Shares in automakers Nissan, Mitsubishi and Renault fell sharply Tuesday after the arrest of executive Carlos Ghosn on allegations of “significant acts” of financial misconduct. All three firms are considering replacing him as chairman. Nissan, one of the world’s biggest automakers, said Ghosn falsified reports about his compensation “over many years” and that its internal…
read moreMonths after comic Michelle Wolf angered Trump administration officials with her blistering routine at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, the group said on Monday it would feature a historian, not a comedian, at next year’s event. The WHCA said Ron Chernow, who has written biographies of presidents George Washington and Ulysses Grant and…
read moreWorld stock markets fell Monday as worries about softening demand for the iPhone dragged down shares of Apple Inc and persistent trade tensions between China and the United States sapped investor sentiment. Concerns about slowing economic growth also pushed down the dollar. The U.S. benchmark S&P 500 stock index dropped 1.7 percent following a decline…
read moreThe chasm between U.S. President Donald Trump and elders of the intelligence community is widening. Trump, repeating a criticism he made in a television interview the previous day, took to Twitter on Monday to again exclaim that the United States “should have captured Osama bin Laden long before we did.” In the Fox News Sunday…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump says he would not intervene if acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker decides to curtail a special counsel investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Democrats in Congress are determined to keep Robert Mueller’s probe on track. That will be easier starting in January, when a new Democrat-dominated Congress…
read moreA new United Nations survey finds that opium cultivation in Afghanistan has decreased by 20 percent in 2018 compared to the previous year, citing a severe drought and falling prices of dry opium at the national level. The total opium-poppy cultivation area decreased to 263,000 hectares, from 328,000 hectares estimated in 2017, but it was…
read moreJapanese automaker Nissan says it has determined that its chairman, Carlos Ghosn, falsified reports about his compensation “over many years.” The company said its internal investigation also found Ghosn had used company assets for personal purposes. Japanese media are reporting Monday that Ghosn is being questioned by Tokyo prosecutors on allegations that he underreported his…
read moreIn the Baltic country of Lithuania, there’s growing debate over a Russian-owned taxi ride-sharing service that Lithuanian government officials warn could be spying on users through their smartphones. So, could an ‘app’ be the latest tool in Kremlin hybrid tactics, or has fear of all things Russian gone too far? From Vilnius, Charles Maynes reports.…
read moreRepublican Rick Scott has won Florida’s U.S. Senate race, defeating incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson – ending two weeks of insults, lawsuits, charges, and counter-charges. Scott says Nelson “graciously conceded” the election Sunday after a mandatory hand recount gave the Florida governor a 10,000 vote margin. State election officials are expected to certify the results Tuesday.…
read moreNearly halfway through his four-year term in the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump says he thinks of himself in the top rung of American presidents. “I would give myself an A+,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News Sunday. “Can I go higher than that?” But the U.S. leader, in a White House…
read moreCalifornia’s governor expressed optimism Sunday that U.S. President Donald Trump would support the state as it battles one of the worst wildfires in its history. Following Trump’s visit to California the day before, Democratic governor Jerry Brown said that the president has “got our back” and has pledged to continue to help in an interview…
read moreThe United States and China offered competing views to regional leaders at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Papua New Guinea, trading sharp words over trade, investment, and regional security. Washington said it can provide a better option for regional allies under is “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” strategy. as VOA’s State Department correspondent…
read moreBritish-based startup ARC unveiled its first motorcycle model in Milan this week, one being described as fast, advanced and expensive. The so-called Vector costs more than $100,000, but ARC says it’s for good reason. VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo reports. …
read moreWith their grip on power set to loosen come January, Republicans in several states are considering last-ditch laws that would weaken existing or incoming Democratic governors and advance their own conservative agendas. In Michigan, where the GOP has held the levers of power for nearly eight years, Republican legislators want to water down a minimum…
read moreDemocrat Gil Cisneros captured a Republican-held U.S. House seat in Southern California on Saturday, capping a Democratic rout in which the party picked up six congressional seats in the state. In what had been the last undecided House contest in California, Cisneros beat Republican Young Kim for the state’s 39th District seat. The Cisneros victory…
read moreThe Sunday deadline for the end of the Florida election recounts is approaching, with Republican Gov. Rick Scott continuing to hold a lead over Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson for a seat in the U.S. Senate. As of Saturday afternoon, Nelson trailed by about 12,000 votes, with no major changes expected. The Florida governor’s race was essentially decided after…
read moreDemocrats won the majority. Now they just need a speaker of the House. The standoff over Nancy Pelosi’s bid to regain the gavel intensified as Democrats left Washington for the Thanksgiving break in what has turned out to be an unsettling finish to an otherwise triumphant week that saw them welcome a historic class of…
read morePresident Donald Trump says he “very easily” answered written questions from special counsel Robert Mueller, though he speculated that the questions had been “tricked up” to try to catch him in a lie. “They’re all done,” Trump told reporters at the White House early Saturday before leaving for California, adding that his responses will soon…
read moreIt turns out there is more than one Trump who can employ a few well-chosen words as a poison dart. With a bombshell public statement this week, it was first lady Melania Trump who revealed her ability to carry out a political hit. Her extraordinary call for the removal of a top administration official forced…
read moreThe fight over President Donald Trump’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general has reached the U.S. Supreme Court, with lawyers in a pending gun rights case asking the justices on Friday to decide whether the action was lawful. Critics have said the Republican president’s Nov. 7 appointment of Whitaker, who now will oversee special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s role…
read moreSince his contentious appointment last week, acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker has gone about business as usual, signing Justice Department documents, issuing statements in support of White House policies, and crisscrossing the country to deliver speeches before law enforcement groups. Yet controversy lingers over his abrupt rise to the top Justice Department post, with questions…
read moreAndrew Wheeler, a former lobbyist who has led the Environmental Protection Agency since his scandal-plagued predecessor resigned earlier this year, got President Donald Trump’s nod Friday for the permanent job. Trump made the announcement almost in passing at a White House ceremony for Presidential Medal of Freedom honorees. Singling out Cabinet members in the audience…
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