washington — A U.S. plan to boost its Pacific air power is seen by analysts as an effort to reinforce deterrence in the Indo-Pacific and counterbalance China’s attempt to gain dominance in the region. The U.S. Air Force plans to upgrade more than 80 fighter jets stationed at Japanese bases over the next several years as…
read morewashington — The United States and its NATO allies have agreed that Ukraine’s path to membership in the organization is “irreversible,” according to a communique released by the 32-member bloc during this week’s summit in Washington. “It’s not a question of if, but when,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters Wednesday. The United States was once…
read moreWASHINGTON — The pier built by the U.S. military to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza will be reinstalled Wednesday to be used for several days, but then the plan is to pull it out permanently, several U.S. officials said. It would deal the final blow to a project long plagued by bad weather, security uncertainties and…
read moreU.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday welcomed NATO leaders and heralded the alliance’s 75th anniversary while making the case for peace through strength amid the largest challenge to peace Europe has faced in decades. Other administration officials made similar arguments for bolstering defense to fight global threats. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from…
read morePentagon — Ukraine is receiving five additional air defense systems to protect its sovereign territory, including three additional Patriot batteries from the United States, Germany and Romania. U.S. President Joe Biden announced the five systems as NATO members commemorated the 75th anniversary of the alliance during a summit in Washington. Allies marked the anniversary at Mellon…
read moreU.S. lawmakers returned to the nation’s capital this week for the first time since President Joe Biden’s debate against presumptive presidential Republican nominee Donald Trump in June. Katherine Gypson reports on calls from Capitol Hill for Biden to step aside. Kim Lewis contributed to this report. …
read moreOKLAHOMA CITY, oklahoma — Former Senator Jim Inhofe, a conservative known for his strong support of defense spending and his denial that human activity is responsible for the bulk of climate change, has died. He was 89. Inhofe, a powerful fixture in Oklahoma politics for more than six decades, died Tuesday morning after suffering a stroke…
read moreWashington — The U.S. Federal Reserve is making “modest” progress in its inflation fight, the head of the U.S. central bank told lawmakers Tuesday, on the first of two days of testimony in Congress. When prices surged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fed responded by hiking interest rates to a two-decade high as…
read moreLIMA, Peru — The preserved body of an American mountaineer — who disappeared 22 years ago while scaling a snowy peak in Peru — has been found after being exposed by climate change-induced ice melt, police said Monday. William Stampfl was reported missing in June 2002, aged 59, when an avalanche buried his climbing party on…
read moredeath valley, california — A searing heat wave gripped large parts of the United States on Monday, with record daily high temperatures in Oregon suspected to have caused four deaths in the Portland area following a motorcyclist’s death in dangerous heat over the weekend in Death Valley, California. More than 146 million people around the U.S.…
read moreALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Two years after the U.S. Forest Service sparked what would become the largest and most destructive wildfire in New Mexico’s recorded history, independent investigators say there are gaps that need to be addressed if the agency is to be successful at using prescribed fire as a tool to reduce risk amid climate change. …
read moreWASHINGTON — As NATO prepares to convene on Tuesday a three-day summit in Washington to celebrate its 75th birthday, the alliance is reinforcing its support for Ukraine in the ongoing war with Russia. During a news conference with a handful of reporters Sunday previewing the summit, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said all NATO members want peace,…
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