President Joe Biden’s top Mideast envoy said Wednesday he’s hopeful about negotiations with Hezbollah to bring the conflict along Israel’s northern border to an end, although fighting continues, and an end appears nowhere in sight in Gaza. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate blocked legislation Wednesday night that would have sent certain armaments to Israel – a…
read morePresident-elect Donald Trump has nominated longtime ally Republican Representative Matt Gaetz for the nation’s top law enforcement position, attorney general of the United States. As VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, Gaetz is expected to face a tough confirmation process. …
read morecolumbia, south carolina — A parole board decided unanimously Wednesday that Susan Smith should remain in prison despite her plea that God has forgiven her for killing her two young sons 30 years ago by rolling her car into a South Carolina lake while they were strapped in their car seats. It was the first parole…
read moreInflation-weary consumers should see the cost of their classic Thanksgiving dinner gobble less of their paychecks this year, largely because Americans are buying less of the meal’s centerpiece dish, turkey. The price tag of the traditional holiday meal, which also includes cranberries, sweet potatoes and stuffing, has dropped for a second consecutive year, according to…
read moreThe U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Committee failed Wednesday to reach agreement on whether to release findings from its nearly finished investigative report on former Republican Representative Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general. The panel’s chair, Republican Representative Michael Guest, emerged from a lengthy committee meeting, saying, “There was no agreement by…
read moreSome U.S. weapons deliveries to Ukraine may take place after President Joe Biden’s term ends in January, Pentagon officials tell VOA, noting it will take time for certain capabilities to arrive in Ukraine. “As you know, some equipment and some systems can get to Ukraine very quickly, and you’ve seen that happen within days or…
read moreNEW YORK — Distant, ancient galaxies are giving scientists more hints that a mysterious force called dark energy may not be what they thought. Astronomers know that the universe is being pushed apart at an accelerating rate and they have puzzled for decades over what could possibly be speeding everything up. They theorize that a powerful,…
read moreU.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin this week visited the Philippines, where he met with its president and his defense counterpart to highlight the expansion and modernization of two countries’ alliance in just a few short years. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb has more. …
read moreSEATTLE — What was expected to be one of the strongest storms in the northwest U.S. in decades arrived Tuesday evening, knocking out power and downing trees across the region. The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks beginning Tuesday and lasting through Friday as the strongest atmospheric river — a large plume of moisture —…
read moreNew Orleans, Louisiana — The teaching of America’s racial history is dividing voters as state governments and federal judges weigh in on what is known as critical race theory. “What we are seeing is that America is having a very public argument about how to discuss race in our country,” explained Stanford law professor Ralph Richard…
read moreCHEYENNE, Wyoming — A state judge on Monday struck down Wyoming’s overall ban on abortion and its first-in-the-nation explicit prohibition on the use of medication to end pregnancy. Since 2022, Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens has ruled consistently three times to block the laws while they were disputed in court. The decision marks another victory…
read moreMANILA, Philippines — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday condemned China’s dangerous actions against the Philippines and renewed a warning that the United States would defend its treaty ally if Filipino forces come under an armed attack in the increasingly volatile waters. During a visit to the Philippine province of Palawan next to the disputed…
read moreRIO DE JANEIRO — With just two months remaining in President Joe Biden’s administration, the United States is ramping up financial, military and diplomatic support for Kyiv’s effort to defend itself against Russian aggression. At the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where Biden and leaders of 20 of the world’s largest economies are meeting,…
read moreNEW YORK — Arthur Frommer, whose “Europe on 5 Dollars a Day” guidebooks revolutionized leisure travel by convincing average Americans to take budget vacations abroad, has died. He was 95. Frommer died from complications of pneumonia, his daughter Pauline Frommer said Monday. “My father opened up the world to so many people,” she said. “He believed…
read moredubai/washington — The U.S. special envoy to Sudan traveled to the African country for the first time on Monday to seek an increase in the flow of aid to millions of people in need and an end to a devastating war. Tom Perriello, who was named Washington’s envoy for Sudan in February, traveled to Port Sudan…
read moreThe U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Committee is set to meet Wednesday to decide whether to release its investigative report on former Representative Matt Gaetz, who was accused of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use before he was picked by President-elect Donald Trump to be attorney general in his new administration. Several U.S. senators, Democrats…
read morefergus falls, minnesota — Nearly three years after a couple from India and their two young children froze to death while trying to cross the border from Canada into the U.S., two men went on trial Monday on human smuggling charges, accused of being part of a criminal network that stretched around the world. Prosecutors say…
read moreWASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is requesting nearly $100 billion in emergency disaster aid after Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and other natural disasters, telling lawmakers that the money is “urgently needed.” The letter Monday to House Speaker Mike Johnson comes as lawmakers meet during a lame-duck session to finish key priorities before making way for a…
read moreThe Holocaust Museum LA recently installed a new exhibit on its roof: a German-made freight car that was used to deport Jews across Nazi-occupied Europe to the Majdanek concentration camp near Lublin, Poland. From Los Angeles, Angelina Bagdasaryan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. …
read moreIn New York City, where some communities have limited access to fresh produce, a unique classroom program is teaching students how to grow their own food and improve their eating habits. Aron Ranen has more on how gardening is shaping healthier futures for kids. …
read moreManila, Philippines — The Philippines and the United States signed on Monday a military intelligence-sharing deal in a further deepening of defense ties between the two nations facing common security challenges in the region. Visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin signed the agreement with his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, at Manila’s military headquarters where both officials…
read moreU.S. President Joe Biden began a historic trip to Brazil Sunday, becoming the first sitting American president to visit the Amazon rainforest to mark his efforts on fighting climate change. He will attend the summit of the 20 largest economies, the G20, Monday in Rio de Janeiro, where climate, poverty reduction and other global clauses…
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