Even with the Republican failure to repeal Barack Obama’s health care law, Democratic lawmakers in some states are pressing ahead with efforts to protect birth control access, Planned Parenthood funding and abortion coverage in case they are jeopardized in the future. Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives withdrew a bill last week that would…
read moreThe House Intelligence Committee has canceled all meetings this week as its chairman, Devin Nunes, rejects Democratic calls to recuse himself from the committee’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. “Everything is political; people say a lot of things around here and it’s fine, it’s politics,” Nunes told reporters just moments after…
read moreWhite House senior aide Jared Kushner has agreed to speak to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about meetings he had with Russians during last year’s presidential campaign and transition period. In the meantime, President Donald Trump is assigning an additional task to his young son-in-law’s bulging portfolio. VOA White House Bureau Chief Correspondent Steve…
read moreU.S. General Attorney Jeff Sessions on Monday warned cities and states protecting immigrant felons from deportation could face cuts in federal grants, and called on citizens to abide by U.S. immigration laws. But there is widespread resistance to tough immigrant measures, which many Americans consider inhumane. Sporadic demonstrations against deporting immigrants have taken place nationwide.Some politicians…
read moreTurkish and Gulf airlines are touting free WiFi and better in-flight connectivity for smartphones as they scramble to mitigate the impact of a ban on laptops in plane cabins bound for the United States. The restrictions could deal a blow to fast-growing Gulf airlines, which depend on business-class flyers stopping over in Dubai or Doha…
read moreIn New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for the eight consecutive day on Monday. Investors may have been discouraged by the failure of U.S. President Donald Trump to pass big changes to the health care insurance system that he promised during the campaign. U.S. stock indexes were down sharply in morning trading, but…
read moreTransnational crime, or crimes committed across international borders, is growing at a faster pace than many realize, partly because the international community is not paying a lot of attention to it. That’s the conclusion from Global Financial Integrity or GFI, a non-profit Washington think tank that tracks illicit financial flows across borders. The group’s latest…
read morePresident Donald Trump says that empowering and promoting women in business are priorities in his administration. In a round-table discussion, the president is telling a group of female business owners that his team will work on barriers women face. He says the administration is also trying to make childcare more affordable and accessible. …
read moreSecretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has famously declared himself “not a big media press access person,” isn’t alone in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet. But it’s too early to call him a trendsetter, either. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transportation Secretary Elaine Cho, both with extensive private sector backgrounds, have similarly been press-averse at the…
read moreThe chairman of the U.S. House intelligence committee, David Nunes, met a source on White House grounds before making his disclosure last week that President Donald Trump was caught up in “incidental” surveillance, according to his spokesman. Nunes’ spokesman Jack Langer told reporters Monday that “Nunes met with his source at the White House grounds…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and key adviser, Jared Kushner, has agreed to be questioned as part of a Senate investigation into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to the White House. Kushner is the closest Trump ally to be questioned so far by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating ties…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s aides opened the door to working with moderate Democrats on health care and other issues while Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer quickly offered to find common ground with Trump for repairing former President Barack Obama’s health care law. Schumer said Sunday that Trump must be willing to drop attempts to repeal his…
read moreThe coming week will see Republicans attempting to regroup and reignite momentum behind a conservative agenda that failed its first major test of 2017: repealing and replacing former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports, last week’s legislative train wreck showed that, despite controlling the White House and both houses of…
read moreA joint committee of ministers from OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers has agreed to review whether a global pact to limit supplies should be extended by six months, it said in a statement on Sunday. An earlier draft of the statement said the committee “reports high level of conformity and recommends six-month extension.” But the…
read moreA scuffle broke out on a Southern California beach where supporters of President Donald Trump were marching when counter-protesters doused organizers with pepper spray, authorities said Saturday. The violence erupted when the march of about 2,000 people at Bolsa Chica State Beach reached a group of about 30 counter-protesters, some of whom began spraying the…
read moreThe day after the flaming out of U.S. President Donald Trump’s first major legislative initiative, his supporters across America were lashing out — at conservatives, at Democrats, at leaders of his Republican Party in Congress. Only Trump himself was spared their wrath. Many voters who elected him appeared largely willing to give him a pass…
read moreThe United Nations begins negotiations Monday on a legally binding treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons. This comes as the United States commences a review of what role its nuclear weapons should now play. “Shortly after taking office, the president directed a new Nuclear Posture Review to ensure that the United States nuclear deterrent is modern,…
read moreThe United Nations is to begin negotiations Monday on a legally binding treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons. This comes as the United States begins a review of the role its nuclear weapons should now play. VOA White House Bureau Chief Correspondent Steve Herman reports. …
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump is turning his attention to tax reform following the collapse of the effort to repeal and replace the nation’s health care plan. “I would say that we will probably start going very, very strongly for the big tax cuts and tax reform. That will be next,” Trump said at the White…
read moreU.S. Sen. John McCain is urging President Donald Trump to nominate a team of senior officials at the State Department to back up new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, spoke Saturday during an event in Brussels. He pointed to “confusion” over whether Tillerson would attend a…
read moreOne extra day could not buy President Donald Trump and his Republican Congress the first major legislative victory they needed to set the tone for the new administration. Republicans canceled a crucial health care bill vote at the last minute Friday rather than lose a battle of numbers on the floor of the U.S. House…
read moreIn a major blow to President Donald Trump, the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Republicans, failed to pass a health care bill. The House Speaker withdrew the measure to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, a key Trump campaign promise, less than an hour before a floor vote was scheduled. VOA congressional correspondent…
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