Mexico’s top diplomat will make a two-day visit to immigrant-friendly California amid strained relations between his country and the U.S. over President Donald Trump’s border wall and immigration and trade proposals. Mexico’s Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Videgaray is expected to meet Monday with Gov. Jerry Brown and state legislative leaders in California’s capital. He…
read moreThe former chairman of the world’s largest meatpacker, whose testimony implicated Brazil’s president in corruption, turned himself in to police Sunday after the country’s Supreme Court ordered his arrest. Joesley Batista has avoided prosecution under a plea bargain deal in which he described how meatpacking giant JBS had bribed dozens of politicians, including President…
read moreU.S. Senator John McCain, who recently returned to Washington after treatment for brain cancer, said on Sunday the disease is vicious but that the treatment is going well and he has more energy than before. “This is a very vicious form of cancer that I’m facing,” McCain, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for president in…
read moreHundreds of people rallied Saturday outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York City to protest the Trump administration’s decision to end a program protecting young immigrants from deportation. The protesters on Saturday waved signs that read “No one is illegal” and “Immigrants welcome” and chanted “Deport Donald Trump” and “No hate, no…
read morePresident Donald Trump ignored seething Republicans and made good on his deal with Democrats, signing legislation that links $15.3 billion in disaster aid to an increase in the U.S. borrowing limit. The law is a first installment in replenishing depleted federal emergency coffers. Trump signed it Friday as Hurricane Irma approached Florida and as…
read moreThe White House’s decision this week to repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), carries enormous repercussions for the nearly 800,000 beneficiaries: The undocumented young people who were brought to the United States as children. But the cost, which is difficult to quantify for a workforce faced with the real possibility of losing their…
read moreThe White House’s decision to repeal DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, carries enormous repercussions for the nearly 800,000 beneficiaries who arrived in the U.S. as children. Over the next two years, more than 700,000 employed recipients will find themselves without a job. And for their employers, laying off a qualified workforce carries not…
read moreTwo back-to-back storms will have a significant impact on U.S. growth and productivity, according to economists tracking the impact of Hurricanes Harvey in Texas, and Irma — expected to make landfall in Florida this weekend. Despite the potential catastrophic loss in lives and capital, economists who spoke with VOA say the damage to the U.S.…
read moreChina’s producer price inflation accelerated more than expected to a four-month high in August, fueled by strong gains in raw materials prices and pointing to strong, sustained growth for both factory profits and the economy. The producer price index (PPI) rose 6.3 percent in August from a year earlier, from 5.5 percent in July, the…
read moreDemocratic lawmakers are trying to find ways to force a vote on legislation to protect enrollees in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which safeguards almost 800,000 undocumented young people in the U.S. from deportation. Democratic Representative Luis Gutierrez of Illinois said Friday at a news conference with fellow Democrats in Washington that if…
read moreThe U.S. credit monitoring company Equifax is facing a storm of criticism, lawsuits and investigations after a data breach that may have compromised personal data for about 143 million Americans. New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Friday that his office would formally investigate the data breach, saying that more than 8 million New…
read moreIt started out cold as ice, and then turned warm and friendly. Now the tortured relationship between President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan has gone cool again, with the Republican president making clear he has no qualms about bucking the GOP leader to cut deals with his Democratic foes. The two men dined…
read moreThe combined damage from Hurricanes Irma and Harvey could cut U.S. economic growth by one-third for a few months, according to business analytics firm IHS Markit. Bankrate.com’s Mark Hamrick said, however, that analysts wouldn’t know for sure until Irma passed. He said Harvey alone might cut growth by half of a percent in the third…
read moreThe U.S. Justice Department is expected to appeal the latest travel ban court ruling to the Supreme Court. According to a Justice Department official, the agency plans to ask the high court to weigh in on an appeals court ruling that says grandparents and cousins are close enough relatives to constitute an exemption from the…
read morePresident Donald Trump signed on Friday a bill that provided $15.25 billion in Hurricane Harvey-related aid and included a three-month extension of the federal debt ceiling to keep the government running. The House of Representatives approved the measure earlier Friday; the Senate had passed it Thursday. The House vote was 316-90. Republicans cast all the…
read morePresident Donald Trump is heading to Camp David – with some extra guests. The White House said Friday that the president and first lady Melania Trump have invited all the members of the Cabinet, along with their spouses to the government-owned retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains. Trump will hold his fourth Cabinet meeting…
read moreIn Rwanda, less than 15 percent of the population has access to electricity. In rural areas, it can be as low as one percent. In order to increase Rwanda’s energy capacity, a 17-hectare solar field with 28,000 panels was constructed in six months in 2014 by private power companies. It is East Africa’s first large-scale…
read morePresident Donald Trump is defending his decision to work with Democrats to fund the government into December and increase the nation’s borrowing limit. Trump and Democratic congressional leaders reached agreement during a White House meeting Wednesday, but many Republicans remain unhappy about the president’s outreach to the opposition party. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has…
read moreWith Republicans in Congress under pressure to deliver on taxes, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday the GOP plan will aim to reduce the corporate tax rate to low- to mid-20 percent — a smaller cut than what President Donald Trump wants. Ryan provided some specifics as the Republicans start to write legislation overhauling…
read moreThey may differ on policy, but agree on one thing — hurricane victims need help. The five living former U.S. presidents — Democrats Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and Republicans George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush — have launched what they call the “One America Appeal.” It is a joint effort to…
read morePresident Donald Trump has tapped one of his own White House attorneys for a judgeship on one of the most important federal appeals courts, opening the door for confirmation hearing questions about the legal controversies that dominated the first seven months of Trump’s presidency. Gregory Katsas was nominated Thursday to serve on the U.S.…
read moreA federal appeals court on Thursday rejected the Trump administration’s limited view of who is allowed into the United States under the president’s travel ban, saying grandparents, cousins and similarly close relations of people in the U.S. should not be prevented from coming to the country. The unanimous ruling from three judges on the 9th…
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