Nikki Haley, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, said Sunday that President Donald Trump has not blocked her from attacking Russia, even as he continues to assail U.S. news media for its reporting on congressional and legal investigations into whether his aides colluded with Russian officials to help him win the election. “The president has not once called me and said, ‘Don’t beat up on Russia’ — has not once called me and told me what to say,” Haley told ABC News. “I am beating up on Russia.” Haley said Russia’s 2014 seizure of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula was wrong, as well Moscow’s continuing involvement supporting pro-Russian fighters in eastern Ukraine battling Kyiv’s forces. “When they do something wrong,” she said, “I have no trouble calling them out. The president has not disagreed with me” holding Russia “accountable.” Asked whether Trump needs to be “beating up on Russia” as …

The United States and Egypt are expected to reach accord on enhanced collaboration in the fight against radical Islamist terrorism Monday when Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi comes calling on President Donald Trump at the White House. “Both have a very deep antipathy toward political Islamism,” said H.A. Hellyer, senior fellow at the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East at the Atlantic Council. “They both view security as very much the first, second and third priority of politics.” A White House statement issued in advance of the visit said, “The relationship has historically been driven by security interests, and that will remain a key component of the engagement.” The statement praised the Egyptian leader’s tough policy in battling terrorists.  “Sissi has taken bold steps on a number of sensitive issues since becoming president in 2014,” it said. Common goals Analysts and regional experts who spoke to VOA agreed that …

As his parents wait for word of their son, who went missing in China more than a decade ago, there is a renewed push in Congress to search for him as suggestions emerge that he may be held against his will in North Korea. Eight senators co-sponsored a resolution Monday to reinvigorate the investigation into the case of David Sneddon, expressing concern over his disappearance in 2004 and likely abduction by the North Korean regime. The resolution calls upon the State Department and the intelligence community to enlist the help of governments in the Asia-Pacific region — China, South Korea and Japan — and to “consider all plausible explanations for David’s disappearance, including the possibility of abduction by the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, is leading the effort. “The greatest threat to totalitarian regimes is the truth,” Lee said in …

Michael Flynn, the retired Army general whom U.S. President Donald Trump ousted as his national security adviser, has amended his financial disclosure statement, revealing his ties with Russia. Flynn’s new filings show the Russian state-sponsored news organization Russia Today – RT – paid him $45,000 to speak at its 10th anniversary celebration. In addition, two other Russian firms paid him several thousand dollars for speeches. Robert Kelner, Flynn’s lawyer, said Flynn’s initial filing was a draft, submitted just days before his client resigned. Kelner said Flynn did not have the opportunity before stepping down to consult with the White House counsel’s office and the U.S. Office of Government Ethics; part of the process for submitting the forms. Kelner said when the White House asked Flynn afterwards to complete the process, “he did so.” Flynn’s amended forms were released late Friday along with scores of other financial statements from senior White …

A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit accusing Donald Trump of inciting violence against protesters at a presidential campaign rally last year can move forward, denying a free speech argument against the suit. The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge David Hale in Louisville, Kentucky, opens the way for the lawsuit brought by three protesters to proceed through the legal system. The suit is against Trump, his campaign and three of his supporters. Plaintiffs Henry Brousseau, Kashiya Nwanguma and Molly Shah say they were battered by Trump supporters at a March 2016 rally in Louisville as Trump repeatedly said “Get ‘em out.” Trump’s lawyers argued a free speech defense against the lawsuit, and said Trump did not intend for his supporters to use force. Hale wrote in an opinion and order that “it is plausible that Trump’s direction to ‘get ‘em out of here’ advocated the use of force. …

American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan accepted his Nobel Prize in literature Saturday in Stockholm, members of the Swedish Academy and local media reported. Dylan received his Nobel diploma and medal during a small ceremony at a hotel near where he performed later Saturday, Klas Ostergren, a member of the Swedish Academy, told The Associated Press. Academy member Horace Engdahl simply answered “yes” when asked by Swedish public broadcaster SVT whether Dylan had accepted his award. He performed a concert later Saturday but made no reference to the Nobel award. He plans a second concert Sunday. ‘New poetic expressions’ The academy cited Dylan “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition” in awarding him the 2016 Nobel. He was the first songwriter to be awarded the literature prize. Previous winners include authors Thomas Mann, Samuel Beckett, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Doris Lessing. The American icon, 75, did not …

Week by week, country by country, the Pentagon is quietly seizing more control over battle decisions, sending hundreds more troops to war with little public debate and seeking greater authority to fight extremists across the Middle East and Africa. This week it was Somalia, where President Donald Trump gave the U.S. military more authority to conduct offensive airstrikes on al-Qaida-linked militants. Next week it could be Yemen, where military leaders want to provide more help for the United Arab Emirates’ battle against Iranian-backed rebels. Key decisions on Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan are looming, from ending troop number limits to loosening rules that guide commanders in the field. The changes in Trump’s first two months in office underscore his willingness to let the Pentagon manage its own day-to-day combat. Under the Obama administration, military leaders chafed about micromanagement that included commanders needing approval for routine tactical decisions about targets and personnel …

