The United States and Britain urged Russia on Friday to bring to justice all those responsible for the slaying of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov. A Russian court on Thursday convicted five men of murdering Nemtsov, but allies of the politician have said the investigation was a cover-up and that the people who had ordered his killing remained at large. “We call once more on the Russian government to ensure that all involved in the killing of Boris Nemtsov, including anyone involved in organizing or ordering the crime, are brought to justice,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement, calling Nemtsov a “champion of democracy and human rights.” Britain said it wanted Russia to further investigate Nemtsov’s death. “The Foreign and Commonwealth Office supports Boris Nemtsov’s family in their call for a fuller investigation into who ordered his murder,” a spokesman for Britain’s Foreign Ministry said. “Responsibility for his murder …

The U.N. General Assembly voted Friday to cut $600 million from the organization’s nearly $8 billion annual peacekeeping budget. The move comes amid pressure from the Trump administration, which contributes more than a quarter of the department’s annual budget. But U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, who took office Jan. 1, has also called for major U.N. reforms, including in peacekeeping. U.N. peacekeeping, which supports more than 110,000 troops, police and civilians in 16 missions, has come under harsh criticism in recent years for undisciplined troops who have sometimes failed to protect civilians and even sexually abused them. In Haiti, U.N. peacekeepers have been blamed for bringing a cholera epidemic to the island nation that sickened and killed thousands. But despite inefficiencies and problems, the “blue helmets,” as peacekeepers are known for their distinctive head gear, still play an important role in fragile countries where civilians need protection, humanitarian assistance and stable …

Tennis star Venus Williams is being sued by the family of a man who died in a car crash in which she was involved. Court officials in Palm Beach County, Florida, confirmed that the family of Jerome Barson, 78, filed the lawsuit against Williams on Friday. A police report released Thursday described Williams as being “at fault” in the incident, which took place this month. Police have not charged Williams with an offense. An attorney for Barson’s wife, Linda, who was driving at the time of the crash, accuses Williams of running a red light as well as inattentive and negligent driving. The attorney, Michael Steinger, said he thought there might be video of the crash that was captured by surveillance cameras at the guard houses protecting Williams’ neighborhood. An attorney for Williams, Malcolm Cunningham, said she entered a six-lane intersection on a green light but got stuck in traffic …

Legal challenges were launched Friday against the U.S. government’s decision to lift protections for grizzly bears in the Yellowstone National Park area that have been in place for more than 40 years. The Northern Cheyenne Tribe, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Humane Society and WildEarth Guardians are among those challenging the plan to lift restrictions this summer. “The rule removing federal protections for America’s beloved Yellowstone grizzly bears is a political decision that is deeply flawed,” said Andrea Santarsiere, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. The federal government announced last week its plan to lift grizzly bear protections and made it official Friday by filing its decision in the Federal Register. That prompted the various groups to send 60-day notices of their intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a required step in the legal process. Some of the groups say the decision is …

Officials from 10 states are calling on the administration of President Donald Trump to end an Obama-era program that granted temporary immunity to undocumented young people who were brought to the United States as children. In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the officials urged the administration to end the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program or risk being taken to court. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, nine other attorneys general and one governor signed the letter. “We respectfully request that the Secretary of Homeland Security phase out the DACA program,” Paxton wrote. He was joined by the attorneys general of Arkansas, Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia, as well as Idaho Governor C.L. Otter. DACA has deferred deportation and granted work permits for a renewable two-year period for at least 750,000 recipients nationwide. In a June 15 memo rescinding the …

A former employee of a New York City hospital opened fire with an assault rifle inside the building on Friday, killing one doctor and wounding six other people before fatally shooting himself in a burst of violence that appeared to be workplace related, officials said. The assailant, wearing a white, medical-style lab coat and armed with an assault rifle, stalked the 16th and 17th floors of the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, and apparently tried to set himself on fire at one point, they said. Police who swarmed the building found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a search, they said. One physician was shot to death in the course of the bloodshed, and six other people were injured, five seriously, including one who suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, Police Commissioner James O’Neill said at a news conference. “One doctor is dead and there are several others who …

President Donald Trump spoke with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Friday to discuss the ongoing feud between Qatar and several Arab states, a conflict that some are calling the worst Gulf Arab crisis in years. Trump and Erdogan talked by phone to discuss how to resolve the dispute “while ensuring all countries work together to stop terrorist funding and to combat extremist ideology,” the White House said in a statement. Turkey has been a supporter of Qatar, whose ties with some of its Gulf and Arab neighbors were severed after Qatar was accused of funding terrorism and fomenting regional instability. Qatar denies the accusations. Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates cut ties with Qatar. …

