Egypt’s second-largest city, Alexandria, lies in the Eastern Mediterranean, a top climate change hotspot that has dealt with record global air and ocean temperatures this year. Egypt-based photojournalist Hamada Elrasam presents scenes of everyday life that have been impacted by the changing climate phenomenon in the low-lying metropolis that has survived over two millennia, only…
read moreDUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A U.S. Navy replenishment ship operating in the Middle East sustained damage in an incident which is under investigation, officials said Tuesday. The damage to the USNS Big Horn comes after the oiler had supplied the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group and remained in the region amid heightened tensions over the…
read moreNEW YORK — Attention, Kmart shoppers, the end is near! The erstwhile retail giant renowned for its Blue Light Specials — featuring a flashing blue orb affixed to a pole enticing shoppers to a flash sale — is shuttering its last full-scale store in mainland United States. The store, located in swank Bridgehampton, New York, on…
read moreLONDON — A goal to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030 and cut fossil fuel use is within reach, the International Energy Agency said in a report on Tuesday, but will require a huge push to unlock bottlenecks such as permitting and grid connections. The report comes as leaders from government and business come together…
read morewyoming, iowa — Taking a late-summer country drive in the Midwest means venturing into the corn zone, snaking between 12-foot-tall green, leafy walls that seem to block out nearly everything other than the sun and an occasional water tower. The skyscraper-like corn is a part of rural America as much as cavernous red barns and placid…
read morestate department — The United States has pledged to continue providing Taiwan with equipment and services essential for maintaining a self-defense capability in line with the threats it faces. This statement came as an annual U.S.-Taiwan defense industry conference kicked off Sunday in Philadelphia. In the lead-up to the event, the conference organizer — the U.S.-Taiwan…
read morePentagon — The U.S. military is expected to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine this week valued at up to $375 million, the largest aid sent to Kyiv since May. According to several U.S. officials, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity to discuss the package ahead of the announcement, the aid for…
read moreNEW YORK — First lady Jill Biden is unveiling a new set of actions to address health inequities faced by women in the United States, plans that include spending at least $500 million annually on women’s health research. Biden was making the announcement Monday while closing out the first day of this year’s Clinton Global Initiative…
read moreWith pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai jailed in Hong Kong facing widely condemned charges, the journalist’s son and his international legal team are pushing the United States and other countries to help secure Lai’s immediate release. From Washington, Liam Scott has the story for VOA …
read morePentagon: Small number of additional US forces going to Middle East as risk of greater war increases
Pentagon — The United States is sending a small number of additional troops to the Middle East following a sharp spike in violence between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder said on Monday. Ryder did not provide further details on the number of forces or what they would be…
read moreNEW YORK — California and several environmental groups sued ExxonMobil on Monday and accused the oil giant of engaging in a decades-long campaign that helped fuel global plastic waste pollution. Speaking at an event during Climate Week in New York City, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the state sued Exxon after concluding a nearly two-year…
read moreWashington — The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday proposed prohibiting key Chinese software and hardware in connected vehicles on American roads due to national security concerns — a move that would effectively bar nearly all Chinese cars from entering the U.S. market. The planned regulation, first reported by Reuters, would also force American and other major automakers…
read moreMoscow — A Soyuz capsule carrying two Russians and one American from the International Space Station landed Monday in Kazakhstan, ending a record-breaking stay for the Russian pair. The capsule landed on the Kazakh steppe about 3 1/2 hours after undocking from the ISS in an apparently trouble-free descent. In the last stage of the landing,…
read moreCairo — Cholera is spreading in war-torn Sudan, killing at least 388 people and sickening about 13,000 others over the past two months, health authorities said, as more than 17 months of fighting between the military and a notorious paramilitary group shows no sign of abating. The disease is spreading in areas devastated by recent heavy…
read moreWEST PALM BEACH, Florida — The man accused of hiding out with a gun near Donald Trump’s Florida golf course in an apparent attempt to assassinate the former U.S. president is due in court on Monday, where prosecutors will argue to keep him in jail until his trial. Ryan Routh, 58, has been charged with two…
read moreWashington — Even before the Federal Reserve approved its outsized half-percentage-point interest rate cut last week, financial markets had begun making credit cheaper for households and businesses as they bid down mortgage rates, cut corporate bond yields, and chipped away at what consumers pay for personal, auto and other loans. How fast that process will continue…
read moreSacramento, California — “Paper or plastic” will no longer be a choice at grocery store checkout lines in California under a new law signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom that bans all plastic shopping bags. California had already banned thin plastic shopping bags at supermarkets and other stores, but shoppers could purchase bags made with a…
read moreWashington — Congressional leaders announced an agreement Sunday on a short-term spending bill that will fund federal agencies for about three months, averting a possible partial government shutdown when the new budget year begins Oct. 1 and pushing final decisions until after the November election. Lawmakers have struggled to get to this point as the current…
read moreLansing, Michigan — Republican activists in swing states say they have seen little sign of the teams tasked with knocking on doors and turning out infrequent voters on behalf of Donald Trump, raising concerns about the party’s presidential nominee relying on outside groups for an important part of his campaign operations. Trump and the Republican National…
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