The boom times for the U.S. lobster industry are imperiled this year because of a shortage of a little fish that has been luring the crustaceans into traps for hundreds of years. Members of the lobster business fear a looming bait crisis could disrupt the industry during a time when lobsters are as plentiful, valuable…
read moreAfter losing in Congress, President Donald Trump is counting on the courts to kill off “Obamacare.” But some cases are going against him, and time is not on his side as he tries to score a big win for his re-election campaign. Two federal judges in Washington, D.C., this past week blocked parts of Trump’s…
read moreWashington is focused yet again on immigration and border security after President Donald Trump threatened to close America’s southern border with Mexico and declared he wants U.S. aid terminated to three Central American nations. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports, Trump’s moves come amid a continuing surge of undocumented migrant arrivals that have strained federal resources and…
read moreFormer U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, a possible Democratic challenger to President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, denied Sunday that he “acted inappropriately” in the face of allegations from a Nevada lawmaker that he unexpectedly touched her shoulders and kissed her hair at a 2014 political rally. Lucy Flores, a former Democratic candidate for…
read moreSeveral Republican-led state legislatures are advocating for women to gain over-the-counter access to birth control in what they say is an effort to reduce unplanned pregnancies and abortions. State legislatures in Arkansas and Iowa, for example, are working on legislation that would allow women older than 18 the ability to receive birth control from a…
read moreThe Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building, the Sydney Opera House, the Brandenburg Gate, the Acropolis and many more iconic landmarks went dark at 8:30 p.m. local time, Saturday night, for Earth Hour, an annual call for local action on climate change. Earth Hour is the brain child of the World Wildlife Fund. “By going…
read moreThe Trump administration wants to halt funding to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, the State Department confirmed Saturday. “We are carrying out the president’s direction and ending [fiscal year] 2017 and [fiscal year] 2018 foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. “We will be engaging Congress as…
read moreA federal judge in Alaska has overturned U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempt to open vast areas of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans to oil and gas leasing. The decision issued late Friday by U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason leaves intact President Barack Obama’s policies putting the Arctic’s Chukchi Sea, part of the Arctic’s Beaufort Sea…
read moreFor techies and phone geeks, Digital Cambodia 2019 was the place to be. More than a dozen high school students clustered at the booth for Cellcard, Cambodia’s leading mobile operator. Under the booth’s 5G sign, they played video games on their phones. Hak Kimheng, a ninth grade student in Phnom Penh, said his mom bought…
read moreThe United States is calling on China to stop what it calls its growing oppression of people of faith, noting the detention of a million ethnic Uighur Muslims. VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine has the story from the State Department. …
read moreTwenty years ago, Yang Li left northeast China in the prime of her life and crossed the Pacific Ocean borne by her own American dream. She became an American citizen, founded a spa and massage business in Florida, participated in community activities, attended events where American politicians appeared, and posted on social media photos of…
read moreU.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar has a way of attracting attention. Four months ago, the Minnesota Democrat became the first Somali-American and one of the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress. Her election was heralded by many as a sign of a more diverse generation of politicians coming to power on Capitol Hill. But…
read moreFor decades, it was virtually unknown outside a small circle of investors, corporate lawyers and government officials. But in recent years, the small interagency body known as the Committee for Investment in the United States has grown in prominence, propelled by a U.S. desire to use it as an instrument of national security and…
read moreU.S. Attorney General William Barr said on Friday the Justice Department is preparing a redacted version of the special counsel’s nearly 400-page confidential report on the Russia investigation and will be in a position to release it by mid-April, if not sooner. In a letter to the chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary committees,…
read moreLyft Inc shares on Friday opened up 21.2 percent at $87.24 in its market debut on the Nasdaq after the company was valued at $24.3 billion in the first initial public offering (IPO) of a ride-hailing startup. On Thursday, Lyft said it priced 32.5 million shares, slightly more that it was offering originally, at $72,…
read moreWashington Governor Jay Inslee on Friday became the latest Democratic presidential candidate to release his tax returns, while bashing President Donald Trump for refusing such a disclosure. “It’s time for him to come clean with the American people,” Inslee said on Fox News’ Fox & Friends, adding that he was issuing his challenge on the…
read moreAt one atom thick, graphene is one of those miracle materials that many say is the stuff of the future. The future may be now as graphene’s potential is being realized as the key to quick efficient 5G networks, and the future of telecommunications. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump, at his first political rally since the end of the two-year Russia collusion investigation, unleashed a furious attack on cheerleaders of the probe into alleged ties between his 2016 election campaign and Moscow. The “group of major losers” went beyond personal attacks, according to Trump, and tried to tear up the…
read moreFederal legislation proposed Thursday would give state prison officials the ability they have long sought to jam the signals of cellphones smuggled to inmates within their walls. U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and U.S. Rep. David Kustoff of Tennessee introduced companion bills in both chambers, The Associated Press learned. The legislation could help solve…
read morePresident Donald Trump says he has overruled his education secretary and others and will fund the Special Olympics. “I’ve been to the Special Olympics. I think it’s incredible,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn Thursday. The Special Olympics give physically and mentally challenged athletes in the United States and elsewhere the chance to…
read moreInfluential figures in Washington are calling for the establishment of a bilateral free-trade agreement with Taiwan, even as U.S. and Chinese officials move toward a resolution of their long-running trade dispute. “We have a lot of issues with Beijing, and a lot of opportunities with Taiwan,” said Edwin J. Feulner in an interview with…
read moreFacebook was charged with discrimination by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development because of its ad-targeting system. HUD said Thursday Facebook is allowing advertisers to exclude people based on their neighborhood by drawing a red line around those neighborhoods on a map and giving advertisers the option of showing ads only to men…
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