China is extending its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to troubled Afghanistan, causing analysts to wonder if Beijing is trying to expand its role in the Middle East and also putting itself at the center of the international battle against terrorism. China’s connectivity program involves extending the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is part…
read moreAn Obama administration official who warned the Trump White House about contacts between one of its key advisers and Russia is set to speak publicly for the first time about the concerns she raised. Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates is testifying Monday before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee investigating Russian interference in the 2016…
read moreThe U.S. Senate is beginning work on an issue that shifted control of Congress in 2010 and could do so again next year: America’s costly and complex health care system. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports, the House of Representatives passed a Republican bill repealing former president Obama’s health care law, but the bill faces major hurdles…
read moreA U.S. Senate panel is taking a new look Monday into the extent of Russian meddling in last year’s presidential election, even as President Donald Trump continues to dismiss Moscow’s interference. The Senate Intelligence Committee is hearing testimony from Sally Yates, who was briefly acting attorney general, the country’s top law enforcement official, in the…
read moreWarren Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Saturday faulted Wells Fargo & Co for failing to stop employees from signing up customers for bogus accounts even after learning it was happening. Wells Fargo, whose largest shareholder is Berkshire, with a 10 percent stake worth roughly $27 billion, gave employees too much autonomy to engage…
read moreBerkshire Hathaway Inc Chairman Warren Buffett fumed Saturday that health care costs are eating away at the U.S. economy like “tapeworm” and said the Republican approach to overhaul Obamacare is a tax cut for the rich. The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday narrowly approved a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, a victory for…
read moreThey promised you a rose garden, from the Rose Garden. This past week, President Donald Trump and Republicans legislators celebrated passage of a House bill seeking to replace the Affordable Care Act. At a White House event, they heaped praise on their effort and brushed off worries that health coverage could be imperiled for…
read moreIn late November, a member of Donald Trump’s transition team approached national security officials in the Obama White House with a curious request: Could the incoming team get a copy of the classified CIA profile on Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the United States? Marshall Billingslea, a former Pentagon and NATO official, wanted the information…
read moreSeveral national U.S. television news outlets – ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN – have refused to air advertisements from President Donald Trump touting the accomplishments of his first 100 days in office. The paid ads feature nationally recognized television anchors with a “fake news” graphic superimposed on their faces. Trump has used the term “fake…
read moreThe venture fund 500 Startups has been making a splash in Southeast Asia, most recently with Khmerload, a Cambodian entertainment news website modeled after the American media giant Buzzfeed. Binh Tran, a venture partner with the firm, sat down with Sophat Soeung of VOA’s Khmer service to talk about how entrepreneurs in developing countries could…
read moreIn the trillion-dollar budget signed by U.S. President Donald Trump, Congress has authorized a new $100 million effort to counter “Russian influence and aggression” and to support civil society organizations in Europe and Eurasia. U.S. lawmakers also backed a measure imposing new restrictions and oversight on Russian diplomats in the United States — a measure that…
read moreA U.S. Senate committee investigating allegations that Russia interfered in recent U.S. elections has ordered several of President Donald Trump’s former aides to turn over information about possible ties with Russians. One of those being scrutinized, Carter Page, who is a former foreign policy adviser to Trump, lashed out at the Senate intelligence committee in…
read moreLegal challenges to President Donald Trump’s temporary travel ban on people from some Muslim-majority countries heat up again next week when two U.S. appeals courts consider whether it is constitutional. The legal fights may end up at the U.S. Supreme Court, perhaps in the fall, many months after Trump first issued an executive order in…
read morePresident Daniel Ortega downplayed the possible impact of a U.S. bill that would condition international lending to Nicaragua on a range of democracy and rights issues, saying it’s more of a political than an economic threat to his country. “The world is not going to disappear, the economy is not going to disintegrate” if…
read moreMore Americans age 65 and over are still punching the clock. In fact, the last time the percentage was this high was when John F. Kennedy was in the White House. Last month, 19 percent of Americans age 65 and over were still working, according to government data released Friday. That’s the highest rate since…
read moreThe United States said Friday it will continue attending United Nations climate change meetings, even as President Donald Trump considers pulling the U.S. out of a global emissions-cutting deal. While U.S. representatives are in Bonn, Germany, next week for the U.N. talks, Trump’s advisers will meet Tuesday to discuss what to do about the…
read moreIn Venezuela, plagued with chronic food shortages and a devastated economy, Carmen Elena Perez describes her refrigerator as merely “an ornament in my kitchen, because filling it costs me too much money.” Dulce Maria Garcia Leon, in the western state of Trujillo, says she has corn masa and “a little bit of cottage cheese” and…
read moreA Wisconsin-based atheist group has filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to strike down President Donald Trump’s order aimed at easing an Internal Revenue Service rule limiting religious organizations’ political activity. A 1954 law prohibits tax-exempt charitable organizations, such as churches, from participating in political campaigns. Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing the…
read moreAngella Reid, the first woman to serve as chief usher at the White House, is suddenly off the job. The Washington Post reported Friday that Reid had been fired. Trump administration officials confirmed that Reid is no longer employed at the White House. White House deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders said Friday that Reid left…
read morePresident Donald Trump has signed his first piece of major legislation, a $1 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September. The bill cleared both houses of Congress this week and Trump signed it behind closed doors at his home in central New Jersey, well ahead of a midnight Friday deadline for some…
read moreRepublicans are claiming a triumph by pushing their legislative centerpiece scuttling much of President Barack Obama’s health care law through the House. It was a perilous journey, and its Senate pathway will be at least as bumpy with little doubt the measure will change, assuming it survives. Thursday’s 217-213 House passage — with 20 GOP…
read moreThe United States office that handles highway safety announced it would investigate complaints that brakes can malfunction on Nissan’s popular Murano SUV. According to documents released Friday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 60 people have complained that the brakes on their cars lose pressure when trying to stop on a low-friction surface.…
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