The World Meteorological Organization warns this year’s record-breaking heat is likely to continue in 2025, further accelerating climate change and leading to catastrophic consequences if urgent action is not taken to stem the “human activities” behind this looming disaster. According to the United Nations weather agency, 2024 is set to be the warmest year on…
read moreNEW YORK — Linda Lavin, a Tony Award-winning stage actress who became a working class icon as a paper-hat wearing waitress on the TV sitcom “Alice,” has died. She was 87. Lavin died in Los Angeles on Sunday of complications from recently discovered lung cancer, her representative, Bill Veloric, told The Associated Press in an email. …
read moreSports teams in former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s home state of Georgia expressed their condolences Sunday, honoring a former leader who also served as the state’s governor and had an extensive record as an athlete and sports fan. The Atlanta Falcons football team held a moment of silence before their game Sunday night. The team’s…
read moreOfficials assessed the damage on Sunday after a strong storm system moved across the southern United States over the weekend, spawning tornadoes and killing at least four people. There were at least 45 reports of tornado damage across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather…
read moreJERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu successfully underwent prostate removal surgery on Sunday and is in good condition, according to the hospital treating him. The surgery took place while Israel remains at war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, more than 14 months after an unprecedented attack by Palestinian militants on Israel on…
read moreWorld leaders and U.S. politicians reacted to news that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who as president brokered peace between Israel and Egypt and later received the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work, has died at age 100. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden “Today, America and the world lost an extraordinary…
read moreHighlights from the life of the 39th U.S. president who died Dec. 29, 2024, in his home in Plains, Georgia. …
read morePresident-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state, Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, is a well-known China critic. Despite being sanctioned by the Beijing government in 2020, Rubio says he’s confident of ‘finding a solution’ to engage with China if confirmed. VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching reports on Rubio’s legislative record and…
read moreTwo family films dominated the holiday box office this week, with “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” winning the three-day weekend over “Mufasa” by a blue hair. Paramount’s Sonic movie earned $38 million, while “Mufasa” brought in $37.1 million from theaters in the U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates Sunday. On a normal weekend counting Friday,…
read moreHouston, Texas — A strong storm system threatened to whip up tornadoes in parts of the U.S. Southeast on Sunday, a day after severe weather claimed at least two lives as twisters touched down in Texas and Mississippi. The National Weather Service’s severe storm tracker indicated the system was moving east through Alabama into Georgia shortly…
read moreSEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he will implement the “toughest” anti-U.S. policy, less than a month before Donald Trump takes office as U.S. president, the country’s state media reported Sunday. Trump’s return to the White House raises prospects for high-profile diplomacy with North Korea. During his first term, Trump met…
read moreFor Makenzie Gilkison, spelling is such a struggle that a word like rhinoceros might come out as “rineanswsaurs” or sarcastic as “srkastik.” The 14-year-old from suburban Indianapolis can sound out words, but her dyslexia makes the process so draining that she often struggles with comprehension. “I just assumed I was stupid,” she recalled of her…
read moreAbortion has become more common despite bans or deep restrictions in most Republican-controlled states, and the legal and political fights over its future are not over yet. It’s now been two and a half years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door for states to implement bans. The policies…
read moreSEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a key policy-setting meeting of the country’s ruling party last week ahead of the new year, state media KCNA reported Sunday. The “strongest” response strategy toward the United States was declared during the party meeting for the country’s safety and national interests, the report said,…
read moreSevere weather disrupted holiday travel on Saturday across the United States with deadly tornadoes in the Southeast and heavy snow and wind on the West Coast delaying or canceling thousands of flights across the country. More than 7,000 flights in the U.S. were delayed on Saturday, according to the tracking site FlightAware, and more than…
read moreBOGOTA, COLOMBIA — 2024 was a brutal year for the Amazon rainforest, with rampant wildfires and extreme drought ravaging large parts of a biome that’s a critical counterweight to climate change. A warming climate fed drought that in turn fed the worst year for fires since 2005. And those fires contributed to deforestation, with authorities suspecting…
read moreWEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA — President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday sided with key supporter and billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk in a public dispute over the use of the H-1B visa, saying he fully backs the program for foreign tech workers opposed by some of his supporters. Trump’s remarks followed a series of social media posts…
read moreWEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA — Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, vowed to go to “war” to defend the H-1B visa program for foreign tech workers late Friday amid a dispute between President-elect Donald Trump’s longtime supporters and his most recently acquired backers from the tech industry. In a post on social media…
read moreAs Russia’s war against Ukraine enters its third year, centers focused on soldiers’ rehabilitation and mental health are appearing across Ukraine. An active serviceman started one such place in his native village in the Carpathian Mountains. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story. Videographer and video editor: Yuriy Dankevych …
read moreA different approach to energy is at the center of President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to bring down the cost of living for Americans. But as VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, Trump’s plans could be complicated by a complex global interdependence on oil and gas supplies. …
read moreWASHINGTON — Changes are coming to the cold and cough aisle of your local pharmacy: U.S. officials are moving to phase out the leading decongestant found in hundreds of over-the-counter medicines, concluding that it doesn’t actually relieve nasal congestion. Phenylephrine is used in popular versions of Sudafed, Dayquil and other medications, but experts have long questioned…
read moreThe emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools that allow people to efficiently produce novel and detailed online reviews with almost no work has put merchants, service providers and consumers in uncharted territory, watchdog groups and researchers say. Phony reviews have long plagued many popular consumer websites, such as Amazon and Yelp. They are typically traded…
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