Tin, her husband and five children have cleared years of refugee hurdles to come to the U.S.: blood tests, interviews, DNA and fingerprints, background checks. She has her one must-bring possession within reach, a well-worn Bible, and keeps their phone charged for the U.S. Embassy to call. But the odds of that happening dropped precipitously. President Donald Trump’s 16-page travel ban “to keep the bad dudes out” bars new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries and shuts down America’s refugee program through mid-July. His executive order had been set to take effect Thursday, but a federal judge put it on hold hours before it was to take effect. The order also includes a 55 percent reduction in refugee visas overall, from a planned 110,000 to 50,000 this year. This means, in some of the most desperate places in the world, 60,000 refugee visas are not going to be issued …

McDonald’s has started testing mobile order-and-pay after acknowledging the ordering process in its restaurants can be “stressful.” The company says it will gather feedback from the test before launching the option nationally toward the end of the year. It says mobile order-and-pay is now available at 29 stores in Monterey and Salinas, California, and will expand to 51 more locations in Spokane, Washington, next week. The rollout comes as customers increasingly seek out convenience through options like online ordering or delivery. McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook has noted the initial stages of visiting can be “stressful,” and the chain is making changes to improve the overall customer experience. That includes introducing ordering kiosks, which McDonald’s says can help ease lines at the counter and improve the accuracy of orders – another frustration for customers. Easterbrook has also talked about the potential of delivery. With its mobile order-and-pay option, McDonald’s says customers …

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators Wednesday introduced legislation which calls for an increase in the number of visas available to Afghans who helped U.S. forces in positions such as interpreters. The bill calls for an extra 2,500 Special Immigrant Visas specifically for Afghans who assisted the U.S. military, often risking their lives. “This legislation would ensure the continuation of this vital Special Immigrant Visa program, and send a clear message that America will not turn its back on those who at great personal risk stand with us in the fight against terror,” Senator John McCain said in a statement.   McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, introduced the measure alongside fellow Republican Thom Tillis, Jack Reed, the committee’s top Democrat, and another Democrat, Jeanne Shaheen. Faced with a shrinking pool of visas, the U.S. embassy in Kabul has started turning away Afghan military interpreters and other Afghan …

When U.S. President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel sit down for a ‘get to know you’ session at the White House Friday, the entire future of the Transatlantic relationship will be hanging in the balance. The leaders of two of the world’s most powerful economies have seemed to be on a collision course since candidate Trump accused Merkel of ‘ruining Europe” with liberal immigration policies, spoke ill of NATO, and hinted at a trade war. Merkel, for her part, scolded Trump for imposing a travel ban on immigrants from six mostly Muslim countries, and reminded him that any “close U.S./Germany cooperation must be based on ‘’values of democracy, freedom, respect for the rule of law and human dignity, regardless of origin, skin color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political belief.” NATO A minefield of explosive issues await. But on many of the key points, from NATO to the …

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday announced indictments for two Russian spies and two other people suspected of stealing personal information from hundreds of millions of people in the 2014 hack of Yahoo. Assistant Attorney General Mary McCord said the four indictments include two officers from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and two hackers who helped them in the intrusion. WATCH: Justice Department announces indictment The FSB officers, identified as Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin, “protected, directed, facilitated and paid criminal hackers to collect information through computer intrusions in the United States and elsewhere,” she said. She said the hackers targeted the accounts of government officials from both Russia and the U.S., as well as journalists, financial services employees and military personnel. One of the co-conspirators, Alexsey Belan, has been indicted twice before by the U.S. for similar hacking exploits, and has been on the FBI’s most wanted …

Nearly four in 10 U.S. colleges and universities have reported a decline in international student applications, according to a recent survey by six higher education groups. The study, of 250 American colleges and universities, found the highest number of declines were from applicants from the Middle East.  Universities report declines of 39 percent in undergraduate applications from the Middle East, while applications from graduate students from the region have decreased by 31 percent. According to the Institute of Higher Education, the majority of Middle East students are from Saudi Arabia, Iran and Kuwait. The report mentions that according to institution-based professionals perceptions the United States is now less welcoming to individuals from other countries is one of the “most frequently noted concerns of international students and their families.” More than one million international students come to the United States to attend colleges and universities, adding some $32.8 billion to the …

