Two tourists have died at the Grand Canyon this week, including a Hong Kong man who slipped over a ledge while taking a picture.  U.S. officials say the man, who was part of a tour group, fell at a remote site known for a horse-shoe shaped glass bridge that juts out over the canyon, called the Skywalk.  The area is west of the Grand Canyon National Park, part of land owned by the Hualapai tribe.  Officials say the death took place on Thursday and say a helicopter later lifted the man’s body from the canyon. They say the man was in his 50s and stumbled and fell while trying to get a picture at the edge of the canyon.  Park officials say another person died this week, but say the cause of that death has not been determined. They say a body was found Tuesday evening in a wooded area …

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging the international community to step up its commitment to the organization’s peacekeeping operations, particularly in improving its specialized equipment and troop needs.  “As conflicts become more complex and high-risk, our operations must keep pace,” Guterres on Friday told more than 100 defense ministers, foreign ministers and diplomats.  The U.N. chief appealed for critical capabilities, including armored personnel carriers to protect peacekeepers in Mali and medical evacuation helicopters for its mission in the Central African Republic.  “Elsewhere, we need armed utility helicopters; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance units; quick reaction forces, and air medical evacuation teams,” Guterres said. “I urge you to consider contributing these high-value and critical capabilities, and I assure you that they will be utilized effectively and efficiently, in accordance with our command-and-control policy.” U.N. troops and police have had to adjust to asymmetrical threats, including from armed groups and terrorists. Last year, …

Lyft Inc shares on Friday opened up 21.2 percent at $87.24 in its market debut on the Nasdaq after the company was valued at $24.3 billion in the first initial public offering (IPO) of a ride-hailing startup. On Thursday, Lyft said it priced 32.5 million shares, slightly more that it was offering originally, at $72, the top of its already elevated $70-$72 per share target range for the IPO. After a few minutes of trading, shares were up 18.6 percent at $85.42. Instead of celebrating the first day of trading at the Nasdaq in New York, Lyft opted to mark the occasion at a defunct auto dealership in downtown Los Angeles. A couple hundred people – Lyft staff, family and friends, stakeholders and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti – gathered before dawn for the kick-off event. Lyft has recently bought the facility to turn it into a driver services center, …

The number of migrant families and children entering the U.S. from Mexico is so high that Border Patrol is immediately releasing them instead of transferring them to the agency responsible for their release, forcing local governments to help coordinate their housing, meals and travel. “We need to work toward a clean sweep,” Border Patrol Deputy Chief of Operations Richard Hudson said in a letter obtained by The Associated Press sent to sector chiefs Thursday. “This should be our daily battle rhythm.” Agents are still doing medical screenings and criminal checks, but the decision means thousands of families will be released without first going through U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which manages their deportation cases. The Del Rio and Rio Grande Valley sectors in Texas and the Yuma, Arizona, sector earlier announced that agents would begin to release families on their own recognizance. A Border Patrol official not authorized to speak …

President Donald Trump says he will close the nation’s southern border, or large sections of it, next week if Mexico does not immediately stop illegal immigration.   In a tweet Friday, Trump ramped up his repeated threat to close the border by saying he will do it next week unless Mexico takes action.   The president called on Congress to immediately change what he said were “weak” U.S. immigration laws, which he blamed on Democrats.   He says it “would be so easy” for Mexico to stop illegal immigration, which would also strike a blow to drug-trafficking.   …

President Donald Trump will meet with Egypt President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi next month at the White House. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says in a statement released Friday the leaders on April 9 will discuss bilateral concerns, including conflicts in the region and military, economic and counterterrorism issues. Egypt under the ex-general has rolled back many freedoms won by the 2011 uprising in the country. El-Sissi has silenced most dissenting voices in the media and restricted civil society groups. El-Sissi led the military overthrow of Mohammed Morsi, an elected but divisive Islamist whose rule inspired protests. El-Sissi was elected president in 2014 and re-elected to another four-year term last year after challengers were arrested or pressured to withdraw. El-Sissi’s supporters say he needs more time to develop the economy and defeat an Islamic State-led insurgency. …

