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This is VOA news. I'm David Byrd.
Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Friday reiterated his desire to avoid confrontation with the United States and stay friends with U.S. President Donald Trump. Now as AP's Jackie Quinn reports, President Trump is suggesting there could be a deal with Mexico that would head off punitive tariffs. After a week of threats from abroad, President Trump now says there is a good chance the U.S. will strike a deal with Mexico over illegal border crossings that would avert the tariffs that he scheduled to take effect Monday to pressure Mexico to do more to stem the flow of Central American migrants. The president home from Europe had tweeted "If we are unable to make the deal, Mexico will begin paying Tariffs at the 5% level on Monday!" U.S. and Mexican officials held a third day of talks at the U.S. State Department, trying to hash out a deal to make it more difficult for migrants who pass through Mexico from other countries to claim asylum in the U.S. Jackie Quinn, Washington. Ethiopia's prime minister urged "courage" as he met Friday with Sudan's ruling generals and opposition leaders in an attempt to ease the political crisis that has gripped that nation since the overthrow of longtime President Omar al-Bashir. Abiy Ahmed conferred with the ruling Transitional Military Council, including TMC chief General Abdel-Fattah Burhan. He later met with leaders of the Forces for Freedom and Change, a coalition of political groups whose protests helped drive Bashir from power. Talks on a civilian-led transition to democracy fell apart earlier this week after a deadly raid by security forces on a protest camp on Monday. The opposition says 113 people were killed. The government puts the death toll at 61. For more, visit our website. This is VOA news. The United States and Russia traded accusations of unsafe actions on Friday after an American guided missile cruiser and a Russian destroyer came within 50 meters of each other in the Philippine Sea. The U.S. 7th Fleet said the Russian destroyer, Admiral Vinogradov, put the safety of the USS Chancellorsville and its crew at risk, forcing the American ship to reverse engines at full throttle to avoid a collision. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan called the action unprofessional and irresponsible. "Unsafe, unprofessional acts will not deter us from conducting operations." Shanahan told reporters the U.S. will file a formal diplomatic complaint about the incident and will have military-to-military conversations with the Russians. The Russian Pacific Fleet said the incident took place in the southeast of the [Chinese] South China Sea and that they had sent a complaint to the Chancellorsville's commanders. Facebook has stopped allowing Chinese tech giant Huawei to pre-install its apps on their telephones. AP correspondent Rita Foley has details. The U.S. says it worries that China could use Huawei's products for spying so it's effectively barred American companies from selling their technology to Huawei. Now Facebook says it stopped letting its apps come pre-installed on smartphones sold by Huawei. If you own a Huawei phone that has Facebook apps on already, you can continue to use them and download updates. But what we don't know yet is if you buy a new Huawei phone, will you be able to install Facebook apps on it on your own? I'm Rita Foley. The government's latest jobs report shows that employers pulled back on hiring last month and numbers for the previous two months were also revised downward. AP's Ben Thomas reports. The Labor Department says employers added 75,000 jobs in May, a modest increase way off this year's average monthly gain of 164,000. It follows a healthier gain of 224,000 jobs in April but that number and March's were revised downward. Economists see it all the sign businesses have become more cautious in the face of slowing global growth, trade fights and the fading stimulus from tax cuts and greater government spending. However, the unemployment rate remains at 3.6 percent, nearly a 50-year low, and wages rose 3.1 percent from a year ago. Ben Thomas, Washington. The poor jobs report boosted investor confidence that the U.S. central bank would cut interest rates and that sent stock prices higher on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.01 percent, the S&P rose by 1.05 percent. The NASDAQ added 1 and two-thirds percent. For more, visit voanews.com. I'm David Byrd, VOA news |