The World Health Organization’s (WHO) European office announced Thursday it will partner with the European Union to deploy COVID-19 vaccines in six eastern European nations.Speaking at his headquarters in Copenhagan, WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge said the nearly $50 million program will target Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova.Kluge said the program is intended…
read moreDozens of former Republican officials, who view the party as unwilling to stand up to former President Donald Trump and his attempts to undermine U.S. democracy, are in talks to form a center-right breakaway party, four people involved in the discussions told Reuters.The early-stage discussions include former elected Republicans, former officials in the Republican administrations…
read moreHouse impeachment managers Wednesday showed never-before-seen footage from the Jan. 6 riot of Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol. The video capped the first day of Democrats’ opening argument that former President Donald Trump was directly responsible for the attempt to overturn the counting of electoral college votes for Joe Biden. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine…
read moreTwitter said Wednesday it had suspended some accounts in India after New Delhi served the social media giant several orders to block accounts amid civil unrest. The announcement comes after months of unrest in India over changes to agriculture bills in the country. Protesting farmers have been met with internet cuts and social media blocks,…
read moreU.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone late Wednesday, the first call between the two since Biden’s November victory in the U.S. presidential election.Biden “affirmed his priorities of protecting the American people’s security, prosperity, health, and way of life, and preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific,” according to a readout…
read moreU.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday warned about an “explosion of risk” from digital markets, including the misuse of cryptocurrencies, but said new financial technologies could also help fight crime and reduce inequality.In remarks to a financial sector innovation roundtable, Yellen said such technologies could be used to stem the flow of dark money…
read moreJill Biden is pushing free access to community college and training programs, saying the schools will be an important part of Biden administration efforts to rebuild the economy.A longtime community college professor and advocate, the first lady said people struggling to get by during the coronavirus-induced economic slump need access to these schools.”We have to…
read moreProsecutors at former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial began to lay out their case against him on Wednesday, saying he was “no innocent bystander” to the violence that erupted at the U.S. Capitol last month as lawmakers certified Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the November election.Congressman Jamie Raskin, the lead impeachment manager, and…
read moreA World Health Organization panel of immunization experts Wednesday recommended the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for all ages and in regions where variant strains of the virus are prevalent.The WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization made the recommendation from agency headquarters in Geneva. The panel reviewed the vaccine this week…
read moreChinese state media reported Wednesday a spacecraft known as Tianwen-1 has successfully entered orbit around Mars, the first step in an ambitious mission that includes landing a rover on the surface of the planet. In a statement, China’s National Space Administration said the spacecraft conducted a 15-minute burn of its thrusters, slowing it down enough to…
read moreSouth Africa will begin vaccinating frontline health care workers with an unapproved coronavirus vaccine by the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company next week to see if it provides protection from the variant sweeping the country. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said Wednesday South Africa dropped plans to use the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for now because of…
read moreSouth Korea has approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University for all adults, despite concerns over the lack of data on its effectiveness among the elderly. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety granted emergency use for the two-dose vaccine Wednesday, but only on the condition that the British-Swedish drugmaker provide the…
read moreUgandan authorities restored access to the internet Wednesday, a month after blocking it ahead of the January 14 elections. The government said the disruption was needed for security, while critics say it was intended to cut off communication among opponents of President Yoweri Museveni. “Internet and social media services have been fully restored,” Ugandan Minister for…
read moreThe historic second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump started in the U.S. Senate Tuesday. Senators will have to decide if Trump incited the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol a month ago by urging his supporters to confront lawmakers as they were certifying that Democrat Joe Biden had defeated Trump in the 2020…
read moreAcross global cities big and small, the coronavirus pandemic has forced a shutdown of cultural life. But that’s changing in the Russian capital, where a mass vaccination program is in full swing. Charles Maynes reports from Moscow.Camera: Ricardo Marquina Montanana Produced by: Bronwyn Benito …
read moreThe Senate Judiciary Committee has set a confirmation hearing for Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general.Garland’s confirmation hearing will begin on February 22. The two-day hearing will include Garland’s testimony and a second day for outside witnesses to testify.The committee’s chair, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, said Garland’s hearing was particularly urgent…
read moreThe U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to proceed with the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump on a charge that he incited insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last month by urging hundreds of his supporters to confront lawmakers as they met to certify that Democrat Joe Biden had defeated him in last November’s election. The 56-44…
read moreVaccines against COVID-19 will be distributed to community health centers across the United States in the coming weeks, the White House said Tuesday.Washington has identified People wait in line to get their COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site set up in a park in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, Feb. 9, 2021.Forty-three million…
read moreU.S. President Joe Biden says while the impeachment trial of his predecessor is under way in the Senate, he will be focused on alleviating the suffering from the coronavirus pandemic.“I am not,” Biden replied when asked by reporters Tuesday in the Oval Office whether he is watching the trial. “We have already lost over 450,000…
read moreAcross global cities big and small, the coronavirus pandemic has forced a shutdown of cultural life. But that’s changing in the Russian capital, where a mass vaccination program is in full swing. Charles Maynes reports from Moscow.Camera: Ricardo Marquina Montanana Produced by: Bronwyn Benito …
read moreArguments are under way in Washington in the historic second impeachment trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump, with lawmakers set to decide whether it is legal under the Constitution to try him after he has already left office.Nine Democratic lawmakers from the House of Representatives, acting as prosecutors against the former U.S. leader, are…
read morePresident Joe Biden’s choice to the lead the Office of Management and Budget apologized Tuesday for spending years attacking top Republicans on social media as she tried to convince senators she’ll leave partisan politics behind if confirmed. Neera Tanden also admitted to spending “many months” removing past Twitter posts, saying, “I deleted tweets because…
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