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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Christopher Cruise reporting.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says "real progress" has been made in negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's top deputy in New York toward a possible meeting between Kim and President Trump. AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports. The Singapore summit's been on-again, off-again. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he still doesn't know if it will happen next month but says his meeting with the top North Korean officials helping smooth away. "The conditions are, putting President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un in a place where we think there can be real progress made by the two of them meeting. It does no good if we're in a place where we don't think there's a real opportunity to place them together." Pompeo says Kim Yong Chol, the ex-intelligence chief with whom he met in New York, will come here to Washington tomorrow to give the president a letter from Kim Jong Un, something Trump himself mentioned earlier. "I look forward to seeing what's in the letter." Sagar Meghani, Washington. Kim Yong Chol is planning to travel to Washington Friday. The United States is escalating trans-Atlantic and North American trade tensions, imposing a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports from the European Union, Canada and Mexico beginning on Friday. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the tariffs "totally unacceptable" and promised to retaliate. "... and we will do things to stand together and stand up for our interests right across the country. That's what they expect of this government. That's also we expect of each other." Canada, the EU and Mexico had been granted a temporary reprieve from the U.S. tariffs after Trump unveiled them in March. Trump has repeatedly said the tariffs are necessary to protect American jobs. This is VOA news. The U.N. Security Council has given South Sudan one month to stop fighting and sign a peace deal, or face an arms embargo and sanctions. The Council passed a U.S.-sponsored resolution Thursday with the minimum nine votes needed for approval. Protesters marched in Nairobi Thursday after news broke that more than $100 million in public money had been stolen. The protest comes one day after 24 government workers and businesspeople were charged in a Kenyan court over the theft. Correspondent Mohammed Yusuf reports. Dressed in red t-shirts, chanting "we want our money back," protesters took to the streets of the Kenyan capital to register their anger with the runaway corruption in the country's youth agency. It is the second scandal in three years to hit the agency, which provides job training and other services for young people. In both instances, workers in charge of buying supplies for the agency's projects allegedly transferred millions of dollars to their own bank accounts. On Tuesday, more than 20 suspects including the public service principal secretary appeared before a judge. The suspects were accused of stealing a total of over $100 million, a charge they all denied. Mohammed Yusuf, for VOA news, Nairobi. Pakistan says it is reassessing its relationship with the United States. That could cut supply lines into Afghanistan. Foreign Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan told VOA that Pakistan is just being vilified and castigated in Washington without being heard at all. The once might Sears retail store chain continues to struggle. Associated Press correspondent Matt Small reports. Sears is closing another 72 stores after reporting first-quarter losses and plunging sales. The retailer says it's identified about 100 stores that are no longer turning profits, and 72 of those locations will be shuttered soon. Illinois-based Sears Holding Corporation lost $424 million, or 3.93 per share, in its first quarter. I'm Matt Small. The U.S. will limit Chinese students who study in high-tech fields to one-year visas starting June 11. The State Department said that under the new policy, consular officers may limit how long visas are valid rather than the usual practice of issuing them for the maximum five years. Of the more than 1 million international students in the U.S., 30 percent are Chinese. The Archdiocese of St. Paul Minneapolis in the northern state of Minneapolis has reached a $210 million settlement with victims of clergy sex abuse. You can find more on these and other late breaking and developing stories, from around the world, around the clock, at voanews.com and on the VOA news mobile app. I'm Christopher Cruise, VOA news. That's the latest world news from VOA. |