Voting in the Southern U.S. state of Georgia ended Tuesday, where two crucial runoff races will determine which party holds the majority in the U.S. Senate. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson reports from Atlanta, Georgia, where the races are close. …
read moreU.S. intelligence officials investigating last month’s massive cybersecurity breach that impacted thousands of companies and dozens of government agencies warn the hack is part of an ongoing intelligence operation, likely being carried out by Russia. The public conclusion, shared Tuesday by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Office…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese software applications, including Ant Group’s Alipay, the White House said, escalating tensions with Beijing before President-elect Joe Biden takes office this month. The order, first reported by Reuters, tasks the Commerce Department with defining which transactions will be banned under the…
read morePolls closed and vote-counting started Tuesday night in two pivotal U.S. Senate runoff elections in the southern state of Georgia that will determine political control in the Senate during the first two years of President-elect Joe Biden’s term in the White House. Republican Senator David Perdue faced a challenge from Democrat Jon Ossoff, a television documentary…
read moreThe World Health Organization (WHO) expressed disappointment Tuesday with the failure of Chinese officials to grant final permission to an international team of researchers to enter the country to investigate the origins of the coronavirus.At the agency’s regular COVID-19 briefing at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was “very disappointed” that…
read moreFrench Health Minister Olivier Veran said Tuesday the nation was going to “amplify, accelerate and simplify” its COVID-19 vaccination program after coming under fire for the initial slow roll out of the program.In an interview with French radio, Veran said more than 2,000 doctors, nurses and other health care workers have received vaccinations. He also…
read moreA self-proclaimed anti-fascist group staged a protest on the Northern Virginia property of a Republican senator Monday night. It was the latest in a string of protests aimed at politicians’ private homes. The group Shutdown DC says it was protesting because Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) says he will not vote to certify the Electoral College…
read moreThe leader of the far-right group the Proud Boys was arrested by Washington police on Monday, two days before supporters of President Donald Trump are scheduled to hold demonstrations in the capital city over Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the November presidential election. The District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department said it arrested Henry “Enrique”…
read moreAs millions of people await their turn to get a COVID-19 vaccine that could be months away, scammers online, in emails and on messaging apps are luring victims with claims they can deliver shots within days for as little as $150. COVID-19 vaccine scams are on the rise, according to European and U.S. government…
read moreIn France, public frustration with the government is growing as the nation’s coronavirus immunization campaign gets off to a slow start. In response, officials say they will speed up and widen the vaccine rollout.As of Monday, only 2,500 people had received the vaccine against COVID-19 in France — most of them nursing home residents and their…
read moreVoters in the southern U.S. state of Georgia will play a crucial role in determining the balance of power in the U.S. for the next two years when they head to the polls Tuesday. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson reports from Atlanta, Georgia, on the two U.S. Senate runoff elections. …
read moreYoung voters – specifically young Black voters – participating in the Georgia runoff election for two Senate seats are expected to provide significant support for the Democratic candidates.In the Senate race between incumbent Republican Senator David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff, 88% of Black youth favored Ossoff, compared with 31% of white youth, in…
read moreThe amount of baked-in global warming, from carbon pollution already in the air, is enough to blow past internationally agreed upon goals to limit climate change, a new study finds. But it’s not game over because, while that amount of warming may be inevitable, it can be delayed for centuries if the world quickly stops emitting…
read moreOnline communication and collaboration service Slack reported a global outage Monday, as millions returned to work after the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.”Our team is currently investigating, and we’re sorry for any troubles this may be causing,” Slack said in a statement.Slack has seen its popularity grow as many people work and study from home…
read moreBritain’s prime minister announced a fresh round of lockdowns Monday, closing schools and nonessential shops, as the country begins vaccinating health care workers and the elderly.Prime Minister Boris Johnson said people must stay at home until at least mid-February, noting that British hospitals are under more strain now than they have been at any point…
read moreThe mayor of Washington, D.C., urged calm Monday as some 340 National Guard troops were being activated while the city prepared for potentially violent protests surrounding Congress’ expected vote to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. According to a U.S. defense official, Mayor Muriel Bowser put in a request on New Year’s Eve to have Guard members on…
read moreTwo runoff elections Tuesday in the southern state of Georgia will determine whether Republicans or Democrats control power in the U.S. Senate, dramatically shaping the legislative maneuvering for the first half of President-elect Joe Biden’s four-year term in the White House. With the stakes high, both Biden and outgoing President Donald Trump are staging last-minute campaign…
read moreDrug maker Moderna says it plans to ramp up production of its COVID-19 vaccine by 100 million more doses than what it originally forecast.The Massachusetts-based company said Monday it would produce 600 million doses in 2021.So far, the company says it has supplied 18 million doses of a promised 200 million to the U.S. government.U.S.…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump is “just plain wrong” about election irregularities in Georgia, the state’s top elections official said Monday after he rebuffed Trump’s plea over the weekend to find enough ballots to upend his pivotal 11,000-vote loss in the state to President-elect Joe Biden. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the elections official in the…
read moreMore than 200 Google employees in the United States have formed a workers’ union, the elected leaders of the union wrote in a New York Times opinion piece on Monday. The “Alphabet Workers Union” aims to ensure that employees work at a fair wage, without fear of abuse, retaliation or discrimination, the union heads…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden are each appearing in the southern state of Georgia Monday, the final day of campaigning before elections for two seats that will decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. Trump is going to the town of Dalton for an evening rally as he backs…
read moreBritish Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Monday the government is not ruling out new restrictions as the coronavirus continues to spread even in areas with the strictest constraints.In television interviews, Hancock said a new variant spreads more easily than the original strains of the virus and Britain’s three-tiered system of restrictions is proving less effective…
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