Russia has hinted at involving the United States in a newly-launched regional dialogue Moscow says is aimed at seeking a negotiated settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan. The move comes as Afghanistan’s national security adviser is due to visit Moscow to discuss the prospects for promoting reconciliation with armed opposition in his country. Moscow’s stepped up Afghan diplomacy stems from its concerns that a protracted conflict is encouraging Islamic State militants to establish a foothold in the war-torn country and export terrorism to neighboring Central Asian states that ultimately could threaten Russian security. In December, the Russian government hosted senior foreign ministry officials from China and Pakistan for the first time to discuss ways to encourage direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. The participants also exchanged views on how to collectively work to contain “spillover” effects of terrorism. Kabul strongly objected being left out of the trilateral …

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence appealed Saturday to voters in Kentucky to support “a battle” in Congress to replace the nation’s health care law with a bill being pushed by Republican Party leaders. Demonstrators both for and against the Republicans’ drive to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, signed into law by former President Barack Obama, turned out for Pence’s appearances in Louisville, Kentucky’s largest city. President Donald Trump, Pence and Republican Party leaders are facing opposition from both sides of the political spectrum as they try to promote their replacement for the health insurance law known popularly as Obamacare, which has been in operation since 2010. ‘Battle’ looms on Capitol Hill Pence spoke to a friendly audience in Louisville: “Folks, let me be clear: This is going to be a battle in Washington, D.C., and for us to seize this opportunity to repeal and replace Obamacare once and …

Three families who helped shelter former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden in Hong Kong in 2013 after his mass leak of information about surveillance programs have asked Canada for asylum, their lawyer said Friday. The families — three Sri Lankan adults, a Filipina, and three stateless children — have long-pending asylum claims in Hong Kong that they fear may soon be rejected, lawyer Marc-Andre Seguin said in a phone interview from Hong Kong. Seguin said the families had been thrust into the spotlight after the September release of the Oliver Stone film Snowden, which referred to their role in Snowden’s flight from the United States in 2013 and, eventually, to Russia. Seguin said the families and Hong Kong-based lawyer Robert Tibbo, who introduced his clients to Snowden, now face increasingly adverse circumstances in Hong Kong. They said that they have been “actively sought by Sri Lankan operatives” in …

A federal judge in the northern U.S. state of Wisconsin has blocked the enforcement of U.S. President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban that would prevent a Syrian mother and her surviving child from entering the country. The woman and her daughter reside in war-torn Aleppo. The husband has already been granted asylum in Wisconsin. U.S. District Judge William Conley on Friday issued the temporary restraining order that applies only to the woman and child. Trump’s new ban goes into effect March 16. The mother, however, is scheduled to travel to Jordan for visa interviews at the U.S. embassy and the process could extend beyond the March date. Conley said the husband had “presented some likelihood of success on the merits” of his case and his family faces “significant risk of irreparable harm” if forced to stay in Syria. Earlier this year, Trump issued a temporary travel ban barring admission to …

Two people are critically sick in San Francisco after drinking tea from the same Chinatown herbalist.    The tea leaves bought at Sun Wing Wo Trading Company contained the plant-based toxin aconite, the Department of Public Health said Friday.    A man in his 50s last month and a woman in her 30s this month became critically ill within an hour of drinking the tea, and both remain hospitalized, health officials said.    Each person grew weak then had life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms that required resuscitation and intensive care.    Aconite, also known as monkshood, helmet flower and wolfsbane, is used in Asian herbal medicines. But it must be processed properly to be safe.    Health officials are working to find the original source of the tea leaves, and they are warning others to stop consuming it.   “Anyone who has purchased tea from this location should not consume it …

Thousands of Native Americans from across the Unites States marched in Washington to protest President Donald Trump’s decision to advance the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline and Dakota Access oil pipelines. VOA’s Penelope Poulou has more. …

The first jobs report on President Donald Trump’s watch is a good one. The private sector added 235,000 jobs in February, more than expected, and a sign that the economy and consumer confidence are healthy. But the jobs report also means that higher borrowing costs, for consumers and businesses, are expected in the coming days and weeks. Mil Arcega reports. …

President Donald Trump has asked former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Russia. It’s a job likely to come with heavy scrutiny amid questions about the Trump campaign’s possible ties with Russia. Huntsman would bring extensive diplomatic and bipartisan experience to the high-profile ambassador post. VOA’s Elizabeth Cherneff reports. …

Organizers of the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade reversed course Friday and said they would allow a group of gay veterans to march in this year’s parade. The South Boston Allied War Veterans Council announced on the parade’s Twitter account that it had signed an acceptance letter that would clear the way for OutVets to participate.   A lawyer for OutVets said late Friday that the group looked forward to “marching proudly” and representing LGBTQ veterans.   “We are honored and humbled by all the outpouring of support that has been displayed for our LGBTQ veterans, who are one of the most unrepresented demographics in our veterans community,” said lawyer said Dee Dee Edmondson. Ban condemned   An earlier vote by the council to bar OutVets from marching drew immediate condemnation from high-profile politicians, some of whom said they would not march if the gay veterans were excluded. It caused …

