Canada hopes a trade agreement with China will reflect “Canadian values” in the areas of labor rights, environmental protection and gender equality, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday at the start of a four-day visit to China. Trudeau also said that he and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang had agreed to a joint statement on climate…
read moreFacebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg warned of a potential backlash against women and urged companies to put into place clear policies on how allegations of sexual harassment are handled. In a Facebook post over the weekend, Sandberg said that she has experienced harassment while doing her job but never by anyone she’s worked…
read moreThe finance ministers from the 19 countries that use the euro are deciding who should lead their regular meetings, with Portugal’s Mario Centeno widely tipped to take the helm of a group that has led the currency bloc’s crisis-fighting efforts. The decision of who will succeed Dutchman Jeroen Dijsselbloem as president of the so-called eurogroup…
read moreWorkers at several Indonesian palm oil plantations that supply Pepsi and Nestle suffer from a variety of labor abuses, including lower-than-minimum wages, child labor, exposure to pesticides, and union busting, according to a new report from the Rainforest Action Network (RAN). The report covers three palm oil plantations operated by Indofood, the biggest food company…
read moreVenezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says his government will launch a cryptocurrency, or digital currency, to circumvent what he called a financial “blockade” by the U.S. government. The new currency will be called the “petro,” the leftist leader said in his TV address Sunday. It will be backed by the socialist-run OPEC nation’s oil, gold and…
read moreVenezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday gained more powers over the OPEC member’s oil contracts, as a deepening purge looks set to strengthen the leftist leader’s control of the key energy sector amid a debilitating recession. A months-long crackdown on alleged graft in Venezuela’s oil industry has led to the arrest of some 65 former…
read moreA series of tweets by U.S. President Donald Trump about the investigation into contacts between his 2016 campaign and Russia prompted concerns on Sunday among both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham saying Trump could be wading into “peril” by commenting on the probe. “I would just say this with the president:…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump begins the week buoyed by a major legislative victory, but on the defensive yet again concerning the Russia investigation. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports. …
read moreFour-decade-old sexual misconduct allegations against Alabama Republican Roy Moore are playing a major role for voters in his campaign for a U.S. Senate seat, but nine days ahead of the election two major polls are split whether he is ahead of Democrat Doug Jones. A CBS News/YouGov poll on Sunday said Moore, twice deposed…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump, in a series of Sunday morning tweets from the White House, attacked his own Federal Bureau of Investigation and said he never asked then-FBI Director James Comey to stop investigating his one-time national security adviser Michael Flynn about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to Washington. The FBI’s reputation is “in…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump seemed Saturday to change his story on why he fired Michael Flynn as his national security advisor. Initially, the president said he let Flynn go because Flynn was not honest with Vice President Michael Pence about his contacts with Russians during the presidential transition. But then Trump tweeted Saturday: “I had…
read moreThe leader of the U.S. Senate’s Republican majority on Sunday dismissed the possibility that the government could shut down later in the week when funding runs out. “Look, there’s not going to be a government shutdown. It’s just not going to happen,” Senator Mitch McConnell told ABC’s “This Week.” Congress faces a Friday deadline to…
read moreA committee exploring the effects of recreational marijuana on Nevada’s gambling industry is wrestling with how the state’s casinos might deal with the pot business while not running afoul of federal law. Lured by a potential economic impact in the tens of millions of dollars, Gov. Brian Sandoval’s Gaming Policy Committee is trying to figure…
read moreThe special counsel examining alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election removed a top FBI investigator from his team for exchanging text messages with a colleague that expressed anti-Trump views, two U.S. newspapers reported on Saturday. The New York Times and the Washington Post identified the investigator as FBI agent Peter Strzok, the…
read moreLiz Whitehurst dabbled in several careers before she ended up on a Maryland farm, crating fistfuls of fresh-cut arugula in the November chill. The hours were better at her nonprofit jobs. So were the benefits. But two years ago, Whitehurst, 32 — who graduated from a liberal arts college and grew up in the Chicago suburbs…
read moreThe city of Zibo, China’s ceramics capital, is undergoing environmental shock therapy to clear its filthy skies and transform its economy — and not everyone is happy. Much of Zibo’s sprawling industrial district has become a ghost town of shuttered factories, empty showrooms and abandoned restaurants after a cleanup campaign that began last year intensified…
read moreThe Palestinians are warning the United States against recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Mahmoud Habash, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Saturday that if President Donald Trump were to do so, it would amount to a “complete destruction of the peace process.” Speaking in Abbas’ presence, Habash said “the world will pay the…
read moreGreece’s finance minister said Saturday that an agreement had been reached between the heavily indebted country and its creditors on its progress in implementing reforms. The agreement on the so-called Third Assessment of Greece’s latest bailout program will allow Greece to receive fresh funds next year, after implementing workplace reforms, speeding up the settlement of…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump praised the Senate’s early Saturday morning passage of an immense Republican tax overhaul bill, telling reporters outside the White House the measure calls for “the biggest tax cuts in the history of our country.” Later Saturday at a Republican fundraiser in New York, Trump attributed passage of the bill to semantics.…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday the actions of former national security adviser Michael Flynn during Trump’s transition to the White House “were lawful.” “I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during…
read moreAirlines canceled more flights leaving the Indonesian island of Bali on Saturday, citing forecasts of deteriorating flying conditions because of a risk of volcanic ash from the erupting Mount Agung volcano. A Bali airport spokesman said the airport was operating normally, but airlines such as Jetstar and Virgin Australia had opted to cancel some flights.…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s former national security advisor, retired General Michael Flynn, pleaded guilty Friday to charges of lying to the FBI in connection with the ongoing probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Flynn has become the first former Trump White House official to face charges and admit guilt in connection with…
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