French President Emmanuel Macron enjoyed the first day of his three-day state visit to Washington Monday with dinner at Mount Vernon and meeting fellow visitors and tourists at the Lincoln Memorial. But several issues of global importance are in the air when he and President Donald Trump get down to business in the Oval Office.…
read moreFormer New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Sunday he is giving $4.5 million to the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat to cover a U.S. government funding gap for the international Paris climate accord. Bloomberg’s charitable foundation said the money will support work developing countries are doing to achieve their targets under the agreement as…
read moreMitt Romney was forced into a Republican primary in his bid for U.S. Senate in Utah after losing a nomination battle Saturday at the state’s far-right-leaning GOP convention. Romney remains the heavy favorite overall to replace long-serving Sen. Orrin Hatch in November and said he was ready to keep campaigning hard. If he had won…
read moreThe World Bank’s shareholders on Saturday endorsed a $13 billion paid-in capital increase that will boost China’s shareholding but bring lending reforms that will raise borrowing costs for higher-middle-income countries, including China. The multilateral lender said the plan would allow it to lift the group’s overall lending to nearly $80 billion in fiscal 2019 from…
read moreThe European Union and Mexico reached an agreement Saturday on a new free trade deal, a coup for both parties in the face of increased protectionism from the United States under President Donald Trump. Since its plans for a trade alliance with the United States were frozen after Trump’s election victory, the EU has focused…
read moreThe International Monetary Fund’s policymaking committee said Saturday that a strong world economy was threatened by increasing tension over trade and countries’ heavy debt burden. Longer-term prospects are clouded, it said, by sluggish growth in productivity and aging populations in wealthy nations. In a statement at the end of three days of meetings, the lending…
read morePresident Donald Trump said Saturday that he didn’t expect Michael Cohen, his longtime personal lawyer and fixer, to “flip” as the government investigates Cohen’s business dealings. Trump, in a series of tweets fired off from Florida on the morning of former first lady Barbara Bush’s funeral, accused The New York Times and one of its…
read moreU.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Saturday that he was contemplating a visit to China for discussions on issues that have global leaders concerned about a potentially damaging trade war. “I am not going to make any comment on timing, nor do I have anything confirmed, but a trip is under consideration,” Mnuchin said at a…
read moreChina has strongly refuted suggestions its multibillion-dollar economic corridor now under construction with Pakistan has “hidden” military designs as well. Beijing has pledged to invest about $63 billion in Pakistan by 2030 to develop ports, highways, motorways, railways, airports, power plants and other infrastructure in the neighboring country, traditionally a strong ally. The…
read moreA nonprofit citizens group “United We Dream,” launched a new smartphone app that gives undocumented immigrants a virtual “panic button” if they are ever swept up in a raid or detained. The app provides legal advice and allows undocumented immigrants to notify their relatives quickly, when and if they fear that an interaction with Immigration…
read moreStudents across the United States marked the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting by walking out of their classrooms. This protest against gun violence comes on the heels of a previous national school walkout and the March for Our Lives rallies. From Washington, VOA’s Jill Craig has more. …
read moreThe European Union needs to be exempted from steel and aluminum tariffs announced by the United States in order to work with Washington on trade with China, France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Friday. “We are close allies between the EU and the United States. We cannot live with full confidence with the risk…
read moreA internal CIA review in 2011 cleared U.S. President Donald Trump’s choice to head the agency, Gina Haspel, of wrongdoing in the destruction of videotapes depicting the harsh interrogation of an al Qaeda suspect, according to a memorandum that the CIA declassified and released on Friday. The spy agency released the memo in response to…
read moreAndrew McCabe, the former FBI deputy director, is “very upset and disappointed” by comments made by his former boss James Comey that contradict his account of a disclosure to the news media, McCabe’s lawyer said Friday. “Andy has at all times attempted to, and believes he’s been successful in, playing it straight with Jim,” Michael…
read moreDemanding an end to gun violence and tougher restrictions on firearms sales, thousands of students again walked out of classes across the United States on Friday, aiming to put pressure on politicians ahead of November’s midterm elections. Timed to coincide with the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre, students left classes at midmorning, many waving placards with slogans including…
read moreNorth Korea says it has suspended nuclear tests and plans to close its nuclear test site. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said the military is also suspending long-range missile tests and said the suspensions went into effect on Saturday. The announcement said the government is making the moves to shift its national focus…
read moreThe Justice Department has opened an antitrust investigation into whether AT&T, Verizon and a standards-setting group worked together to stop consumers from easily switching wireless carriers. The companies confirmed the inquiry in separate statements late Friday in response to a report in The New York Times. The U.S. government is looking into whether…
read moreThe U.S. Justice Department has opened an antitrust probe into potential coordination by AT&T, Verizon and a telecommunications standards organization to hinder consumers from easily switching wireless carriers, The New York Times reported Friday, citing six people with knowledge of the inquiry. The investigation was opened about five months ago after at least one device maker and one wireless carrier…
read moreRussian companies hit by U.S. sanctions, including aluminum giant Rusal, have asked for 100 billion rubles ($1.6 billion) in liquidity support from the government, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying Friday. The United States on April 6 imposed sanctions against several Russian entities and individuals, including Rusal and its major shareholder, Oleg…
read moreA federal judge on Friday told lawyers for President Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen that Cohen needs to file a declaration in court in order to delay a lawsuit filed by porn actress Stormy Daniels aimed at dissolving a confidentiality agreement that prevents her from talking about an alleged affair with Trump. Judge S. James…
read moreAmerican banking giant Wells Fargo has agreed to pay federal regulators $1 billion to settle charges that it failed to identify and avert problems related to its mortgage and auto lending operations. The bank has admitted it sold unwanted or unnecessary automobile insurance to hundreds of thousands of its auto loan customers. Wells Fargo, the…
read moreStudents across the United States will march Friday to honor the memory of the victims of 1999’s Columbine shooting. Energized by the momentum for stricter gun control since February’s mass shooting at a Florida high school, young people have led the charge for change. Friday will mark the latest salvo in their nationwide calls for…
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