Author: Fworld

Hope that loved ones had survived a tsunami of iron ore mine waste from a dam collapse in Brazil was turning to anguish and anger over the increasing likelihood that many of the hundreds of people missing had died. By Saturday night, when authorities called off rescue efforts until daybreak, the death toll stood at …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the international community to support the Venezuelan people and recognize the interim government of opposition leader Juan Guaido as he stands up to disputed President Nicolas Maduro. “Now it is time for every other nation to pick a side,” Pompeo told the U.N. Security Council during a rare …

Three militia members convicted of taking part in a foiled plot to massacre Muslims in southwest Kansas were sentenced Friday to decades in prison during an emotional court hearing in which one of the targeted victims pleaded: “Please don’t hate us.” U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren sentenced Patrick Stein, the alleged ringleader, to 30 years …

The United States and the Taliban may have agreed on a plan for American troops to leave Afghanistan, sources privy to the development told VOA Saturday. In return, the insurgent group has given assurances that no international terrorist groups would be allowed to use Afghan soil to threaten America or any other country in future. …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has appointed foreign policy veteran Elliott Abrams to be U.S. envoy to Venezuela, tasked with helping “restore democracy” to the South American nation.    Pompeo made the announcement Friday afternoon in Washington, ahead of a special session of the U.N. Security Council on Saturday. Pompeo said Abrams would travel …

The coalition of Latin American governments that joined the U.S. in quickly recognizing Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president came together over weeks of secret diplomacy that included whispered messages to activists under constant surveillance and a high-risk foreign trip by the opposition leader challenging President Nicolas Maduro for power, those involved in the talks …

Potential Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg said Friday that Donald Trump’s presidency “cannot be helped” and was “dangerous” for the country. The former New York City mayor also described the partial government shutdown, now at a record 35th day, as “a complete failure of presidential leadership.” The billionaire businessman said that for fellow New Yorker …

The Trump administration on Friday will start forcing some asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases proceed through U.S. courts, an official said, launching what could become one of the more significant changes to the immigration system in years.  The changes will be introduced at San Diego’s San Ysidro border crossing, according to …

The Illinois attorney general’s office has signaled it may be considering a rare sentencing-related appeal if it concludes a white Chicago police officer’s less-than-seven-year prison sentence in the slaying of black teenager Laquan McDonald was wrongly calculated. The office said in a brief statement emailed Thursday it is reviewing Jason Van Dyke’s sentence. With credit …

The World Refugee Council called Thursday for up to $20 billion stolen by government leaders and now frozen in the United States, Britain and other countries to be reallocated by courts to help millions of displaced people forced to flee conflict, persecution and victimization.    The council also called for people responsible for the growing …

Adam Crapser lives in limbo, a stranger in South Korea, the country of his birth. Forcibly separated from his wife, children and friends in America, he is isolated by language and culture, left alone to navigate this sprawling city he’s been expelled to four decades after being sent to adoptive parents in Michigan at age …

Amid ongoing deadly violence in Afghanistan, the country’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah is calling on the U.S. and the world not to give up on his people. President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration with the 17-year U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan and is considering a major withdrawal of U.S. troops, with the Taliban carrying …

U.S. President Donald Trump has officially recognized Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido as the South American country’s interim president. Trump issued a statement Wednesday after Venezuela’s national assembly declared the presidency of Nicolas Maduro as illegitimate and Guaido declared himself interim president. VOA’S Zlatica Hoke has more. …

The United States has officially recognized Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim leader after the opposition politician declared himself president during a day of mass demonstrations in the South American country. “Today, I am officially recognizing the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela,” President Donald Trump said in …

President Donald Trump says he looks forward to delivering his State of the Union address in the House chamber on January 29, despite being strongly discouraged from doing so by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “There are no security concerns regarding the State of the Union Address.  Therefore I will be honoring your invitation and fulfilling …

House Democrats are putting forward a new proposal to end the government shutdown, aiming to lure President Donald Trump away from his demand for a border wall by offering billions of new dollars for other border security measures. The offer is a possible path toward a compromise even though it does not have money for …

Consumer activist Erin Brockovich, who famously took on Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in the 1990s, urged California lawmakers Tuesday not to let the utility go bankrupt because it could mean less money for wildfire victims. “I’m mad, I think we should all be mad,” Brockovich said as she stood outside the Capitol in Sacramento …

The U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday it will pursue the extradition of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, arrested in Canada in December on allegations she participated in a conspiracy to defraud banks. Meng, 46, is due to reappear in a Vancouver court on Feb. 6 to set further court dates. Her …

While President Donald Trump resolutely demanded wall construction along the U.S.-Mexico border, Democratic lawmakers rejected a White House proposal with wall funding and temporary immigration provisions that would end a partial government shutdown now in its second month. “Without a Wall our Country can never have Border or National Security,” Trump tweeted Tuesday.  At the …

While Alaska may be the biggest U.S. state, its population is one of the smallest in the country. Four-fifths of the state’s territory can be reached only by air, and a lot of small towns would have been completely isolated were it not for small planes. The community of Diomede is on the island of …

There are all kinds of unusual private museums in the United States, from the international spy museum, to one showcasing hair. And with Americans’ love affair with their dogs, it is not surprising there is also a dog museum. VOA’s Deborah Block tells about it. …

The United States will proceed with the formal extradition from Canada of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, Canada’s ambassador to the United States told the Globe and Mail, in a move certain to ratchet up tensions with China. David MacNaughton, in an interview with the Canadian newspaper published Monday, said the U.S. has told Canada it …

Despite the Trump administration asserting there’s been ongoing progress in talks with North Korea over its commitment to denuclearize, it is unclear what has been achieved ahead of the U.S. announced summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un. Bruce Klinger, Senior Research Fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation, says “that while some …

Turkey is ready to take over security in the Kurdish-controlled Syrian city of Manbij, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday. Erdogan’s office says the president spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump by telephone Sunday, days after an Islamic State attack in the city killed 19 people, including three U.S. service members and an American military …

An influential Unites States senator who is considered to be close to President Donald Trump cast doubts on reports that half of the United States troops in Afghanistan would be withdrawn soon.   “I’ve had no evidence that there’s been a number like that at all.  I don’t believe that report’s accurate,” said Republican Senator …

U.S. President Donald Trump assailed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday for rejecting what he is calling a compromise to end the record 30-day partial government shutdown, with $5.7 billion for his barrier along the U.S.-Mexican border and three years of protection against deportation for hundreds of thousands of immigrants. “Nancy Pelosi and some of …