While President Donald Trump continues an Asia trip with high geo-strategic stakes, Republicans in Washington are promoting an ambitious tax reform bill that could bring enormous fiscal, and political, consequences. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports, a tax cut is Trump’s last hope for a major legislative victory in his first year in office, something Republicans desperately…
read moreU.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross shares significant business interests through a shipping venture in Russia with President Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law and an oligarch subject to American sanctions, newly leaked documents showed Sunday. Ross, a 79-year-old billionaire industrialist, has an investment in partnerships valued at between $2 million and $10 million in the shipper, Navigator Holdings,…
read moreWhen residents of Lowell, Massachusetts, vote Tuesday, they’ll be exercising their civic responsibility against the backdrop of a lawsuit that will pit the city against its minority citizens. In a city notable for its diversity — taken together, ethnic minorities almost form a majority — Tuesday’s contests for City Council and school committee are playing…
read morePresident Donald Trump on Sunday began his first official visit to Asia. His first stop is Japan, followed by South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. Here’s what people in those countries have to say about their expectations for the visit. JAPAN Yoh Kawakami, employee at an information management solution company: “I do wonder whether…
read moreThe U.S. president’s performance as leader of the American people has received failing grades from the public, according to a Washington Post-ABC News survey. Donald Trump has been in office almost one year, and his approval rating is “demonstrably lower than any previous chief executive at this point in his presidency over seven decades of…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump told servicemen Sunday at Yokota Air Base in Japan that “no one, no dictator, no regime … should underestimate American resolve.” His remarks came at the start of a nearly two-week Asian trip that is expected to focus on North Korea and trade. Some of his comments, while directed at the…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s announcement last week that he intends to reduce the size of two national monuments covering millions of acres of Utah wilderness has stoked local divisions over land use, with all sides anticipating a protracted battle over the move. On one side, Native American groups and environmentalists expressed anger and are ready to…
read moreWireless carriers Sprint and T-Mobile called off a potential merger, saying the companies couldn’t come to an agreement that would benefit customers and shareholders. The two companies have been dancing around a possible merger for years, and were again in the news in recent weeks with talks of the two companies coming together after all.…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump urged Saudi Arabia Saturday to list its state-owned oil company on the New York Stock Exchange when the company goes public in what is expected to be the largest-ever initial public offering in which shares of a company are sold to investors. “Would very much appreciate Saudi Arabia doing their IPO…
read moreThe recent flurry of social and economic reform coming out of Saudi Arabia has left some Saudis ecstatic, others more circumspect, and a few conservatives bewildered or even angry. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman told a crowd of investors at a conference in late October that he was merely attempting to “return Saudi Arabia…
read moreFor Yu Kaiguang, harsh new United Nations sanctions on North Korea are a disaster. The trader in the Chinese border city of Dandong has seen business all but dry up, and he spends his days scrambling to obtain payment from the suddenly broke North Korean state companies to whom he sold on credit. “They have…
read moreGovernment documents newly released Friday regarding John F. Kennedy’s assassination say allegations that Lee Harvey Oswald was connected to the CIA were “totally unfounded.” A 1975 CIA memo says a thorough search of agency records in and outside the United States was conducted to determine whether Oswald had been used by the agency or connected…
read moreU.S. authorities released a 10-year-old immigrant girl with cerebral palsy who had been detained by border agents after surgery because she is in the U.S. without legal permission. The American Civil Liberties Union and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro said that Rosa Maria Hernandez was returned to her family Friday. Her parents brought her into the…
read morePresident Donald Trump may be away on a nearly two-week trip to Asia. But back in Washington, special counsel Robert Mueller is digging up new details in his investigation into possible ties between Trump’s campaign and Russians trying to influence the election. VOA’s Peter Heinlein at the White House has the latest. …
read moreA solid rebound for the job market in October as the U.S. economy added 261,000 jobs. Job gains were strong across the board, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1 percent, its lowest level in 17 years. But, as Mil Arcega reports, American workers are not seeing any real growth in their wages. …
read moreVenezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced that the country and state oil company PDVSA will restructure its burgeoning foreign debt, even as he vowed to make a payment of more than $1 billion that came due on Thursday. The announcement did not put Venezuela or PDVSA into default, but suggests that Maduro’s cash-strapped government may…
read moreCalifornia Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers asked the U.S. government Friday for $7.4 billion to help rebuild after a cluster of fires tore through the heart of wine country, killing more than 40 people and leaving thousands without housing. In a letter to the White House, Brown joined California’s U.S. senators and 39 members…
read moreThe largest port complex in the nation has set goals to drastically reduce air pollution over the next several decades. The plan approved Thursday at a meeting of the governing boards of the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach outlines strategies for improving equipment and efficiency to eventually move cargo with zero emissions.…
read moreA Nigerian militant group whose attacks on energy facilities in the Niger Delta last year helped push Africa’s biggest economy into recession said Friday that it had ended its cease-fire. The Niger Delta Avengers announced a halt to hostilities in August 2016, although they carried out attacks in October and November last year. “Niger Delta…
read moreA U.S. federal judge has proposed a May trial date for President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, who was recently indicted on a string of charges that included conspiracy to launder money. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson set a Monday hearing to consider the proposed trial date of May 7 for both…
read moreU.S. lawmakers have proposed sanctions against Myanmar’s military over the treatment of the Rohingya ethnic group, as U.S. President Donald Trump leaves for a 12-day tour of east Asia in which he will meet with members of Myanmar’s government at a regional summit. The bipartisan legislation was introduced Thursday in the Senate, and Friday in…
read moreVenezuela’s cash-strapped government invited creditors to a Nov. 13 meeting in Caracas on Friday, after announcing plans to potentially restructure some $60 billion in bonds that sent the OPEC nation’s debt prices plunging. President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday vowed to make a $1.2 billion bond payment but said future payments would be refinanced. Investors were…
read more