Month: July 2019

The Trump administration said Wednesday it will set up a system to allow Americans to legally import lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada, weakening a longstanding ban that had stood as a top priority for the politically powerful pharmaceutical industry. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex…

Singer-songwriter Ron Bultongez is living the American Dream from growing up in the Democratic Republic of Congo to being named the “Hometown Hero” of Plano, TX to becoming a Top 24 Finalist on American Idol 2018, where he left Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan in…

Puerto Rico's governor says he's chosen former Congress representative Pedro Pierluisi as the U.S. territory's secretary of state. That post would put Pierluisi in line to be governor when Rossello steps down this week – but he's unlikely to be approved by legislators. Ricardo Rossello…

Turkey's National Security Council met Tuesday to decide whether to launch a military offensive into Syria against the YPG Kurdish militia.  With Washington backing the YPG and warning against any unilateral action, the two NATO allies could be on a collision course. President Recep Tayyip…

Boston police are tracking nearly 5,000 people — almost all of them young black and Latino men — through a secretive gang database, newly released data from the department shows. A summary provided by the department shows that 66% of those in its database are…

California's Democratic governor signed a law Tuesday requiring presidential candidates to release their tax returns to appear on the state's primary ballot, a move aimed squarely at Republican President Donald Trump. But even if the law withstands a likely legal challenge, Trump could avoid the…

The unprecedented resignation of Puerto Rico's governor after days of massive island-wide protests has thrown the U.S. territory into a full-blown political crisis. Less than four days before Gov. Ricardo Rossello steps down, no one knows who will take his place. Justice Secretary Wanda Vazquez,…

For weeks, Turkey has been amassing its troops near its border with Syria for what appears to be an imminent attack against U.S.-backed Kurdish forces that Ankara views as terrorists. In this border town in northern Syria, locals say such an attack could throw the…

Ethiopians planted more than 350 million trees in one day, officials say, in what they believe is a world record. Ethiopia's minister of innovation and technology, Getahun Mekuria, tweeted estimates of the number of trees being planted throughout the day Monday. By early evening, he…

Poverty in the Philippines, a chronic development issue that makes the country an outlier in Asia, is declining because of economic strength followed by job creation. The archipelago’s official poverty rate dropped to 21% in the first half of last year from 27.6% in the…

New British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will make his first official visit to Scotland on Monday in an attempt to bolster the union in the face of warnings over a no-deal Brexit.  Johnson will visit a military base to announce new funding for local communities,…

U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators shift to Shanghai this week for their first in-person talks since a G20 truce last month, a change of scenery for two sides struggling to resolve deep differences on how to end a year-long trade war. Expectations for progress during…

A judge in Australia's Northern Territory has been accused of racism towards Indigenous defendants. Court transcripts published in the Australian media show Judge Greg Borchers accusing an Aboriginal woman of abandoning her children while drunk in that "great indigenous fashion." He also said that "anthropologists"…

New terror legislation to stop foreign fighters from returning to Australia has been approved by lawmakers. The government says the new laws will prevent carnage in Australia.  But experts say the exclusion measures will apply mostly to women and children, and will increase the risk…

Two American teenagers have been charged with the alleged killing of an Italian police officer following a drug deal gone wrong. The northern Californians refused to answer questions from the judge who nonetheless decided to keep them in custody. Italy is under shock at the…

Shelsea, whose husband was recently detained by ICE inside her family’s home, recounts the moments leading up to his arrest. ...

President Donald Trump listened to Robert Mueller testify to Congress this past week, then misrepresented what the former special counsel said. Some partisans on both sides did much the same, whether to defend or condemn the president. Trump seized on Mueller’s testimony to claim anew…

President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran is at a crossroads. His administration is trying to decide whether to risk stoking international tensions even more by ending one of the last remaining components of the 2015 nuclear deal. The U.S. faces a Thursday deadline…

NEW YORK — Federal authorities arrested a New York City man Friday on charges accusing him of seeking to join the Taliban to fight American forces.    The FBI intercepted Delowar Mohammed Hossain on Friday morning at Kennedy Airport before he could carry out a plan to travel…

ROME — A young American tourist has confessed to fatally stabbing an Italian paramilitary policeman who was investigating the theft of a bag and cellphone before dawn Friday, the Italian news agency ANSA and state radio reported.    ANSA, citing unidentified investigators, said two American tourists…

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court cleared the way Friday for the Trump administration to tap billions of dollars in Pentagon funds to build sections of a border wall with Mexico.  The court's five conservative justices gave the administration the green light to begin work on…

North Korea has formally announced its latest ballistic missile test, saying the launch was a warning to “military warmongers” in South Korea who are set to soon hold joint military exercises with the United States. North Korean state media showed pictures of Kim Jong Un…

There was more flash than substance Thursday as the White House celebrated the anniversary of an initiative to spur job training by companies. The initiative, led by President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, has garnered commitments from 300 companies to provide 12 million training opportunities in…

RFE/RL contributed to this report. Despite the arrest of a top Kremlin critic and police raids on the homes of several political activists, opposition leaders in Russia remained determined to go ahead with a planned protest in Moscow on Saturday. Opposition leader Alexei Navalny was…

The clamor from “Game of Thrones” fans for a do-over of the drama’s final season has been in vain. HBO programming chief Casey Bloys said Wednesday there was no serious consideration to remaking the story that some viewers and critics called disappointing. There are few…

A federal judge is considering whether to order Georgia to immediately stop using its outdated voting machines, even as state officials prepare to announce their replacement. A lawsuit filed by election integrity activists argues that the paperless touchscreen voting machines Georgia has used since 2002…

An African Union special envoy is urging South Sudan's leaders to enact and enforce laws to end the pervasive problem of sexual violence in the country. AU special envoy on youth, Aya Chebbi, said authorities must involve men if South Sudan is going to end gender-based…

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