Some U.S.-based users of WeChat are suing President Donald Trump in a bid to block an executive order that they say would effectively bar access in the U.S. to the hugely popular Chinese messaging app.The complaint, filed Friday in San Francisco, is being brought by the nonprofit U.S. WeChat Users Alliance and several people who…
read moreVideo app TikTok said Saturday it will challenge in court a Trump administration crackdown on the popular Chinese-owned platform, which Washington accuses of being a national security threat.As tensions soar between the world’s two biggest economies, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 6 giving Americans 45 days to stop doing business with…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump has released a campaign commercial, undoubtedly aimed at winning support from the country’s Indian American voters.Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, has chosen a woman of South Asian descent as his vice presidential running mate. Kamala Harris, a U.S. senator from California, is the daughter of Indian and…
read moreU.S. first lady Melania Trump hosted the official reopening of the White House Rose Garden on Saturday. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence attended the event.“The changes you see tonight are the result of a thoughtful and collaborative process carefully crafted with the help of scholars and experts in architecture, horticulture, design, and…
read moreThe Trump administration will send two top officials to the Middle East this week in a bid to capitalize on momentum from the historic agreement between Israeli and the United Arab Emirates to establish diplomatic relations.Three diplomats say Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner plan to…
read moreFacebook’s India chief said Friday the social media giant denounces hate and bigotry in the wake of a controversy sparked by a media report alleging it failed to remove hate-speech posted by members linked to the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party over fears of damaging its business in the country. “We’ve made…
read moreThe World Health Organization is concerned by the rapid increase and spread of the deadly Ebola virus in remote, densely forested areas of Equateur province in the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.Health officials report 100 people in DRC have been infected with Ebola in fewer than 100 days, killing nearly half or…
read moreThe head of the World Health Organization says he hopes the coronavirus pandemic will end in less than two years – less time than it took to stop the 1918 Spanish flu. Speaking Friday at his regular briefing in Geneva, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it is easier for a virus to spread today than…
read morePresident Donald Trump sought to cast a more positive light on his presidency Friday after four days of bashing at the Democratic National Convention, saying that where Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden sees “American darkness,” he sees “American greatness.”The four-day Democratic National Convention culminated with Biden describing “a perfect storm” hitting the nation under Trump’s…
read moreThe U.S. National Weather Service is predicting that two storm systems in and around the Caribbean Sea will strengthen and could both be hurricanes next week in the Gulf of Mexico.The National Hurricane Center reports Tropical Storm Laura formed early Friday just northeast of the Lesser Antilles, and by last report, was 280 kilometers east…
read morePresident Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to allow him to block critics from his personal Twitter account. The administration said in a high-court filing Thursday that Trump’s @realdonaldtrump account with more than 85 million followers is his personal property and blocking people from it is akin to elected officials who refuse to allow their…
read moreA recently approved rapid saliva test for COVID-19 is already being used on college campuses across the United States. Also called spit tests, they produce results in less than 24 hours, cost about $10, and are less invasive than the standard swab that is placed deep into the nose.Faster, Easier COVID-19 Test Approved as US Testing…
read moreEvery day, like clockwork, to-do lists for those protesting against Belarus’ authoritarian leader appear in the popular Telegram messaging app. They lay out goals, give times and locations of rallies with business-like precision, and offer spirited encouragement. “Today will be one more important day in the fight for our freedom. Tectonic shifts are happening on all…
read moreU.S. lawmakers will aggressively question U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in his first appearance before Congress on Friday about recent cost-cutting measures that Democrats say appeared to be an attempt to boost President Donald Trump’s re-election chances. Under pressure from the public and lawmakers, DeJoy on Tuesday suspended all mail service changes until after the Nov.…
read moreU.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy announced Thursday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus and is experiencing some COVID-19 symptoms. He said he is quarantining in Louisiana. The Republican senator, 62, who is running for reelection on Nov. 3, is experiencing “mild symptoms that began this morning,” from COVID-19, the illness caused by…
read moreU.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said he has a plan to help the U.S. fight the coronavirus outbreak.“After all this time the president still does not have a plan,” Biden said. “Well, I do.”Biden said Thursday in his acceptance speech at the virtual Democratic convention that his plan would include a national mask-wearing mandate…
read moreIn accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination for president Thursday, Joe Biden set out to make President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic the central issue in the November election. VOA’s Brian Padden reports on the conclusion of the virtual Democratic National Convention, which also strove to showcase party diversity and unity in opposition to…
read moreJoe Biden, after nearly a half-century on the American political scene, Thursday night accepted the Democratic nomination to seek the U.S presidency in the November 3 election, telling Americans it was time to oust Republican President Donald Trump after one term in the White House.“United we can, and will, overcome this season of darkness in…
read moreChina’s Sinopharm Laboratory will begin human clinical trials for a possible vaccine against COVID-19 in Peru on Monday.Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra announced Thursday that 6,000 volunteers will participate in the trials.Vizcarra expects a second clinical trial, by the firm AstraZeneca in association with Oxford University, will begin by the end of August.Vizcarra said Peru will…
read moreSometime next year, genetically modified mosquitoes will be released in the Florida Keys in an effort to combat persistent insect-borne diseases such as Dengue fever and the Zika virus.The plan approved this week by the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District calls for a pilot project in 2021 involving the striped-legged Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is…
read moreSeventy-four former Republican national security officials say they are voting for Democrat Joe Biden for president because they believe Donald Trump is engaging “in corrupt behavior that renders him unfit to serve as president.” Most of those who signed the letter, released Thursday by the advocacy group Defending Democracy Together, put their names on a similar statement…
read moreU.S. space weather forecasters say the Earth on Thursday received a glancing blow from a “coronal mass ejection” (CME) – effectively, a solar eruption – first detected on the surface of the sun four days ago. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the agency responsible for monitoring the weather for much of North…
read more