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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David Byrd reporting.
A federal judge Friday sent President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort to prison for tampering with witnesses while out on bail. AP's Warren Levinson reports Manafort attempted to influence the testimony of two government witnesses. The former Trump campaign chairman is accused of money laundering and making false statements. He'd been free on $10 million bond. But prosecutors working for special counselor Robert Mueller charge Manafort attempted to influence the testimony of two government witnesses. A suit-preceding indictment alleges Manafort and an associate tried to persuade the witnesses to say he'd never lobbied in the U.S. on behalf of the ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Manafort's trial is scheduled for September. I'm Warren Levinson. U.S. President Donald Trump is going ahead with 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese technology imports. Trump on Friday followed through on a pledge to crack down on what he considers to be unfair trade practices by Beijing, imposing tariffs on goods that "contain industrially significant technologies." Joe Foudy is an economist at New York University. "???With this then presage a series of trade wars with lots of other countries. You add those together, that could become really significant really quickly." A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said that nation would immediate "take tariff measures of the same scale and intensity. All economic and trade outcomes of previous talks will now lose effect." President Trump, speaking at the White House, dismissed the comments, saying the U.S. had lost trade war with China years ago. He said that he had spoken with China and that they are very happy, perhaps not as happy as they were before. For more on these stories, visit our website voanews.com. This is VOA news. Friday marked the sixth anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals act, or DACA, with accusations flying on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. Speaking at the White House, President Trump said the current policy where nearly 2,000 children have been separated from their parents is the result of the Democrats' cruel agenda. However, the facts don't back that up. There is no law that calls for such separations. On Capitol Hill, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi noted that Republicans control both houses of Congress and the White House. "And they know this is shameful so they passing it onto others. They control the White House, the House and the Senate. They could accomplish anything they set out to do if they cared. But they don't care." Meanwhile, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who instituted the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy, said in Pennsylvania the administration's goal is to end illegal immigration. "We are going to restore the rule of law in our immigration system. That's a commitment we made. We're working at it steadily. It's not so much an individual case of an individual person as it is restoring integrity in the entire process." President Trump then set off some confusion by saying he would not sign a moderate proposal put forth by congressional Republicans. House Speaker Paul Ryan had told colleagues earlier this week the president supported that bill. The White House later said that Trump had misspoken and would support the moderate plan. U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson, who has spent more time in space than any other American, retired on Friday. AP's Shelley Adler has details. She's spent more time off planet Earth than any other American: 665 days over three missions. And now, Peggy Whitson is retiring. The 58-year-old talked with reporters back in January about the one thing she does better in space that at home. "I love being in space. I sleep like a baby. I mean, it is amazing the great sleep. Nothing hurts when you're lying in bed." Whitson was the first woman to command the International Space Station and the oldest female ever to fly in space. I'm Shelley Adler. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani telephoned leaders in neighboring Pakistan Friday to confirm a U.S. drone attack killed the leader of the outlawed Pakistani Taliban. Mullah Fazlullah, the head of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban, directed numerous high-profile attacks against U.S. and Pakistani targets since being appointed the group's leader in 2013. Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo earned a hat-trick to lead his nation to a 3-3 tie with archrival Spain at the World Cup in Russia Friday. In other matches, Iran beat Morocco and Uruguay defeated Egypt. For more on these stories, visit our website. I'm David Byrd in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |