U.S. House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called on her colleague John Conyers, the longest-serving member of Congress, to resign over allegations of sexual harassment. “Congressman Conyers should resign,” Pelosi said of her colleague, adding the women who spoke out against him were “brave” and deserved justice. “As deemed, Congressman Conyers has served our Congress for more than five decades and shaped some of the most consequential legislation of the last half century.  However, zero tolerance means consequences for everyone, no matter how great the legacy, it’s not license to harass or discriminate,” she said. House Speaker Paul Ryan also called on Representative Conyers to resign “immediately” Thursday. Hours earlier, Conyers’ friend and political consultant Sam Riddle said that he had been admitted to a hospital in Detroit, without providing further details. “(Conyers is under) tremendous stress due to media hounding, and political vultures and serial accusers,” The Detroit …

Pakistan says high-level discussions “away from public glare” are under way with the United States to bridge differences stemming from the new Afghan strategy U.S. President Donald Trump announced in August. Pakistan did not agree with the U.S. policy because “there was a difference in understanding and perceptions on both sides,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal Thursday, while discussing the dialogue process at his weekly news conference in Islamabad. The policy focused on Pakistan’s alleged duplicity; receiving billions of dollars in U.S. assistance as a non-NATO ally for combating regional terrorism and covertly supporting the Taliban and the Haqqani terrorist network waging deadly attacks on Afghan and U.S.-led allied forces in Afghanistan. Islamabad promptly rejected the accusations, saying the country is being scapegoated for U.S. military failures in stabilizing Afghanistan and defeating the Taliban. “Pakistan and the U.S. are actively engaged in discussing the situation in Afghanistan with a view …

French President Emmanuel Macron fears Islamist militants have scored military and symbolic victories in West Africa while a regional military force has struggled to get off the ground, a French presidential source said on Thursday. To help get the new G5 Sahel force operating effectively, he said, France has invited the United States to a summit with the five participating countries as well as the African Union and European Union in Paris next month. Thousands of U.N. peacekeepers, French troops and U.S. military trainers and drone operators have failed so far to stem a growing wave of jihadist violence, leading world powers to pin their hopes on the new G5 Sahel force. The G5 Sahel initiative – grouping Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger – faces an immense security challenge in a largely desert and weakly governed region and already faces questions over its financing and provision of equipment. …

U.S. President Donald Trump within the next several weeks could name Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, according to media reports quoting senior administration officials on Thursday. Several U.S. news outlets reported that the shakeup of Trump’s top national security team has been under consideration for some time now, although it was not clear that Trump has made a decision. In a brief exchange with reporters at the White House, Trump, when asked about Tillerson’s fate, said, “He’s here. Rex is here.” The president made no other comments. The White House downplayed the reports of Tillerson’s departure. “As the president just said, ‘Rex is here.’ White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “There are no personnel announcements at this time. Secretary Tillerson continues to lead the State Department and the entire cabinet is focused on completing this incredibly successful first year of President …

The Kremlin voiced dismay Thursday over the withdrawal of a Russian state-funded TV station’s credentials in the U.S. and warned of a quick retaliation.   A committee that governs Capitol Hill access for broadcast journalists on Wednesday withdrew credentials for Kremlin-funded RT after the company complied earlier this month with a U.S. demand that it register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, denounced the move as a violation of media freedom and “extremely hostile act,” adding that “we are deeply disappointed.”    “Such hostile and undemocratic decisions can’t be left without an answer,” he said in a conference call with reporters. “You don’t have to be a soothsayer to forecast an emotional response from our lawmakers regarding the U.S. media.”   Senior Russian lawmakers warned that representatives of the U.S. media can lose access to parliament and government agencies as a quid pro quo. …

Three nuclear powers will send deputy chief of missions — not ambassadors — to the Dec. 10 ceremony for the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, in what the recipient is calling a “snub.” ICAN, which was cited for its work that led to an international nuclear weapons ban treaty, said it considered the “ambassador boycott” an attempt to withhold “credibility” from an international nuclear weapons ban treaty that is has worked for.   The U.S. Embassy in Oslo said Thursday that the United States, Britain and France agreed not to send their top diplomats.   The mission said Washington will not sign a treaty advocating the abolishment of nuclear weapons, saying that would not make the world more peaceful” and “ignores the current security challenges.” …

