Alec Baldwin mixed his Emmy-winning impression of President Donald Trump and the advocacy of a serious Democratic activist Monday, headlining a state party banquet in Des Moines. The actor known lately for his recurring role on Saturday Night Live wowed more than 2,000 party faithful, at times slipping into the Trump spoof but urging them…
read moreJerome Powell says that if confirmed as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, he expects the Fed to continue raising interest rates gradually to support its twin goals of maximum employment and stable prices. Under his leadership, Powell also says, the Fed would consider ways to ease the regulatory burdens on banks while…
read moreThe FBI deviated from its own policy on notifying victims of computer hacking when it left many U.S. officials and other Americans in the dark about Kremlin-aligned attempts to break into their personal Gmail accounts, The Associated Press has learned. FBI policy calls for notifying victims, whether individuals or groups, to help thwart both ongoing…
read moreIvanka Trump described the hurdles faced by women during a speech Tuesday at a business conference in India, which is treating her trip like a royal visit. But her solo outing also highlighted questions about whether her message of empowering poor women matches her actions. Trump’s speech at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in…
read moreThe world economy is growing faster than it has in seven years and more and more people are working — but the high growth isn’t expected to last long, and wages remain stubbornly stagnant. That’s according to forecasts Tuesday from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which urged governments to do more to ensure…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump has gone to Capitol Hill to meet Tuesday with Republican senators as he rallies support for a tax reform bill set to come to a vote later this week. After talks with the president on Monday, Senate leaders confirmed their intention to vote on the massive plan that would permanently cut…
read moreThe U.S. consumer watchdog agency, enmeshed in partisan politics since its creation after the 2008 financial crisis, is now at the center of a tug-of-war over who will lead it. Both the departing director — an Obama appointee often criticized as being too aggressive by banks and Congressional Republicans — and the White House have…
read moreThe White House is denying President Donald Trump uttered a racial slur during an Oval Office event Monday honoring some Native American military veterans. “I don’t think that it is and that certainly not was the president’s intent,” replied Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders when asked about Trump again referring to Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren…
read moreOn Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in a case that is widely seen as a test of just how far the government can go to pry personal data generated by cell phones and other digital devices. The case, known as Carpenter v. United States, pits law enforcement interests against the privacy rights…
read moreU.S. Senator Al Franken said he knows that he has let a lot of people down over allegations of sexual misconduct, but vowed to regain the public’s trust saying “this will not happen again.” Franken, a Democratic senator from Minnesota, returned to work Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday, refusing to give in to calls for…
read moreA battle over who is in charge of a government office erupted in Washington Monday, involving dueling emails, lawsuits, and free doughnuts. White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney and Obama administration holdover Leandra English both say they are acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency — and both showed up for work Monday morning…
read moreIn the United States, it’s Cyber Monday, a day when holiday shoppers could set a new spending record for online purchases from work, home or anywhere with their cellphones. With rising wages in the U.S., low unemployment and strong consumer confidence, research firm Adobe Analytics predicted shoppers could spend $6.6 billion on Monday, more than…
read moreStartup founders, investors and tech leaders from around the world are heading to Hyderabad, India for the 8th annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit, co-hosted by the U.S. and Indian governments. Ivanka Trump, adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump and his daughter, will join host Prime Minister Narendra Modi in kicking off the three-day event, which will focus…
read moreAfter offering online deals for days, retailers are rolling out even more promotions for Cyber Monday, hoping to keep people buying stuff on their smartphones or computers. Shoppers are expected to spend $6.6 billion on Cyber Monday, up more than 16 percent from a year ago, according to Adobe Analytics, the research arm of software…
read moreGuillermo Miranda Vazquez starts his day in a parking lot near the Home Depot where he easily finds work alongside other day laborers who are cleaning up Houston after Hurricane Harvey. Some days, he clears rotted drywall and hauls out furniture and carpet destroyed by Harvey’s floodwaters. Other days, he chops fallen trees or helps…
read moreThe driest Thanksgiving weekend in five years may have helped holiday shopping, despite an overall decline in foot traffic. But some shoppers just took notes in the hopes of finding an even better deal online. That’s a consequence of Amazon continuing to squeeze prices, exacerbating the “showrooming” practice of people getting ideas at brick-and-mortar…
read moreThis week could decide whether Republicans salvage one of President Donald Trump’s major agenda items during his first year in office or head into a midterm election year with no landmark legislative accomplishments to tout. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports, in coming days, Senate Republicans hope to pass a bill overhauling America’s tax code, but it…
read moreThe longest-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman John Conyers of Michigan, said Sunday he is relinquishing his position as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee while allegations of sexual harassment against him are investigated. The 88-year-old Conyers last week acknowledged he had reached a $27,000 settlement with a woman who formerly…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump sped full throttle Sunday into a special Senate election in Alabama, attacking Democrat Doug Jones as a lawmaker who would be a “puppet” to party leaders if he is elected next month. In Twitter comments, Trump did not mention Republican nominee Roy Moore, accused of sexually abusing two teenage girls four…
read moreWildfires that swept through Northern California in early October killed 42 people, destroyed hundreds of homes, and caused an estimated $6 billion in damage to the region. The fires have also frozen an income stream the region relies on: tourism. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
read moreBlack Friday and Thanksgiving online sales in the United States surged to record highs as shoppers bagged deep discounts and bought more on their mobile devices, heralding a promising start to the key holiday season, according to retail analytics firms. U.S. retailers raked in a record $7.9 billion in online sales on Black Friday and…
read moreThe crush of unfinished business facing lawmakers when they return to the Capitol would be daunting even if Washington were functioning at peak efficiency. It’s an agenda whose core items — tax cuts, a potential government shutdown, lots of leftover spending bills — could unravel just as easily as advance in factionalism, gamesmanship and a…
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