WASHINGTON — PRC is out. China is in. That is among the significant modifications to the U.S. State Department’s online fact sheet on China, which drops the country’s official name, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), in favor of just China. Former President Joe Biden’s administration routinely referenced the Beijing government with the PRC abbreviation. Since…
read moreThe fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continued Thursday, with Trump doubling down on his claim Zelenskyy is a dictator because he has not held elections since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has reaction from around the world. …
read moreU.S. Senator Mitch McConnell announced on Thursday, his 83rd birthday, that he will not seek reelection when his current term ends next year. First elected in 1984, McConnell made the announcement from the Senate floor. “Seven times, my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate. Every day in between, I’ve been humbled by the…
read moreU.S. envoy Keith Kellogg met in Kyiv Thursday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but there was no immediate word on whether they had eased U.S.-Ukrainian relations after U.S. President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy traded barbs this week over Russia’s three-year war against Ukraine. Kellogg said upon arriving in the Ukrainian capital that he was there…
read moreSEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — North Korean state media on Thursday criticized the United States for a nuclear submarine deal with Australia under the AUKUS partnership signed in 2021, calling it a “threat to regional peace.” A commentary carried by KCNA said Washington should be wary of consequences for what it said were nuclear alliances, naming AUKUS…
read moreABOARD AIR FORCE ONE/ WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit the United States, without giving a timeline for his trip. Trump made the remarks to reporters on Air Force One and said “it’s possible” for the U.S. and China to have a new trade deal.…
read moreConservative leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and politicians from Argentina, Britain, Poland and Italy, are among those set to address a three-day meeting of conservatives outside of Washington beginning Thursday. U.S. Vice President JD Vance leads off the Conservative Political Action Conference, with other sessions Thursday set to include discussions of cryptocurrency and Middle…
read moreWASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday evening he has not seen the proposal being discussed by Arab leaders as an alternative to his plan to take over Gaza once the war between Hamas and Israel ends. “I haven’t seen it,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question on Air Force One. “Once I…
read morePresident Donald Trump on Wednesday repeated a claim that the United States has spent $350 billion on Ukraine’s war — a figure that far eclipses the amount recorded by the Department of Defense and the interagency oversight group that tracks U.S. appropriations to Ukraine. Since Russia’s illegal invasion in February 2022, the U.S. Congress has…
read moreWASHINGTON — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked some parts of the military to propose what could be cut as part of a potential 8% spending reduction for them over each of the next five years, U.S. officials said on Wednesday, although it was unclear if the total defense budget would shrink. In a memo…
read moreAs Russia’s war on Ukraine enters its fourth year, European leaders warn that the outcome of ongoing peace talks between Moscow and Washington will have profound implications for all of Europe. But as Henry Ridgwell reports, leaders of the continent’s nations — including Ukraine — fear they are being excluded from deciding their own fate.…
read moreThe new head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said seeking a federal solution to ban China from purchasing farmland in the United States will be one of her top priorities. “One of the very, very top of the list perhaps is the Chinese purchase of our farmland. A lot of that land is around…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia said Wednesday the United States understands the need for security guarantees for Ukraine, as he visited the country for talks with Ukrainian officials. Gen. Keith Kellogg told reporters in Kyiv that he was in Ukraine “to listen,” hear the concerns of Ukrainian leaders and return to…
read moreMANILA, Philippines — The United States condemned the “dangerous” maneuvers of a Chinese navy helicopter that endangered the safety of a Philippine government aircraft patrolling a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, its ambassador to Manila said on Wednesday. In a post on X, Ambassador MaryKay Carlson also called on China “to refrain from coercive…
read moreWASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted to advance the nomination of Kash Patel to be the director of the FBI, putting a staunch ally of President Donald Trump and a critic of the bureau on track to run the most prominent U.S. law enforcement agency. The Senate voted 48-45 along party lines on a…
read moreWASHINGTON — A federal judge refused Tuesday to immediately block billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing government data systems or participating in worker layoffs. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan found that there are legitimate questions about Musk’s authority but said there isn’t evidence of the kind of grave legal harm that…
read moreWEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA — U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to study how to expand access to in vitro fertilization and make it more affordable. The order calls for policy recommendations to “protect IVF access and aggressively reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for such treatments,” according to the White House.…
read moreJohannesburg — South Africa will host a meeting of foreign ministers from the G20 group of major economies later this week, but the chief diplomat for the world’s largest economy, the U.S., is skipping it. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on X earlier this month that he would not attend the meeting, taking place Thursday…
read moreU.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that the United States is working toward a “fair” and “sustainable” solution to end Russia’s three-year war on Ukraine, but that both Moscow and Kyiv would have to make concessions to achieve peace. Rubio offered his assessment after he and other key U.S. officials met for several…
read moreSUMTERVILLE, FLORIDA — Native American activist Leonard Peltier was released from a Florida prison on Tuesday, weeks after then-President Joe Biden angered law enforcement officials by commuting his life sentence in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents. For nearly half a century, Peltier’s imprisonment has symbolized systemic injustice for Native Americans across the country who…
read moreWashington — The Social Security Administration’s acting commissioner has stepped down from her role at the agency over Department of Government Efficiency requests to access Social Security recipient information, according to two people familiar with the official’s departure who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Acting Commissioner Michelle King’s departure from the agency over…
read moreA Russian drone hit an apartment building in the central Ukrainian city of Dolynska, officials said Tuesday, injuring at least three people. Andriy Raikovych, governor of the Kirovohrad region where the attack took place, said on Telegram that authorities evacuated dozens of people from the building and that those injured included a mother and two…
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