DAKAR, Senegal — The United States scrambled on Sunday to assess the future of its counterterrorism operations in the Sahel after Niger’s junta said it was ending its yearslong military cooperation with Washington following a visit by top U.S. officials. The U.S. military has hundreds of troops stationed at a major airbase in northern Niger that…
read moreLOS ANGELES — Usher was named entertainer of the year at the 55th annual NAACP Awards on Saturday night, which highlighted works by entertainers and writers of color. After Usher accepted his award at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, the superstar R&B singer spoke about being thankful about the journey of his successful career that…
read moreLakeview, Ohio — Residents in a swath of the central United States hit by deadly tornadoes were cleaning up, assessing damage and helping neighbors on Saturday. But it will be a long recovery from the storms that ripped through parts of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Arkansas. Thursday night’s storms claimed three lives in the Indian Lake…
read moreNiamey, Niger — Niger’s ruling military junta has revoked a military accord that allows military personnel and civilian staff from the U.S. Department of Defense on its soil, junta spokesperson Colonel Amadou Abdramane said on Saturday. The decision, which takes effect immediately, follows a visit this week by U.S. officials led by Assistant Secretary of State…
read moreCAPE TOWN, South Africa — Mice accidentally introduced to a remote island near Antarctica 200 years ago are breeding out of control because of climate change, and they are eating seabirds and causing major harm in a special nature reserve with “unique biodiversity.” Now conservationists are planning a mass extermination using helicopters and hundreds of tons…
read moreWashington — The U.S. Treasury Department unveiled sanctions against a network of companies and individuals for facilitating illegal technology transfers from dozens of U.S. firms to Iranian entities, including the country’s central bank. The sanctions relate to Informatics Services Corporation (ISC), the technology arm of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), the Treasury Department said in…
read moreSACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Assemblyman Anthony Rendon likes to spend his spare time away from the Capitol in Sacramento with his 4-year-old daughter at home near Los Angeles. Last weekend, he took her ice skating and afterward to an indoor playground, then let her get a donut after she agreed to ride her scooter on the…
read moreNEW YORK — St. Patrick’s Day parades across the U.S. are going on Saturday, promising to turn a river green in the Midwest, commemorate a big anniversary in the South and put forth the first female leader of a major beer company as a grand marshal of the New York parade that predates the nation’s founding. …
read moreWASHINGTON — Lori Shelton can’t fathom ever having the money to buy a home — and that’s a major reason why so many voters feel down on the economy ahead of this year’s presidential election. Shelton, 67, drives an Uber to help pay rent in Aurora, Colorado. An advance on her pay covered her apartment’s security…
read morenew york — Former Vice President Mike Pence says he will not be backing Donald Trump in the 2024 election. “It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year,” Pence said Friday in an interview with Fox News, weighing in for the first time since the former president became…
read morenew york — Donald Trump’s New York hush-money criminal trial was delayed Friday until at least mid-April as the judge seeks answers about a last-minute evidence dump that the former president’s lawyers said has hampered their ability to prepare their defense. Manhattan Judge Juan Manuel Merchan agreed to a 30-day delay starting Friday and scheduled a…
read moreNAIROBI, Kenya — Doctors at Kenya’s public hospitals began a nationwide strike Thursday, accusing the government of failing to implement a raft of promises from a collective bargaining agreement signed in 2017 after a 100-day strike that saw people dying from lack of care. The Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union said they went on…
read moreWindhoek, Namibia — A top Namibian health official tells VOA the southern Africa country is set to begin distribution of the HPV vaccine to adolescent girls in April as a preventative measure in the fight against cervical cancer. Namibia has a population of about 1 million women ages 15 years and older who are at risk…
read moreWhite House — U.S. President Joe Biden is hosting Taoiseach of Ireland Leo Varadkar on Friday for the annual St. Patrick’s Day reception at the White House, amid calls to boycott the event by many in Ireland who are outraged by staunch U.S. support of Israel in its war against Hamas. Speaking earlier this week in…
read moreWINCHESTER, Ind. — The Indiana State Police said there are “many significant injuries” after a tornado tore through the community of Winchester on Thursday, part of a storm system that also unleashed suspected twisters that damaged homes and businesses in parts of Ohio and Kentucky. “There have been many, many significant injuries, but I don’t know…
read morePresident Joe Biden faces uncertain prospects in the key swing state of Michigan, where more than 100,000 Democratic voters chose “uncommitted” rather than the president in the recent primary. On Thursday, he visited Saginaw. VOA’s Anita Powell, traveling with the president, reports. …
read moreThe White House is urging senators to quickly begin considering a bill that would address national security concerns related to the social media app TikTok. The House approved the measure earlier this week. VOA Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports. Camera: Saqib Ul Islam. …
read morenew york — New York prosecutors said Thursday that they were open to delaying the start of Donald Trump’s New York hush money criminal trial by up to a month to give the former president’s lawyers time to review evidence that was only recently turned over. The Manhattan district attorney’s office said in a court filing…
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