LOS ANGELES — China’s ruling Communist Party used an agent in California to influence state politics, U.S. prosecutors said Thursday as they unveiled criminal charges against a Chinese national. FBI agents arrested Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 64, at his home in Chino Hills, near Los Angeles, on charges that he acted as an agent for a…
read moreA hastily negotiated bill to keep the government open failed Thursday, after Democrats and some Republicans objected to a deal to extend the debt ceiling through 2027. The changes came after President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk rejected a bipartisan agreement to fund the government through next March. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson has more.…
read moreThe U.S. Defense Department’s annual report on China’s military power, released this week, says the PLA is accelerating modernization, but it still faces several operational challenges in executing a rapid and decisive invasion of Taiwan. Click here for the full story in Mandarin. …
read moreAs new potential threats from Chinese hackers were identified this week, the federal government issued one of its strongest warnings to date about the need for Americans — and in particular government officials and other “highly targeted” individuals — to secure their communications against eavesdropping and interception. The warning came as news was breaking about…
read moreRepublicans in the U.S. Congress teed up a vote on Thursday for a new spending package that would avert a looming government shutdown, this time with the support of President-elect Donald Trump, who scuttled a prior bipartisan version. It was not clear whether the measure would survive an evening vote in the House of Representatives.…
read moreWASHINGTON — Immigration has been a defining challenge of the Biden presidency, marked by record numbers of asylum-seekers and other migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. President Joe Biden pledged to modernize the nation’s immigration system and rebuild a refugee resettlement program that had hit historic lows under the previous administration. But despite issuing a record…
read moreWASHINGTON — A senior White House official on Thursday said nuclear-armed Pakistan is developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities that eventually could allow it to strike targets outside of South Asia, including in the United States. In his stunning revelation about the onetime close U.S. partner, deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said Islamabad’s conduct raised “real…
read moreThe Unforgettable Chorus in New York is using music to help people with memory loss reconnect with family, friends and themselves. Since 2011, the choir has been a beacon of hope, offering a space where those living with dementia can sing, participate and be part of a community. Johny Fernandez reports from New York City.…
read moreATLANTA, Georgia — A state appeals court on Thursday removed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and others but did not dismiss the indictment, leaving the future of the prosecution uncertain. The case against Trump and more than a dozen others had already been largely stalled for…
read moreHOLLIDAYSBURG, Pennsylvania — The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO will return to New York to face murder charges after agreeing to be extradited Thursday during a court appearance in Pennsylvania where he was arrested last week after five days on the run. Luigi Mangione waived a preliminary hearing on the Pennsylvania charges in exchange…
read moreNEW YORK — U.S. life expectancy jumped last year, and preliminary data suggests there may be another — much smaller — improvement this year. Death rates fell last year for almost all leading causes, notably COVID-19, heart disease and drug overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Thursday. That translated to…
read moreWASHINGTON — The Commerce Department’s efforts to curb China’s and Russia’s access to American-made advanced computer chips have been “inadequate” and will need more funding to stymie their ability to manufacture advanced weapons, according to a report published Wednesday by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The Biden administration imposed export controls to limit the ability…
read moreU.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Lindsey Graham have warned of bipartisan sanctions against Turkey if it rejects a ceasefire proposal from the U.S. and a plan by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander Mazlum Abdi to establish a demilitarized zone in Kobani. The senators argue that Turkey’s attacks on Kurdish allies in Syria undermine regional…
read morewashington — Experts on cybersecurity and online foreign influence campaigns are urging social media company Bluesky, whose app has exploded in popularity in recent weeks, to step up moderation to counter potential state-sponsored influence efforts. Over the past month, Bluesky, a microblogging platform with its roots in Twitter, has seen one of its biggest increases in…
read morePresident-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday called on U.S. lawmakers to reject a stopgap bill to keep the government funded past Friday, raising the likelihood of a partial shutdown. Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance called on lawmakers to pass a different temporary spending bill than the one unveiled on Tuesday, free from what they called…
read moreNEW YORK — A Manhattan resident has pleaded guilty to helping establish a secret police station in New York City on behalf of the Chinese government. Chen Jinping, 60, entered the guilty plea on a single count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday. Matthew Olsen,…
read moreWASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday by a quarter-point — its third cut this year — but also signaled that it expects to reduce rates more slowly next year than it previously envisioned, largely because of still-elevated inflation. The Fed’s 19 policymakers projected that they would cut their benchmark rate by…
read moreWASHINGTON — The U.S. cybersecurity watchdog CISA is telling senior American government officials and politicians to immediately switch to end-to-end encrypted messaging following intrusions at major American telecoms blamed on Chinese hackers. In written guidance released on Wednesday, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said “individuals who are in senior government or senior political positions” should…
read moreGENEVA — International human and animal health experts warn the H5N1 avian influenza is evolving quickly and posing a global health threat as the virus is increasingly crossing species barriers and infecting a wide range of domestic and wild mammals. “These developments pose significant challenges to animal, human and environmental health,” Dr. Gregorio Torres, veterinarian and…
read moreWASHINGTON — Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell on Wednesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a bid by TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance to block a law intended to force the sale of the short-video app by January 19 or face a ban on national security grounds. The court has scheduled arguments on…
read moreHARARE, ZIMBABWE — A Zimbabwean national park is hosting relocated wildlife from a game park just outside the country’s capital after an autopsy report on Saturday confirmed that four rhinos and several other animals died after drinking contaminated lake water. Tinashe Farawo, the spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, confirmed to VOA the…
read moreA bipartisan effort to protect children from the harms of social media is running out of time in this session of the U.S. Congress. If passed, the Kids Online Safety Act would institute safeguards for minors’ personal data online. But free speech advocates and some Republicans are concerned the bill could lead to censorship. VOA’s…
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