Category: Світ

Retired US Military Leaders Urge Preservation of Diplomatic, Foreign Aid Programs

More than 120 retired U.S. military generals and admirals are urging Congress not to cut spending on diplomacy and foreign aid, two government functions that may be targeted in President Donald Trump’s first budget proposal. When he unveils his budget proposal Tuesday before Congress, Trump is expected to call for a $54 billion boost in …

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Trump’s Trade Czar Ross Easily Wins US Senate Confirmation

Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross easily won confirmation as U.S. commerce secretary on Monday, clearing President Donald Trump’s top trade official to start work on renegotiating trade relationships with China and Mexico. The U.S. Senate voted 72-27 to confirm the 79-year-old corporate turnaround expert’s nomination, with strong support from Democrats. Ross is set to become an …

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Cambodia Threatens Media Outlets, Using Trump as Justification

Cambodia’s government has threatened to expel several media outlets, including the Voice of America, and is using U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticisms of the press as justification. In a Facebook post Saturday, Phay Siphan, a spokesman for Cambodia’s cabinet, threatened to “take action” against the media outlets, which he said are threatening the country’s peace …

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AP-NORC Poll: US Teens Disillusioned, Divided by Politics

In the days after President Donald Trump’s election, thousands of teenagers across the nation walked out of class in protest. Others rallied to his defense. It was an unusual show of political engagement from future voters who may alter America’s political landscape in 2020 — or even in next year’s midterm elections. Now, a new …

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1st Senior Chinese Official Visits Washington in Trump Era

China is sending its first senior official to visit the U.S. since President Donald Trump took office.   State Councilor Yang Jiechi is Chinese President Xi Jinping’s top foreign policy adviser and a familiar face in Washington. He has served as China’s foreign minister and ambassador to the U.S.   The foreign ministry said Yang …

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Trump’s Choice to Be Navy Secretary Withdraws

President Donald Trump’s choice to be secretary of the Navy, businessman Philip Bilden, said Sunday he was withdrawing from consideration for the post, citing concerns about privacy and separating himself from his business interests. Bilden’s withdrawal raises similar issues to that of Vincent Viola, Trump’s nominee for Army secretary who stepped aside earlier this month. …

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Police Say Dozens of Headstones Damaged at Philadelphia Jewish Cemetery

Police say scores of headstones have been vandalized at a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia. A police spokeswoman said preliminary estimates are that 75 to 100 graves were damaged at Mount Carmel Cemetery in the Wissinoming section of the city. WPVI-TV reported that a man who came to visit his father’s grave Sunday morning discovered headstones …

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Ahmadinejad Writes Open Letter to Trump

Iran’s former hardline president Mahmud Ahmadinejad has published an open letter in both English and Farsi to U.S. President Donald Trump, lauding the American leader for what he said was “truthfully describing the U.S. political system and electoral structure as corrupt.” The lengthy letter published Sunday also criticized Trump for his planned visa ban on …

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Pentagon Seeks to Expand Fight Against Extremists in Somalia

The Pentagon wants to expand the military’s ability to battle al-Qaida-linked militants in Somalia, potentially putting U.S. forces closer to the fight against a stubborn extremist group that has plotted attacks against America, senior U.S. officials said. The recommendations sent to the White House would allow U.S special operations forces to increase assistance to the …

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Swedes Puzzle Over Fox News’ Swedish ‘Security Advisor’

 A trans-Atlantic wave of puzzlement is rippling across Sweden for the second time in a week, after a prominent Fox News program featured a “Swedish defense and national security advisor” who’s unknown to the country’s military and foreign-affairs officials. Swedes, and some Americans, have been wondering about representations of the Nordic nation in the U.S. …

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US Democrats Poised to Elect New Party Chair

Democratic Party officials are poised to elect a leader to oversee the formidable task of rebuilding a Democratic Party that suffered a humiliating presidential election defeat at the hands of Republican Donald Trump. Four hundred and forty seven members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) will vote in Atlanta Saturday to elect a new party …

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Afghan Interpreter Struggles After Life in US Takes Tragic Turn

Like other Afghan immigrants, Faisal Razmal thought he was leaving violence behind for a new life in the United States, considered the land of opportunity. After all, he survived an IED (improvised explosive device) blast in Kabul during five years as an interpreter for U.S. forces. Threats to his life were worth it, in his …