The White House is again warning nations, including Russia, to not send military resources to Venezuela, while condemning disputed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s “continued use of foreign military personnel in his attempt to remain in power.” National Security Adviser John Bolton made the statement Friday, two days after U.S. President Donald Trump said Russia “has to get out” of Venezuela, and following the recent arrival of Russian military personnel in Venezuela, where Maduro is locked in a power struggle with opposition leader and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido.  “Maduro will only use this military support to further repress the people of Venezuela; perpetuate the economic crisis that has destroyed Venezuela’s economy; and endanger regional stability,” Bolton said. “We call on the Venezuelan military to uphold its constitutional duty to protect the citizens of Venezuela.” The White House national security adviser also said the United States “strongly” cautions actors external to …

American and Chinese trade negotiators made progress during “candid and constructive discussions” in Beijing Friday, said the White House, and will continue talks in Washington next week.   The two sides are working to strike a deal to lift eight-month-old tariffs affecting $250 billion of Chinese imports to the U.S., and about $110 billion of American exports to China.   The latest round of talks comes amid a report by the Bureau of Economic Analysis that the U.S. trade deficit with China again rose in 2018. “The 2018 goods and services trade deficit with China alone was $379 billion. That’s $70 billion, or 23 percent, higher than in 2016. It’s more than 3 times the size of the 2018 deficit with the entire European Union. China by itself contributed 61 percent of the total US deficit both in 2016 and last year,” according to Derek Scissors, Resident Scholar of American …

U.S. President Donald Trump is on the offensive now that the two-year investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. national election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign ended with no immediate backlash for him. VOA’s Michael Brown reports, Trump is paying special attention to Democrats who seem not ready to accept he has been cleared of any wrongdoing. …

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is in Beijing, posted on Twitter Friday that he has held “constructive” talks with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. A new deal could possibly end hefty tariffs both countries have imposed on each other during the last eight months. The United States has taxed $250 billion of Chinese imports while China has imposed levies on about $110 billion of U.S. goods. The United States is demanding wide changes to Chinese industrial policy, including an end to large-scale state intervention in markets, subsidies for various industries and the alleged theft of American technology. U.S. President Donald Trump said last week he was confident the United States could strike a deal with China, but added, “If this isn’t a great deal, I won’t make a deal.” White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow says the talks are not time-dependent and could last weeks or even months. …

Now that we know the conclusions of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, how does that reset the U.S. political landscape looking ahead to the presidential election in 2020? According to the summary provided by Attorney General William Barr, Mueller found no conspiracy or collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to interfere in the 2016 election. But Mueller did not make a judgment on whether Trump sought to obstruct justice in connection with the Russia investigation. According to Barr, while Mueller’s report “did not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” In the end, it was Barr who decided that the evidence Mueller developed on obstruction was not sufficient to move the matter forward. At the Capitol this week, Trump was said to be in a triumphant mood in the wake of Barr’s summary of the Mueller report. “It was proven very strongly no …

Investigators looking into a Boeing 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia that killed 157 people have reached a preliminary conclusion that an anti-stall system was activated before the plane hit the ground, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people briefed on the matter. U.S. safety investigators have reviewed data from the “black boxes” that were aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, four people briefed on the investigation told Reuters Thursday. A preliminary report is expected as early as next week, the U.S. officials said. The plane crashed March 10 shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa. 737 MAX grounded Investigators of a deadly 737 MAX crash in Indonesia in October have also focused on the new anti-stall system, called MCAS. Boeing on Wednesday said a planned software fix would prevent repeated operation of the system that is at the center of safety concerns. Boeing’s fastest-selling 737 MAX jet, with orders worth …

 The Chicago city government will seek $130,000 from Jussie Smollett to cover the cost of the investigation into his report of an attack that police say was staged to promote his career, city officials said Thursday. A spokesman for the city’s legal department, Bill McCaffrey, confirmed the amount after Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the city would try to recoup the money from the “Empire” actor. Hours earlier, President Donald Trump tweeted that the FBI and the Department of Justice would review the “outrageous” case, calling it an “embarrassment” to the country. Prosecutors infuriated Emanuel and the police chief this week when they abruptly dropped 16 felony counts that accused Smollett of making a false police report about being the target of a racist, anti-gay attack in January. Smollett has maintained his innocence and insisted that the attack was real. The prosecution offered little explanation for the dismissal and sealed the …

