Author: Fworld

Alabama’s GOP-dominated legislature redrew legislative maps Friday under court order to fix racial gerrymandering, punctuating a session rife with racial turmoil over issues such as the protection of Confederate monuments and an email that compared lawmakers to monkeys. The Senate approved new district maps Friday and sent them to the governor despite objections from black …

About three million American university graduates will enter the job market this year. And with unemployment currently at a 10-year low, it’s a good time to be graduating, says Nicole Smith, chief economist at Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW). “We are at one of the lowest unemployment rates we’ve had since …

U.S. presidential trips are an opportunity to project power and burnish statesmanship. But they come with diplomatic dangers and potential pitfalls, too. For Donald Trump, several of those await in Jerusalem and Bethlehem next week. A nine-day tour taking in Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Palestinian territories, the Vatican and NATO would be a tall order …

President Donald Trump is wasting no time trying to succeed where his predecessors have failed. He will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories on Monday and Tuesday of next week, hoping to revive peace talks that collapsed three years ago. His goal is what he calls “the ultimate deal” that would bring an elusive peace …

U.S. officials and lawmakers may have been outraged when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s bodyguards attacked and beat peaceful protesters in Washington as their leader watched. Back in Turkey, however, that hard-line approach is welcomed by many of the president’s nationalist supporters. The clash Tuesday began when Erdogan’s motorcade pulled up in front of the …

The Trump administration is set to impose new sanctions on members of the Venezuelan Supreme Court for stripping the opposition-led congress of all power earlier this year. Among those targeted is Maikel Moreno, the president of the pro-government Supreme Court, which issued a ruling in late March. The ruling was later partially reversed amid international …

Rep. Jason Chaffetz announced Thursday he will resign from Congress next month, saying a “midlife crisis” compelled him to step away from his chairmanship of the House Oversight Committee as it is poised to launch an investigation into President Donald Trump’s firing of the FBI director. The announcement by Chaffetz, 50, was the latest upending …

Days before President Donald Trump took office, incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn blocked a military plan against the Islamic State group that was opposed by Turkey, a country he had been paid more than $500,000 to advocate for, the McClatchy News Service reported. According to the report, Flynn declined a request from the Obama …

President Donald Trump sets off on his first international trip Friday to the Middle East and Europe, no doubt hoping to leave behind a string of political firestorms that have raged for most of the past week over his firing of FBI Director James Comey, his sharing of classified intelligence with Russian officials, and reports …

Sixteen countries have been designated as Countries of Particular Concern by the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom. The bipartisan U.S. government commission documents religious freedom around the world and makes recommendations to the president, secretary of state and Congress. VOA’s Mariama Diallo explains why some countries are on the list, including one superpower. …

Russian President Vladimir Putin says President Donald Trump never passed any classified information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov when they met last week in Washington, and he has the transcripts to prove it. Speaking Wednesday alongside Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Putin said Lavrov never passed the purported secrets on to him, and he …

Israeli officials on Wednesday sought to downplay any damage caused by President Donald Trump’s disclosure of classified information to senior Russian officials that was reportedly provided by Israel, and lauded the robust security cooperation with the United States just days before the president is due to arrive for a state visit.   Despite fears that …

A violent altercation broke out in Washington, D.C., prior to the arrival of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House. The fight erupted between Erdogan supporters and a few dozen protesters outside of the Turkish ambassador’s residence. Erdogan’s bodyguards were also involved. Police said nine people were hurt, one with serious injuries. Two …

North Korean claims that its newly-tested ballistic missile can carry a nuclear warhead appear to explain a subtle but significant shift in the way U.S. intelligence views Pyongyang.   Top officials, who once described North Korea as a “second tier” adversary with more intent than capability, now refer to it as an “increasingly grave” threat …

A week after U.S. President Donald Trump sparked anger in Turkey by authorizing the arming of Syrian Kurds, he welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the White House on Tuesday. Trump said the two leaders would hold “long and hard discussions” regarding the relationship between their countries. “We’ve had a great relationship and we …

Bill Cosby says he doesn’t expect to testify at his Pennsylvania sexual assault trial.   The comedian spoke to Sirius radio host Michael Smerconish in an interview being broadcast Tuesday.   Smerconish says he agreed to air an uncut, 82-minute conversation between Cosby and his daughters in exchange for the interview.   Cosby says his …

U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and other members of the Trump administration have denied the accuracy of published reports that the president revealed highly classified information to Russian officials in the Oval Office. The original story, first reported by the Washington Post, “is false,” McMaster told reporters on the White House grounds late Monday. …

A U.S. judge sentenced a Mississippi street gang member to 49 years in prison in the first federal hate crime trial involving a transgender victim. Josh Vallum is already serving life in prison on state murder charges for killing Mercedes Williamson. Vallum apologized for killing her, saying there is no excuse for what he did. …

White House officials on Monday continued to deflect criticism of President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey and insisted the search to name his successor was moving quickly. Six days after Trump fired Comey, the firestorm over the decision raged on in Washington, with Democrats ramping up their calls for a special prosecutor …

U.S. support for Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State in Syria is expected to dominate the first official meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey is fiercely opposed to that alliance, saying Kurds in Syria are linked to the Kurdish terrorist group PKK in Turkey, which is fighting for an …

Developments over the weekend concerning President Donald Trump, the continuing controversy around the firing of FBI Director James Comey, the search to replace him, and comments made by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s on Sunday morning talk-shows: Poll: Few in US Support Trump’s Firing of FBI Chief — A new public opinion poll shows more …

A group that included a well-known white nationalist carried torches and chanted “you will not replace us” at a weekend protest in Virginia over plans to remove a monument of a Confederate general. The protesters on Saturday evening called on officials to halt the removal of a Gen. Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville and …

Europe’s police agency Europol says a global cyberattack has affected at least 100,000 organizations in 150 countries, with data networks infected by malware that locks computer files unless a ransom is paid. Speaking to Britian’s ITV, Europol director Rob Wainwright said the healthcare sector in many countries is particularly vulnerable.   So far there has …

Here is a look at some of the places hit by the global cyberattack. European Union — Europol’s European Cybercrime Center, known as EC3, said the attack “is at an unprecedented level and will require a complex international investigation to identify the culprits.” Britain — Britain’s home secretary said the “ransomware” attack hit one in …

Tech staffs around the world worked around the clock this weekend to protect computers and patch networks to block the computer hack whose name sounds like a pop song — “WannaCry” — as analysts warned the global ransomware attack could be just the first of a new wave of strikes by computer criminals. The United …

U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that a new FBI director could be named in the next week. “We can make a fast decision,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One before flying to Lynchburg, Virginia, to deliver a commencement address at Liberty University. The president’s remarks came four days after his controversial firing of …