Hawaii has 5,000 or so Muslims – less than 1 percent of the state’s population – who are finding themselves thrust into an international spotlight after the state’s top lawyer launched a challenge to President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban, saying it contradicts the islands’ welcoming culture that values diversity.   Named as a plaintiff in the federal lawsuit fighting the ban is Ismail Elshikh, the imam of the island of Oahu’s only mosque – a converted plantation-style house in a hilly Honolulu neighborhood a few miles from Waikiki beach where Muslims who gather in the prayer room know they’re facing Mecca when the view of iconic Diamond Head is at their backs.   Elshikh’s mother-in-law is a Syrian living in Syria who won’t be able to visit her relatives in Hawaii because of the ban, and that will deprive the rights of Elshikh, his wife and their children as …

President Donald Trump is embracing government numbers he once maligned as “phony” as he tries to take credit for the latest U.S. jobs report. The new administration on Friday promoted Labor Department statistics that show U.S. employers added 235,000 jobs in February. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.7 percent from 4.8 percent. “Great news for American workers: economy added 235,000 new jobs, unemployment rate drops to 4.7% in first report for (at)POTUS Trump,” tweeted White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. “Not a bad way to start day 50 of this administration,” he later said. Watch: US Job Gains Make Higher Interest Rates a Near Certainty What a difference a year makes What a difference from last year’s presidential campaign, when Trump repeatedly assailed the report’s legitimacy.   Back then, candidate Trump denounced “phony unemployment numbers” he claimed had been invented to make the Democrats look good. “Don’t believe those phony …

The new plan by the U.S. to counter Islamic State in Syria and Iraq involves the deployment of 1,000 soldiers to Kuwait, a U.S. military official told VOA on Friday. The plan is awaiting final approval from the administration, but U.S. soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, have already received permission for deployment from Army leaders, should the plan be signed. The troops will be available for Army General Stephen Townsend, the ground commander in the fight to counter Islamic State, who will position the soldiers where they are needed, said an official, who refrained from giving further details because he didn’t want to “telegraph” specifics of the mission. The plan comes as officials tell VOA that about 300 Marines have arrived in Syria to provide additional capabilities for allied forces working to push Islamic State forces from their de …

A federal judge in Orlando on Friday revoked bond for the wife of the gunman responsible for the Pulse nightclub massacre, the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. U.S. District Judge Paul Byron reversed the decision of a magistrate judge in Oakland, California, last week to release Noor Salman on $500,000 bond and ordered her jailed pending trial on charges of aiding and abetting and obstruction. Acting upon a request from prosecutors, Byron said Salman hadn’t overcome a legal presumption that she was a flight risk or a danger to the community. Salman was never released from jail while Byron considered the prosecutors’ request. Her attorney, Charles Swift in Texas, said in a statement that she maintains her innocence. “We are currently exploring all available legal remedies on her behalf,” Swift said. “Until all the facts come out in trial, we urge the community to withhold judgment.” With family …

As congressional investigations into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election are ramping up, so is the political division, raising questions about whether lawmakers’ work will be viewed as credible. The House this week scheduled its first public hearing, which some swiftly dismissed as political theater. Even as lawmakers began to review classified information at the CIA’s headquarters, Democrats continued to call for an independent panel and special prosecutor. The dynamic underscored the escalating concerns about whether the Republican-led investigations will have the funding, focus and, perhaps most important, bipartisan buy-in to produce findings that are broadly accepted and definitive. “To be honest, we don’t know yet,” said Representative Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, which is conducting a probe in the House. “I can’t say for certain whether that will be possible. I can only say it is very much in the national interest that we …

Conservative Republicans demanded tougher changes Friday in insurance requirements and Medicaid than the House GOP health care bill proposes and warned they’d oppose the legislation if it isn’t reshaped. The White House signaled an openness to negotiate, but there was resistance from House leaders. Less than two weeks before the GOP’s showpiece legislation is slated to hit the House floor, the discord underscored the challenge facing top Republicans trying to garner votes for legislation scrapping former President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. It also raised questions about whether congressional leaders reluctant to make changes were lagging behind a White House more willing to cut deals. And it illustrated anew the strained relationship between GOP leaders and some conservatives, even as the party tries to deliver one of its highest profile goals. “If that’s the best that they can do, then perhaps they have a different whip count than I have,” …

