Senators Spar Over FBI Probe of Kavanaugh, Trump Mocks His Accuser

As U.S. senators await the result of an FBI investigation and prepare for a potential final vote on President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, Trump used part of a political rally to mock a woman who has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her. The FBI investigation was launched Friday, one day after Christine …

Canada Revokes Myanmar Leader’s Honorary Citizenship

Canada’s Parliament formally stripped Aung San Suu Kyi of her honorary Canadian citizenship on Tuesday for complicity in the atrocities committed against Myanmar’s Rohingya people. The Senate voted unanimously to strip Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s civilian leader, of the symbolic honor bestowed on her in 2007. The upper house’s move follows a similar unanimous vote in …

Foreign Minister: Four Million Venezuelans May Live in Colombia by 2021

There could be up to 4 million Venezuelan migrants living in Colombia by 2021 if the situation in the socialist-run country worsens, Colombia’s foreign minister said on Tuesday, estimating the cost at some $9 billion. Venezuelans have been crossing into countries across the region to escape food and medicine shortages and a deep economic crisis. …

China’s Private Enterprises Feel Squeeze on All Fronts

As trade tensions between Beijing and Washington worsen, a debate is intensifying in China over the role private and state-owned enterprises play in the economy. The debate has even stoked fears that the communist-led government is preparing to nationalize private industries, analysts say. Under Xi Jinping’s leadership and especially over the past year, after he …

Amazon Raising Minimum Wage for US Workers to $15 Per Hour

Amazon is boosting its minimum wage for all U.S. workers to $15 per hour starting next month. The company said Tuesday that the wage hike will benefit more than 350,000 workers, which includes full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal positions. It includes Whole Foods employees. Amazon’s hourly operations and customer service employees, some who already make …

Polish Lawyers Call on Government to Abandon Legal Reform Plan

The association of Polish lawyers called on the government on Monday to abandon a plan for legal reform it says could undermine attorney-client confidentiality as part of a broader campaign to take control of the judiciary. The Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily and other media say the plan would enable prosecutors to ask lawyers to divulge …

Pentagon Cancels Talks With China Amid Rising Tensions

The Pentagon has canceled plans for U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to visit China after his counterpart in Beijing could not be made available, a U.S. defense official told VOA on Monday. The trip was never finalized or formally announced. The Pentagon decided not to participate late last week after trying to schedule security talks …

California Governor Signs Tough Net Neutrality Bill

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the nation’s toughest net neutrality measure Sunday, requiring internet providers to maintain a level playing field online. Advocates of net neutrality hope the move in the home of the global technology industry will have national implications, prompting Congress to enact national net neutrality rules or encouraging other states to follow …

Iran Sentences 3 Suspects to Death Over Financial Crimes

Special courts in Iran set up to deal with financial crimes have sentenced three suspects to death over corruption, the official IRNA news agency reported Sunday. According to the deputy chief of judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi, said the three were among 35 suspects recently brought to trial, IRNA reported. Ejehi said the rest were sentenced …

Hurricane Rosa to Drench Mexico, US Southwest

The National Weather Service has announced flash flood watches for the Southwest United States and a tropical storm warning for northwest Mexico as Hurricane Rosa churns closer. According to the National Hurricane Center, Rosa is weakening but is still expected to be a tropical storm when it hits the Baja California Peninsula and Mexico’s Sonora …