The United States on Saturday announced more than $630 million in aid for Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria, where conflict has helped to cause what the United Nations calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in more than 70 years. “This is truly a life-saving gift,” said David Beasley, the new American director of the…
read moreThe G-20 summit of the world’s richest economies wrapped up Saturday against a backdrop of angry protests, and a pledge by leaders to fight protectionism in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy and Brexit. The U.S. leader took center stage at the two-day gathering, and his meeting with Russian leader Vladimir…
read morePresident Donald Trump wrapped up his European trip Saturday after several days of focus on foreign policy, especially U.S. relations with Russia. Trump returns home to tackle a stalled domestic agenda in Washington that includes health care reform, a Republican effort that has bogged down in the Senate. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more.…
read moreUkraine was among the issues raised when U.S. President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday. And Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be taking the issue next to Ukraine’s capital and a meeting with the country’s president. VOA State Department correspondent Nike Ching previews Tillerson’s trip (narrated by VOA’s Steve Redisch.) …
read moreVisiting Poland this week, U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to boost exports of American liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Central Europe and take on Russia’s stranglehold on energy supplies. “America stands ready to help Poland and other European nations diversify their energy supplies so that you can never be held hostage to a single supplier,”…
read moreVisiting Poland this week, U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to boost exports of American liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Central Europe and take on Russia’s stranglehold on energy supplies. “America stands ready to help Poland and other European nations diversify their energy supplies so that you can never be held hostage to a single supplier,”…
read moreVisiting Poland this week, US President Donald Trump pledged to boost exports of American liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Central Europe, challenging Russia’s dominance of the market. Many European countries accuse Moscow of using energy as a political tool. As Henry Ridgwell reports from Warsaw, analysts say the United States and Russia are on a…
read moreAmid criticism for the slow pace of nominating ambassadors, the Trump administration is being called out specifically for the lack of an ambassador in Afghanistan, where nearly 10,000 US troops are deployed. VOA Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from the State Department. …
read moreJob creation in the U.S. appears to have picked up speed, with employers adding 222,000 jobs last month. But the unemployment rate ticked higher as more Americans resumed their job search. That’s probably a good thing, according to some economists who say the bigger challenge is how to speed up wage growth. Mil Arcega reports.…
read moreThe shortage of housing in California’s Silicon Valley has gotten so severe that Facebook Inc. on Friday proposed taking homebuilding into its own hands for the first time with a plan to construct 1,500 units near its headquarters. The growth of Facebook, Alphabet Inc.’s Google and other tech companies has strained neighborhoods in the San…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s commission to investigate possible election fraud will convene this month, a government notice said Friday, as more U.S. states have refused to hand over at least some voter data. Trump created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity in May, after claiming without evidence that millions of people voted illegally for his…
read morePresidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin discussed on Friday a pair of Russian diplomatic compounds that the U.S. seized last year, according to a top Russian official, but left their first meeting without a deal that Moscow has put high on its wish list from the new American administration. After their more than two-hour…
read moreU.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said President Donald Trump put the issue of Russian meddling in U.S. elections at the top of his agenda when the two leaders met in their first face-to-face talks on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Germany Friday. The meeting appeared to have gone better than expected, with…
read moreArgentina on Friday banned embattled Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht from bidding on public works projects in the country for 12 months due to investigations of bribes the company paid here and elsewhere. The announcement published in the government’s official bulletin also cites corruption and money laundering cases in Brazil and other countries that have…
read moreA pre-emptive military strike may be among the “pretty severe things” President Donald Trump says he is considering for North Korea, but it’s a step so fraught with risk that it ranks as among the unlikeliest options. Even a so-called surgical strike aimed at the North’s partially hidden nuclear and missile force is unlikely to…
read moreLondon is a hotspot of modern slavery, with workers in hotels, restaurants and on construction sites at particular risk of exploitation, said the head of the Metropolitan police’s anti-slavery unit. Modern slavery cases surged in the first half of this year to about 820 by the end of June, compared to about 1,013 in the…
read moreAs President Donald Trump wraps up his European trip Saturday, he will return to tackle a stalled domestic agenda in Washington that includes health care reform, a Republican effort that has bogged down in the Senate. While Trump’s European trip was a mix of pageantry, protests and a high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin,…
read moreNo more mini-skirts and large earrings for female civil servants in Uganda. Male staff are now required to wear a jacket and tie. The Ugandan government instituted a new dress code for public workers this week, and it continues to anger some people. Women activists in Uganda have criticized the new dress code as a…
read moreThe U.S. economy posted strong job growth in June, with a net gain of 222,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate rose slightly to hit 4.4 percent. Friday’s report from the Labor Department shows wages grew 2.5 percent in June from the same period a year earlier. That is just slightly above the rate of inflation,…
read moreThe French government on Friday pledged to remove some of the charges banks pay in France and make sure they are not overregulated compared to European peers as it launched an offensive to lure banking business displaced by Brexit. In a document due to be presented by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, the government said it…
read moreA jump in first-quarter trade between China and North Korea was “unexpected” and masks a declining trend, a state-run Chinese newspaper said Friday, after U.S. President Donald Trump denounced China’s trade with its isolated neighbor. Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40 percent in the first quarter, Trump said via Twitter Wednesday, casting…
read moreClashes broke out in Hamburg as U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in the German port city for the start of the G-20 summit of the world’s leading economies. After a successful visit to Poland, the U.S. leader faces a difficult scenario at the G-20 that includes meetings with leaders of China, Germany, and Russia and…
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