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read moreHONOLULU — A Hawaii judge has temporarily blocked the state from enforcing a law requiring the licensing of practitioners and teachers of traditional Native Hawaiian midwifery while a lawsuit seeking to overturn the statute wends its way through the courts. Lawmakers enacted the midwife licensure law, which asserted that the “improper practice of midwifery poses a…
read moreWASHINGTON — In a fresh broadside against one of the world’s most popular technology companies, the Justice Department late Friday accused TikTok of harnessing the capability to gather bulk information on users based on views on divisive social issues like gun control, abortion and religion. Government lawyers wrote in a brief filed to the federal appeals…
read moreWASHINGTON — Nearly two weeks after Donald Trump’s near assassination, the FBI confirmed Friday that it was indeed a bullet that struck the former president’s ear, moving to clear up conflicting accounts about what caused his injuries after a gunman opened fire at a Pennsylvania rally. “What struck former President Trump in the ear was a…
read moreWASHINGTON — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Friday he will return to the Pennsylvania town where he narrowly survived an assassination attempt, while Vice President Kamala Harris capped her weeklong bid to become the Democratic presidential nominee with former president Barack Obama’s endorsement. “I WILL BE GOING BACK TO BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA, FOR A BIG AND…
read morewashington — NASA’s rover Perseverance on Mars has made what could be its most astonishing discovery to date: possible signs of ancient life on the Red Planet. The six-wheeled robotic explorer came across an intriguing, arrow-shaped rock dubbed “Cheyava Falls” that may harbor fossilized microbes from billions of years ago, when Mars was a watery world.…
read morewashington — Thousands of policymakers, health care professionals and advocates gathered this week in Munich, Germany, to take stock of the global fight against HIV as they try to meet the 2030 deadline set by world leaders for eliminating AIDS as a public health threat. Advocates hailed sub-Saharan Africa’s progress in the global HIV response, with…
read morewashington — The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to…
read moreNORWICH, Conn. — Veteran diplomat Martin S. Indyk, an author and leader at prominent U.S. think tanks who devoted years to finding a path toward peace in the Middle East, died Thursday. He was 73. His wife, Gahl Hodges Burt, confirmed in a phone call that he died from complications of esophageal cancer at the couple’s…
read moreBaghdad — Several rockets were launched Thursday and Friday against bases hosting troops from the U.S.-led anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq and Syria, security officials and a war monitor said. Such attacks were frequent early in the war between Israel and Hamas Palestinian militants in Gaza but since then have largely halted. “Four rockets fell in the…
read moreWASHINGTON — Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a longtime leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, and Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of another infamous cartel leader, were arrested by U.S. authorities in Texas on Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department said. A leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel for decades alongside Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Zambada is one of…
read morewashington — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’ meteoric rise to the top of the Democratic Party’s presidential ticket has energized many Indian Americans, raising the fast-growing community’s political profile and sparking widespread excitement. Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican descent, appears set to become the first female presidential nominee of color after President Joe Biden…
read morewashington — U.S. diplomats and military officials rejected concerns that recent — and sudden — changes to the American political landscape are a sign of weakness, warning America’s adversaries Thursday against trying to seek any sort of advantage. “They should think again,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, briefing reporters. “They should be disabused of the…
read morewashington — This week, as Taiwan was preparing for the start of its Han Kuang military exercises, its air defense system detected a Chinese drone circling the island. This was the sixth time that China had sent a drone to operate around Taiwan since 2023. Drones like the one that flew around Taiwan, which are tasked…
read moreLOS ANGELES — Hollywood’s video game performers voted Thursday to go on strike, throwing part of the entertainment industry into another work stoppage after talks for a new contract with major game studios broke down over artificial intelligence protections. The strike — the second for video game voice actors and motion capture performers under the Screen…
read moreWho will she pick? That’s the big political question in America after President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid and Vice President Kamala Harris became the likely Democratic nominee. The selection in question is Harris’ running mate against Republicans Donald Trump and J.D. Vance. VOA’s chief national correspondent Steve Herman is at the White House…
read moreUnited Nations — The U.N. Secretary-General warned Thursday that the Earth is becoming hotter and more dangerous for everyone, killing nearly a half-million people annually, and he blamed fossil fuels for driving global warming. “Billions of people are facing an extreme heat epidemic — wilting under increasingly deadly heat waves, with temperatures topping 50 degrees Celsius…
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