A New York jury ruled Thursday in federal court that a skyscraper with apparent ties to the Iranian government can be seized by the U.S. government, in what prosecutors are calling the single largest terrorism-related civil forfeiture case in American history. The jury found that the Alavi Foundation, which owns about 60 percent of the 36-floor building, funneled money to the Assa Corporation, a shell company for Iran’s state-controlled bank that owned the remaining 40 percent of the building. The defense argued that the Alavi Foundation, founded as a charity by the shah of Iran in the 1970s, had been tricked into believing that Assa had been sold to private investors after the 1995 implementation of U.S. sanctions on Iran. “It’s really difficult to understand why you can be held accountable for the knowledge that you were trying to get, but you were lied to about,” defense attorney John Gleeson …

The U.S. House of Representatives took the first steps toward fulfilling two of President Donald Trump’s signature campaign promises Thursday, passing bills strengthening penalties on undocumented immigrants who return to the U.S. after having been deported and cutting federal funds to sanctuary cities. By a 257-167 vote, the House passed “Kate’s Law,” a bill named after Kate Steinle, 32, who was shot and killed in San Francisco in July 2015. Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, a felon who had been deported five times, is facing murder and other charges in connection with the shooting. The bill increases prison penalties for undocumented immigrants who return to the U.S. after having been deported. The House also passed, 228-195, the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, blocking so-called sanctuary cities from receiving federal grant money and expanding the federal government’s capability of making them comply with immigration enforcement. Trump greeted passage of the first bill with …

This year marks the 150th anniversary of a Chinese railroad workers strike in the United States as they were building the Central Pacific Railroad in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. Historians are still uncovering details of what led to the strike and what happened afterward. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee reports from San Diego, California, the home of a descendant of one of the railroad workers. …

New government data show the health of pregnant women and babies in the U.S. is getting worse, and a report by the National Center for Health Statistics shows the number of babies born prematurely has been increasing since 2014. Preterm American births increased in 2016 and 2015 after seven years of steady declines. Prematurity rose by 2 percent in 2016 and by 1.6 percent the year before. Stacey Stewart, president of the March of Dimes, a nonprofit U.S. group that works to eliminate prematurity and birth defects, called the increase “an alarming indication that the health of pregnant women and babies in our country is heading in the wrong direction.” Expand health care Stewart called on Washington to expand access to quality prenatal care and promote proven ways to help reduce the risk of preterm birth. Noting that the U.S. Senate is considering a health care bill that many Americans …

Bipartisan leaders on the House Intelligence Committee are threatening a subpoena if the White House doesn’t clarify whether any recordings, memoranda or other documents exist of President Donald Trump’s meetings with fired FBI Director James Comey. The panel had previously set a June 23 deadline for the White House to respond to its request. The day before, Trump said in a series of tweets that he “did not make, and do not have, any such recordings” but also said he has “no idea” if tapes or recordings of his conversations with Comey exist. The White House then responded to the committee request by referring to Trump’s tweets. The committee had asked for any recordings after Trump suggested there may be tapes. He did so just days after he fired Comey, who was leading an investigation into Trump associates’ ties to Russian officials. Trump has disputed Comey’s assertion that the president …

President Donald Trump’s commission investigating alleged voter fraud in the 2016 elections has asked states for a list of the names, party affiliations, addresses and voting histories of all voters, if state law allows it to be public. A Wednesday letter from the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity gives secretaries of state about two weeks to provide about a dozen points of voter data. That also would include dates of birth, the last four digits of voters’ Social Security numbers and any information about felony convictions and military status. Some Democratic officials refused to comply, saying the request invades privacy and is based on false claims of fraud. Trump lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton but has alleged, without evidence, that 3 to 5 million people voted illegally. In addition to the voter information, the letter asks state officials for suggestions on improving election integrity and to …

U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated a former member of the U.S. Senate from Texas to become the next ambassador to NATO. Kay Bailey Hutchison, 73, served in the Senate for 20 years beginning in 1993, when she won a special election to fill a vacant seat. Since stepping down in 2013, she has practiced law for a firm in Houston that also has former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a Trump supporter as a partner.   If confirmed as the U.S. envoy to NATO, Hutchison will have to straddle the longtime U.S. commitment to the military alliance and the thorny relationship that Trump has had with the 28-nation group. As a candidate, Trump called NATO “obsolete.” Since becoming president, he has criticized NATO members for depending on the U.S. military for defense and for not paying what he said was their fair share of the alliance’s costs. At …