Following North Korea’s latest and most advanced missile test to date, the United States has urged China to show leadership and do something it has so far been unwilling to do – cut off Pyongyang’s oil supply. Analysts said that while that option remains a step the Chinese still appear unwilling to take, it is something they increasingly need to consider.   “The United States and China will definitely tighten economic sanctions on North Korea. It is unavoidable and North Korea deserves it, particularly given that its development of the Hwasong-15 [missile], raises the threat level toward the international community and the United States,” said Zhao Tong, a fellow at the Carnegie Tsinghua Center for Global Policy. Zhao said that when it comes to sanctions there is little room left.   “Oil is something China will not take up lightly. Perhaps more restrictions can be placed on [North Korean] laborers …

The International Labor Organization says a majority of the world’s population, four billion people, have no social protection, leaving them mired in an endless cycle of poverty.  The report says 45 percent of the global population is covered by at least one social benefit.  But that leaves 55 percent without any social protection, a situation ILO Director General Guy Ryder calls unacceptable. “That means that they do not receive any child benefit, any maternity benefit, any unemployment protection, any disability benefit, any old age pension and that they do not actively contribute to social security systems,” Ryder said. The consequences are severe and tangible.  The report finds the lack of social protection leaves people vulnerable to illness, poverty, inequality and social exclusion.  The ILO regards the situation as a significant obstacle to economic growth and social development. Ryder tells VOA governments would benefit from considering social protection as an investment …

State media say Chinese President Xi Jinping praised former U.S. president Barack Obama’s efforts to develop relations between the two countries during his visit to the Asian nation.   The official Xinhua News Agency said Thursday that Obama met on Wednesday with Xi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing and discussed bilateral ties. Xinhua said Xi “made positive comments” about Obama’s efforts to develop relations between the nations when he was president of the United States.   Obama’s three-country tour this week will also include meetings with the leader of India. He will mix paid speeches with meetings with foreign leaders and a town hall event for young people.   Obama is to finish the trip in France, where he will give one of several speeches planned during the trip. …

The U.S.-led coalition targeting the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq said Thursday its airstrikes have killed 801 civilians since late 2014. The figures came in the coalition’s latest monthly statement about its investigations into reports of possible civilian casualties resulting from the strikes. In October, the coalition says it investigated 64 such reports, of which five were deemed credible and resulted in 15 deaths. Another 695 reports were still open. “We continue to hold ourselves accountable for actions that may have caused unintentional injury or death to civilians,” the statement said. “We take all reports of civilian casualties seriously and assess all reports as thoroughly as possible.” Outside groups say the bombing campaign that began in August 2014 in Iraq and a month later in Syria has killed far more civilians than the coalition has reported. Watchdog group Airwars estimates that as of the end of October the …

Broadcast reporters for Russian state-funded TV channel RT will no longer be able to report daily from the U.S. Capitol. A committee that governs Capitol Hill access for broadcast journalists has withdrawn credentials for RT after the company complied earlier this month with a U.S. demand that it register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The law applies to people or companies disseminating information in the U.S. on behalf of foreign governments, political parties and other “foreign principals.” The action also comes just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed legislation allowing Russia to register international media outlets as foreign agents, an act seen as the Kremlin’s retaliation for the Trump administration decision on RT. The new rules require disclosures to the Russian government and are seen as stigmatizing the news outlets as promoters of American propaganda.   In Washington, C-SPAN’s Craig Caplan informed RT that its credentials were …

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley warned Wednesday that North Korea’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch “brings the world closer to war, not further from it.” “We have never sought war with North Korea and still today we do not seek it,” Haley told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. But she warned that if there is war, it will be because of continued acts of aggression like the missile launch. “And if war comes, make no mistake, the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed,” she added. She also called on U.N. member states to cut ties with Pyongyang. “All countries should sever diplomatic relations with North Korea and limit military, scientific, technical or commercial cooperation,” she said. Haley said President Donald Trump told his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in a phone call earlier in the day that the time has come for Beijing to cut …

The future of almost 800,000 undocumented young people in the United States is hanging in the balance in an end-of-year legislative pileup on Capitol Hill that could result in the shutdown of the federal government. The government will run out of money December 8 unless Congress approves a new budget or budget extension. While the focus this week has been largely on the Senate’s approval of its tax cut bill, the budget bill could have greater short-term ramifications. The Republican-dominated Senate cannot pass it alone; Democratic votes will be needed. But both houses of Congress will have to vote on a spending measure before it can go into effect. And underlying all the discussions of spending priorities is finding a permanent solution for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which gave temporary protection from deportation, and permission to legally work, to undocumented young people brought to the U.S. …

