U.S. President Donald Trump said he wants the U.S. to take ownership of Gaza, moving beyond his earlier statements of forcing Gazans to relocate to neighboring Jordan and Egypt. Trump made the stunning announcement Tuesday evening, as he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has…
read moreWASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said he wants the United States to take ownership of Gaza, moving beyond his earlier statements of forcing Palestinians in the war-torn enclave to relocate to neighboring Jordan and Egypt. “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,” he said during…
read moreU.S. prosecutors on Tuesday unveiled an expanded 14-count indictment accusing former Google software engineer Linwei Ding of stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets to benefit two Chinese companies he was secretly working for. Ding, 38, a Chinese national, was charged by a federal grand jury in San Francisco with seven counts each of economic espionage and…
read moreWASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday stopped U.S. engagement with the U.N. Human Rights Council, extended a halt to funding for the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA and ordered a review of the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO. “It’s got great potential and based on the potential we’ll continue to go along with it, but they…
read moreCongressional Democratic leadership warned President Donald Trump on Tuesday that they would use upcoming government funding talks as leverage to fight the administration’s changes in U.S. government agencies. Democrats’ warnings come as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, moved the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the control of the…
read moreScientists are testing a novel technique to deter poachers targeting endangered rhinoceroses for their prized horns. As part of a pilot study in South Africa, researchers have injected small, radioactive pellets into the horns of live rhinos. The goal is to make the horns radioactive so there is less demand for them on the black…
read moreAbuja, Nigeria — Nigerian officials have launched a committee to develop a transition and sustainability plan for USAID-funded health programs following U.S. President Donald Trump’s 90-day halt of most foreign aid. The multi-ministerial committee aims to secure new financial support for critical health programs. Nigeria’s health minister said the committee—comprising officials from the ministries of finance,…
read moreWASHINGTON — Former Democratic congresswoman turned President Donald Trump supporter Tulsi Gabbard is one step closer to leading the U.S. intelligence community following a party-line vote in the Senate Intelligence Committee. All nine Republicans on the committee voted late Tuesday to send Gabbard’s nomination to serve as director of national intelligence for a vote before…
read moreMAYVILLE, NEW YORK — In 2022, Salman Rushdie was about to deliver a lecture before a live audience in western New York when a man ran toward him and plunged a knife into the author’s hand as he raised it in self-defense. “After that there are many blows, to my neck, to my chest, to my…
read moreWashington — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the controversial environmental lawyer turned public health critic, cleared his first hurdle on Tuesday to become the nation’s top health official when the senate finance committee voted to advance his nomination for a floor vote. Republicans voted together to advance his nomination, while Democrats all opposed. His nomination now will…
read moreISLAMABAD — The Taliban have warned that the military weapons left behind by the United States in Afghanistan now belong to them as “spoils of war” and will be utilized to defend against any attempts to reclaim them. The statement marks the first official response from the internationally unrecognized government in Kabul to President Donald…
read morePARIS — France hosts top tech players next week at an artificial intelligence summit meant as a “wake-up call” for Europe as it struggles with AI challenges from the United States and China. Players from across the sector and representatives from 80 nations will gather in the French capital on February 10 and 11 in the…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump is set to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks Tuesday at the White House with Israel’s ceasefire with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip at the top of the agenda. The talks come at a key phase in the ceasefire. Israel and Hamas have less than four weeks to…
read moreNew U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods went into effect Tuesday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump backed off plans to impose tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods. The new 10% duty that Trump announced Saturday is a first step in pressuring China, the president said Monday. China has said it would take countermeasures in…
read moreSTATE DEPARTMENT — The United States and El Salvador have reached what U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called “the most unprecedented and extraordinary” deal to further curb illegal immigration. After about three hours of meetings with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele at his residence in Lake Coatepeque, San Salvador, Rubio said that Bukele has offered to…
read moreThe Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday. It’s part of President Donald Trump’s promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a…
read moreWASHINGTON — Dozens of employees at the U.S. Education Department were put on paid administrative leave in response to President Donald Trump’s order banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government, according to a labor union that represents hundreds of workers in the agency. It’s unclear how many workers were put on leave or…
read moreUganda began a vaccine trial Monday against the Sudan strain of Ebola that has killed one person in the outbreak declared last week. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday in a post on the X social media platform that the trial was “initiated with record speed, only three days since the outbreak…
read moreU.S. stock markets fell sharply in early trading Monday but pared their losses after President Donald Trump paused a planned 25% tariff on Mexican imports. The three major U.S. stock indices — the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue chip stocks, the broader S&P 500 and the tech-heavy NASDAQ — all dropped nearly 2%…
read moreWashington — U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday ordering the U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments to create a sovereign wealth fund and said it may purchase TikTok. “We’re going to stand this thing up within the next 12 months. We’re going to monetize the asset side of the U.S. balance sheet for…
read moreThe recent outbreak of the H5N1 avian influenza virus in the U.S. and the potential for it to mutate has raised concerns among the scientific community that it could result in human-to-human transmission and a new pandemic. Farmers are also concerned about the potential impacts on their livelihood. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports. …
read moreState Department — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said cooperation with Panama has sent “a clear message” the U.S. will act to curb illegal immigration, as he observed a U.S.-funded deportation flight departing from Albrook International Airport in Panama on Monday morning. The flight returned dozens of undocumented Colombians to their home country. According to…
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