President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated an anesthesiologist to become the next U.S. surgeon general. Dr. Jerome Adams is the current health commissioner of Indiana, appointed by Vice President Mike Pence when he was the governor of that state. If confirmed, Adams would replace Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, the acting surgeon general, who took over for Vivek Murthy, whom Trump dismissed in April. In Indiana, Adams has been a prominent backer of allowing counties to start needle-exchange programs aimed at stemming the spread of diseases among intravenous drug users as the state struggles with opioid abuse. As the health commissioner, Adams oversaw the effort, which Pence reluctantly supported in 2015 after more than 180 HIV cases hit a rural southern Indiana county that were blamed on needle-sharing among people injecting a liquefied painkiller. “Syringe exchanges aren’t pretty. They make people uncomfortable. But the opioid epidemic is far uglier. It affects …

The State Department has approved arms sales to Taiwan worth a total of $1.4 billion, the first such deal with the self-governing island since President Donald Trump took office, officials said Thursday. The sale will anger China, which regards Taiwan as part of its territory. It comes at a delicate time for relations between Washington and Beijing over efforts to rein in nuclear-armed North Korea. The sale to Taiwan comprises seven items, including technical support for early warning radar, anti-radiation missiles, torpedoes and components for SM-2 missiles, according to a U.S. official who requested anonymity to discuss the details before they were formally announced. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the Trump administration had notified Congress of its intent to approve seven proposed deals now valued at around $1.42 billion. Nauert said the approvals did not violate the Taiwan Relations Act that governs U.S. contacts with the island. “It shows, …

President Donald Trump’s first, temporary ban on travelers from seven majority-Muslim nations was short-lived, but it sparked confusion, panic and anger that lasted through months of court rulings. The Supreme Court is now taking up the case in the fall. In the meantime, the government can enforce parts of a second version of Trump’s order.   So what’s new this time? BANNED FOREIGNERS Old order: Three-month ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries, including those who had valid visas but were outside the United States when the ban was signed. Supreme Court version: Iraq has been dropped from the ban.   For 90 days, the government can bar new visa applicants from Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Iran and Libya who can’t prove they have a “bona fide relationship” with close relatives or a business in the United States. The State Department says valid relationships include a parent, spouse, child, adult …

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday evening hosts South Korean President Moon Jae-in for cocktails and dinner, a prelude to talks the next day on the “very urgent threat posed by North Korea,” according to a senior White House official. It’ll be the first time the two leaders meet. Moon, a liberal, took office early last month, succeeding the impeached Park Geun-hye, known for her tough stance toward North Korea. “It’s going to be a meeting with a lot of uncertainty about whether the two presidents can agree on a common policy toward North Korea in terms of the specific tactics,” said Gary Samore, research executive director at Harvard’s Belfer Center. For the Trump-Moon meeting, “building a rapport” will be as important as anything else, considering how closely they will be working together, the senior U.S. official told reporters at a background briefing. “My biggest concern is that President Moon …

Once expunged from its official history, documents outlining the U.S.-backed 1953 coup in Iran have been quietly published by the State Department, offering a new glimpse at an operation that ultimately pushed the country toward its Islamic Revolution and hostility with the West. The CIA’s role in the coup, which toppled Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddegh and cemented the control of the shah, was well-known by the time the State Department offered its first compendium on the era in 1989. But any trace of American involvement in the putsch had been wiped from the report, causing historians to call it a fraud. The papers released this month show U.S. fears over the spread of communism, as well as the British desire to regain access to Iran’s oil industry, which had been nationalized by Mosaddegh. It also offers a cautionary tale about the limits of American power as U.S. President Donald Trump, …

South Korean President Moon Jae-in Wednesday defended his country’s free trade agreement with the United States, which U.S. President Donald Trump denounced in the past as a “job killing deal.” Moon addressed a pro-free trade audience of business leaders and lawmakers at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the first day of his presidential visit to Washington. He will meet with Trump at the White House Thursday and Friday. The South Korean president stressed the 5-year-old U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement (KORUS) has been good for both countries, especially in the auto industry, where now half of all Hyundai and Kia cars are built in the United States. “South Korea’s carmakers are creating investment and employment in production factories in the U.S. Outstanding U.S. companies are also creating jobs in South Korea in industrial innovation and research and development,” Moon said. In the last three years, Korean direct foreign investment …

The majority of hate crimes experienced by U.S. residents over a 12-year period were not reported to police, according to a new federal report released Thursday that stoked advocates’ concerns about ongoing tensions between law enforcement and black and Latino communities. More than half of the 250,000 hate crimes that took place each year between 2004 and 2015 went unreported to law enforcement for a variety of reasons, according to a special report on hate crimes from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Hate crimes were most often not reported because they were handled some other way, the report said. But people also did not come forward because they didn’t feel it was important or that police would help.    Based on survey The report, based on a survey of households, is one of several studies that aim to quantify hate crimes. Its release comes as the Justice Department convenes a …