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Report: McMaster Takes Issue With White House ‘Islamic Terrorism’ Mantra

The U.S. administration’s new national security adviser has reportedly told his staff that Muslims who carry out terrorist acts are corrupting Islam, a departure from an ideological position held by other senior advisers to President Donald Trump. Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster told members of the National Security Council that the use of the term “radical …

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Democratic Senators at Odds With Trump Over Chinese Trademarks

Democratic senators are protesting the Trump Organization’s acceptance of a valuable trademark from the Chinese government without asking Congress first if doing so is constitutional. A group of 13 senators warned President Donald Trump in a letter Thursday that they intended to hold him accountable to his oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution. Additional Democrats …

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Republicans Work on Plan to Replace Obamacare

Republicans in the U.S. Congress are working to overhaul the nation’s health care laws in their effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, considered by some to be one of former President Barack Obama’s most significant legislative achievements. U.S. media outlets reported details Friday of potential replacements for the health care law, frequently …

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Trump Action on Transgender Student Rights Seen as ‘So Bad for Business’

U.S. companies led by tech firms Yahoo, Apple and Microsoft have criticized the Trump administration’s decision to revoke Obama administration guidance that allowed transgender public school students to use the bathroom of their choice. Their statements evoked the opposition expressed by many businesses last year when North Carolina passed a law forcing transgenders to use …

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Library of Congress Director Focuses on Making Collections More Accessible

The director of the Library of Congress wants to upgrade its technology to make its eclectic mix of materials available to people around the world. Carla Hayden became the director of the world’s largest library five months ago, becoming the first woman and first African-American to hold the job. (As part of Black History Month …

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Top White House Officials Praise Trump at CPAC

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and other top White House officials addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held Thursday near Washington. After a divisive election cycle, the event, in part, helps rally the Republican base around the Trump administration’s agenda. VOA’s Jesusemen Oni reports. …

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Muslim-Americans Ask President Trump to Address Their Concerns

U.S. President Donald Trump Tuesday explicitly condemned anti-Semitism, following a wave of bomb threats against Jewish community centers. But many Muslim-Americans are upset that the president hasn’t taken similar steps to address concerns about anti-Muslim sentiment, asVOA’s William Gallo reports. …

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SpaceX Makes Good on Space Station Delivery a Little Late

SpaceX made good on a 250-mile-high delivery at the International Space Station on Thursday, after fixing a navigation problem that held up the shipment a day.   Everything went smoothly the second time around as the station astronauts captured the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship as the two craft sailed over Australia. On Wednesday, a GPS …

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Tillerson, Kelly Hope to Ease US-Mexico Tensions

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly meet Thursday with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and members of his cabinet, in what is expected to be the first in a series of high-level meetings focusing on drug trafficking, trade and immigration. The two key members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet …

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China Aware US Navy in South China Sea, Respects Freedom of Navigation

The U.S. navy said the strike group, including the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier the USS Carl Vinson, began “routine operations” in the South China Sea on Saturday amid growing tension with China over control of the disputed waterway. Defense ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said China had a grasp of the situation regarding the carrier group in …

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Trump’s Vision Looms Large Over Annual Conservative Gathering

Thousands of American conservatives are set to open their annual political conference Wednesday outside Washington, D.C., with the weight of President Donald Trump’s vision for the country’s future taking center stage. Trump is scheduled to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Friday, and while those at the conference are likely excited about the …

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DNC Race Remains Tight as Energized Democrats Combat Trump

The contest to head the Democratic National Committee remains fluid just days before activists meet to pick a new party chair. The tight race between former Labor Secretary Tom Perez and Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota marks the first heavily contested battle in recent history, a reflection of a newly energized Democratic party struggling to …

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Mexico’s President to Meet 2 Trump Emissaries

Two key members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet are hoping to soothe concern and anger about the new U.S. administration’s policies towards Mexico. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly meet Thursday with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and members of his cabinet, in what is expected to be the first …

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Millions Targeted for Possible Deportation Under Trump Rules

Millions of people living in the United States illegally could be targeted for deportation — including people simply arrested for traffic violations — under a sweeping rewrite of immigration enforcement policies announced Tuesday by the Trump administration. Any immigrant who is in the country illegally and is charged with or convicted of any offense, or …

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