Michael Wolff, an American author, essayist and journalist, has written Fire and Fury, a book that portrays a chaotic initial year for the presidency of Donald Trump. What’s his background? Michael Wolff Age: 64 Early life: Wolff was born in New Jersey to a father who worked in advertising and a mother who was a newspaper reporter.…
read moreWhen President Donald Trump tweeted that all the U.S. had gotten for $33 billion in aid to Pakistan was “lies and deceit,” he ventured into sensitive territory for a country that says it is doing all it can to fight terrorism and is being unfairly criticized for its efforts. Now, financially strapped Islamabad will be…
read moreMarijuana-related stocks plummeted, cannabis boosters worried about the industry’s future and defiant growers and sellers vowed to keep operating after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions signaled a tougher approach Thursday to federal pot enforcement. The plunging stock prices reversed a weekslong rally driven by optimism for legal recreational sales that started Monday in California. Several…
read moreThe Iranian government has taken a lesson from the Arab Spring in responding to the worst anti-government protests the country has seen in nearly a decade. Heavy-handed tactics by Arab governments against popular uprisings in 2011 led to the overthrow of regimes in Egypt and Libya and sparked a civil war in Syria. Iran had…
read moreVOA contributor Greta Van Susteren interviews General H.R. McMaster, national security advisor, at the White House, Jan. 2, 2018, concerning events in Iran and Pakistan. …
read moreWednesday in Iran brought demonstrations both against and in support of the government, while the United States promised new support for the Iranian people and Iran’s representative to the United Nations accused the United States of “flagrant acts of intervention.” The unrest has been going on for a week with protesters rallying against economic problems…
read moreAustralia said Thursday it planned to become the fourth country in the world to legalize medicinal marijuana exports in a bid to score a piece of the estimated $55 billion global market. Cannabis cultivation in Australia is still relatively small, as recreational use remains illegal. But the government hopes domestic medicinal use, legalized last year,…
read moreQuestions about U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tweets about North Korea appear to be exposing some possible rifts between the White House and the U.S. intelligence community over how best to read North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders Wednesday suggested the North Korean leader was mentally unstable when…
read moreVOA contributor Greta Van Susteren interviewed National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster at the White House on Tuesday. Greta Van Susteren: General, nice to see you, sir. H.R. McMaster: It’s great to be with you, Greta. Thank you. Van Susteren: Thank you for doing this interview. McMaster: It’s a privilege to do it, thanks. Question:…
read moreAuto sales in the United States fell by 2 percent in 2017, the first decline in seven years. Ford Motor reported Wednesday that its new vehicle sales fell 1 percent, as did those of General Motors. Fiat Chrysler reported a decline of 8 percent compared with 2016. Volkswagen said its sales in the U.S. rose…
read moreSecurity researchers on Wednesday disclosed a set of security flaws that they said could let hackers steal sensitive information from nearly every modern computing device containing chips from Intel Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and ARM Holdings. One of the bugs is specific to Intel but another affects laptops, desktop computers, smartphones, tablets and internet servers alike. Intel and ARM insisted that the…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon says he thinks it was “treasonous” and “unpatriotic” for Trump’s eldest son, son-in-law and campaign manager to meet in the midst of the 2016 election campaign with Russians promising incriminating information about Democrat Hillary Clinton, according to a new book about the Trump White House. Bannon…
read moreThe sale of ivory just became illegal in mainland China, a move heralded by conservationists, who say the legal trade has been providing cover for its illegal counterpart, perpetuating the belief it is okay to buy and own ivory. Max Graham, CEO of the elephant conservation group Space for Giants, welcomed the news, saying the…
read moreThe top American commander for the Middle East wants a more aggressive Afghan military pressuring Taliban and other insurgents over the normally quieter months of Afghanistan’s winter, and then quickly going on the offensive in the spring. It’s all part of a plan the United States hopes will change the course of a war now…
read moreOne of the top U.S. government officials working on refugee issues announced her impending retirement on Tuesday, and refugee advocates expressed concern about the fate of the country’s resettlement program which faces mounting pressure from the Trump administration. Barbara Strack, a career official and chief of the Refugee Affairs Division at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration…
read moreA music publisher is seeking at least $1.6 billion from Spotify for alleged copyright violations, the latest lawsuit to hit the fast-growing streaming company. Wixen Music Publishing Inc., which holds rights to songs of major artists including Neil Young, the Doors, Tom Petty and Santana, charged in a lawsuit that Spotify failed to seek licenses for significant parts…
read moreInside a classroom on the campus of a community college in Dallas, a group of about two dozen women took turns sharing their names, hometowns and what they hoped would be their future titles. Congresswoman. County judge. State representative. It was part of a training held by EMILY’s List, an organization dedicated to electing women…
read moreBrazil’s road to economic recovery has passed another milestone with official data showing Tuesday that the country finished 2017 with a record trade surplus 40.5 percent higher than in the previous year. The $67 billion surplus was in line with market projections and within the $65 billion to $70 billion range forecast by the government.…
read moreCoal mining deaths surged in the U.S. in 2017, one year after they hit a record low. The nation’s coal mines recorded 15 deaths last year, including eight in West Virginia. Kentucky had two deaths, and there were one each in Alabama, Colorado, Montana, Pennsylvania and Wyoming. In 2016 there were eight U.S. coal mine…
read morePresident Donald Trump, energized by an end-of-year tax cut victory and a buoyant economy, is pushing ahead with a domestic and foreign priority agenda designed with the 2018 mid-term elections in mind. “Welfare reform, infrastructure, responsible immigration reform and health care will all be top priorities for the administration this year,” said White House Press…
read morePresident Donald Trump blamed former president Barack Obama Tuesday for “foolishly” giving Iranian leadership money as part of the 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated by his administration, tweeting a claim the funds “went into terrorism and into their pockets.” Trump’s tweet recalled the bitter and ongoing political divide over the deal and the U.S. approach to…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump says immigrant activists and Hispanics will turn against opposition Democratic lawmakers who have supported them and will “start falling in love” with him and other Republicans. Trump said in a Twitter comment that Democrats “are doing nothing” for the estimated 690,000 immigrants who were brought into the U.S. illegally by their…
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