This coming week could be consequential for U.S. President Joe Biden’s reelection bid as voices continue to grow for him to leave the race amid concern over his age and capacity to lead. So far however, he still has the support of many of his peers, even as they acknowledge Democratic voters’ worries. VOA’s Veronica…
read moreCORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Powerful winds and rain approached Texas Sunday morning as Beryl was expected to turn back from a tropical storm into a hurricane overnight and pound a long stretch of coast with heavy downpours, howling gusts and dangerous storm surge. A long stretch of Texas’ shoreline was under a hurricane warning as Beryl’s…
read moreJUNEAU, Alaska — Each year, a crush of tourists arrives in Alaska’s capital city on cruise ships to see wonders like the fast-diminishing Mendenhall Glacier. Now, long-simmering tensions over Juneau’s tourism boom are coming to a head over a new voter initiative aimed at giving residents a respite from the influx. A measure that would ban…
read moreLas Vegas — Roughly 130 million people were under threat over the weekend and into next week from a long-running heat wave that broke or tied records with dangerously high temperatures and is expected to shatter more from East Coast to West Coast, forecasters said. Ukiah, north of San Francisco, hit 117 degrees Fahrenheit (47 degrees…
read moreWashington — The NATO summit scheduled for this week will include a discussion among the allies about strengthening security ties with South Korea and Japan against deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, experts said. The leaders of 32 NATO members will convene in Washington July 9 to 11 to discuss ways to provide continued…
read morenew york — TikTok and its bite-sized videos arrived in the United States as a global version of the Chinese app Douyin in 2018. Less than six years later, the social media platform is deeply woven into the fabric of American consumerism, having shortened the shelf life of trends and revamped how people engage with food…
read moreCAPE TOWN, South Africa — Scientists in South Africa have been stunned to discover that termite mounds that are still inhabited in an arid region of the country are more than 30,000 years old, meaning they are the oldest known active termite hills. Some of the mounds near the Buffels River in Namaqualand were estimated by…
read moreWASHINGTON — Scientists have revealed fossils of a giant salamanderlike beast with sharp fangs that ruled waters before the first dinosaurs arrived. The predator, which was larger than a person, likely used its wide, flat head and front teeth to suck in and chomp unsuspecting prey, researchers said. Its skull was about 60 centimeters (2 feet)…
read morePHOENIX, Arizona — Ron Falk lost his right leg, had extensive skin grafting on the left one and is still recovering a year after collapsing on the searing asphalt outside a Phoenix convenience store where he stopped for a cold soda during a heat wave. Now using a wheelchair, the 62-year-old lost his job and his…
read moreparis — Photos of blood-red hands on a Holocaust memorial. Caskets at the Eiffel Tower. A fake French military recruitment drive calling for soldiers in Ukraine, and major French news sites improbably registered in an obscure Pacific territory, population 15,000. All are part of disinformation campaigns orchestrated out of Russia and targeting France, according to French…
read moreBISMARCK, North Dakota — A Native American tribe in North Dakota will soon grow lettuce in a giant greenhouse complex that when fully completed will be among the country’s largest, enabling the tribe to grow much of its own food decades after a federal dam flooded the land where they had cultivated corn, beans and other…
read moreportland, oregon — Roughly 130 million people were under threat Saturday and into next week from a long-running heat wave that already has broken records with dangerously high temperatures — and is expected to shatter more from East Coast to West Coast, forecasters said. Oppressive heat and humidity could team up to spike temperatures above 100…
read moreU.S. presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump differ sharply on immigration. Both sparred over immigration at their first presidential debate. VOA’s immigration correspondent Aline Barros has the story. …
read moreTulum, Mexico — Beryl weakened to a tropical storm Friday after hitting Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane, with fierce winds causing material damage but no injuries along the touristic Yucatan Peninsula. Now headed for the Gulf of Mexico, Beryl is expected to intensify as it moves toward northeastern Mexico and the U.S. state of Texas…
read moreLausanne, Switzerland — In the battle against drug use at the Paris Olympics, the International Testing Agency plans to deploy a more streamlined, high-tech approach to identify and target potential cheats. In an interview with Agence France-Presse, Benjamin Cohen, director general of the ITA, said potential tools at its disposal included biological and performance passports as…
read moreCANCUN/TULUM, Mexico — Tropical Storm Beryl was blowing out to the Gulf of Mexico on Friday afternoon and appeared likely to reach Texas by late Sunday, after its strong winds and heavy rain largely spared Mexico’s top beach destinations. The core of the storm, downgraded from a hurricane, crossed the Yucatan Peninsula by Friday afternoon, with…
read morenew york — The extent of Hurricane Beryl’s damage became clearer Friday, as communications were reestablished with the small, storm-ravaged eastern Caribbean islands and relief began to arrive. The Grenadian islands of Carriacou and Petit Martinique sustained the most severe damage when Beryl made landfall Monday as a Category 4 storm and later saw its winds…
read more
