WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill on Thursday that would revoke China’s preferential trade status with the United States, phase in steep tariffs and end the “de minimis” exemption for low-value Chinese imports. The bill, introduced by John Moolenaar, the Republican chair of the House of Representatives select committee on China, comes after President…
read moreLOS ANGELES — Transgender cartel musical “Emilia Perez” topped this year’s Oscar nominations, earning 13 nods in an announcement on Thursday postponed by the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. French director Jacques Audiard’s Mexico-set musical, released by Netflix, shattered the record for the most Academy Award nominations for a non-English-language movie. It was followed by epic immigrant…
read moreCalls to ban face masks in public are sparking debate in New York City. Supporters say it could curb subway crime, while critics argue it risks civil liberties. Aron Ranen has more. …
read moreLondon — Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS are facing fresh scrutiny from Britain’s competition watchdog, which announced investigations Thursday targeting the two tech giants’ mobile phone ecosystems under new powers to crack down on digital market abuses. The Competition and Markets Authority said it launched separate investigations to determine whether the mobile ecosystems controlled by Apple…
read moreWASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday re-designated Yemen’s Houthi movement, known formally as Ansar Allah, as a “foreign terrorist organization,” the White House said. The move will impose harsher economic penalties than the Biden administration had applied to the Iran-aligned group in response to its attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and…
read morePresident Donald Trump is expected to visit hurricane- and fire-damaged areas of the US on Friday. The president will stop in North Carolina, which was hit by Hurricane Helene in September, and Los Angeles, where fires continue to burn and over 100,000 people are under evacuation orders. From Los Angeles, Genia Dulot has our story.…
read moreA new wildfire erupted Wednesday in Southern California, scorching more than 39 square kilometers of trees and brush in the mountains north of Los Angeles. The Hughes Fire is the latest wildfire to erupt in parched Southern California. It is burning near Lake Castaic, a recreation area about 65 kilometers from the Eaton and Palisades…
read morePresident Donald Trump nominated conservative activist and writer L. Brent Bozell III as head of the United States Agency for Global Media, which supervises five U.S. government-funded international media entities, including the Voice of America. “As Founder and President of the Media Research Center for 38 years, few understand the Global Media landscape in print,…
read moreFollowing President Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S. will withdraw from the World Health Organization, the United States is expected to reduce funding to other U.N. agencies. As White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports, other wealthy nations are unlikely to fill the gap. …
read moreWASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday gave final approval to a bill that requires the detainment of unauthorized migrants accused of theft and violent crimes, marking the first legislation that President Donald Trump can sign as Congress, with some bipartisan support, swiftly moved in line with his plans to crackdown on illegal immigration. …
read moreBefore he had been in office for 48 hours, President Donald Trump sent a clear signal that to outpace China, his administration will be pursuing an aggressive agenda when it comes to pushing the United States forward on the development of artificial intelligence and the infrastructure that powers it. On his first day in office,…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s pick to run the Agriculture Department, Brooke Rollins, led an organization that opposed ethanol mandates and farm subsidies, major programs she could influence if confirmed, according to a Reuters review of the group’s policy statements. That background may put Rollins at odds with farm state lawmakers at her nomination hearing on Thursday…
read moreWashington — U.S. President Donald Trump ended on Monday a humanitarian parole program that benefited Cubans, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans, and Haitians. Under the executive order called “Securing Our Borders,” which outlines various immigration-related actions, President Trump aimed to take “all appropriate action” to build the border wall, deploying defense personnel to the southern border, and detain irregular…
read moreSingapore — TikTok’s short-lived shutdown in the United States has opened a wider debate in other countries regarding access to popular social media platforms by children. TikTok went dark temporarily Sunday in the U.S. after a new law banning it went into effect. The law required TikTok’s Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance to sell the app’s U.S.…
read moreMillions of U.S. TikTok users are looking to newly sworn-in President Donald Trump, who has given the app’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, 75 days to strike a deal with a U.S. buyer. …
read moreThe National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning for most of California’s Los Angeles and Ventura counties on Tuesday for the area’s “extremely low relative humidity and periods of gusty offshore winds.” The weather service said its “Particularly Dangerous Situation Red Flag warning has ended, but dangerous fire weather conditions persist through Thursday or…
read moreRepresentative Elise Stefanik, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, faced questions at her Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday. The high-ranking House Republican told lawmakers she would advance Trump’s “America First” agenda at the international body. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more. …
read moreWASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday talked up a joint venture investing up to $500 billion for infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence by a new partnership formed by OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank. The new entity, Stargate, will start building data centers and the electricity generation needed for the further development of the fast-evolving AI in…
read moreWINDHOEK, NAMIBIA — The cervical cancer rate in Namibia is 37.5 for every 100,000 women, about three times higher than the rate worldwide. Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers and doctors in Namibia are advocating greater access to healthcare and the HPV vaccine to reduce the prevalence of the disease. November 2009 was…
read moreOn his first day on the job, Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his staff and spelled out his foreign policy priorities. He also met with allies from the Indo-Pacific region who seek to counter Chinese military and economic ambitions. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports, with Kim Lewis contributing. …
read moreVenezuela exported millions of barrels of its heavy oil to the U.S. until the economic sanctions of 2019. Its purchase resumed two years ago. Experts explain the characteristics of this crude oil, while Donald Trump says that he will “probably” stop buying it. Click here for the full story in Spanish. …
read moreABUJA, NIGERIA — Conservatives across Africa applauded U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive orders Monday regarding gender and diversity, while gay rights activists and the LGBTQ community on the continent are expressing deep concern. On his first day as the 47th U.S. president, Donald Trump signed a flurry of executive orders, including some that reversed policies of…
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