U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, wiretapped him in the weeks before last November’s election is unfounded, the top leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee said Wednesday. “We don’t have any evidence that took place,” Republican Congressman Devin Nunes, the panel’s chairman, said. “I don’t think there was a tapping of Trump Tower,” the president’s skyscraper headquarters in New York. Congressman Adam Schiff, the committee’s top Democrat, agreed. “To date, I see no evidence (of Obama-ordered wiretapping), no basis for that whatsoever,” he said. WATCH: Nunez says no evidence of wiretapping WATCH: Schiff deeply concerned about Trump allegations Awaiting info from Justice Dept. Nunes and Schiff said they are waiting for information from the country’s Department of Justice by next Monday about whether the agency knows of any court-ordered wiretaps of Trump, but said they had learned of no such bugging …

Moving forcefully against Obama-era environmental rules, President Donald Trump is set to announce in Michigan plans to re-examine federal requirements that regulate the fuel efficiency of new cars and trucks. Trump is expected to reveal his plans during an appearance Wednesday at the American Center for Mobility in Detroit where he’ll challenge the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) emissions targets that were a centerpiece of former President Barack Obama’s strategy to combat global warming. The rollback underscores the Trump administration’s rejection of mainstream climate science in an effort to boost economic growth. The Detroit center was used to produce B-24 bombers during World War II and is now in the process of being converted into an automotive testing and product development center. While visiting there the president is expected to meet with auto executives and workers and discuss “how his plans for rolling back federal red tape will lead to …

Newly appointed U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit South Korea later this week at a time of significant political change that could complicate the alliance between Washington and Seoul.  VOA’s Brian Padden has more from Seoul. …

The release of two pages of President Donald Trump’s 2005 tax returns has sparked a legal dispute, with the White House and a major television network squaring off over whether a law was broken. The White House said MSNBC’s publication of the pages Tuesday night violated a federal law that prohibits the unauthorized release of tax returns. But the cable network, which revealed the 1040 form on Rachel Maddow’s show, claimed First Amendment privilege. Trump refused to release his returns during the campaign, breaking a decades-long tradition. The document revealed Tuesday showed Trump made more than $150 million in income in 2005 and paid $38 million in income taxes that year. Here’s a look at the law – and the emerging controversy: Federal law Federal law makes it illegal to publish an unauthorized tax return or “return information.” According to federal statute, any violation of the law “shall be a …

President Donald Trump is to tell American autoworkers Wednesday in the state of Michigan that he is setting aside strict fuel-economy requirements imposed by the previous administration in its waning days. The Trump White House contends that action broke an earlier agreement with the auto industry to wait until 2018 to review the standards. “The auto industry, rightly, cried foul,” a senior White House official told reporters Tuesday. “We’re going to get this midterm review back on track.” Advocates of the tougher standards dispute that. The year 2018 “was the deadline by which they were obligated to complete the review. No agreement was broken,” Therese Langer, transportation program director at the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) told VOA News. “The agencies completed a comprehensive technical assessment report in July 2016, which made clear that the standards as adopted remained feasible and cost-effective. At that point, making the …

The Congressional Budget Office report on a Republican health care bill set off an intense reaction in Washington, and some on both sides of the debate are playing loose with the facts. Republicans are overlooking President Donald Trump’s promise to deliver “insurance for everybody,” which the CBO makes clear will not happen if the legislation becomes law. Democrats are assailing Republicans for “attacking the messenger,” seeming to forget all the times they assailed the budget office themselves. The Congressional Budget Office is respected for nonpartisan rigor in its estimates of the costs and impacts of legislation. But no projection is infallible, particularly when it comes to large, complex programs. For example, the agency in 2010 overstated the number of people expected to buy insurance under President Barack Obama’s health care law, misjudging how many would join because of the threat of tax penalties. Yet, CBO’s neutrality has been valued by …