The United States is imposing travel restrictions on Pakistani diplomats starting Friday, Ambassador Aizaz Chaudhry told VOA Thursday. “In my opinion, this is not the right decision,” Chaudhry told VOA’s Urdu service. “Both countries have to come close to each other, and measures like these do not help us to that end.” The State Department says…
read moreMexico on Thursday indicated time was running out to see whether NAFTA nations could agree a new deal in the short term while Canada struck a upbeat tone, saying top-level talks this week had achieved a great deal. Major differences remain between the three members of the North American Free Trade Agreement after more than…
read moreDemocrats on the House intelligence committee have released more than 3,500 Facebook ads that were created or promoted by a Russian internet agency, providing the fullest picture yet of Russia’s attempt to sow racial and political division in the United States before and after the 2016 election. Most of the ads are issue-based, pushing arguments…
read moreVirginia Wallen is a wife, a mother of three, and a woodworker. She achieved what she has never imagined she would — turning her carpentry hobby into a business. The entrepreneur isn’t just succeeding in her new career, she’s tearing down stereotypes and building a new role model. It happens for a reason Wallen, who…
read moreThe California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) decided not to divest from Walmart and other retailers that sell guns, but said it would use its financial clout to pressure retailers on their gun policies. The pension fund said Wednesday it wants to take a high-profile engagement strategy, and said it plans to hire two lobbyists.…
read moreWall Street surged on Wednesday as surging oil prices boosted energy stocks following U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision the previous day to quit a nuclear agreement with Iran. Gains were broad and volume was high, with all but the utilities and telecom sectors advancing as investors who had moved to the sidelines in recent days ahead of Trump’s decision returned to…
read moreA Russian company accused by U.S. prosecutors of funding a propaganda operation to tilt the 2016 presidential election in President Donald Trump’s favor and stir disharmony in the United States pleaded not guilty Wednesday in federal court. Concord Management and Consulting LLC is one of three entities and 13 Russian individuals indicted by Special Counsel…
read moreOutside the rarified sphere of the super-rich, tycoon Viktor Vekselberg is mostly known in Russia for spending more than $100 million to bring cultural artifacts back to their homeland, including an array of Faberge eggs glittering with gold and jewels. By Vekselberg’s standards, the money he laid out wasn’t all that much: His fortune has…
read moreA New York hedge fund founder was arrested Wednesday on charges that he exaggerated his company’s performance by over $200 million to impress and preserve investors. Anilesh Ahuja, 49, of Manhattan, was charged with conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud. Federal officials said that the founder, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of the…
read moreA transatlantic diplomatic tussle appears to be looming after European leaders pledged to defend their countries’ commercial interests in Iran, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. Fellow signatories Russia and China also said they would stick with the accord. Washington says it will begin phasing in…
read moreSaudi Arabia is monitoring the impact of the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal on oil supplies and is ready to offset any shortage but it will not act alone to fill the gap, an OPEC source familiar with the kingdom’s oil thinking said. U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday abandoned a nuclear deal…
read moreAn attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels said on Wednesday he has more evidence of ties between a Russian oligarch sanctioned by the United States and a payment to U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, and questioned other companies’ dealings with Cohen’s firm. In two television interviews, Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, also called…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump says the date and location of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will be announced within three days, but it will not occur at the Korean Demilitarized Zone as he had previously suggested as a possible venue. Trump made the remarks to reporters Wednesday at the White House,…
read moreU.S. producer prices barely rose in April after strong gains in the first quarter, held back by a moderation in the cost of services such as hotel accommodation and healthcare, which could ease fears that inflation pressures were rapidly building up. The slowdown in wholesale price growth reported by the Labor Department on Wednesday is,…
read moreIsrael has welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, but the move is raising tensions in the region. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been one of the world’s most vocal critics of the Iran deal, saying it clears the way for the Islamic Republic to acquire a nuclear…
read moreFor generations, farmers planted the lush earth of Awedai and nearby areas in eastern Ethiopia with coffee trees, earning a livelihood from a crop that is now the country’s main export. But the centuries-long practice is now being abandoned in favor of khat, a leafy plant chewed as a stimulant in the Horn of Africa…
read moreVoters in four U.S. state primary elections propelled candidates largely supportive of President Donald Trump’s agenda to victory Tuesday, prompting Trump to declare that Republicans “had a great night” he hopes will be repeated in the November midterm elections. “Tremendous voter energy and excitement, and all candidates are those who have a great chance of…
read moreA United Nations agency said on Tuesday an “unjust” U.S. financial and trade embargo on Cuba had cost the country’s economy $130 billion over nearly six decades, coming up with the same estimate as the island’s communist government. Although many U.S. allies join Washington in criticizing Cuba’s one-party system and repression of political opponents, the…
read morePresident Donald Trump will allow year-round sales of renewable fuel with blends of 15 percent ethanol as part of an emerging deal to make changes to the federal ethanol mandate. Republican senators and the White House announced the deal Tuesday after a closed-door meeting, the latest in a series of White House sessions on…
read moreSub-Saharan African nations are at growing risk of debt distress because of heavy borrowing and gaping deficits, despite an overall uptick in economic growth, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday. The sober assessment came as African countries continue to tap international debt markets and issue record levels of debt in foreign currencies, spurred on by…
read moreSoon after presenting his credentials to the German president, the new U.S. ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, told German companies to start leaving Iran. “As Donald Trump said, U.S. sanctions will target critical sectors of Iran’s economy. German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately,” Grenell tweeted Tuesday. His tweet came as…
read moreThe U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is traveling to North Korea, preparing for the upcoming meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un. “Plans are being made. Relationships are building. Hopefully, a deal will happen and, with the help of China, South Korea, and Japan, a future of great prosperity…
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