…
read moreWashington — A U.S. soldier who crossed into North Korea last year pleaded guilty to desertion on Friday as part of a plea agreement and was sentenced to 12 months of confinement, his lawyer said. Because of good behavior and time served, the soldier was released, according to the lawyer. Travis King was facing 14 charges…
read moreWilmington, Delaware — President Joe Biden hosted Australia’s prime minister at his Delaware home Friday at the start of a weekend summit with the “Quad” group he has pushed as a counterweight to China. Biden chose Wilmington for a summit of leaders from Australia, India and Japan — the last of his presidency after he dropped…
read moreUNITED NATIONS — World leaders are set to descend on the United Nations in the coming days to talk about a lengthy list of global challenges. But will they spur significant action on any of them? “We see out-of-control geopolitical divisions and runaway conflicts — not least in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and beyond,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio…
read morewashington — The ability of a lone gunman to fire eight shots at Donald Trump during a campaign rally in rural western Pennsylvania was partially the result of multiple failures by the agents charged with protecting the former president, according to a new report. The Secret Service’s internal investigation into the attempted assassination of the one-time…
read moreIn the U.S. presidential election, Republican candidates have spread false claims that migrants in the Midwest state of Ohio are eating residents’ pet cats and dogs. That has led to security threats and more divisions in an election where immigration is a central campaign theme. VOA Correspondent Scott Stearns has our story. Videographer: Obed Lamy …
read moreFRANKFORT, Ky. — A judge in a rural Kentucky county was fatally shot in his courthouse chambers Thursday, and the local sheriff was charged with murder in the killing, police said. The preliminary investigation indicates Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines shot District Judge Kevin Mullins multiple times following an argument inside the courthouse, according to…
read moreRALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA — North Carolina Republican gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson vowed on Thursday to remain in the race despite a CNN report that he posted strongly worded racial and sexual comments on an online message board, saying he won’t be forced out by “salacious tabloid lies.” Robinson, the sitting lieutenant governor who decisively won his…
read morePentagon — The U.S. is returning Special Forces troops to Chad after leaving at the country’s request nearly five months ago. “We have reached an agreement on the return of a limited number of Special Forces personnel,” Maj. General Kenneth Ekman, who oversaw the recent U.S. withdrawal from Niger at the request of U.S. Africa Command…
read morePENTAGON — On Sunday, U.S. Africa Command’s Major General Kenneth Ekman was one of the last two U.S. service members to leave Niger as part of America’s military withdrawal, following the country’s July 2023 coup. Per an agreement reached by the U.S. and Niger in May, the only American service members that remain in the country…
read morewashington — The White House this week reported a significant decrease in migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border since President Joe Biden issued an executive order aimed at bolstering immigration enforcement. Migrant encounters in August were significantly lower than last year, White House spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández wrote in a statement Monday. Since Biden’s June…
read morenew york — Wall Street romped to records Thursday as jubilation swept markets worldwide one day after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s big cut to interest rates. The S&P 500 jumped 1.7% for one of its best days of the year and topped its last all-time high set in July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 522…
read moreWith fewer than 50 days left in this year’s U.S. presidential race, candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are campaigning in key swing states, each declaring to be the nominee with policies that can boost the economy. VOA Correspondent Scott Stearns reports. …
read moreWASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Thursday the Federal Reserve’s decision to lower interest rates was “an important signal” that inflation has eased as he characterized Donald Trump’s economic policies as a failure in the past and sure to “fail again” if revived. “Lowering interest rates isn’t a declaration of victory,” Biden told the Economic Club…
read morePeople from across the globe are convening on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City for Climate Week. On the agenda: the environmental impact of seabed mining. The discussion comes as tech companies seek ways to fuel the green revolution while minimizing environmental impacts. VOA’s Jessica Stone has more.] …
read moreWashington — A hearing to seek the release of imprisoned Americans in Beijing highlighted reasons for the U.S. to expand its list of U.S. citizens wrongly detained in China to prioritize their return. Members of Congress and witnesses argued at a congressional hearing this week that the U.S. government should expand the list of Americans that…
read moreNEW YORK — Journalists at a news site that covers the Haitian community in the United States say they’ve been harassed and intimidated with racist messages for covering a fake story about immigrants eating the pets of people in an Ohio town. One editor at the Haitian Times, a 25-year-old online publication, was “swatted” this week…
read morePresident Joe Biden on Saturday hosts the leaders of Australia, India and Japan for his final convening of the so-called Quad, a strategic security grouping focused on the Indo-Pacific area — a populous and economically vital region also of strategic interest to China. VOA White House Correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington. …
read morewashington — Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives failed on Wednesday to pass a funding bill that included a controversial voting measure backed by Donald Trump, complicating efforts to avert a possible government shutdown at the end of the month. Despite urging from Trump, the Republican candidate in the Nov. 5 presidential election, House Republicans…
read moreLOS ANGELES — In 2019, Brandon McDowell was contacted by a sophomore in college who asked to buy Percocet, a prescription painkiller. What the 20-year-old sold her instead were counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid that can be lethal in a dose as small as 2 milligrams. Hours later, Alexandra Capelouto, also 20,…
read moreWASHINGTON — The International Brotherhood of Teamsters declined Wednesday to endorse Kamala Harris or Donald Trump for president, saying neither candidate had sufficient support from the 1.3 million-member union. “Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before big business,” Teamsters…
read moreWashington — The United States has identified and taken down a botnet campaign by China-directed hackers to further infiltrate American infrastructure as well as a variety of internet-connected devices. FBI Director Christopher Wray announced the disruption of what he called Flax Typhoon during a cyber summit Wednesday in Washington, describing it as part of a much…
read more
