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read morestate department — The United States has pledged to continue providing Taiwan with equipment and services essential for maintaining a self-defense capability in line with the threats it faces. This statement came as an annual U.S.-Taiwan defense industry conference kicked off Sunday in Philadelphia. In the lead-up to the event, the conference organizer — the U.S.-Taiwan…
read morePentagon — The U.S. military is expected to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine this week valued at up to $375 million, the largest aid sent to Kyiv since May. According to several U.S. officials, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity to discuss the package ahead of the announcement, the aid for…
read moreWith pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai jailed in Hong Kong facing widely condemned charges, the journalist’s son and his international legal team are pushing the United States and other countries to help secure Lai’s immediate release. From Washington, Liam Scott has the story for VOA …
read morePentagon: Small number of additional US forces going to Middle East as risk of greater war increases
Pentagon — The United States is sending a small number of additional troops to the Middle East following a sharp spike in violence between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder said on Monday. Ryder did not provide further details on the number of forces or what they would be…
read moreWEST PALM BEACH, Florida — The man accused of hiding out with a gun near Donald Trump’s Florida golf course in an apparent attempt to assassinate the former U.S. president is due in court on Monday, where prosecutors will argue to keep him in jail until his trial. Ryan Routh, 58, has been charged with two…
read moreWashington — Even before the Federal Reserve approved its outsized half-percentage-point interest rate cut last week, financial markets had begun making credit cheaper for households and businesses as they bid down mortgage rates, cut corporate bond yields, and chipped away at what consumers pay for personal, auto and other loans. How fast that process will continue…
read moreSacramento, California — “Paper or plastic” will no longer be a choice at grocery store checkout lines in California under a new law signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom that bans all plastic shopping bags. California had already banned thin plastic shopping bags at supermarkets and other stores, but shoppers could purchase bags made with a…
read moreWashington — Congressional leaders announced an agreement Sunday on a short-term spending bill that will fund federal agencies for about three months, averting a possible partial government shutdown when the new budget year begins Oct. 1 and pushing final decisions until after the November election. Lawmakers have struggled to get to this point as the current…
read moreLansing, Michigan — Republican activists in swing states say they have seen little sign of the teams tasked with knocking on doors and turning out infrequent voters on behalf of Donald Trump, raising concerns about the party’s presidential nominee relying on outside groups for an important part of his campaign operations. Trump and the Republican National…
read moreUniondale, New York — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, continuing a multiday U.S. visit, addressed a cultural celebration on Long Island Sunday, where he praised the United States’ return of nearly 300 antiquities to India and relayed news of his country’s dual win at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, to an enthusiastic crowd. “I just…
read moreBIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Four people have died and more than 20 were wounded in a shooting in a nightlife area in the U.S. state of Alabama, according to police and news reports. There were multiple people shot in Birmingham, the Birmingham Police Department said in a social media post. Birmingham Officer Truman Fitzgerald said the shooting,…
read moreWILMINGTON, DELAWARE/WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday hosted the leaders of Australia, India and Japan at his private home in the U.S. state of Delaware for his final convening of the Quad, a strategic security grouping focused on the Indo-Pacific. But it was Biden’s comments, unintentionally heard by the press, that illuminated the main…
read moreBALTIMORE — Federal agents on Saturday boarded a vessel managed by the same company that managed a cargo ship that caused a deadly bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, the FBI confirmed. In statements, spokespeople for the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland confirmed that authorities boarded the Maersk Saltoro. The ship is managed by…
read morewashington — President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida discussed diplomacy with China and their shared concerns over “coercive and destabilizing activities” in the South China Sea during a meeting on Saturday at the Quad Leaders Summit in Wilmington, Delaware, the White House said. Biden and Kishida also reiterated their resolve to maintain peace…
read morewashington — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday will visit the U.S. ammunition factory that is producing one of the most critically needed munitions for Ukraine’s fight to fend off Russian ground forces. Zelenskyy is expected to go to the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in the state of Pennsylvania to kick off a busy week in…
read moreNEW YORK — Six years after a teenage Greta Thunberg walked out of school in a solitary climate protest outside of the Swedish parliament, people around a warming globe marched in youth-led protest, saying their voices are being heard but not sufficiently acted upon. Emissions of heat-trapping gases and temperatures have been rising and oil and…
read moreU.S. presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have focused their campaigns mainly on hot-button issues such as immigration, abortion and the economy. But the culture clash over how to handle gender identity matters in elementary and secondary schools is also a campaign issue, with loud voices on all sides. VOA’s Laurel Bowman reports. Videographer:…
read moreNEW YORK — They may be Tigrinya speakers fleeing the authoritarian Eritrean government’s indefinite military service policy. Or Rohingya people escaping ethnic violence in Myanmar. But refugees navigating resettlement often face a shared hurdle: poor machine translations and a short supply of interpreters knowledgeable in their less-serviced languages. Tarjimly, a Google-backed nonprofit described as “Uber for…
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