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read moreThis week, President Joe Biden drastically increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminum products, and semiconductors. The move follows his administration’s review of former President Donald Trump’s trade policies toward China. White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara looks at how the two presidential candidates differ in their approach. …
read moreSYDNEY — Australian scientists say they have discovered how an enzyme “hidden in nature’s blueprint” could help develop climate-resilient crops able to remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. An Australian study, by researchers from Australian National University and the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, focuses on a type of bacteria researchers call “tiny…
read moreHOUSTON — Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas on Thursday for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Officials urged residents to keep off roads, as many were impassable and traffic…
read moreWashington — Aleksander Dugin, a Russian nationalist ideologue and strong supporter of President Vladimir Putin, has been bombarded with attacks on Chinese social media, where netizens criticized and mocked his Russian expansionist views that had once included the dismembering of China. Two years after Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine, pro-Russia sentiment has been prevalent on…
read moreWASHINGTON — U.S. prosecutors on Thursday announced the arrests of an American woman and a Ukrainian man they say helped North Korea-linked IT workers posing as Americans to obtain remote-work jobs at hundreds of U.S. companies. The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) said the elaborate scheme, aimed at generating revenue for North Korea in contravention of…
read moreProtesters disrupted Google’s annual conference this week over the tech giant’s deal providing artificial intelligence and other services to the Israeli government. Matt Dibble reports from Mountain View, California. Camera: Matt Dibble. …
read moreIn Africa, about 15% of the population faces disability challenges despite advancements in technology. Limited infrastructure and high cost of assistive tech create barriers to digital access, leading to exclusion. A conference in Nairobi this week aims to help change that. Mohammed Yusuf reports. …
read moreLONDON — Russian forces are expanding their attacks on Ukrainian border settlements close to the northeastern city of Kharkiv, opening up a new front in the war, as Kyiv struggles to hold off a renewed Russian offensive. Speaking Thursday on a visit to Kharkiv, where he held a meeting with senior military leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr…
read moreCAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — The Webb Space Telescope has discovered the earliest known merger of black holes. These two gigantic black holes and their galaxies consolidated just 740 million years after the universe-forming Big Bang. It’s the most distant detection ever made of merging black holes, scientists reported Thursday. One black hole is 50 million times…
read moreU.S. voters have several ways to cast their ballots in a presidential election, including by mail. Many Democrats have embraced mail-in voting, and now Republicans are being urged by party leaders, including former President Donald Trump, to use all voting options in the 2024 general election. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias has the details. Salome Ramirez…
read moreWashington — President Joe Biden has asserted executive privilege over audio of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur that’s at the center a Republican effort to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress, the Justice Department told lawmakers on Thursday. It comes as the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and the Judiciary Committee…
read moreTAIPAI, TAIWAN — Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC said Thursday there was no damage to its facilities after an incident at its Arizona factory construction site where a waste disposal truck driver was transported to a hospital. Firefighters responded to a reported explosion Wednesday afternoon at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company plant in Phoenix, the Arizona Republic reported,…
read moreNEW YORK — The number of fatal overdoses in the U.S. fell last year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data posted Wednesday. Agency officials noted that the data is provisional and could change after more analysis, and that they still expect a drop when the final counts are in. It would be only…
read morewhite house — There are few things the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Joe Biden agree on. One is the presidential candidacy of activist-lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Both the Biden and Trump camps see Kennedy as a potential spoiler in this November’s election. About half of registered voters have told pollsters that if given…
read moreAs Russia ramps up its offensive in eastern Ukraine, officials with the U.S. command in Eastern Europe say it’s urgent for NATO to be ready for a possible confrontation. VOA’s Eastern Europe bureau chief Myroslava Gongadze talked to the U.S. and Polish commanders during a U.S. Army transfer of authority ceremony in Boleslawiec, Poland. VOA…
read moreWASHINGTON — The White House will send an unofficial delegation to Taiwan this weekend for the inauguration of the island’s democratically elected president, the Biden administration announced Wednesday, in a move that is certain to upset China but unlikely to draw excessive responses from Beijing as the two countries try to stabilize relations. A senior White…
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