U.S. and Chinese generals engaged in an unusual set of security talks on Wednesday, just hours after North Korea’s most powerful missile test yet, focused on how the mighty American and Chinese militaries might communicate in a crisis. As President Donald Trump greeted the North’s launching of another intercontinental ballistic missile with familiar demands for China to get tougher with its ally, the low-profile and unpublicized meeting at the National Defense University in Washington was taking place amid signs China is more willing to discuss how the two world powers would manage an even worse emergency on the divided Korean Peninsula. The Pentagon stressed the talks were scheduled long before North Korea’s surprise missile launch in the early hours Wednesday in Asia. Officials insisted the dialogue wasn’t centered on North Korea or anything else in particular. Change in plans Trump has vowed to prevent North Korea from having the capability …

Opposition has grown among Americans to a Republican tax plan before the U.S. Congress, with 49 percent of people who were aware of the measure saying they opposed it, up from 41 percent in October, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday. Congressional Republicans are trying to rush their tax legislation to a vote on the Senate floor before the end of the week. President Donald Trump strongly backs the bill and wants to sign it into law before the end of the year. In addition to the 49 percent who said they opposed the Republican tax bill, 29 percent said they supported it and 22 percent said they “don’t know,” according to the Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll of 1,257 adults conducted from Thursday to Monday. When asked “who stands to benefit most” from the plan, more than half of all American adults surveyed selected either the wealthy or large …

Like much other propaganda, the anti-Muslim videos spread around by President Donald Trump mix grains of truth, fakery and shades in between, overlaid with a message meant to be a blunt hammer blow for a cause.   Trump’s penchant for sharing doctored images and making false statements on Twitter means that content tweeted or retweeted by the president should be viewed skeptically. His spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, suggested the veracity of the videos wasn’t a high priority amid concern over national security and strong borders, saying: “Whether it’s a real video, the threat is real and that is what the president is talking about.”   Here’s a look at known facts behind the videos tweeted by a far-right British fringe group and retweeted by Trump:   False   One video shows a young man attacking another who is on crutches, near a river bank. It was originally posted to a …

The anti-nuclear group which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize accused the United States, Britain and France on Wednesday of snubbing its disarmament work by planning to send only second-rank diplomats to the award ceremony next month. “It’s some kind of protest against the Nobel Peace Prize,” Beatrice Fihn, director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), told Reuters of a plan by the three nations to send only deputy chiefs of mission. “They like their nuclear weapons very much and don’t like it when we try to ban them,” she said, accusing the three of wrongly opposing ICAN’s work “when North Korea and the United States are exchanging threats to use nuclear weapons”. The annual December 10 Nobel prize ceremony in Oslo, attended by King Harald and Queen Sonja, is the highlight of the diplomatic calendar in Norway. The prize comprises a diploma, a gold medal and …

The number of international visitors to the United States through June fell sharply from last year, according to government data released Wednesday. And the number of business travelers fell by much more than the drop in tourists, according to the monthly report from the Commerce Departments National Travel and Tourism Office. Total foreign visitors fell four percent compared to the first six months of last year, with travelers from Mexico down more than nine percent and from Britain down six percent, but visits from Canada up nearly five percent. Excluding Canada and Mexico, overseas visitors fell nearly six percent, but business travel dropped nearly nine percent compared to a 5.6 percent decline in tourists. President Donald Trump in his first year in office repeatedly promised to build a wall on the border with Mexico, and has ordered bans on visitors from several Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and Africa. …

The U.S. Supreme Court signaled Wednesday it may be open to new limits on the government’s ability to track someone’s movements by accessing data on that person’s cellphone. A case before the high court could result in a landmark decision in the ongoing debate over civil liberties protections in an era of rapid technological change. At issue is whether law enforcement will be able to access cellphone data that can reveal a person’s whereabouts without having to first obtain a court-issued search warrant. The case stems from the conviction of Timothy Carpenter for a series of robberies back in 2010 and 2011. Prosecutors were able to obtain cellphone records that indicated his location over a period of months, information that proved crucial to his conviction. Get a warrant On Wednesday, lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union argued that law enforcement should be required to obtain a court-ordered search warrant …