Nearly two months after the Central Intelligence Agency launched an almost unprecedented public relations campaign to propel one of their own into the director’s office, the architects of that plan will get to see how well or poorly it worked. Gina Haspel, a veteran CIA operative and current deputy director, will go before the Senate…
read moreWooden dhows crammed with secondhand Japanese cars have been sailing unhindered into Yemeni ports for the past three years despite rigid wartime controls on imports of aid and other vital supplies. Like many Yemeni traders, Ali al-Mahry jumped at this chance to turn a profit by supplying customers at home with cars bought cheaply at…
read moreDisney is seeking new frontiers. The media company launched its $5-a-month sports streaming service, ESPN Plus, last month, and it signed a deal with Twitter this month to create Marvel, ABC and ESPN content on that service. Meanwhile, Disney is trying to buy much of 21st Century Fox, including the Fox television network and the…
read moreSome Iranians had been cashing in their savings even before U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement he would pull out from the international nuclear deal with Iran, straining a banking system weighed down by bad loans and years of isolation. An official with Iran’s biggest state-owned Melli Bank told Reuters savings had declined by an unspecified…
read moreThe White House blasted the media Tuesday for pointing out that first lady Melania Trump’s “Be Best” campaign recycled a pamphlet first issued under the Obama administration. The booklet, published online Monday following the first lady’s launch of her anti-bullying initiative, was posted as if it were written by Trump and the Federal Trade Commission.…
read morePresident Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Iran nuclear agreement has revived the bitter partisan political debate that greeted the deal on Capitol Hill two and a half years ago. Democrats said the move was the first step towards isolating the United States in the world diplomatic community while Republicans praised…
read moreLess than three months ago, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman went before the news cameras to announce a lawsuit accusing movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and his former studio of abusing and intimidating a multitude of women. “We have never seen anything as despicable as what we’ve seen here,” Schneiderman declared. Now, in a stunning…
read moreA group of advocacy organizations plans to sue the Department of Housing and Urban Development and its secretary, Ben Carson, over his decision to delay an Obama-era rule intended to ensure that communities confront and address racial segregation. A draft of the lawsuit argues that Carson illegally suspended the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Act when…
read moreThe Trump administration is unveiling a multibillion-dollar roster of proposed spending cuts but is leaving this year’s $1.3 trillion catchall spending bill alone. The cuts wouldn’t have much impact, however, since they come from leftover funding from previous years that wouldn’t be spent anyway. The White House said it is sending the so-called…
read moreThe Trump administration sought to distance itself Monday from Rudy Giuliani’s dramatic public statements about Iran and North Korea, saying that President Donald Trump’s new lawyer does not speak for the president on matters of foreign policy. Since joining Trump’s legal team last month and becoming its public face, Giuliani has raised eyebrows for a…
read moreAs primary season kicks into high gear, Republicans are engaged in nomination fights that are pulling the party to the right, leaving some leaders worried their candidates will be out of step with the broader electorate in November. Primaries in four states on Tuesday, all in places Donald Trump carried in 2016, showcase races…
read moreThe administration of President Donald Trump will increase criminal prosecutions of parents entering the United States illegally and place their children in protective custody as part of efforts to tighten immigration enforcement, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official. The policy, which the official said was signed on Friday, formalizes plans that have…
read moreAir France’s share price dived Monday after its CEO quit and the French government warned that the country’s flagship carrier might collapse. A new strike Monday over wage demands, meanwhile, prompted the cancellation of about 15 percent of Air France flights worldwide. The number of striking staffers appears to be slightly declining as the airline…
read morePresident Donald Trump says his choice to run the Central Intelligence Agency, Gina Haspel, “has come under fire because she was too tough on Terrorists.” His tweet Monday morning came after news reports that Haspel offered to withdraw her nomination last week because White House officials worried about her role in the harsh interrogation of…
read moreAmerica’s latest jobs report suggests the country’s longest-ever economic expansion is continuing at a moderate, but steady pace. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports, President Donald Trump is trumpeting U.S. economic performance as Washington looks ahead to November midterm elections in which Republicans will be defending majorities in both houses of Congress. …
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump’s new lawyer asserted Sunday that the president does not have to comply with a subpoena involving the burgeoning Russia investigation stemming from the 2016 election and might invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination if he is forced to testify. “We don’t have to” honor a subpoena, former New York mayor Rudy…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump’s new lawyer said Sunday he would not rule out the possibility that the president might invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination and refuse to answer questions in the burgeoning Russia investigation stemming from the 2016 election. “How could I ever be confident of that?” former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who…
read moreAs primary season kicks into high gear, Republicans are engaged in nomination fights that are pulling the party to the right, leaving some leaders worried their candidates will be out of a step with the broader electorate in November. Primaries in four states on Tuesday, all in places Donald Trump carried in 2016, showcase races…
read moreNearly a year ago, an investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller was tasked by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein with exploring any links or coordination between the Russian government and “individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump,” and, additionally, “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation,” according to…
read moreAn innovative consumer awareness campaign will be launched this summer in several cities in the United States. The campaign is aimed at preventing the waste of food that costs the world billions of dollars and has severe consequences on global food security and the environment. Verónica Balderas Iglesias spoke with experts. …
read moreNearly 554,000 people were living on America’s streets last year, according to a government survey. That’s the first increase since 2010, driven, experts say, by a surge in the homeless in Los Angeles and other West Coast cities. Homelessness has been a serious problem for Los Angeles for years, but as the housing crisis intensifies,…
read moreLocated just outside Washington, Arlington County, Virginia, is one of the richest, most educated and mostly white counties in the United States. It didn’t matter to Cambodian-American Chanda Choun that less than 11 percent of the population is Asian. When a seat opened on the Arlington County Board after the November 2017 election, he decided…
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