U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is unveiling a plan Wednesday to try to protect American workers by raising taxes on companies that move jobs overseas. Biden, challenging Republican President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 national election, is delivering details of the plan during a campaign stop in the industrial heartland city of Warren, Michigan.…
read moreBritish-Swedish pharmaceutical giant Astra-Zeneca has paused large-scale global trials of its COVID-19 vaccine because a volunteer participant became ill after receiving the experimental drug. The company issued a statement Tuesday saying the pause in testing is a “routine action, which has to happen whenever there is a potentially unexplained illness in one of the trials,…
read moreOne segment of the electorate may be unable to vote if poll workers are not able to certify their identity. It is the reality facing hundreds of thousands of transgender Americans in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. An estimated 378,000 eligible transgender voters do not have identification such as a driver’s license that reflects their name, appearance or new gender identity, according to a study by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. “If those poll workers decide that those ID’s don’t adequately or accurately…
read moreAmid the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump attracted a crowd of thousands to his latest political rally at a North Carolina airport Tuesday evening. Trump marveled at a crowd he said totaled 15,000 people –- a number that reporters on site said was exaggerated. The rally was attended by 14,600 people and several thousand more either wanted to attend…
read moreA teacher in Nigeria is offering free mathematics classes via Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram to help struggling students affected by the coronavirus lockdown. After almost six months, more than 1,000 students are taking her online classes, across Nigeria and even internationally. VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports. …
read moreFor the first time in Australia, teenagers have launched a class-action lawsuit on behalf of young people around the world to stop the extension of a coal mine in the state of New South Wales. Anxiety over global warming is driving this teenage campaign to stop the expansion of a coal mine near Gunnedah, 430 kilometers northwest of Sydney, in the state of New South…
read moreA wedding reception in Maine led to nearlyMotorcycles are parked in the audience during The Reverend Horton Heat’s performance on the Wolfman Jack Stage at Buffalo Chip during the 80th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on Aug. 15, 2020, in Sturgis, S.D.Nearly half a million bikers rolled into the South Dakota town in early August, packing…
read moreOne segment of the electorate may be unable to vote if poll workers are not able to certify their identity. It is the reality facing hundreds of thousands of transgender Americans in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. An estimated 378,000 eligible transgender voters do not have identification such as a driver’s license that reflects their name, appearance or new gender identity, according to a study by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. “If those poll workers decide that those ID’s don’t adequately or accurately…
read moreAmid the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump attracted a crowd of thousands to his latest political rally at a North Carolina airport Tuesday evening. Trump marveled at a crowd he said totaled 15,000 people –- a number that reporters on site said was exaggerated. The rally was attended by 14,600 people and several thousand more either wanted to attend…
read moreA group of migrants being held at a dockside camp on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria chanted “freedom” on Tuesday as they tried to force open a police fence and the coast guard brought in more people rescued from boats on the Atlantic sea.Although sea-borne migration to Spain is down nearly 19% this year,…
read moreIsrael and the United Arab Emirates will sign their historic deal normalizing relations at a White House ceremony on Sept. 15, U.S. officials said Tuesday. The officials said senior delegations from both countries will likely be led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the brother of…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump visited two political battleground states – Florida and North Carolina – Tuesday, while former Vice President Joe Biden unveiled new campaign ads airing in states critical to the outcome of the November 3 election. While in Jupiter, Florida, Trump signed a memorandum that prohibits drilling in the waters off the Atlantic and…
read moreThe World Health Organization (WHO) Tuesday opened the initial meeting of an international review panel established to evaluate the performance of its International Health Regulations (IHR) during the COVID-19 pandemic.The IHR were last revised in 2005 and grew out of the response to deadly epidemics that once overran Europe. They provide a framework by which…
read moreDeirdre Carney suspected she might have COVID-19 when her temperature began to fluctuate above the normal 37 degrees Celsius. “It was a bit of a shock when I was diagnosed. I could not believe that I had got it. I had not mixed with that many people,” Carney, an English teacher from California living in…
read moreNine chief executives of competing drug companies working to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus jointly said Tuesday they would not seek U.S. government regulatory approval for its use until Phase 3 tests showed it was safe. The statement comes as President Donald Trump has suggested there could be an announcement on a successful vaccine before…
read moreU.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday the Republican-led Senate will vote “as soon as this week” on COVID-19 relief legislation after negotiations with Democrats broke off last month.“It does not contain every idea our party likes. I am confident Democrats will feel the same. Yet Republicans believe the many serious differences between our…
read moreHouse Democrats said Tuesday they will investigate whether Postmaster General Louis DeJoy encouraged employees at his former business to contribute to Republican candidates and then reimbursed them in the guise of bonuses, a violation of campaign finance laws. Five people who worked for DeJoy’s former company, New Breed Logistics, say they were urged by DeJoy’s…
read moreChina’s foreign minister announced Tuesday the start of a global data security initiative, outlining principles that should be followed in areas ranging from personal information to espionage.Wang Yi announced the initiative in a video as part of conference on international cooperation. The initiative comes as the U.S. continues to put pressure on China’s largest technology…
read moreThe Lost Summer of 2020 drew to a close Monday with many big Labor Day gatherings canceled across the U.S. and health authorities pleading with people to keep their distance from others so as not to cause another coronavirus surge like the one that followed Memorial Day. Downtown Atlanta was quiet as the 85,000 or…
read moreMany robots are being developed and used these days to maximize speed so factories can efficiently make more products. One robot developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology is celebrated for how slow it is. It’s called a SlothBot and visitors can see it working at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the…
read moreSpain has become the first nation in Western Europe to exceed a half-million COVID-19 total infections, as the total number of cases around the world surged to 27.3 million, including 893,000 deaths.Data from Spain’s Health Ministry showed a total of 525,549 cases as of Tuesday, including 29,516 deaths. In comparison, France has recorded 367,174 total infections and 30,732 deaths, while…
read moreAt least there won’t be a government shutdown. But as lawmakers return to Washington for an abbreviated preelection session, hopes are dimming for another coronavirus relief bill — or much else. Talks between top Democrats and the Trump administration broke off last month and remain off track, with the bipartisan unity that drove almost $3 trillion in…
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