U.S. lawmakers pushed for more aggressive steps to counteract the Russian “menace” on Tuesday, despite Trump administration officials insisting current sanctions were having an effect and vowing to impose more economic pain if Moscow does not change its behavior. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he would like better ties with Moscow, but although he…
read moreFor Mazen Rahhal, a shop owner in a bustling district of Beirut, Lebanon’s economy has seldom felt more precarious. In one store, he sells clothes at a fraction of their previous price. Another, which he rented to a rival business, now lies empty. Years of gradual stagnation have in 2018 merged with several newer trends:…
read moreU.S. and Mexican trade ministers were set to resume talks over the North American Free Trade Agreement in Washington on Tuesday in a final push for a deal on autos that would open the door for Canada to return to negotiations this week. If Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer…
read moreA federal judge hearing arguments over a settlement between the Trump administration and a company that wants to post plans for printing 3D weapons on the internet said Tuesday that the issue is best decided by the president or the Congress. U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik that while he will still rule on the legal…
read morePresident Donald Trump says he fears any statements he would give to special counsel Robert Mueller could be used to charge him with perjury. Mueller is investigating alleged collusion between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russian meddling in the presidential election. He is also looking into whether Trump obstructed justice by trying to derail the probe.…
read moreSouth Africa’s state-owned Land Bank said on Monday a plan to allow the state to seize land without compensation could trigger defaults that could cost the government 41 billion rand ($2.8 billion) if the bank’s rights as a creditor are not protected. Land Bank is a specialist bank providing financial services to the commercial farming…
read moreThe bull market in U.S. stocks is about to become the longest in history. If stocks don’t drop significantly by the close of trading Wednesday, the bull market that began in March 2009 will have lasted nine years, five months and 13 days, a record that few would have predicted when the market struggled…
read moreThe space company of billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen on Monday unveiled details of medium-lift rockets and a reusable space cargo plane it is developing, injecting more competition into the lucrative launch services market. With its rockets, Allen’s Stratolaunch Systems is trying to cash in on higher demand in the coming years for vessels that…
read moreThe Trump administration is set to roll back the centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s efforts to slow global warming, the Clean Power Plan that restricts greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants. A plan to be announced Tuesday would give states broad authority to determine how to restrict carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that it is “very dangerous” for social media companies like Twitter and Facebook to silence voices on their services. Trump’s comments in an interview with Reuters come as the social media industry faces mounting scrutiny from Congress to police foreign propaganda. Trump has made his Twitter account —…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump is referring to opposition lawmakers, as well as local and state officials who oppose his immigration control agenda, as “a coalition of open borders extremists.” Trump at the White House on Monday afternoon accused opponents of waging “an unprecedented assault on American law enforcement — our greatest people,” saying they are…
read moreIran’s oil minister says France’s oil giant Total SA has pulled out of Iran after cancelling its $5 billion, 20-year agreement to develop the country’s massive South Pars offshore natural gas field over renewed U.S. sanctions. The parliament’s website ICANA.ir quoted Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh as saying on Monday that since Total first announced its…
read moreVietnam is trying to get a grip on inflation that might otherwise threaten its quick economic growth again as it did a decade ago, analysts and domestic media say. Consumer prices in June were 4.67 percent higher than in the same month last year following an increase of 3.29 percent in the first half of…
read moreJurors deciding the tax and bank fraud trial of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort deliberate the case for a third day Monday. The six-man, six-woman panel has been discussing the case behind closed doors in a Virginia courthouse since last week. During the two-week trial, prosecutors said Manafort hid millions of dollars in offshore…
read more“For the first time since early 2010, Greece can stand on its own feet,” the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) rescue fund said as Athens exited its final, three-year international bailout program on Monday. The ESM allocated about $71 billion over the past three years, after an agreement was reached in August 2015 to help the…
read moreFormer CIA Director John Brennan is threatening to sue President Donald Trump to stop him from stripping security clearances from other officials who criticize him. “If my clearances — and my reputation, as I’m being pulled through the mud now — if that’s the price we’re going to pay to prevent Donald Trump from doing…
read moreWomen are not just running for office in record numbers this year — they are winning. More women than ever before have won major party primaries for governor, U.S. Senate and House this year — setting a U.S. record and paving the way for November battles that could significantly increase the number of women in…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s national security adviser says he is concerned that four foreign adversaries may be trying to interfere in upcoming U.S. elections. VOA’s Marcus Harton has more. …
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday angrily denounced the federal probe of Russia’s 2016 election meddling as “McCarthyism at its WORST!,” insisting he had authorized his White House counsel to testify to bring the matter to a close. Trump’s Twitter storm was set off by a front-page report in The New York Times that said…
read moreRight-wing demonstrators gathered Saturday in Seattle for a “Liberty or Death” rally that drew counter-protesters from the left while dozens of police kept the two sides apart. The right-wing groups Washington 3 Percenters and Patriot Prayer were holding the rally outside Seattle City Hall to protest an effort to launch a gun-control initiative that would…
read moreUncertainty reigned in Venezuela Saturday after President Nicolas Maduro unveiled a major economic reform plan aimed at halting the spiraling hyperinflation that has thrown the oil-rich, cash-poor South American country into chaos. Ahead of a major currency overhaul Monday, when Caracas will start issuing new banknotes after slashing five zeroes off the crippled bolivar, Maduro…
read morePeople in big cities around the world typically enjoy a wide range of public transportation options. Those who own smartphones also have the choice of using some of the increasingly popular ride sharing services such as Uber and Lyft. And now, Kabul residents in Afghanistan can, too. VOA’s Haseeb Maudoodi takes a look at Kabul’s…
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