Category: Світ

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis accused Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday of being a “slow learner” who again tried to meddle in U.S. elections in November, adding that he had no trust in the Russian leader. The remarks by Mattis at a security forum in California came a day after President Donald Trump held …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday condemned what he described as Iran’s testing of a medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads as a violation of the international agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program.    Amid tension between Washington and Tehran over ballistic missiles, Pompeo warned in a statement released on Twitter that Iran …

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, over a Buenos Aires dinner of grilled sirloin steak, discussed their vast differences on trade that have led in past months to exchanges of significant retaliatory tariffs between the world’s two largest economies.  Trump, sitting across from Xi at a long banquet table, described their relationship …

Since President John Adams and first lady Abigail Adams’ Christmas party at the White House in December 1800, wintertime in the U.S. president’s residence has been filled with various holiday festivities. This year, first lady Melania Trump has decked White House halls in the spirit of the patriotic theme “American Treasures.” Patsy Widakuswara has this …

The town of Paradise, California, was nearly wiped off the map in a devastating wildfire three weeks ago.  At least 88 people died and more than 150 are still missing.  Mike O’Sullivan reports from Chico, California, that survivors are now planning for the future. …

The United Nations has added reggae music to its list of International Cultural Treasures worthy of protection and promotion. Perfume-making in a southern French city and a religious tradition in Mexico are among traditions that have joined the list of UNESCO’S Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has more. …

The leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States signed a new North American trade deal Friday. Justin Trudeau, Enrique Pena Nieto and Donald Trump inked the deal in Argentina, ahead of the opening of the G-20 summit. It will, however, take a while for the agreement to take effect as lawmakers from all three …

Russia and China are among several countries attempting to “stress-test” the resolve of traditional powers, according to a report from the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. It claims so-called “challenger” nations are persistently testing the tolerance of established powers for different forms of aggression, from proxy wars to cyberattacks. The researchers cite the seizure …

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico, will file for bankruptcy protection as it faces litigation arising from accusations of sexual abuse by clergy, its archbishop said Thursday. The move comes nearly three months after New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas requested Catholic church officials in the state, including the Archdiocese of Santa …

A new study by longtime China experts in the U.S. has concluded that Beijing is engaging in an increasingly aggressive campaign to influence and shape perceptions about China held by American politicians, university scholars and students, as well as executives at major corporations. “Except for Russia, no other country’s efforts to influence American politics and …

Several Democratic women, including Senators Kamala Harris (California), Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), Kirsten Gillibrand (New York) and possibly even 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton, are potential presidential contenders in 2020, but it could be more of an uphill battle for them than for their male counterparts. That’s because just over half of Americans are totally comfortable with …

The Trump administration is considering new background checks and other restrictions on Chinese students in the United States over growing espionage concerns, U.S. officials and congressional sources said. In June, the U.S. State Department shortened the length of visas for Chinese graduate students studying aviation, robotics and advanced manufacturing to one year from five. U.S. …

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that new auto tariffs were “being studied now,” asserting they could prevent job cuts such as the U.S. layoffs and plant closures that General Motors Co. announced this week.    Trump said on Twitter that the 25 percent tariff placed on imported pickup trucks and commercial vans from markets …

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealed to G-20 leaders ahead of their meetings this week to cooperate more to address some of the planet’s most pressing issues.  “Threats to human prosperity are becoming increasingly acute,” Guterres wrote in a five-page letter dated Nov. 16 and released by the U.N. on Wednesday. “More, rather than less, …

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell boosted U.S. stock markets on Wednesday when he said interest rates were “just below” estimates of a level that neither brakes nor boosts a healthy economy. Many took his comments as a signal that the Fed’s three-year tightening cycle is ending.  The S&P 500 and Dow posted their biggest percentage gains …

The breakdown of a plea deal with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an explosive British news report about alleged contacts he may have had with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange threw a new element of uncertainty into the Trump-Russia investigation on Tuesday.   A day after prosecutors accused Manafort of repeatedly lying to them, …

Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith won a divisive Mississippi runoff Tuesday, surviving a video-recorded remark decried as racist and defeating a former federal official who hoped to become the state’s first African-American senator since Reconstruction.   The runoff was rocked by the video, in which Hyde-Smith said of a supporter, “If he invited me to …

To hear President Donald Trump tell it, he was made for a moment like this: A high-stakes face-off. A ticking clock. A cagey adversary.   The man who calls himself a supreme dealmaker will have the opportunity this week to put himself to the test. The question is whether he can defuse a trade war …

The U.S. military in Afghanistan says three of its service members were killed and three others wounded when an improvised explosive device exploded near the troubled central eastern city of Ghazni. An American contractor was also wounded in the blast. A brief statement issued in Kabul said, “The wounded service members and contractor were evacuated …

U.S. President Donald Trump told supporters at a political rally late Monday that his administration has no intention of allowing Central American migrants who traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border to enter the United States. “We are sending a simple message to the lawless caravans and to the illegal trespassers marching toward our border,” he said …

President Donald Trump is defending his administration’s use of tear gas to stop a group of Central American migrants who tried to force their way into the United States. The unrest represented a serious escalation of the crisis, with authorities on both sides of the border arresting migrants and pledging to prosecute those engaging in …

The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo says the United States is creating “needless fear” after the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa said it had knowledge of a credible threat to its security before an election to replace the country’s long-serving leader. The embassy closed its doors on Monday after reporting over the weekend …

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday expressed his”deep disappointment” in General Motors Co’s decision to close its Oshawa plant, a move Canadian officials only learned about on Sunday and which led workers to walk off the job on Monday. Canadian officials promised to aid auto workers affected by the 2019 closure, part of a …

Five international charities on Monday urged the United States to halt all military support for a Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Shi’ite rebels, saying it would save millions of lives. A joint statement by the International Rescue Committee, Oxfam America, CARE US, Save the Children, and the Norwegian Refugee Council said that 14 million people are …

Several U.S. lawmakers broke with President Donald Trump on Sunday, disagreeing with his assessment that it was uncertain whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in the killing of a Saudi dissident journalist inside Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul. Congressman Adam Schiff, set to become the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee when Democrats …

Washington is digesting the U.S. government’s starkest-ever warnings and most dire predictions to date on climate change. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports, the White House is issuing no calls for action in response to the National Climate Assessment, and President Donald Trump continues to mock the very concept of global warming. …