In a deeply divided political atmosphere, Democrats and Republicans had hoped special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony before two House committees would be a turning point for the Trump administration. Amid the circuslike atmosphere on Capitol Hill, both parties appeared to dig in further on the issue of whether the president should be impeached. As VOA’s…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump celebrated former special counsel Robert Mueller’s appearances Wednesday before two House of Representatives committees as “a very good day” for himself and fellow Republicans. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after Mueller’s testimony about his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and alleged obstruction of justice by Trump that Democrats…
read moreBoth Russia and China are denying their military aircraft violated South Korea’s territorial airspace during a joint air patrol Tuesday. The alleged violation happened near a disputed group of islands claimed by both South Korea, which calls it Dokdo, and Japan, which calls it Takeshima. South Korea’s Defense Ministry says it scrambled multiple fighter…
read moreOfficials in Afghanistan say a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-packed vehicle into a NATO military convoy in Kabul Wednesday, killing one Croatian soldier and wounding two others. The early morning attack occurred near a military base on the northern outskirts of the Afghan capital. Croatian officials initially said three soldiers were wounded but later said…
read moreThe U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it was opening a broad investigation of major digital technology firms into whether they engage in anticompetitive practices, the strongest sign the Trump administration is stepping up its scrutiny of Big Tech. The review will look into “whether and how market-leading online platforms have achieved market power and…
read moreU.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who has been the target of some of President Donald Trump’s fiercest attacks, has called on supporters to confront racism and false accusations while at the same time remain focused on defeating Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Omar spoke to Muslim American democratic activists Tuesday as the president…
read moreA day of drama is unfolding Wednesday in Washington, with former special counsel Robert Mueller testifying before Congress about Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump and whether Trump subsequently obstructed justice as president by trying to thwart the prosecutor’s investigation. The stakes are high for Trump, the one-time New…
read moreA jury on Tuesday convicted Bijan Rafiekian, who was the business partner of U.S. President Donald Trump’s disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn, on charges of secretly lobbying for Turkey. Rafiekian, co-founder of the consultancy firm Flynn Intel Group, was accused of conspiring to lobby on Turkey’s behalf to try to persuade the U.S.…
read moreRussian boxer Maxim Dadashev has died from injuries sustained in a fight in Maryland, the Russian boxing federation announced Tuesday. “Maxim Dadashev has died in the United States following injuries sustained during his fight with Subriel Matias,” the federation said in a statement. The 28-year-old underwent emergency brain surgery in Washington after his super-lightweight bout…
read moreA senior U.S. official tasked with finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue told the United Nations Tuesday that international law and consensus are not the keys to resolving the decades-old dispute. “Those who continue to call for international consensus on this conflict are doing nothing to encourage the parties to sit down at the…
read morePhilippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s approval rating hit a new high because of his anti-crime work and populist appeal across class lines, a survey shows. While many nations and groups around the world criticize him, Duterte earned a net satisfaction rating of 68 in the second quarter of 2019, according to a July 8 public opinion…
read moreThe U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Army Secretary Mark Esper to be secretary of defense, ending the longest period by far that the Pentagon has been without a permanent top official. As voting continued, the Senate overwhelmingly backed Esper, a former lobbyist for weapons maker Raytheon Co., to be President Donald Trump’s second confirmed leader…
read moreThe FBI has more than 1,000 investigations of U.S. intellectual property theft in all 50 states with nearly all leading back to China, FBI Director Christopher Wray said, calling China the No. 1 counter-intelligence threat to the United States. Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Wray described the threat as “more deep, more diverse, more…
read moreThe immigration enforcement operation touted by President Donald Trump that targeted some 2,000 people resulted in 35 arrests. Trump billed the operation as a major show of force in an effort to “deport millions” of people in the country illegally as the number of Central American families crossing the southern border has skyrocketed. It…
read moreThe lights have gone out across much of Venezuela, snarling traffic in the capital and reviving fears of the blackouts that plunged the country into chaos a few months ago. The power in the capital went out after 4 p.m. (2000 GMT) and immediately backed up traffic as stop lights and the subway stopped working…
read moreThe Milky Way, home to our sun and billions of other stars, merged with another smaller galaxy in a colossal cosmic collision roughly 10 billion years ago, scientists said Monday, based on data from the Gaia space observatory. The union of the Milky Way and the so-called dwarf galaxy Gaia-Enceladus increased our galaxy’s mass by…
read moreNew Zealand on Monday unveiled the second round of restrictions on gun ownership in the aftermath of a deadly shooting at two mosques in Christchurch earlier this year. The new rules include establishing a gun registry, banning gun purchases by foreign visitors, and requiring gun owners to renew licenses every five years, instead of every…
read moreCongressional Democrats will ask Republicans to pass legislation to improve election security, ahead of special counsel Robert Mueller’s planned testimony to Congress Wednesday on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. House and Senate Democrats are expected to issue their call Tuesday in a press conference at the Senate, and plan to highlight several House-passed bills…
read moreAs former special counsel Robert Mueller prepares to testify before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees on Wednesday, one thing appears certain: the veteran prosecutor and former FBI director won’t reveal anything that’s not in his final report to Attorney General William Barr. “The report is my testimony,” Mueller declared on May 29 at the…
read moreA foundation that specializes in journalism is pledging nearly $50 million for research in how social media and technology impacts democracy. The grants announced Monday by the Miami-based Knight Foundation partly respond to the manipulation of tech giants like Facebook and Twitter during the 2016 election. Eleven universities and research institutions are recipients. Besides trying…
read moreThe party of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy won the most votes in Sunday’s parliamentary election giving the president a mandate to carry out sweeping changes in the country beset by conflict and high-level corruption. The former comedian and TV celebrity won a landslide victory in the April 21 presidential election and has called for snap…
read moreFrom mobile phones, tablets and laptop computers to all the different types of social media out there, modern day society as a whole is distracted in a way it never has before. Scientists have noticed that as technology becomes more prevalent, people are also getting fatter. VOA’s Elizabeth has the details on a Rice University…
read more
