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read moreNadio Momand was a journalist and a law student in Afghanistan. But with the Taliban back in power, she has left her home and her dreams behind. Muska Safi has the story, narrated by Bezhan Hamdard. …
read moreWashington — The State of the Union address is traditionally the venue where American presidents highlight domestic successes, and President Joe Biden is expected to discuss his handling of the economy, reproductive rights, gun control, and immigration Thursday evening. But as the United States deals with wars in the Middle East and Europe, foreign policy may…
read moreWASHINGTON — The House passed a $460 billion package of spending bills Wednesday that would keep money flowing to key federal agencies through the remainder of the budget year. The Senate is expected to take up the legislation before a midnight Friday shutdown deadline. Lawmakers are negotiating a second package of six bills, including defense, in…
read moreWhite House — The Biden administration is looking at options to support Ukraine amid House Republicans’ continued obstruction of a Senate-approved $95 billion foreign aid package that includes $61 billion to support Kyiv in its fight against Russia. In a Wednesday interview with VOA, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said President Joe Biden plans to…
read morevienna — The United States on Wednesday called on Iran to dilute all of the uranium it has enriched to up to 60% purity, close to the weapons-grade level of roughly 90%, in a statement denouncing many of Tehran’s recent nuclear moves. The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a confidential report to member states last…
read moreWASHINGTON — The United States on Wednesday issued sanctions targeting two companies and two vessels that the Treasury Department said had facilitated commodities shipments on behalf of a network of an Iranian-backed Houthi financial facilitator. The action targets two Hong Kong- and Marshall Islands-based ship owners and two vessels for their role in shipping commodities on…
read moreLONDON — Europeans scrolling their phones and computers this week will get new choices for default browsers and search engines, where to download iPhone apps and how their personal online data is used. They’re part of changes required under the Digital Markets Act, a set of European Union regulations that six tech companies classed as “gatekeepers”…
read moreSuper Tuesday — the night that has been known to make or break candidates in the past — is over. More convention delegates are awarded on Super Tuesday than any other night of the campaign year. Fifteen states and a U.S. Territory conducted primaries and caucuses for the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. VOA’s Senior…
read moreWASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation on Tuesday to give China’s ByteDance about six months to divest popular short video app TikTok or face a U.S. ban, seeking to tackle national security concerns about its Chinese ownership. The bill is the first significant legislative move in nearly a year toward banning or…
read morephoenix, arizona — A leading South Sudanese academic and activist living in exile in the United States has been charged in Arizona along with a Utah man born in the African nation on charges of conspiring to buy and illegally export millions of dollars’ worth of weapons to overthrow the government back home. Peter Biar Ajak…
read moreWashington — Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram were back up on Tuesday after a more than two-hour outage that was caused by a technical issue and impacted hundreds of thousands of users globally. The disruptions started at around 10:00 a.m. ET (1500 GMT), with many users saying on rival social media platform X they had been booted…
read moreA Seattle startup’s drones are helping first responders by providing them with “eyes and ears” in hazardous environments. Natasha Mozgovaya in Seattle has the story. …
read moreNEW ORLEANS — As the Republican Party primary contests continue into their third month, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is the only remaining challenger to former U.S. President Donald Trump. The primaries will determine who is the GOP’s nominee for president and who will challenge President Joe Biden in November’s presidential election. Trump has…
read moreA dozen female activists from different countries were honored Monday at the White House for their activism in defense of human and women’s rights. VOA Correspondent Veronica Balderas Iglesias has the highlights of the 2024 International Women of Courage Awards. …
read moreWashington — The United States said Monday that the low turnout in Iran’s election came as no surprise and was a new sign of discontent in the cleric-run state. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that there’s discontent about the regime’s rule,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters. “We did not assess that these elections…
read moreBoston — Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira pleaded guilty on Monday in federal court to leaking highly classified military documents about Russia’s war in Ukraine and other national security secrets. Teixeira pleaded guilty to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act nearly a year after he…
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