Acclaimed Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, whose work focused on war atrocities and denounced anti-Semitism and tyrannical dictators, has died. He was 84. Ginny Hensley, a spokeswoman for Hillcrest Medical Center in Tulsa, confirmed Yevtushenko’s death. Roger Blais, provost at the University of Tulsa, where Yevtushenko was a longtime faculty member, said he was told Yevtushenko had died Saturday morning. “He died a few minutes ago surrounded by relatives and close friends,” his widow, Maria Novikova, was quoted as saying by the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. She said he’d died peacefully in his sleep of heart failure. Yevtushenko gained notoriety in the former Soviet Union while in his 20s, with poetry denouncing Josef Stalin. He gained international acclaim as a young revolutionary with “Babi Yar,” the unflinching 1961 poem that told of the slaughter of nearly 34,000 Jews by the Nazis and denounced the anti-Semitism that had spread throughout …

The language at a small graduation ceremony inside a federal office building in Washington Friday morning was militaristic: Fighting. Frontlines. Enemies. War. For a fifth year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rather quietly has trained a small team of injured, wounded or sick military veterans for a different type of deployment – supporting the agency’s lesser-known investigative arm as analysts on child exploitation cases – the ones who will be able to take photos off a hard drive in a child pornography investigation, then help identify the perpetrator and build the case for an arrest. “It is a battle. It is a war. And it needs to be,” said Daniel Ragsdale, ICE Deputy Director. Since 2013, more than 100 veterans have learned computer forensics through the H.E.R.O. Child-Rescue Corps, an 11-week program in the nation’s capital, followed by a nearly year-long internship in ICE field offices around the country. …

As the U.S. Senate prepares for a confirmation vote on Republican President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, Democratic opposition continues to mount. Three more Democratic senators, Claire McCaskill, Richard Blumenthal and Brian Schatz, announced their opposition to Gorsuch Friday, setting up a confrontation with Republicans. Democrats have said they will use a procedure called a filibuster that requires 60 votes to win a confirmation in the 100-seat Senate. Republicans control the Senate by a 52-48 margin but if Democrats can garner 41 votes, they would be able to sustain the filibuster. As of Friday, 36 Democrats said they would support the move. If Democrats gain enough support to block a confirmation in the week ahead, Republicans are expected to try to unilaterally change long-standing Senate rules to allow confirmation by a simple majority.   A filibuster is known on Capitol Hill as the “nuclear option” because its use …

U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive orders on trade deficits and import duty evasion are a sign that Washington plans to move away from free trade and international agreements, German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries said on Saturday. Trump instructed his administration on Friday to study the causes of U.S. trade deficits and clamp down on countries that abuse trade rules in two executive orders he said would open a new chapter for U.S. workers and businesses. Zypries said that while the executive orders were initially only reviews, “they show, however, that the U.S. obviously wants to move away from free trade and trade agreements.” “We must seek constructive dialogue and explain that the reasons for the U.S. trade deficit are not just abroad,” the minister said, adding that she would raise the issue in talks with U.S. counterparts during a trip to Washington in May. For years, the United States has …

He gives his political rivals derogatory nicknames like “Establishment Ed.” He uses the slogan, “Make Virginia Great Again.” He speaks at length about what he sees as the dangers posed by undocumented immigrants. And he despises political correctness so much that he railed against it in a Facebook Live video in which he sips coffee from a Confederate flag mug while sitting in his carefully restored 18th century tobacco plantation that once housed slaves. Meet Corey Stewart, the firebrand Virginia politician who is not so subtly imitating U.S. President Donald Trump, both in substance and style, as he wages a long-shot bid to capture the Republican Party nomination for governor in the southeastern state of Virginia. “I’m not trying to copy [Trump] wholesale, don’t get me wrong,” insists the 48-year-old Stewart, who served as Trump’s Virginia campaign chairman for part of the 2016 election. “But I did learn some things …

A U.S. judge has approved a $25 million deal settling the lawsuits against U.S. President Donald Trump and his now defunct Trump University. The students claimed Trump committed fraud with his assertions that his real estate seminars would help them make money in the real estate market. Some students paid as much as $35,000 to enroll in Trump University. U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel’s ruling Friday brings an end to a lengthy battle with Trump, who had vowed not to settle the suits. After his stunning presidential win in November, Trump decided to settle the lawsuits, saying he did not have the time for a trial. The California judge’s ruling settles two California class-action lawsuits and a civil lawsuit by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Schneiderman said in a statement that Friday’s deal “will provide relief — and hopefully much-needed closure — to the victims of Donald Trump’s fraudulent …

