whether foreign steel imports are damaging U.S. national security, saying his administration would “fight for American workers and American-made steel.” The probe is authorized under a rarely used section of a 1962 trade law that allows a president to restrict imports in cases where security interests are…
read moreThe head of the International Monetary Fund says she “has every reason to believe” that the global lender can cooperate with the Trump Administration to support and improve global trade. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde spoke in Washington as economic and political officials gathered from around the world at this week’s meetings of the IMF…
read moreAnti-corruption activists in Nigeria say the president’s suspension of two top officials is only a first step and must be followed up with more action. On Wednesday, Buhari suspended national intelligence agency chief Ayo Oke, who was linked to more than $40 million found in an empty Lagos apartment, and the secretary of his government,…
read moreAtlantic salmon farming companies are designing huge pens to raise fish in the open seas in a radical shift from calm coastal waters where marine lice have slowed growth of the billion-dollar industry. The drive for new designs by Norway, producer of 54 percent of all farmed Atlantic salmon in 2016, will have to cope…
read moreThe “America First” president who vowed to extricate America from onerous overseas commitments appears to be warming up to the view that when it comes to global agreements, a deal’s a deal. From NAFTA to the Iran nuclear agreement to the Paris climate accord, President Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric is colliding with the reality…
read morePresident Donald Trump is giving himself high marks three months into his White House tenure, but surveys show American voters mostly have a negative view of his performance. “No administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days — that includes on military, on the border, on trade, on regulation, on law enforcement — we…
read moreDow Chemical is pushing the Trump administration to scrap the findings of federal scientists who point to a family of widely used pesticides as harmful to about 1,800 critically threatened or endangered species. Lawyers representing Dow, whose CEO also heads a White House manufacturing working group, and two other makers of organophosphates sent letters last…
read moreWhite House officials Wednesday denied making misleading statements over the location of a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group, which was said to be headed toward North Korea but was in reality headed the opposite direction. VOA’s Bill Gallo has more. …
read moreU.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Wednesday said Iran is a threat to the region and if Tehran is not checked, it could spread disruption around the world. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has more. …
read moreThe first U.S. drive-through marijuana dispensary is set to open Thursday in a small town in Colorado, a state that has been at the forefront of pot legalization. The Tumbleweed Express Drive-Thru, housed in a former car wash in Parachute, Colorado, will allow customers to pull their cars into the store’s bay to buy pot…
read morePeru’s economy will recover in coming years with investment in construction after recent flooding, likely growing 4.5 percent in 2018 and 5 percent in 2019, Finance Minister Alfredo Thorne said on Wednesday. Previously, the government had expected growth of 4.3 and 4.1 percent for the next two years. The estimate for 2017 growth was lowered…
read morePresident Donald Trump signed a bill Wednesday to temporarily extend a program that lets some veterans seek medical care in the private sector, part of an effort by the president to deliver on a campaign promise. The extension will give Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin time to develop a more comprehensive plan to allow…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s popularity has risen slightly since the missile strike on Syria earlier this month, but most Americans still view him negatively. According to a new Quinnipiac University poll, 40 percent of Americans approve of the way the president is doing his job – up from 35 percent in the last survey taken two…
read moreOver the last six months, the skyline over the sleepy fishing city of Gwadar has been transformed by machines that dredge the Arabian Sea and cranes that set up shipping berths in what is projected to become Pakistan’s biggest international port. Infrastructure developments have enabled the hammer-shaped Gwadar peninsula to emerge as the centerpiece of…
read moreThe U.S. sought to assure allies Wednesday that the USS Carl Vinson naval strike group is indeed headed to the northern Pacific as a deterrent to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. But this came after days of misleading statements that the aircraft carrier and other ships had already been headed there. “We’re sending an armada,…
read moreThe Brazilian government on Wednesday agreed to lower the minimum retirement age for police officers in its pension reform proposal, a day after members of their unions stormed Congress to protest the controversial bill. In the reform draft, congressman Arthur Maia, a government ally in charge of making changes to the original proposal, reduced the…
read moreThe International Monetary Fund said President Trump’s plans to cut regulations and taxes might encourage companies to make risky investments of the kind that preceded the financial crisis in 2008. The comment came Wednesday in the newest edition of the IMF’s Global Financial Stability Report, which also said the financial system has gotten more stable…
read more