U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to impose tariffs on another $267 billion worth Chinese imports, which would cover virtually all the goods China imports to the United States. The potential tariffs would come on top of punitive levies on $50 billion in Chinese goods already in place, as well as tariffs on another $200…
read moreMillions of people covered under the Affordable Care Act will see only modest premium increases next year, and some will get price cuts. That’s the conclusion from an exclusive analysis of the besieged but resilient program, which still sparks deep divisions heading into this year’s midterm elections. The Associated Press and the consulting firm Avalere…
read moreHiring picked up in August as U.S. employers added a strong 201,000 jobs, a sign of confidence that consumers and businesses will keep spending despite the Trump administration’s conflicts with U.S. trading partners. The Labor Department said Friday the unemployment rate remained 3.9 percent, near an 18-year low. Americans’ paychecks grew at a faster pace…
read moreTop officials within the Trump administration, from Vice President Mike Pence to several key Cabinet members, have denied that they authored an anonymous opinion piece in the New York Times critical of President Donald Trump’s leadership. Publication of the column has set off a furious debate in Washington about the Trump presidency and a high-stakes…
read moreThe coup of publishing a column by an anonymous Trump administration official bashing the boss could backfire on The New York Times if the author is unmasked and turns out to be a little-known person, or if the newspaper’s own reporters solve the puzzle. Within hours of the essay’s appearance on the paper’s website, the mystery of the…
read moreThe Trump administration on Thursday lifted a roadblock to copper-nickel mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of northeastern Minnesota, reversing a decision made in the final days of the Obama administration. The Obama administration in late 2016 withdrew around 234,000 acres of the Rainy River watershed near Ely from eligibility for mineral leasing…
read moreTwitter has permanently banned far-right media personality Alex Jones for violating its policy against “abusive behavior.” Jones, who is known as a conspiracy theorist, has about 900,000 followers on Twitter. His Infowars website has hundreds of thousands of followers, as well. Twitter accused Jones of violating its policy after he was seen on television berating…
read moreU.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is facing another round of questioning Thursday, a day after declaring his independence as a judge, but refusing to be pinned down on questions related to the investigation of President Donald Trump and his 2016 campaign’s links to Russia. “I’m an independent judge,” the 53-year-old Kavanaugh told the Senate…
read moreGeorgette Mosbacher, an entrepreneur and Republican donor, officially began her term as the new U.S. ambassador to Poland on Thursday by presenting her credentials to President Andrzej Duda. The 71-year-old Mosbacher was tapped by President Donald Trump for her mission in the nation of 38 million that has close ties with Washington. Warsaw was the…
read morePresident Donald Trump is taking the Washington debate over his Supreme Court nominee to the homes of two red-state Senate Democrats this week, elevating Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation as a political litmus test for voters. Trump’s strategy aims to turn the screws on the lawmakers, Jon Tester of Montana and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota,…
read moreTennis fans have descended on New York to watch the world’s best players at the US Open — one of four Grand Slam tennis tournaments in the world. With so much action on the courts, staying on top of the matches is a nonstop job. But officials are employing extra help, in the form of…
read moreFacebook and Twitter executives defended their efforts to prevent Russian meddling in U.S. midterm elections before congressional panels Wednesday. The social media companies’ efforts to provide assurances to lawmakers come amid warnings from internet researchers that Moscow still has active social media accounts aimed at influencing U.S. political discourse. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has…
read morePresident Donald Trump demanded in a tweet Wednesday night that The New York Times immediately turn over an anonymous official of his administration for prosecution: The demand came shortly after Trump published a one-word message on Twitter: “TREASON?” The president and the White House reacted with anger to the Times opinion piece, written by a person…
read moreBritain risks huge disruptions to its economy and society, including trade, transport, health care and citizens’ rights, if it leaves the European Union next March without a deal. That’s the conclusion of a new report on the short-term risks of a so-called ‘no-deal Brexit.’ The report comes as lawmakers return to London after a six-week…
read moreShe is many things that would seem to irritate President Donald Trump: a liberal Canadian former journalist. That makes Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland an unusual choice to lead Canada’s negotiations over a new free trade deal with a surprisingly hostile U.S. administration. Recruited into politics by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Freeland has already clashed with…
read moreUU.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh pledged judicial independence from President Donald Trump in testimony Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I’m an independent judge,” Kavanaugh said when asked by Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch for assurances that, if confirmed to the high court, he would not be swayed by the views or interests…
read moreElection security wasn’t a mission initially envisioned for the Department of Homeland Security, the sprawling department creating after the Sept. 11 attacks. But it’s now one of the highest priorities, Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Wednesday. Nielsen said in a speech the department must adapt as threats change — and right now, the biggest threats are…
read moreTrump administration officials and Canadian negotiators are resuming talks to try to keep Canada in a North American trade bloc with the United States and Mexico. “We are looking forward to constructive conversations today,” Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters as she entered a meeting with U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer. Last week,…
read moreJosh Russell works as a systems analyst and programmer at Indiana University, has two daughters, and exposes Russian internet trolls in his spare time. Russell first became interested in the phenomenon of Russian trolls during the 2016 presidential election, when he noticed a large amount of misinformation distributed about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. He noticed…
read moreFacebook and Twitter executives insisted at a Senate hearing Wednesday that they were aggressively trying to identify foreign actors who wanted to inflict damage on the U.S. before the November midterm elections. Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told the Senate Intelligence Committee her company was “now blocking millions of attempts to register false accounts each…
read moreBen Judah is the author of This Is London and Fragile Empire, a contributing writer at Politico, and an expert at the Hudson Institute. His think tank project on modern-day kleptocracy was recently targeted in a cyberattack that Microsoft has linked to the Fancy Bear (ATP28) hacking unit associated with Russian military intelligence. Judah spoke…
read moreMany people enjoy playing video games but take for granted that they can hold and easily operate game controllers. Now Microsoft is making it possible for disabled gamers to join in the fun. Tina Trinh reports. …
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