NEW YORK — U.S. oil production rose 260,000 barrels per day month-over-month to a record 13.46 million bpd in October as demand surged to the highest levels since the pandemic, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed on Tuesday. U.S. oil output has grown rapidly this year as drilling operations became more efficient, even as…
read moreWASHINGTON — When the Quadrantid meteor shower peaks Friday, it will be the year’s first chance to see fireballs in the sky. A waning crescent moon means good visibility under clear and dark conditions. Most meteor showers are named for the constellations where they appear to originate from in the night sky. But the Quadrantids “take…
read moreThe U.S. military said its forces carried out multiple precision strikes in Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen amid escalating tensions in the region. A statement Tuesday from the U.S. Central Command said the strikes hit Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, along with other Houthi-controlled coastal locations. The strikes were carried out by U.S. Navy ships on Monday and…
read moreWashington — The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on entities in Iran and Russia, accusing them of attempting to interfere in the U.S. election this year. The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said the entities — a subsidiary of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps and an organization affiliated with Russia’s military intelligence agency — aimed to “stoke…
read moreSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A blackout hit nearly all of Puerto Rico early Tuesday as the U.S. territory prepared to celebrate New Year’s, leaving more than 1.3 million clients in the dark. Officials said it could take up to two days to restore power. The outage hit at dawn, plunging the island into an eerie…
read moreWELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND — Cities around the world are readying to ring in the New Year with celebrations highlighting local cultures and traditions, after a year roiled by ongoing conflict and political instability. Countries in the South Pacific Ocean will be the first to welcome 2025, with midnight in New Zealand striking 18 hours before the…
read moreNEW CANEY, TEXAS — Cleanup was under way Monday after a strong storm system spawned hail, rain, high winds and tornadoes across the southern United States over the weekend, killing at least four people. As of Monday afternoon, more than 30 tornadoes had been confirmed as crews worked through about 50 reports of tornado damage spanning…
read moreIt was a life that took him from peanut farming to the presidency. While former President Jimmy Carter ‘s time in the White House lasted only one term, the decades afterward were defined by humanitarian work that affected people all around the world. Founding the Carter Center with his wife, Rosalynn, he became a global…
read moreJARWENG, SOUTH SUDAN — Nobel Prize-winning peacemaker Jimmy Carter spent nearly four decades waging war to eliminate an ancient parasite plaguing the world’s poorest people. Rarely fatal but searingly painful and debilitating, Guinea worm disease infects people who drink water tainted with larvae that grow inside the body into worms up to 3 feet long. The…
read moreAmericans are sharing reflections on the country’s 39th president, Jimmy Carter, following his death Sunday at age 100. VOA’s Scott Stearns has some of their remembrances. …
read moreSACRAMENTO, California — Insurance companies that stopped providing home coverage to hundreds of thousands of Californians in recent years as wildfires became more destructive will have to again provide policies in fire-prone areas if they want to keep doing business in California under a state regulation announced Monday. The rule will require home insurers to offer…
read moreATHENS, GREECE — Greece announced plans on Monday to enhance parental oversight of mobile devices in 2025 through a government-operated app that will help get digital age verification and browsing controls. Dimitris Papastergiou, the minister of digital governance, said the Kids Wallet app, due to launch in March, was aimed at safeguarding children under the age…
read moreWASHINGTON — Chinese hackers remotely accessed several U.S. Treasury Department workstations and unclassified documents after compromising a third-party software service provider, the agency said Monday. The department did not provide details on how many workstations had been accessed or what sort of documents the hackers may have obtained, but it said in a letter to lawmakers…
read moreAs former President Donald Trump is set to return to the White House, Reuters reported on Dec. 24 that China will issue a record 3 trillion yuan in government bonds next year in an effort to rescue its crisis-stricken economy and mitigate the impact of potential significant tariff hikes by Trump. This marks the latest…
read moreWashington — President Joe Biden has declared Jan. 9 a national day of mourning for former President Jimmy Carter and announced Monday that all federal government offices would be closed that day as a show of respect for the 39th U.S. president, who died Sunday at the age of 100. “I call on the American people…
read moreGeneva — The World Health Organization on Monday implored China to share data and access to help understand how COVID-19 began, five years on from the start of the pandemic that upended the planet. COVID-19 killed millions of people, shredded economies and crippled health systems. “We continue to call on China to share data and access…
read moreNEW DELHI — India launched a rocket Monday carrying two small spacecraft to test docking in space, a critical step for the country’s dreams of a space station and a manned moon mission. The mission is “vital for India’s future space ambitions,” Jitendra Singh, the country’s science and technology minister, said in a statement ahead of…
read moreFor 17 years, VOA Correspondent Kane Farabaugh has covered the life and legacy of Jimmy Carter, developing a close friendship with America’s 39th president. He shares his personal reflections about the late world leader and influential humanitarian. …
read moreU.S. gun violence prevention measures have been strengthened under the Biden Administration, but big policy changes are expected once President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias spoke with gun owners and gun safety advocates about the matter. …
read moreThe 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 more
