Leaders of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan and its arch rival India jointly inaugurated construction work Friday on the Afghan section of a long-delayed multibillion-dollar gas pipeline connecting the four nations, raising hopes for regional cooperation and peace. A ceremony took place in the ancient Afghan city of Herat, attended by President Ashraf Ghani, his Turkmen counterpart,…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump has announced what he says is the “heaviest ever” set of sanctions against North Korea, as part of what the White House bills as its “maximum pressure” campaign against Pyongyang. “We have imposed the heaviest sanctions ever imposed,” Trump said during a Friday speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in…
read moreAmazon’s assault on the retail industry has brought misery to traditional retailers without a strong web presence. Less well noticed is the patchwork of European companies that are turning the e-commerce revolution to their advantage, supplying online giants with everything from forklift trucks and storage space to cardboard boxes and automated warehouses. Mainly bricks-and-mortar retailers…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump announced the largest-ever set of sanctions against North Korea during a speech Friday, the latest step in a campaign to pressure Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear and long-range missile development programs. Trump will unveil the new penalties at the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual event outside Washington attended by thousands…
read moreFew expect any diplomatic breakthroughs from Ivanka Trump’s visit to South Korea to lead the U.S. delegation at the closing ceremonies of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. The daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump and a senior White House advisor arrived in Seoul on Friday on a commercial flight. Apart from attending a formal dinner…
read morePresident Donald Trump says he wants to arm U.S. teachers as part of a plan to “harden” schools against attackers, following last week’s deadly school shooting in Florida. As VOA’s Bill Gallo reports, the proposal comes as students protest across the country to call for more gun control measures. …
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump has called a meeting early next week with key senators and Cabinet officials to discuss potential changes to biofuels policy, which is coming under increasing pressure after a Pennsylvania refiner blamed the regulation for its bankruptcy, according to four sources familiar with the matter. The meeting comes as the oil industry…
read moreThe U.S. Defense Department supports moves by the Commerce Department to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, although it would prefer a system of targeted tariffs rather than a global quota or a global tariff. The Commerce Department on Feb. 16 recommended that President Donald Trump impose steep curbs on steel imports from China…
read moreThirty years ago, he was in prison. A decade ago, he was serving fancy meals to President Vladimir Putin. A week ago, he was among 13 Russians indicted in Washington on charges of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The journey of Yevgeny Prigozhin from troubled youth to ex-con entrepreneur with companies worth hundreds…
read moreThe head of a federal agency who has helped U.S. states protect election systems from possible cyberattacks by Russia or others is being removed from his post by Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan and the White House. Matthew Masterson, currently chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and a former Ohio state official,…
read moreSpecial counsel Robert Mueller and his team of prosecutors filed additional charges Thursday against President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and a business associate. The charges are contained in a new indictment brought by a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia. The new indictment, which had been expected, adds allegations of tax evasion…
read moreSaudi Arabia will stage more than 5,000 shows, festivals and concerts in 2018, double the number of last year, as it tries to shake off its conservative image in a drive to keep tourist dollars at home and lure in visitors. The state wants to capture up to a quarter of the $20 billion currently…
read moreThe European Central Bank has set a deadline of Friday for Latvia’s third-largest bank to plug a financing hole, the country’s finance minister said, as the Baltic state faced its worst financial difficulties in almost a decade. Earlier, ABLV said it had asked for a 480 million euro ($591 million) emergency loan from the country’s…
read moreAfghanistan will host leaders from Turkmenistan, Pakistan and India on Friday for the ground-breaking ceremony of the Afghan section of a much-delayed multi-billion dollar gas pipeline connecting the four nations. The $10 billion mega project, known as Turkmenistan-Pakistan-Afghanistan-India, or TAPI, will connect Central Asia with South Asia and is expected to become operational this year.…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump refined his gun control views Thursday, saying he wants only the most trained 20 to 40 percent of teachers to carry concealed weapons to thwart school massacres. “These would be people that actually would want them. And it would be a small percentage but it would be a lot of people.…
read moreA major liberal policy group is raising the ante on the health care debate with a new plan that builds on Medicare to guarantee coverage for all. Called “Medicare Extra for All,” the proposal to be released Thursday by the Center for American Progress gives politically energized Democrats more options to achieve a long-sought goal.…
read moreTHE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release February 21, 2018 REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP AND VICE PRESIDENT PENCE AT LISTENING SESSION WITH STUDENTS, TEACHERS, AND PARENTS State Dining Room 4:21 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Have a seat. …
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump in recent days has been lashing out at his predecessor, President Barack Obama, for not having done enough to counter Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential elections. On Wednesday, Trump appeared to suggest in a tweet that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should investigate Obama concerning Russia’s meddling. “Question: If all of…
read moreThey’re angry. They’re anxious. They’re afraid. And they’re demanding action. Now. They are warriors of a new youth crusade for stricter American gun laws — an impromptu movement born out of frustration and outrage over last week’s mass shooting at their Florida high school. They are leading the charge with a simple message — “Never again” — and they say…
read moreThe U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday updated guidance to public companies on how and when they should disclose cybersecurity risks and breaches, including potential weaknesses that have not yet been targeted by hackers. The guidance also said company executives must not trade in a firm’s securities while possessing nonpublic information on cybersecurity attacks.…
read moreFord Motor Co. said Wednesday that Raj Nair, its president for North America, was leaving the company immediately after an internal investigation found his behavior was “inconsistent with the company’s code of conduct.” Ford did not give any details on what that behavior entailed. His departure comes after several high-profile business leaders have quit or…
read moreU.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has yet to send guidance to President Donald Trump on whether transgender troops should serve in the military, according to the Pentagon. The deadline for his recommendations was set for February 21. Last September, the Pentagon said it began studying how to implement a directive by Trump to prohibit transgender…
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