Steve Bannon, the former chief strategist for President Donald Trump, was interrogated for 20 hours over two days this week as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, according to a person familiar with the process. The person, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation and thus declined to be identified, said Bannon…
read moreTop U.S. and Mexican officials on Thursday expressed cautious optimism that the North American Free Trade Agreement will be renegotiated, speaking ahead of the next round of trade talks later this month. Asked on local television whether it was more likely the $1.2 trillion trilateral trade pact would survive or die, Mexico’s Foreign Minister Luis…
read moreThe Office of the Director of National Intelligence says representatives from U.S. intelligence agencies will meet with state officials Friday and Monday for a classified-level briefing on election security. In a statement, the intelligence office said the meeting will involve secretaries of state, state election directors, and members of the Election Assistance Commission “as part…
read moreShares in European plane maker Airbus flew higher on Thursday after the company reported improved earnings and was more upbeat about the future following problems to several of its key aircraft programs. The company said that it surged to a net profit of 1 billion euros ($1.25 billion) in the fourth quarter, from a…
read moreUntil recently, Javier, a 60-year-old line cook, couldn’t afford a smartphone. Now, thanks to a Silicon Valley company, Javier has a Galaxy S8, one of Samsung’s high-end smartphones. Javier said he relies on it for everything. Once a month, he walks into a mobile phone store near San Francisco and makes a cash payment. If…
read moreA key to any successful business is to provide customers with what they want. For automakers at the 2018 Chicago Auto Show, they say their customers want sport utility vehicles, or SUVs. “2017 was a record year for Ford SUV sales,” said Dan Jones, Ford’s SUV communications manager for North America. “We sold almost 800,000…
read moreHigh gas prices and poor fuel economy led to the decline of sport utility vehicle sales in the United States in the mid-2000s, a time when customers preferred smaller, more affordable cars, some with new electric motor technology. But now, SUV’s have made a comeback, as VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports on the floor of the…
read moreIn the U.S. and around the world, many poor people don’t have access to smartphones. But a Silicon Valley company is offering phones to customers in the U.S. and Mexico who pay in installments. If they don’t pay, the phone is turned off remotely. VOA’s Michelle Quinn reports. …
read moreThe US Senate began debate on a multitude of immigration proposals Wednesday but appeared no closer to a solution for the 1.8 million young undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. With a March 5 deadline for those DACA recipients and a limited pledge to keep debate open from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell,…
read more2018 is a congressional election year in the United States with all 435 seats in the House of Representatives at stake and 34 of the 100 Senate seats. Midterm elections historically have not been kind to sitting presidents. On average, the president’s party loses 30 House seats and about two Senate seats. As VOA National…
read moreThe U.S. Senate could vote on several immigration reform proposals Thursday, as lawmakers weigh competing plans that address issues such as protecting young undocumented immigrants, boosting border security and changing the rules for family-based immigration. Late Wednesday, a bipartisan group of 16 senators announced an agreement on legislation that would offer a path to citizenship…
read moreA Kansas father fighting efforts by the U.S. to deport him to Bangladesh was returned Wednesday from Honolulu to a Missouri jail, but his ultimate fate is still up to federal immigration authorities and could take months to resolve, his attorney said. Syed Ahmed Jamal, 55, was housed Wednesday in the Platte County jail, about…
read moreRepublicans are resisting requests by Democrats for U.S. intelligence chiefs to present their annual global threat report to a congressional panel so they can avert a likely showdown with the head of the FBI over aspects of the Trump-Russia investigation, two Democratic sources said on Wednesday. Republican leaders on the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence…
read moreThe House Oversight Committee launched an investigation Wednesday into why President Donald Trump’s staff secretary Rob Porter was able to keep his White House job for months after the FBI handed officials reports of Porter’s two former wives accusing him of domestic violence. Porter resigned last week, but Federal Bureau of Investigation Christopher Wray told…
read moreU.S. Budget Director Mick Mulvaney estimates President Donald Trump’s proposed military parade would cost taxpayers as much as $30 million. “I’ve seen various different cost estimates of between $10 and $30 million depending on the size of the parade,” he told the House Budget Committee Wednesday. The administration reportedly is considering holding the parade on…
read moreFormer GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney will announce Thursday that he’s running for the Utah Senate seat held by retiring Orrin Hatch, three people with direct knowledge of the plan confirmed Wednesday. The former Republican presidential candidate will release an online video Thursday announcing he’s running for the seat. His first public appearance as a…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump has called on the Senate to support an immigration bill sponsored by Republican Charles Grassley, saying passage would ratify the “four pillars” of his immigration reform plan. The legislation would consider up to 1.8 million people who arrived in the U.S. as children and remained illegally with a chance for citizenship.…
read moreThe Trump White House’s handling of abuse charges against men in its midst is frustrating prominent Republican women as the party’s yearslong struggle to attract female voters stretches into the 2018 midterm elections. “It’s the mixed signals. They’ve just got to be stronger, more consistent, clearer in the message” to women, Sen. Shelley Moore…
read moreIs that love in the air or french fries? White Castle, KFC and other fast-food restaurants are trying to lure sweethearts for Valentine’s Day. It’s an attempt to capture a bit of the $3.7 billion that the National Retail Federation expects Americans to spend on a night out for the holiday. Restaurant analyst John Gordon…
read moreThe U.S. on Wednesday reported its biggest increase in consumer prices in a year, pushing stocks lower in early trading. The consumer price index, which follows the costs of household goods and services, advanced by a half percentage point in January, up from two-tenths of a point in December. The January increase pushed the year-over-year…
read moreAs a student, Leah Wangari imagined a glamorous life as a globe-trotting flight attendant, not toiling in dirt and manure. Born and raised in Kenya’s skyscraper-filled capital, Nairobi, the 28-year-old said farming had been the last thing on her mind. The decision to drop agriculture classes haunted her later, when her efforts in agribusiness…
read moreIn her village of Komalia, the fog swirls so thick at 7 a.m. that Akansha Singh can see no more than 15 meters ahead. But the 20-year-old is already cycling to her workplace, nine kilometers away. Halfway there she stops for two hours at a computer training center, where she’s learning internet skills. Then she’s…
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