Southern California firefighters made some progress in containing two major wildfires, while forecasters said weather conditions in the coming days could bring welcome relief from the days of dry air and high winds that have plagued the region. The relief will give firefighters a key window to battle the Palisades Fire on the west edge…
read moreElon Musk, the world’s richest person, will be among several billionaires attending Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration. Tesla CEO Musk was instrumental in Trump’s reelection with his contribution of over a quarter of a billion dollars to Trump’s campaign coffers, according to Forbes. Musk is set to head Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, along…
read moreTaiwan plans to spend $4.56 billion to boost its startup ecosystem and has set up a liaison center in Silicon Valley designated to attract American venture capital and talent to Taiwan. Liu Chin-ching, minister of the National Development Council of Taiwan, told VOA of the importance of the bridge between the U.S. and Taiwan, adding…
read moreWASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the CIA signaled substantial changes are in store for America’s premier spy agency, telling lawmakers that it must be more aggressive both in collecting intelligence and pushing back against Washington’s adversaries. John Ratcliffe, who served as director of national intelligence at the end of Trump’s first term, told…
read moreOn Wednesday the U.S. Department of Commerce announced it would implement new export controls on certain biotechnology equipment, citing national security concerns relating to artificial intelligence and data science. The Commerce Department warned that China could use the biotech equipment’s technology to bolster its military capabilities and help design new weapons using artificial intelligence. The…
read moreUsha Vance will be the next second lady of the United States, making the Yale-educated lawyer the first vice presidential spouse of South Asian origin. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell takes a look at her life story – and how it intersects with her husband’s political career and interests – as she prepares for…
read moreWASHINGTON — Pam Bondi, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, will face sharp questioning from Democratic senators at a confirmation hearing Wednesday expected to center on concerns that Trump will look to use the Justice Department’s powers to seek retribution against his adversaries. Bondi, a former Florida attorney general who was part of Trump’s…
read moreWASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin did not inform Congress or the White House as required when he was incapacitated due to treatment for prostate cancer or when complications worsened his condition last year, the Pentagon’s watchdog concluded in a highly critical report released Wednesday. The inspector general’s report faults Austin for the communications failures early…
read moreARUSHA, Tanzania — The World Health Organization said Wednesday an outbreak of suspected Marburg disease has killed eight people in a remote part of northern Tanzania. “We are aware of 9 cases so far, including 8 people who have died,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. “We would expect further cases in coming…
read moreWarnings were in place again Wednesday in the Los Angeles area for the prospect of strong winds combining with dry conditions to spread wildfires as firefighters battled a series of blazes in the region that have already killed at least 25 people. After winds were weaker than expected during the day Tuesday, the National Weather…
read moreTwo moon landers built by private U.S. and Japanese companies are on their way to the moon after lifting off early Wednesday on a shared ride aboard a SpaceX rocket. The launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida is the latest in a public-private program that put a spacecraft from Intuitive Machines on the…
read morePresident-elect Donald Trump’s choice for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, faced resistance from Democrats in the Senate Armed Service Committee on Tuesday. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb has details. …
read moreWASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden signed on Tuesday an executive order to boost development of artificial intelligence infrastructure in America. A day earlier, his administration announced sweeping measures to block access to the most advanced semiconductors by China and other adversaries. But the U.S. left India, its strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific, off a list…
read moreElon Musk was sued on Tuesday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which accused the world’s richest person of waiting too long to disclose in 2022 he had amassed a large stake in Twitter, the social media company he later bought. In a complaint filed in Washington, the SEC said Musk violated federal securities…
read moreBATON ROUGE — Before plowing a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans, killing 14 people, the man who carried out the Islamic State group-inspired attack had researched how to access a balcony on the city’s famed Bourbon Street and looked up information about a similar recent attack at a Christmas…
read moreThe White House says it has finalized rules that crack down on Chinese and Russian automobile technology effectively banning all personal smart cars from the two countries from entering the U.S. market. In a White House fact sheet detailing the decision, the Biden administration Tuesday said that while connected vehicles offer advantages, the involvement of…
read moreU.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday ordered that flags at the Capitol be raised to their full height on Inauguration Day, pausing a 30-day flag-lowering order following the death of former President Jimmy Carter. The Republican leader’s decision means that President-elect Donald Trump will not take the oath of office for his…
read moreGENEVA — U.S. President Donald Trump will take part virtually in the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos just days after his inauguration, the forum president said Tuesday. Borge Brende, a former Norwegian foreign minister who heads the Geneva-based organization, noted that Trump had twice attended the elite gathering of business, government and other leaders…
read moreChina says HMPV infections in the northern part of the country are declining. News of increased respiratory illnesses in China kindled international concerns about another potential pandemic. But, as VOA’s Dora Mekouar reports, medical experts say HMPV is nothing like COVID-19. VOA Mandarin contributed to this report. …
read more— U.S. President Joe Biden issued an executive order Tuesday directing the development of artificial intelligence data centers on six federal land sites, with a special focus on powering them with clean energy and upholding high labor standards. Biden said in a statement that the United States is the world leader in AI, but cannot take…
read moreLONDON — Britain’s antitrust regulator said on Tuesday it would investigate Google’s search services using its new powers to see how they impact consumers and businesses, including advertisers, news publishers and rival search engines. The Competition and Markets Authority, which has gained new powers to examine big tech, said search was vital for economic growth and…
read moreDES MOINES, Iowa — More than 150 recipients of the Nobel and World Food prizes released an open letter Tuesday calling for a dramatic increase in research and a commitment to new food distribution efforts with a goal of producing more crops and avoiding a global hunger crisis in coming decades. The letter notes that an…
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