A bipartisan measure to stabilize the U.S. health insurance markets would save the government money, but do little to cut the cost of premiums for consumers or substantially change the number of people who have insurance to help pay their medical bills, a new independent study concluded Wednesday. With Republican efforts stalled in Congress to…
read moreAmericans could see a lot more drones flying around their communities as the result of a Trump administration test program to increase government and commercial use of the unmanned aircraft. President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead Wednesday, signing a directive intended to increase the number and complexity of drone flights. The presidential memo would allow…
read moreOnly about 1 in 5 politicians in the US is female, even though women make up just over half of the US population. With many saying 2018 could be “The Year of the Woman” in American politics, new tools have become available for women running for office. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti shows us some high-tech and…
read moreUS Senator Jeff Flake from Arizona is the latest Republican lawmaker to stand up against the Trump administration. Like Tennessee Senator Bob Corker last month, Flake said Tuesday he will not seek re-election in 2018, citing disagreement with the direction his party is taking. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports. …
read moreHillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped fund a political research firm that produced a dossier of allegations about President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia. That’s according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke Tuesday evening to The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential…
read moreThe White House and the Senate majority leader on Tuesday tried to cement over widening cracks in their governing Republican Party. The most prominent new fissure came on the Senate floor when Jeff Flake of Arizona slammed the president’s behavior and announced he would not run for re-election next year. Flake, a first-term senator, who…
read moreRepublican Sen. Jeff Flake said Tuesday he would not seek re-election next year, delivering a forceful condemnation of the “flagrant disregard of truth and decency” and bemoaning political complicity in a Senate speech clearly directed at President Donald Trump. Speaking to a rapt audience of other senators, the first-term Arizona lawmaker spelled out his frustration…
read moreAn unprecedented Chinese financial and construction effort is rapidly developing Pakistan’s strategically located Arabian Sea port of Gwadar into one of the world’s largest transit and transshipment cargo facilities. The deep water port lies at the convergence of three of the most commercially important regions of the world, the oil-rich Middle East, Central Asia, and…
read moreThe U.S. economy is expected add another 11.5 million jobs by 2026, as an aging population and longer life spans raise the need for health care providers. The total U.S. workforce is expected to grow to 167.6 million people. Tuesday’s projections come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which says job growth will accelerate…
read moreMen outnumber women by 5 to 1 in the U.S. Congress. But now some are calling the 2018 election “The Year of the Woman,” as many women — even those with no experience — jump into political races. For some, this comes in reaction to the election of President Trump, which was protested by tens…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s eldest daughter on Monday channeled her roles as a working mother, entrepreneur and senior adviser to the president to help him sell his administration’s tax plan for reform, which she said is overdue to address the needs of the modern American family in an increasingly competitive global market. Ivanka Trump joined U.S.…
read moreAmazon said Monday that it received 238 proposals from cities and regions in the United States, Canada and Mexico hoping to be the home of the company’s second headquarters. The online retailer kicked off its hunt for a second home base in September, promising to bring 50,000 new jobs and spend more than $5 billion…
read moreA prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin says the United States revoked his authorization to travel to the U.S. after Moscow succeeded in getting him added to Interpol’s wanted list. Bill Browder, who became a British citizen after giving up his U.S. citizenship in 1998 for tax reasons, tells VOA he hopes the action…
read moreThe defense for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who could face life in prison after pleading guilty to charges that he endangered comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan in 2009, has asked the judge to renew a motion to dismiss charges based on new comments made by President Donald Trump. Trump, whose role…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump will use his upcoming trip to Asia to further consolidate international pressure on North Korea to attempt to deter its pursuit of perfecting a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile. “If we fail to confront and reverse the threat from North Korea we’re going to be living in a much darker era,”…
read moreSierra Leone hopes to raise millions of dollars for development projects by auctioning a huge uncut diamond, believed to be one of the world’s largest, in New York in December. It will be the government’s second attempt to sell the 709-carat gem, known as the “Peace Diamond”, after it rejected the highest bid of $7.8…
read moreThe U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in December and twice next year, according to a Reuters poll of economists, who now worry that the central bank will slow its tightening because of expectations that inflation will remain low. Most respondents expected the nation’s economy to determine future rate hikes, but a change in…
read moreU.S. Sen. John McCain has issued a veiled criticism of President Donald Trump’s medical deferments that kept him from serving in the Vietnam War. In an interview with C-SPAN last week, McCain lamented that the military “drafted the lowest income level of America and the highest income level found a doctor that would say…
read moreIvanka Trump is heading to Pennsylvania to promote the Republican tax overhaul plan. The White House says Trump will appear at a town hall in Richboro Monday, with U.S. Treasurer Jovita Carranza. The event will be moderated by former Rep. Nan Hayworth. A key part of the conversation will be the proposal to expand…
read moreTaiwan is offering visa waivers and setting up overseas investment offices across a swathe of countries to its south, the latest moves to deepen a rebalancing of economic relations away from political foe China. Officials in Taipei hope to foster more tourism, trade and higher education links with 18 countries covering most of South and…
read moreThe sloping vineyards of New York’s Finger Lakes region known for producing golden-hued rieslings and chardonnays also are offering a splash of orange wine. The color comes not from citrus fruit, but by fermenting white wine grapes with their skins on before pressing – a practice that mirrors the way red wines are made.…
read morePresident Donald Trump urged House Republicans to move swiftly on passing a budget bill during a conference call Sunday, clearing the way for what he described as an historic push for tax cuts. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence both joined the House GOP call in which Trump called on members to adopt the…
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