They 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.…
read moreAfter yet another viral video has surfaced of people being kicked off an overbooked plane. Delta Air Lines has apologized. In a statement, the company said it was “sorry for the unfortunate experience.” The video, posted by Brian and Brittany Schear, showed them and their two toddlers being told to exit the flight or be arrested…
read morePresident Donald Trump says he’s working out of his New Jersey golf club to avoid causing a disruption in New York and to save taxpayers. Trump tweeted Friday morning after waking up for the first time as president at his Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster. The town of rolling hills and horse farms…
read moreThe U.S. job market staged a rebound in April with employers, adding 211,000 workers to their payrolls and the unemployment rate fell to a 10-year low of 4.4 percent. April’s employment numbers are a big improvement from March when the economy added only 98,000 jobs. Analysts say that makes it more likely the Federal Reserve…
read moreSmall-business owners are applauding President Donald Trump’s plan to overhaul the tax system, saying lower taxes for everyone means more buying power for consumers and more money for businesses to hire workers. But can the White House plan simplify the nation’s cumbersome tax code fairly? And how would lower- and middle-income Americans fare? Mil Arcega…
read moreFinance leaders of Japan, China and South Korea agreed to resist all forms of protectionism in a trilateral meeting on Friday, taking a stronger stand than G20 major economies against the protectionist policies advocated by U.S. President Donald Trump. “We agree that trade is one of the most important engines of economic growth and development,…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s executive order on Thursday making it easier for churches to dabble in politics kept faith with his promise to evangelical Christians who helped him win the White House, but could end up benefiting his opponents as well. Leaders of the U.S. religious left, a rising force of opposition to Trump’s hard-line stance…
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