U.S. lawmakers struggled to agree this week on sanctions to deter Russia’s Vladimir Putin from a possible Ukraine invasion. VOA Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson says that despite the snag, there is still pressure to mount a unified U.S. response. Producer: Katherine Gypson. …
read moreThe families of nine victims of a massacre at an elementary school nearly ten years ago in the northeastern U.S. state of Connecticut reached a $73 million settlement Tuesday in a lawsuit against Remington Arms, the maker of the rifle used in the mass killing. The settlement is a rare instance of a U.S. gunmaker…
read moreCongress on Thursday gave final approval to legislation guaranteeing that people who experience sexual harassment at work can seek recourse in the courts, a milestone for the #MeToo movement that prompted a national reckoning on the way sexual misconduct claims are handled. The measure, which is expected to be signed by President Joe Biden, bars…
read moreLegislation has advanced in the U.S. House of Representatives to impose sanctions on Ethiopians committing human rights abuses, blocking food aid delivery, or taking other actions that are worsening the country’s 15-month crisis. It would also sanction those providing training, weapons, or financial support to those involved in the conflict. The proposed Ethiopian Stabilization, Peace…
read moreCongress would lift onerous budget requirements that have helped push the Postal Service deeply into debt and would require it to continue delivering mail six days per week under bipartisan legislation the House approved Tuesday. The election-year bill, coming at a time of widespread complaints about slower mail service, would also require the Postal…
read morePresident Joe Biden on Tuesday announced that an Australian company that makes chargers for electric vehicles will build a manufacturing facility in Tennessee, while reiterating his commitment to make the U.S. government’s fleet of cars electric. The new plant will produce up to 30,000 electric vehicle chargers per year and create 500 local jobs, according…
read moreThe divide in the Republican party over former president Donald Trump widened Tuesday as senators criticized the Republican National Committee for censuring Representatives Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney last week. Kinzinger and Cheney have been outliers in their own party over the past year for criticizing Trump’s false claims of fraud in the 2020 election…
read moreU.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Michael Carpenter spoke with VOA’s Russian service Monday to discuss the situation along the Russia-Ukraine border. Carpenter said the allies and its partners are trying “to see if the Kremlin is interested in pursuing a diplomatic solution to this crisis, to seeking to…
read moreU.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Michael Carpenter spoke with VOA’s Russian service Monday to discuss the situation along the Russia-Ukraine border. Carpenter spoke to VOA’s Danila Galperovich. …
read moreFormer Vice President Mike Pence on Friday directly rebutted Donald Trump’s false claims that Pence somehow could have overturned the results of the 2020 election, saying that the former president was simply “wrong.” In a speech to the conservative Federalist Society in Florida, Pence addressed Trump’s intensifying efforts this week to advance the false narrative…
read moreUS President Joe Biden traveled to New York City on Thursday to highlight a new push by his administration to combat gun violence and crime, including a crackdown on untraceable firearms, so-called ghost guns. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report. …
read moreA U.S. senator was resting in the hospital Wednesday after suffering a stroke from which he is expected to recover fully, although it poses problems for the Democrats’ agenda until his return. Ben Ray Lujan, 49, underwent brain surgery to relieve swelling late last week and remains hospitalized, according to his office, which added that…
read moreU.S. lawmakers are nearing a deal on sanctions aimed at deterring Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine. Several lawmakers who recently returned from a trip to Kyiv told VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson there is broad bipartisan unity on confronting Russia. Camera: Russian Service Produced by: Katherine Gypson …
read moreFormer U.S. President Donald Trump left office more than a year ago, but his conduct in the waning weeks of his presidency as he tirelessly sought to remain in power and his reported role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, remain a focal point of the American political scene and multiple…
read more“In rural Minnesota we still have a work ethic, and I’ll call them Christian values, and that’s not reflected in our local newspaper,” said Al Saunders, a farmer and friend of Wolter’s who graduated from Benson High School a couple years after Anfinson. “I just can’t stomach it anymore,” said Saunders, whose family settled on…
read moreThe president-elect was warned – there was a conspiracy to prevent the counting of the electoral ballots and disrupt his inauguration. There was even talk of seizing Washington by military force in a deeply divided nation. It was not Joe Biden receiving the alarming reports after his 2020 election, but Abraham Lincoln following the vote…
read moreAs he struggled to survive the 2020 Democratic primary, Joe Biden made a striking pledge before voting began in heavily African American, must-win South Carolina: His first Supreme Court appointment would be a Black woman. On Thursday, with his poll numbers reaching new lows and his party panicking about the midterm elections, Biden turned again…
read moreThe House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection subpoenaed more than a dozen individuals Friday who it says falsely tried to declare Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 election in seven swing states. The panel is demanding information and testimony from 14 people who it says allegedly met and submitted false Electoral College certificates…
read moreA bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, collapsed early Friday morning, just hours ahead of President Joe Biden’s visit to the U.S. city to underscore the need to improve the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report. …
read moreWith President Joe Biden’s broader domestic agenda stymied in the Senate, Democratic leaders in Congress have begun looking for legislative victories elsewhere, with a new focus on improving the U.S. ability to compete with China. Democrats in the House of Representatives are attempting to come to agreement on legislation that would provide large financial subsidies…
read moreU.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, for 27 years a staunch liberal voice on the country’s highest court, has decided to retire, according to news accounts in Washington. The retirement of the 83-year-old Breyer will hand President Joe Biden his first chance at filling an open seat since former President Donald Trump appointed three conservatives…
read moreDiplomats of the former Afghan government who have held on to their jobs in the U.S. are grappling with a new problem: their official bank accounts have been suspended. Two senior Afghan diplomats, who did not want to be named because the issue is under discussion with U.S. officials, confirmed to VOA that the Citibank…
read more