Kenya’s Finance Minister Henry Rotich has cut the government’s spending budget by 55.1 billion shillings ($546.90 million), or 1.8 percent, for the fiscal year from July this year, a Treasury document showed on Wednesday. The government is facing a tough balancing act after a public outcry over a new 16 percent value added tax on…
read moreEU regulators are quizzing merchants and others on U.S. online retailer Amazon’s use of their data to discover whether there is a need for action, Europe’s antitrust chief said on Wednesday. The comments by European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager came as the world’s largest online retailer faces calls for more regulatory intervention and even its…
read moreSeveral cryptocurrency exchanges are plagued by poor market surveillance, pervasive conflicts of interest and lack sufficient customer protections, the New York Attorney General’s office said in a report published on Tuesday. The study found that online platforms where virtual currencies such as bitcoin can be bought and sold by individuals operate with lower safeguards than…
read moreLawyers for the woman who is accusing U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault more than 30 years ago says she wants the FBI to investigate her allegation before she testifies publicly. Kavanaugh denies the charge and will apparently tell his side of the story before the Senate Judiciary Committee next Monday. His…
read moreThroughout West Acres, North Dakota’s largest shopping mall in Fargo, help wanted signs fill storefront windows. “It’s a very competitive market,” said Brad Ruhro, owner of Legacy Toys, a family-owned chain of toys stores with a location at West Acres. Ruhro said that as a toy store owner, it’s easy for him to tell when…
read morePresident Donald Trump says the U.S. economy is the “envy of the world.” And with the unemployment rate at an 18-year low, Republicans are counting on the improving U.S. economy to make their case with voters in crucial midterm elections in November. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson traveled to North Dakota to see if the…
read moreIn Kenya, a new taxi hailing app developed by local taxi drivers is in its fourth month of operation in Nairobi. Dubbed BebaBeba by the Drivers and Partners Association of Kenya (DPAK), it was created to compete with Uber and other ride hailing apps. Rael Ombuor reports from Nairobi. …
read moreVideos of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro feasting on steaks at an upscale restaurant have sparked worldwide outrage on behalf of the poverty-stricken people of his country. One video show celebrity chef Nusret Gokce, also known as “Salt Bae,” carving meat for the president and his wife, Cilia Flores, at the Nusr-Et restaurant in Istanbul, where…
read moreGerman luxury car brand Audi this week staged the global launch of a new electric sport utility vehicle on the home turf of rival Tesla, and highlighted a deal with Amazon.com Inc. to make recharging its forthcoming e-tron models easier. The Audi e-tron midsize SUV will be offered in the United States next year at…
read moreA volunteer medic and the man whose life he saved. A lawmaker whose Facebook post calling for protests in Kyiv’s Maidan square helped bring down a president. These are some of the characters featured in a virtual reality reconstruction of the bloodiest day in the 2013-14 street demonstrations in Ukraine, when dozens of protesters were…
read moreElectric drones booked through smartphones pick people up from office rooftops, shortening travel time by hours, reducing the need for parking and clearing smog from the air. This vision of the future is driving the Japanese government’s “flying car” project. Major carrier All Nippon Airways, electronics company NEC Corp. and more than a dozen other…
read moreA Senate panel’s scheduled public hearing next week into allegations U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh assaulted a teenage girl when they were both in high school was thrown into doubt on Tuesday. Senator Charles Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee considering Kavanaugh’s appointment to a lifetime seat on the country’s highest court,…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump accused China Tuesday of “actively trying to impact and change” the U.S. election and threatened “great and fast economic retaliation” if it retaliates with measures that would hurt American workers. Trump did not offer evidence to support his accusation nor did he specify whether it was the upcoming midterm elections China…
read moreAlibaba chairman Jack Ma’s surprise announcement last week that he would step down as head of the world’s biggest e-commerce company, has sparked animated discussions on what would be his next career move and whether the Chinese government was behind the decision. Some analysts have suggested the government was keen to enhance its influence over…
read moreChina says it has no choice but to retaliate to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, risking a further escalation of trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies. On Tuesday, China announced a tariff hike on $60 billion of American products. In a brief statement posted…
read moreAfrica has the globe’s fastest-growing youth population as well as 10 of the poorest countries, a volatile combination that warrants making it “the world’s most important priority for the foreseeable future.” The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation lays out that argument in its second annual report on progress toward sustainable development goals set by the…
read moreRepublicans and Democrats joined forces to speed legislation combating the misuse of opioids and other addictive drugs toward Senate passage Monday, a rare campaign-season show of unity against a growing and deadly health care crisis. The measure takes wide aim at the problem, including increasing scrutiny of arriving international mail that may include illegal drugs…
read moreSpaceX, Elon Musk’s space transportation company, on Monday named its first private passenger as Japanese businessman Yusaku Maezawa, the founder and chief executive of online fashion retailer Zozo. A former drummer in a punk band, billionaire Maezawa will take a trip around the moon planned for 2023 aboard its forthcoming Big Falcon Rocket spaceship, taking…
read moreU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday the United States would cap the number of refugees allowed into the country at 30,000 for fiscal year 2019, a sharp drop from a limit of 45,000 it set for 2018. “We proposed resettling up to 30,000 refugees under the new refugee ceiling as well as…
read moreDonald Trump on Monday declassified a trove of documents related to the early days of the FBI’s Russia investigation, including portions of a secret surveillance warrant and former FBI Director James Comey’s text messages. Trump made the extraordinary move in response to calls from his allies in Congress who say they believe the Russia…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, could be sentenced as soon as Nov. 28, according to a joint court filing by prosecutors from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office and defense lawyers on Monday. Prosecutors have repeatedly deferred Flynn’s sentencing date since he pleaded…
read moreElon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, was sued for defamation on Monday for falsely suggesting that a British caver who helped save 12 boys and their soccer coach from a Thailand cave in July was a pedophile and child rapist. Vernon Unsworth sued over Musk’s reference to him in a July 15 tweet as…
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