|
This is VOA news. I'm David Byrd in Washington.
Former presidents, friends, dignitaries and family gathered at Washington's National Cathedral Saturday for a memorial service for the late Arizona Senator John McCain. AP's Sagar Meghani reports the service paid tribute to the two-time presidential candidate who served his country for 60 years. Barack Obama says inviting George W. Bush and him to speak showed McCain's sense of humor and missed him. "What better way to have the last laugh than to make George and I say nice things about him to a national audience." But both praised McCain to an audience that included Bill Clinton but not President Trump. "He made us better presidents." "In the end, I got to enjoy one of life's great gifts: the friendship of John McCain," whom Bush says exemplified national ideals of courage and decency, and if the country is tempted to stray, "John's voice will always come as a whisper over our shoulder - we are better than this, America is better than this." Sagar Meghani, Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday there was no need to keep Canada in the North American Free Trade Agreement and on Twitter, he warned Congress not to meddle with the trade negotiations or he would terminate the trade pact altogether. But as AP's Julie Walker reports, the president might be overstepping his authority. In a series of tweets while visiting his Virginia golf course on the same day John McCain was memorialized, President Trump threatened to scrap the new NAFTA deal should Congress interfere with negotiations. But international trade expert Phil Levy says it's not clear whether Trump has the authority. "We don't generally have it that a president can dismiss or abide a decree." Levy adds most don't want NAFTA to go away or to lose Canada. Sticking points include the dairy market and generic drug competition. I'm Julie Walker. And This is VOA news. Arab media are reporting that warring militias in the Libyan capital have agreed to a cease-fire. However, it is not clear how long it will hold. Clashes were reported overnight in Tripoli, and the city's only functioning airport was closed after rockets hit the area Friday. Edward Yeranian has details from Cairo. Militia fighters from several warring brigades fired multiple rounds of ammunition into the air around the Yarmouk military camp, scene of bitter fighting in recent days. Control of the camp changed hands several times during the week, and fighters from the so-called Seventh Brigade based in Tarhouna currently hold it. Amateur photographs posted on Twitter show buildings, including a hospital and a hotel, that were hit by rocket fire during the past 24 hours. Arab media claims that about 40 people have been killed in a week of fighting. Refugees have been hit hard by the fighting, although amateur photos on Twitter suggest that food has gotten through to at least one group that had been isolated by fighting. The United States along with four European governments are urging the warring militias to observe the latest cease-fire. Edward Yeranian, for VOA news, Cairo. The United States has decided to cancel $300 million in aid to Pakistan because of Islamabad's perceived inactivity against militants. Reuters news agency reports the so-called Coalition Support Funds were part of a broader suspension in aid to Islamabad announced by President Donald Trump at the start of the year. Trump accused Pakistan of rewarding past assistance with "nothing but lies & deceit." The Trump administration says Pakistan offers safe havens to insurgents who are waging a 17-year-old war in neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistan denies the charge. Pakistan has temporarily closed a consulate in neighboring Afghanistan, citing a lack of security and accusing authorities of interfering in the work of the diplomatic facility. The consulate is located in Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province next to the border with Pakistan. Islamabad's embassy in Kabul in a letter to the Afghan Foreign Ministry blamed "undue intervention" of the provincial governor in the functioning of the consulate for prompting it to shut down the diplomatic facility. The outgoing commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan and of operation Resolute Support, General John Nicholson, says Russia is not giving up on efforts to destabilize Afghanistan. By email, Nicholson, who steps down as commander on Sunday, told VOA "We know that Russia is attempting to undercut our military gains and years of military progress in Afghanistan." U.S. and Afghan officials have accused Russia of meddling in Afghanistan by helping Taliban insurgents. I'm David Byrd, VOA news. |