The White House has released a report on the personal finances of the president’s staff. The report, released late Friday, lays out details about the assets, liabilities and income in the portfolios of what are the wealthiest White House staff members ever when they entered the White House in January and before they started selling off assets that could be considered conflicts of interest in their new posts. The account includes data about the financial life of the president’s daughter, Ivanka, and her husband Jared Kushner, whose family is involved in real estate development in New York. Not surprisingly, the couple holds a massive real estate and business empire worth as much as $741 million, according to The New York Times. Ivanka Trump also retains an interest in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, just a few blocks from the White House.  The financial disclosures show Kushner has resigned from …

A witness says the driver of a pickup that collided with a church minibus in rural Texas, killing 13 people, acknowledged he had been texting while driving — a development that highlights the dangers of sending messages on smartphones while behind the wheel.    Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Conrad Hein wouldn’t comment Friday on whether texting might have played a role in the Wednesday collision on a two-lane road about 75 miles west (120 kilometers) of San Antonio, near the town of Concan. But officials have said the truck driver appeared to have crossed the centerline.    Jennifer Morrison, the investigator in charge of the team from the National Transportation Safety Board, would only say that distracted driving will be among the issues investigated.    The witness recounted the incident Friday in an interview with The Associated Press. Jody Kuchler, a 55-year-old self-employed welder, said he and his …

A witness says the driver of a pickup that collided with a church minibus in rural Texas, killing 13 people, acknowledged he had been texting while driving — a development that highlights the dangers of sending messages on smartphones while behind the wheel.    Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Conrad Hein wouldn’t comment Friday on whether texting might have played a role in the Wednesday collision on a two-lane road about 75 miles west (120 kilometers) of San Antonio, near the town of Concan. But officials have said the truck driver appeared to have crossed the centerline.    Jennifer Morrison, the investigator in charge of the team from the National Transportation Safety Board, would only say that distracted driving will be among the issues investigated.    The witness recounted the incident Friday in an interview with The Associated Press. Jody Kuchler, a 55-year-old self-employed welder, said he and his …

The Trump administration escalated its criticism of Moscow Friday, with two of its most senior officials denouncing Russia’s treatment of Ukraine and reiterating a vow to maintain U.S. sanctions. In his first visit to a NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson accused Russia of “aggression” in Ukraine and told his counterparts that their alliance is “fundamental to countering both nonviolent, but at times violent, Russian agitation” in the region.  He also said U.S. sanctions against Moscow will remain in effect until it “reverses the actions” that triggered them. Washington imposed the sanctions in response to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and expanded them after Moscow began providing military aid to pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Tillerson’s previous language on Russia had been more conciliatory. After his first meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a Group of 20 major …

On Tuesday, voters in California’s 34th congressional district will have a special election to fill a vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The race to represent much of Los Angeles in the lower house of Congress has 23 candidates: 19 Democrats, one Republican and three independents. VOA’s Arturo Martinez reports. …

President Donald Trump doubled down on his tough talk on trade with a pair of executive orders Friday, which he says are designed to level the playing field and reduce the $500 billion US trade deficit, more than half of which is with China. As Mil Arcega reports, the issue of unfair trade is likely to come up when the U.S. president meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping next week. …

A crowd of more than 1,000 people in Utah’s Democratic stronghold booed Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart at a Friday night town hall as the congressman defended GOP positions on health care, public lands and immigration.   Audience members yelled, “Do your job,” imploring him to investigate and denounce connections between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia and to hold the new administration accountable. Stewart started the event at a high school in Salt Lake City by acknowledging that many in the crowd likely didn’t vote for him, but he said he thinks it’s still important to hear them — one of the few comments he made that received applause. First town hall since February   The event marked the first town hall by a member of the state’s all-Republican congressional delegation since Rep. Jason Chaffetz was shouted down by a cacophony of boos at a February town hall.   …

A group of 31 U.S. colleges and universities is supporting a legal challenge to President Donald Trump’s restrictions on travel to the United States by refugees and visitors from certain Muslim-majority countries, asserting the executive order would harm their efforts to provide quality education and promote the free exchange of ideas. Federal courts have suspended enforcement of Trump’s immigration orders, at least temporarily, but legal action is underway by several states that hope to make the temporary restraining order permanent. The university group, including many of the most prestigious and elite U.S. institutions of higher education, filed a friend-of-the-court brief Friday in a federal appeals court that is to hear arguments in the case in May. Harvard, Yale and all other members of the eastern universities known as the Ivy League, plus renowned schools across the country, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to the University of Chicago to Stanford …