TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN/WASHINGTON — Uzbekistan is expected to push to deepen relations with the United States in the coming year, a position that is broadly popular among Uzbeks across the country, VOA found during a recent reporting trip. With more than 37 million people, Uzbekistan, Washington’s strategic partner in Central Asia, accounts for more than half of…
read moreWASHINGTON — The State Department ordered a sweeping freeze Friday on new funding for almost all U.S. foreign assistance, making exceptions for emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt. The order threatened a quick halt to many of the billions of dollars in U.S.-funded projects globally to support health, education, development, job training,…
read moreThe U.S. government consists of three branches designed to keep each other in check, with Congress responsible for passing legislation. But presidents have some power to unilaterally direct government policy by using executive orders. …
read moreDays after a winter storm dropped ice and record-breaking snow, cleanup efforts were underway Thursday in several major Southern U.S. cities such as New Orleans, Louisiana, where crews were removing snow the same way they remove trash, drink cups and plastic beads after Mardi Gras celebrations. Temperatures were gradually rising across the U.S. South, bringing…
read moreWASHINGTON — A federal judge on Friday barred Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes from entering Washington without the court’s approval after U.S. President Donald Trump commuted the far-right extremist group leader’s 18-year prison sentence for orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Capitol four years ago. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta issued the order two days after…
read moreIn the Rocky Mountain state of Colorado, the National Western Stock Show hosts nearly 30 professional rodeo events. VOA Correspondent Scott Stearns takes us to a stock show competition for younger riders. And sheep. …
read moreWASHINGTON — U.S. immigration agents rounded up undocumented migrants as well as American citizens in a raid of a Newark, New Jersey, worksite on Thursday that the city’s mayor said involved detaining a military veteran and violations of the people’s rights. The raid in New Jersey’s most populous city, hailed in the past by Mayor Ras…
read moreNICOSIA, CYPRUS — Experts from the U.S. Air Force are looking at ways to upgrade Cyprus’ premier air base for use as a humanitarian staging post in future operations in the Middle East, a Cypriot official told The Associated Press on Thursday. Cyprus, which is only 184 kilometers from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has acted as…
read moreAfter U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, appointments scheduled for the asylum process through the CBP One application were canceled. Click here for the full story in Spanish. …
read moreWASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the declassification Thursday of the last secret files on the assassination of the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy, a case that still fuels conspiracy theories more than 60 years after his death. Trump signed an executive order that will also release documents on the 1960s assassinations of JFK’s…
read moreNUUK, GREENLAND — The mineral wealth on the Arctic island of Greenland is in the global spotlight after U.S. President Donald Trump said he wants to take control of the territory from Denmark, prompting alarm from European allies. Trump’s words were echoed in a January 12 interview on “Fox News Sunday” by Vice President JD Vance,…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday invited global businesses to manufacture their products in the U.S. and promised them lower taxes but warned if they choose to produce their goods elsewhere, they would have to pay tariffs to export them to the United States. “America is back and open for business,” Trump, in a…
read moreWASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill on Thursday that would revoke China’s preferential trade status with the United States, phase in steep tariffs and end the “de minimis” exemption for low-value Chinese imports. The bill, introduced by John Moolenaar, the Republican chair of the House of Representatives select committee on China, comes after President…
read moreLOS ANGELES — Transgender cartel musical “Emilia Perez” topped this year’s Oscar nominations, earning 13 nods in an announcement on Thursday postponed by the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. French director Jacques Audiard’s Mexico-set musical, released by Netflix, shattered the record for the most Academy Award nominations for a non-English-language movie. It was followed by epic immigrant…
read moreCalls to ban face masks in public are sparking debate in New York City. Supporters say it could curb subway crime, while critics argue it risks civil liberties. Aron Ranen has more. …
read moreWASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday re-designated Yemen’s Houthi movement, known formally as Ansar Allah, as a “foreign terrorist organization,” the White House said. The move will impose harsher economic penalties than the Biden administration had applied to the Iran-aligned group in response to its attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and…
read morePresident Donald Trump is expected to visit hurricane- and fire-damaged areas of the US on Friday. The president will stop in North Carolina, which was hit by Hurricane Helene in September, and Los Angeles, where fires continue to burn and over 100,000 people are under evacuation orders. From Los Angeles, Genia Dulot has our story.…
read moreA new wildfire erupted Wednesday in Southern California, scorching more than 39 square kilometers of trees and brush in the mountains north of Los Angeles. The Hughes Fire is the latest wildfire to erupt in parched Southern California. It is burning near Lake Castaic, a recreation area about 65 kilometers from the Eaton and Palisades…
read morePresident Donald Trump nominated conservative activist and writer L. Brent Bozell III as head of the United States Agency for Global Media, which supervises five U.S. government-funded international media entities, including the Voice of America. “As Founder and President of the Media Research Center for 38 years, few understand the Global Media landscape in print,…
read moreFollowing President Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S. will withdraw from the World Health Organization, the United States is expected to reduce funding to other U.N. agencies. As White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports, other wealthy nations are unlikely to fill the gap. …
read moreWASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday gave final approval to a bill that requires the detainment of unauthorized migrants accused of theft and violent crimes, marking the first legislation that President Donald Trump can sign as Congress, with some bipartisan support, swiftly moved in line with his plans to crackdown on illegal immigration. …
read morePresident Donald Trump’s pick to run the Agriculture Department, Brooke Rollins, led an organization that opposed ethanol mandates and farm subsidies, major programs she could influence if confirmed, according to a Reuters review of the group’s policy statements. That background may put Rollins at odds with farm state lawmakers at her nomination hearing on Thursday…
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