Former U.S. Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan says he believes President Donald Trump revoked his security clearance because he wants to “silence others who might dare to challenge him.” In an opinion piece published Thursday in The New York Times, Brennan contended that Trump “clearly has become more desperate to protect himself and those…
read moreThe rise of information sharing in the digital age has made it easier to disseminate knowledge, but it also brings with it heightened risks: from hackers stealing our information, to launching cyberwarfare and even potentially weaponizing legitimate platforms. This week on “Plugged In,” VOA Contributor Greta Van Susteren explores these challenges and how they are…
read moreThe fate of President Donald Trump’s former campaign chief Paul Manafort is in the hands of the jury. The six men and six women will start deliberating Thursday on whether Manafort is guilty of tax and bank fraud. Manafort’s life was “littered with lies” as he pursued a lavish lifestyle, a U.S prosecutor said in…
read moreThe security clearance of a former Central Intelligence Agency director has been revoked by U.S. President Donald Trump, who said in a statement that John Brennan has been sowing “division and chaos” about his administration. The clearances of other former officials also are under review, including those of former U.S. National Intelligence Director James Clapper, former…
read moreThey pleaded in a letter to President Donald Trump. “Refugees have reinvigorated our economies, brought innovation to our towns, and made our communities stronger,” read the note, signed by hundreds of elected officials from across the country “The significant decline in refugee arrivals this year has had a negative impact on communities.” By the end…
read moreThe White House on Wednesday condemned Turkey for boosting tariffs on U.S. imports, the latest confrontation between the two NATO allies. Ankara imposed stiffer levies on U.S. cars, alcohol, coal and other products — $533 million in new tariffs — in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of doubled tariffs on Turkish steel and…
read moreGreta Van Susteren talks to technology journalist Kara Swisher about cybersecurity and privacy. …
read moreThe U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has sent subpoenas to Tesla Inc. regarding Chief Executive Elon Musk’s plans to take the company private and his statement that funding was “secured,” Fox Business Network reported on Wednesday, citing sources. Subpoenas typically indicate the SEC has opened a formal investigation into a matter. Tesla and the SEC…
read moreCorey Lewandowski, President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, touted on Wednesday benefits he sees in federal government approval of T-Mobile US Inc’s bid to acquire Sprint Corp, while also denying that he has worked directly for the company. Lewandowski said he remains in regular contact with the president and has daily contact with Trump’s new…
read moreOne American university is putting electronic voice-controlled assistants in every student housing room on campus. Saint Louis University recently announced it will equip every student living space with Amazon’s Alexa system. The school in St. Louis, Missouri, will place about 2,300 Echo Dot “smart” devices in all student dorms and other university housing. Officials said…
read moreHow do you know if a piece of art is real or fake? Ask a scientist. At New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, chemistry, physics and geology are all playing a part in the detective work of determining whether a work of art is original or a forgery. Now teens are learning the tricks of…
read moreTurkey on Wednesday announced tariff hikes on a range of U.S. goods in the latest back-and-forth move amid a deteriorating relationship between the two countries. The extra tariffs apply to imports of vehicles, alcohol, coal, rice and cosmetics. Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Twitter the increases were being done “within the framework of…
read moreIndia will send a manned flight into space by 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Wednesday as part of India’s independence day celebrations. He said India will become the fourth country after Russia, the United States and China to achieve the feat and its astronaut could be a man or a woman. The space capsule…
read moreClosing arguments are set to take place Wednesday in the tax and bank fraud trial of U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. The prosecution and defense will each sum up their side of the case in front of the jury before the 12-person panel begins deliberations on Manafort’s guilt or innocence. Manafort’s…
read moreNew Zealand school teachers went on strike on Wednesday for the first time in more than 20 years, challenging the Labor government’s plans to balance promised fiscal responsibility against growing demands to increase public sector salaries. The government’s first budget in May was stretched to fulfill its promise to juggle investing in much-needed infrastructure with…
read moreTonga Prime Minister Akalisi Pohiva has called for China to write-off debts owed by Pacific island countries, warning that repayments impose a huge burden on the impoverished nations. Chinese aid in the Pacific has ballooned in recent years with much of the funds coming in the form of loans from Beijing’s state-run Exim Bank. Tonga…
read moreU.S. Senator Bill Nelson, under fire from Florida’s Republican governor, isn’t backing down from comments that Russian operatives have penetrated some of his state’s election systems ahead of this year’s crucial election. During stops in north Florida over a two-day period, the three-term Democrat said that state and local officials need to take Russian meddling…
read moreA U.S. Space Force is necessary to protect American satellites from being targeted by attack weapons in the hands of China and Russia, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday. Mattis’ comments came days after Vice President Mike Pence announced ambitious plans to create a sixth, separate U.S. military war-fighting service by 2020 to ensure American…
read moreCuba’s government said it provided free internet to the Communist-run island’s more than 5 million cellphone users on Tuesday, in an eight-hour test before it launches sales of the service. Cuba is one of the Western Hemisphere’s least connected countries. State-run telecommunications monopoly ETECSA announced the trial, with Tuesday marking the first time internet services…
read morePresident Donald Trump is daring New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to challenge him in 2020, warning the Democrat that “anybody that runs against Trump suffers.” In remarks Monday night at a fundraiser in upstate New York, Trump said that Cuomo once called him and promised that he wouldn’t run against him. Cuomo’s office did not…
read moreVienna has dislodged Melbourne for the first time at the top of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index, strengthening the Austrian capital’s claim to being the world’s most pleasant city to live in. The two metropolises have been neck and neck in the annual survey of 140 urban centers for years, with Melbourne clinching…
read moreVenezuela’s heavily subsidized domestic gasoline prices should rise to international levels to avoid billions of dollars in annual losses due to fuel smuggling, President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised address on Monday. “Gasoline must be sold at an international price to stop smuggling to Colombia and the Caribbean,” Maduro said in a televised address.…
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