U.S. employers are thought to have hired at a brisk pace in February, and the unemployment rate is expected to stay low, a result that would provide further evidence of a consistently solid job market.   Economists have forecast a job gain of 186,000 and a decline of one-tenth of a percentage point in unemployment to 4.7 percent, according to data provider FactSet. With employers competing to hire a dwindling supply of applicants and higher minimum wages taking effect in some states, average pay is also thought to have risen.   The Labor Department will release the February jobs report at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.   If the economists’ forecasts prove roughly correct, the Federal Reserve will almost surely feel confident enough to resume raising interest rates when it meets next week. It would mark the Fed’s third rate hike in 15 months, a reflection of how far the economy …

If this week’s WikiLeaks document dump is genuine, it includes a CIA list of the many and varied ways the electronic device in your hand, in your car, and in your home can be used to hack your life. It’s simply more proof that, “it’s not a matter of if you’ll get hacked, but when you’ll get hacked.” That may be every security expert’s favorite quote, and unfortunately they say it’s true. The WikiLeaks releases include confidential documents the group says exposes “the entire hacking capacity of the CIA.” The CIA has refused to confirm the authenticity of the documents, which allege the agency has the tools to hack into smartphones and some televisions, allowing it to remotely spy on people through microphones on the devices. Watch: New Generation of Hackable Internet Devices May Always Be Listening WikiLeaks also claimed the CIA managed to compromise both Apple and Android smartphones, …

It’s not a matter of “if” you’ll be hacked, but “when” you’ll be hacked. That may be every security expert’s favorite quote, and unfortunately they say it’s true. A Wikileaks dump of alleged CIA documents that includes electronic hacking techniques makes it abundantly clear that no one is safe. The leaks and the revealing CIA techniques reinforce the notion that when we’re wired 24-7, we are vulnerable. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …

Twelve-year-old Janet Sylva of Gambia wants to be a doctor when she grows up, she says with a broad grin — one that surgeons in New York gave back to her after removing from her mouth one of the largest tumors they’d ever seen.   The 6-pound benign tumor was about the size of a cantaloupe. It prevented Janet from eating, and her breathing had become so difficult that doctors were afraid she might die within a year if nothing was done.    “It made her a prisoner in her own body,” said Dr. David Hoffman, a Staten Island surgeon who became aware of Janet’s plight last year after doctors in the neighboring west African nation of Senegal reached out to international health groups for assistance. She had stopped going to school and wore a scarf around her face to hide the massive tumor.   Hoffman coordinated with the Global …

The controversy over President Donald Trump’s two executive orders to ban travelers from a handful of Muslim majority countries has prompted some people to reach out to others of a different faith. VOA’s Nadeem Yaqub has this story of a Muslim and a Jewish family in Chicago’s suburbs who are together trying to build a better place for themselves and their children. …

Robert Levinson, whose 69th birthday is Friday, disappeared March 9, 2007, while visiting Iran’s Kish Island as a private investigator. He had retired from a 22-year career with the FBI. …

While the Trump administration is exploring strategies to thwart North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, former U.S. officials who dealt with the communist state extensively offer mixed views on how to achieve that goal. Earlier this week, Pyongyang launched four ballistic missiles in an apparent protest against U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises, prompting Beijing to intervene. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed Wednesday to halt the military drills in exchange for North Korea freezing nuclear and missile programs, a proposition that has been rejected by the United States and South Korea. Speaking to reporters after attending a U.N. Security Council meeting over the launches, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said the regime must take “positive action” before it can be taken seriously. She made her remarks a week before U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is scheduled to make his first trip to Asia, where North Korea is likely …

Israel’s prime minister was in Moscow Thursday to talk with Russia’s president about the Syrian crisis, the latest sign of Russia’s growing influence in the Middle East as well as Israel’s concerns over Moscow’s regional allies. Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin made no joint statement following the talks, but Netanyahu later issued a statement indicating he had “made it clear” to Putin that Israel wants to prevent any Syrian settlement from leaving “Iran and its proxies with a military presence” in Syria. Russia has come to assume a larger role in Israel’s foreign policy calculations since the Kremlin’s intervention in the Syrian conflict in September 2015. While Putin at the time justified Russia’s actions as taking the fight to global terrorists and the Islamic State, Western critics argue the intervention was also aimed at salvaging the government of besieged Moscow’s ally, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. Russia’s wider role It’s that …

The son of a former U.S. FBI agent who went missing in Iran 10 years ago is urging the Trump administration to “constantly annoy” Tehran into locating his father, whom he believes is still alive. Daniel Levinson spoke to VOA’s Persian service in Washington on Thursday, the 10th anniversary of the disappearance of his father, Robert Levinson. Watch: Son of Former FBI Agent Missing in Iran for 10 Years “Simply asking for the Iranian government’s help in locating my dad is not going to be enough anymore,” Daniel Levinson said. He said the Trump administration should “constantly annoy” Iranian authorities by negotiating through private channels. He also wrote a column in The Washington Post saying that if Iran fails to act, President Donald Trump should impose more sanctions on the country or declare its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization. Robert Levinson, whose 69th birthday is Friday, disappeared March 9, …