Month: February 2025

First, they crossed the Darien Gap in the hope of reaching the United States.   Now, many are returning in what authorities call a “reverse flow” of migration.   What is behind this phenomenon and what risks does it entail?  Click here for the full story in Spanish.  …

Special Agent Clint Hill, a member of the Secret Service detail assigned to protect President John F. Kennedy the day he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, has died at age 93. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh, who interviewed Hill several times over the years, has the story. …

Ukraine and the United States are set to sign a landmark minerals agreement, marking a significant step toward strengthening economic ties between the two nations. However, security experts tell VOA that concerns persist about the broader implications of the deal.  Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers approved the agreement Wednesday and U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that…

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will sign a deal giving the United States substantial rights to Kyiv’s lucrative rare earth minerals and to compensate Washington for weapons sent to Ukraine to fight Russia’s three-year war of aggression.   Trump, at the first Cabinet meeting of his new presidential…

LUBBOCK, TEXAS — A person who was hospitalized with measles has died from measles in West Texas, the first death in an outbreak that began late last month.   Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center spokesperson Melissa Whitfield confirmed the death Wednesday.  It wasn’t clear the age of the patient, who died overnight. Covenant Children’s Hospital in…

WASHINGTON — The U.S. will invest up to $1 billion to combat the spread of bird flu, including increasing imports of eggs, agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins said on Wednesday.   A three-year bird flu outbreak in U.S. poultry has killed 166 million chickens since 2022, according to USDA data.   The virus has also infected nearly 1,000 dairy…

Ukrainian officials said Wednesday a Russian drone attack killed at least one person and injured two others in the Kyiv region. Kyiv Governor Mykola Kalashnyk said on Telegram that the attack also damaged five houses and four multi-story residential buildings. Fragments from destroyed drones damaged apartment buildings, a university building, and a theater in the…

The United States and Ukraine have a framework deal in place for a joint fund to reinvest revenue from Ukrainian natural resources, according to officials familiar with the negotiations. The plan would include investing 50% of proceeds from Ukraine’s minerals, oil and gas. The United States would commit to the development of a “stable and…

U.S. consumer confidence plunged in February in its biggest monthly decline in more than four years, a business research group said Tuesday. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index dropped from 105.3 in January to 98.3 this month, the largest month-to-month decline since August 2021. With U.S. consumer spending accounting for about 70% of…

WASHINGTON — The United States has expanded an existing visa restriction policy to target Cuban officials believed to be tied to a labor program that sends Cuban workers overseas, particularly health care workers, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday. In a statement, Rubio said the expanded restrictions target individuals and immediate family members…

U.S. President Donald Trump plans to send 30,000 undocumented migrants to Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. naval base in Cuba. While it is most well known for housing terror suspects after 9/11 — and for drawing condemnation from human rights groups — Guantanamo has been occasionally used as a processing center for immigrants trying to reach…

Washington — The United States has started sending more migrants deemed by officials to be “high threat” criminal aliens to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, just days after emptying out the base’s migrant facilities. A U.S. defense official confirmed to VOA that a C-130 military cargo plane carrying migrants left Fort Bliss in…

The Trump administration has proposed punitive new fees on international shipping that would target vessels owned by Chinese companies or manufactured in Chinese shipyards, promising to dramatically alter the economics of global trade. The new policy would charge Chinese-owned cargo ships, as well as third-country flagged vessels built in China, $1 million or more per…

President Donald Trump said Monday he’s nearing a deal with Ukraine and with Russia to end the war in Ukraine after a packed day of meetings at the White House with French President Emmanuel Macron. Trump urged Europe to take a bigger role in funding, and Paris pushed for more assurances from Moscow. The U.S.…

The top U.S. Army officer for the Asia-Pacific region began a two-day visit to Cambodia Monday in a trip designed to expand and improve frayed ties between the two nations. General Ronald P. Clark, the commanding general of the United States Army Pacific met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and senior Cambodian military officials…

President Donald Trump pledged last week to impose an additional 25% tariff on U.S.-bound imports of cars, semiconductors and medical products, possibly after April – a move that experts believe could significantly affect Taiwan. TSMC, which is based in Taiwan and the world’s largest contract chipmaker, may suffer the most as 60% of its revenues…