President Donald Trump is extending a humanitarian program that allows Liberians to live and work in the U.S. The White House said Thursday that Trump signed a one-year extension of the program for immigrants who came from the African nation to escape environmental disasters and war. The status for thousands of Liberians had been set to expire Sunday. The Republican president decided last year to end the program dating to 2007. He said it wasn’t needed because conditions in Liberia have improved. Two civil rights organizations sued in Boston this month on behalf of 15 Liberian immigrants. Trump now says a “12-month wind-down period” for the program is appropriate. U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, wants Congress to enact a more permanent legislative resolution. …

The U.N. Security Council Thursday unanimously passed the first-ever resolution ordering members to enforce laws against terror financing.  Experts believe as many as two-thirds of U.N. members are not adequately prosecuting those who aid terrorists in acquiring money. Thursday’s resolution demands all states “ensure that their domestic laws and regulations establish serious criminal offenses” to collect funds or financial resources to terrorist groups or individual criminals. It also calls on members to create financial intelligence units.  Nations that fail to carry out the resolution would face U.N. sanctions. U.N. counterterrorism chief Vladimir Voronkov said the resolution comes at a “critical time,” saying terrorists have gotten their hands on cash through both illegal and legal channels, including drug trafficking, the construction trade and used car sales. The U.N. resolution would also urge members to stop paying ransom to kidnappers, saying such payments have become a major source of financing for Islamic …

Influential figures in Washington are calling for the establishment of a bilateral free-trade agreement with Taiwan, even as U.S. and Chinese officials move toward a resolution of their long-running trade dispute.    “We have a lot of issues with Beijing, and a lot of opportunities with Taiwan,” said Edwin J. Feulner in an interview with VOA. Feulner is the founder and former president of the Heritage Foundation, an influential think tank in Washington known for its conservative views and ties with the Republican Party.    Feulner thinks trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing will most likely conclude within 60 days, at which point a full-force push for a bilateral trade agreement with Taiwan could begin. Those talks would be “more or less independent of what’s going on with bilateral negotiations with Beijing,” he said.  WATCH: Feulner: Taiwan Not Seen by Administration as ‘Bargaining Chip’ Feulner predicted “huge bipartisan support on Capitol Hill” …

Microsoft said it seized 99 websites used by Iranian hackers to steal sensitive information and launch other cyberattacks. The company said the group , which it has been tracking since 2013, has tried to snoop on activists, journalists, political dissidents, defense industry workers and others in the Middle East, including some who were “protesting oppressive regimes”in the region. Hackers did so by tricking people in those organizations to click on malicious links disguised to resemble well-known brands, including Microsoft and its LinkedIn, Outlook and Windows products, Microsoft said in court filings. Iran denies involvement Wednesday’s announcement tied the hackers to the country of Iran but not specifically to its government. A spokesman for Iran’s mission to the United Nations didn’t respond to an email and phone call seeking comment Wednesday. Iran has denied involvement in other hacking efforts identified by Microsoft. Microsoft calls the hacking group Phosphorus, while others call …

As the top homeland security official in the U.S. prepared to announce the signing of a multinational security agreement with several Latin American countries on Thursday, capping a years-long diplomatic process, U.S. President Donald Trump accused those same countries of “doing nothing.”   Trump tweeted just before 6:30 a.m.: For the last several days, however, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has been holding high-level meetings with Mexican, Honduran, Guatemalan and Salvadoran officials, finalizing what DHS calls a regional compact to “stem the flood of irregular migration and develop a regional approach to addressing the ongoing humanitarian and security emergency at our Southern Border.” A request for comment made to DHS about the president’s contradictory tweet and any repercussions on the regional compact was not immediately answered Thursday. Hours after Trump’s tweet, Nielsen, who had traveled to Miami and Honduras for negotiations, announced that the Central American countries had signed the memorandum of cooperation …