The Education Department is considering only partially forgiving federal loans for students defrauded by for-profit colleges, The Associated Press has learned, abandoning the Obama administration’s policy of fully erasing that debt. Under President Barack Obama, tens of thousands of students deceived by now-defunct for-profit schools had more than $550 million in such loans canceled completely.…
read moreAt the 2015 Paris summit, world leaders pledged to take steps to avoid catastrophic climate change. This November in Bonn, Germany, U.N. negotiators will be back, working out the details of how to cut emissions of planet-warming gases. It is the first conference since President Donald Trump said the United States would withdraw from the…
read moreArtisans in Mali are hoping that Bogolan, a traditional cotton fabric, will continue to fascinate Western fashion designers and provide jobs at home. VOA’s Teffera Girma Teffera and Bagassi Koura visited a small neighborhood in central Bamako where artisans are hard at work. Salem Solomon narrates. …
read moreIt was one of Donald Trump’s very first actions as president: pulling the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, a free-trade deal he said was hurting the American worker. The TPP was one of the centerpieces of former President Barack Obama’s so-called Asia “pivot,” an economic, political and military realignment toward a…
read moreFor much of President Barack Obama’s presidency, U.S. officials touted the so-called “Asia Pivot,” an economic, political and military realignment toward a region seen as key to America’s future. Nine months into the Trump administration, U.S. officials are taking a different approach to Asia. And, as VOA’s Bill Gallo reports, some are concerned the White…
read moreStores watching Amazon take a larger share of clothing sales are trying to solve one of the most vexing issues for online shoppers: finding items that fit properly. The retailers are unleashing tools that use artificial intelligence to replicate the help a salesperson at a store might offer, calculate a shopper’s most likely body shape,…
read moreSen. Dick Durbin of Illinois discusses the Rohingya refugee crisis, Myanmar and his efforts along with those of fellow senators to allow third parties into Rahkine state, hold those responsible for the atrocities and repatriate the Rohingya. …
read moreA U.S. federal grand jury has approved the first charges in an investigation of Russian influence on U.S. elections, according to several major news outlets. The grand jury’s action, resulting from the probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller, was first reported by CNN on Friday evening. It quoted sources as saying anyone who was…
read moreThings are weird, as usual, in Key West. A pair of Vikings push a stroller full of stuffed chimps down Duval Street. A man with a ponytail swallows a steel sword. People dressed only in body paint and glitter wander and jiggle from bar to bar. Fantasy Fest, one of Key West’s major tourist draws…
read moreU.S. border agents are searching nearly four times as many international travelers’ smartphones and other electronic devices as they did two years ago, expanding the use of a little-known search-and-seizure authority that has sparked fresh legal challenges from digital rights advocates and defendants in several criminal cases. The content searches of electronic devices, conducted without…
read moreThe Trump administration announced a shift Wednesday in foreign aid funding for persecuted minorities. Vice President Pence told a global assembly of Christians the U.S. would instruct the State Department to stop funding United Nations programs for persecuted minorities, instead providing funding through USAID and other faith-based NGOs. VOA’s Katherine Gypson reports from Washington on…
read morePublic anger is rising in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico as details emerge about a no-bid contract awarded to a little-known U.S. company to restore the island’s power grid, which was destroyed by Hurricane Maria. Among the details of the contract attracting attention are pay rates about five times higher than what is normal…
read morePresident Donald Trump said late Friday that he will be releasing all files pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, with some redactions. Trump originally ordered Thursday that hundreds of the files would remain secret, at least temporarily, in the interest of national security. Trump said temporarily “withholding from public disclosure” the remaining…
read moreA conservative website with strong ties to the Republican establishment triggered the investigation into Donald Trump’s past that ultimately produced the dossier that alleged a compromised relationship between the president and the Kremlin. The Washington Free Beacon on Friday confirmed it originally retained the political research firm Fusion GPS to scour then-candidate Trump’s background…
read moreThe U.S. economy expanded at a three percent annual pace in July, August and September, about the same pace as the prior quarter. Friday’s Commerce Department data surprised economists, who thought damage from two hurricanes would cut growth to a lower level. The data show the world’s largest economy is now about 2.3 percent larger…
read moreJose wears an ankle monitor on his right leg. Caught crossing the U.S.-Mexican border, the Honduran native was detained for about 17 months in an immigration facility, first in Texas and then in New Jersey, where his bail was set at $20,000. Jose, who asked not to be identified by his real name, did not…
read moreFacebook, Google and Twitter are heading to Washington to answer questions about how their services were used by Russia-based operatives to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In Silicon Valley, there’s concern that the scrutiny may bring new regulations, as VOA’s Michelle Quinn reports. …
read morePresident Trump says he is “very close” to picking a person for the most important economic post in the country: the head of the US Federal Reserve. Current Chair Janet Yellen, whose term expires early next year, is one of at least five candidates under consideration. Regardless of the president’s choice, most analysts who spoke…
read moreThe US Congress is considering a range of options to pressure Myanmar, also known as Burma, to stop the deadly attacks that have forced hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya Muslims to flee their homes. Lawmakers are considering a stand-alone sanctions bill, but activists lobbying for the Rohingyas say a White House Executive Order could…
read moreAt a time when Republican unity is more critical than ever to salvage President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, the party is splintering on the issue of Trump’s governance and his fitness for office. As VOA’s Michael Bowman reports, Senate Republicans are attempting to regroup after two members announced their retirement while making blistering critiques of…
read moreU.S. officials have unveiled prototypes of President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall between Mexico and the United States. Eight prototypes were unveiled Thursday near the border in California and now will enter the “testing and evaluation period.” Workers wielding sledgehammers, torches, pickaxes and battery-operated tools will test the segments for 30-60 days. The tests will…
read moreThe United States has announced changes to its nonimmigrant work visa policies that are expected to make renewals more difficult. In the past, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would generally approve the renewals unless the visa holder had committed a crime. Now, renewals will face the same scrutiny as the original applications. “USCIS officers are…
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