A federal grand jury in Detroit has indicted former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn with conspiracy and wire fraud in the car builder’s scheme to rig diesel emissions tests. “If you try to deceive the United States, then you will pay a heavy price,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday. “The indictment unsealed today alleges that…
read moreThe U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in March as exports increased to a record high amid a surge in deliveries of commercial aircraft and soybeans, bolstering the economy’s outlook heading into the second quarter. While other data on Thursday showed a modest increase in new applications for jobless benefits last week, the number of Americans…
read moreSouth Korea is looking into developing and financing economic projects with North Korea that could take effect if a nuclear deal is reached with the United States. South Korean Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said on Wednesday the government was “internally carrying out preparations” to organize, finance and implement possible inter-Korea projects. But he also emphasized…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday confirmed a $130,000 hush money payoff to adult film actress Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election about allegations of a decade-old affair with him, but said no campaign funds were involved. Trump said he reimbursed his personal attorney, New York lawyer Michael Cohen, in monthly increments after the…
read moreA high-level U.S. trade delegation has begun talks with Chinese officials in Beijing as Washington tries to address deep concerns about China’s economic policies. The meeting is seen by some as a positive step, as the two sides attempt to avoid the possible outbreak of a trade war. Analysts say it is unlikely their differences…
read moreWith the observation of World Press Freedom Day on Thursday, a group of press freedom organizations is calling attention to challenges faced by journalists in the United States. The report cites a number of threats to the work of journalists, including a rise in whistleblower prosecutions, government restrictions on public information, stigmatization by politicians, physical…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump met with teachers of the year from several states Wednesday at the White House. Trump conferred the 2018 National Teacher of the Year award, as public teachers in many states protest low pay and criticize the administration for what they see as siphoning education funds from public schools into private alternatives.…
read moreU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says President Donald Trump’s plan to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un provides “an unprecedented opportunity to change the course of history on the Korean Peninsula.” Pompeo was formally sworn in as the 70th U.S. secretary of state in a ceremony attended by Trump. As VOA’s Diplomatic…
read moreAt least 88 Central American asylum seekers from a caravan through Mexico had crossed into the United States by Wednesday, a movement that prompted U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to beef up legal resources on the border. Dozens more remain just outside the entrance to the port of entry in a makeshift camp, waiting to…
read morePresident Trump plans to meet next week with leaders from U.S. and foreign carmakers on trade and changes to emission standards. “When the White House wants to meet with us about our sector and policy, we welcome the opportunity,” Alliance of American Automobile Manufacturers spokeswoman Gloria Bergquist said Wednesday. The time and agenda of the…
read moreThe International Monetary Fund censured Venezuela on Wednesday for failing to hand over essential economic data to the fund. “The [Executive] Board noted that adequate data provision was an essential first step to understanding Venezuela’s economic crisis and identifying possible solutions,” an IMF statement said. The board is giving Venezuela another six months to comply…
read moreA lawyer who worked to unsuccessfully protect former U.S. President Bill Clinton from impeachment is expected to join the legal team of the current chief executive in the White House. Emmet Flood, who also was the lead lawyer in the White House Counsel’s Office during George W. Bush’s second term, is to succeed Ty Cobb…
read moreNew U.S. Secretary of State Mike Popmeo says there is “an unprecedented opportunity to change the course of history on the Korean peninsula” with President Donald Trump planning to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “I underscore the word “opportunity;” we are in the beginning stages of the work and the outcome is…
read moreThe United States will keep sending suspected terrorists caught on the battlefield to its detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as long as they pose a “continuing, significant threat” to the country. Pentagon officials sent the updated guidance to the White House on Wednesday, backing President Donald Trump’s decision to reverse course and keep the…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump is complaining about “a rigged system” in Washington, assailing his Justice Department for withholding key documents Republican lawmakers want to investigate his opponents. “They don’t want to turn over Documents to Congress,” Trump said Wednesday on Twitter. “What are they afraid of? Why so much redacting? Why such unequal ‘justice?’ At…
read moreU.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley — one of only a few women and persons of color in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet — has quickly gone from a little-known Republican governor to a tough, well-known political figure on the international scene. The daughter of Sikh Indian immigrants and the first woman or minority…
read moreA Chinese company that manufactured Ivanka Trump shoes and has been accused of serious labor abuses is being celebrated in a blockbuster propaganda film for extending China’s influence around the globe. The state-backed documentary “Amazing China” portrays the Huajian Group as a beneficent force spreading prosperity — in this case, by hiring thousands of…
read moreA letter from Donald Trump’s New York physician released by his campaign in 2015 declaring he would be “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency” was composed by the candidate himself, the doctor said Tuesday. “He dictated that whole letter. I didn’t write that letter,” Harold Bornstein told CNN. Bornstein was not immediately available to comment, but in…
read moreLegal experts cast doubt Tuesday on a list of questions the special counsel purportedly wants to ask President Donald Trump, saying they would expect the veteran prosecutor to ask more and more pointed questions. The New York Times published the list of 44 questions it said special counsel Robert Mueller plans to pose to Trump…
read moreA lobbyist who arranged and accompanied Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt to Morocco last year is now officially working for the Rabat government. Richard Smotkin, a former Comcast lobbyist and longtime Pruitt friend, also recently registered as an agent for a foreign government after accepting a $40,000-a-month contract to promote Morocco’s cultural and economic…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s political attacks on the FBI make America less safe because they undermine public confidence that the bureau is an “honest, competent and independent” institution, fired director James Comey told The Associated Press on Tuesday. In a telephone interview, Comey also said it was logical that special counsel Robert Mueller would seek…
read moreSpecial Counsel Robert Mueller, in a meeting with President Donald Trump’s lawyers in March, raised the possibility of issuing a subpoena for Trump if he declines to talk to investigators in the Russia probe, a former lawyer for the president said on Tuesday. John Dowd told Reuters that Mueller mentioned the possibility of a subpoena…
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