With less than two weeks before U.S. President Joe Biden leaves office, his aides are working with President-elect Donald Trump’s team in a last-ditch push for a ceasefire in Gaza. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports. Anita Powell contributed. …
read moreHuman Metapneumovirus (HMPV) has recently spread widely across China, overwhelming hospitals and evoking memories of the COVID-19 outbreak. HMPV is not a new virus; it has been known for years and typically has a low mortality rate. Nevertheless, epidemiologists are calling for greater transparency about the spread of the virus to help contain infections. While…
read moreMIAMI, FLORIDA — About 600,000 Venezuelans and more than 230,000 Salvadorans already living in the United States can legally remain another 18 months, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday, barely a week before President-elect Donald Trump takes office with promises of hard-line immigration policies. Biden’s administration has strongly supported Temporary Protected Status, which he has…
read moreA New York judge Friday sentenced President-elect Donald Trump to an “unconditional discharge” over 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The sentence spares him penalties but allows the convictions to stand. During sentencing, the president-elect again said the case was politically motivated. VOA senior Washington correspondent Carolyn Presutti reports. Contributor: Kim Lewis; Video editor: Rob Raffaele…
read moreGENEVA — The World Meteorlogical Organization says that preventive action cannot avert natural disasters such as the wildfires raging across Los Angeles, but that it can help save lives and mitigate loss of property. “Land management and prevention, regular clearing of underbrush play a key role in fire management, and evacuation plans are important in saving…
read moreWASHINGTON — U.S. hiring picked up unexpectedly in December as employers added a strong 256,000 jobs, another sign of the economy’s resilience in the face of high interest rates. Job growth rose 212,000 last month from November, the Labor Department reported Friday. For all of 2024, the economy added 2.2 million jobs, a solid number but…
read moreNew York — In a singular moment in U.S. history, President-elect Donald Trump faces sentencing Friday for his New York hush money conviction after the nation’s highest court refused to intervene. Like so much else in the criminal case and the current American political landscape, the scenario set to unfold in an austere Manhattan courtroom was…
read moreAuthorities in the western U.S. state of California say at least 10 people have been killed in massive wildfires that have ravaged the city of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County medical examiner late Thursday announced the new death toll, which doubled from earlier reports. Officials warn that number could increase once the fires have…
read moreSix days of official funeral ceremonies honoring the life and legacy of US President Jimmy Carter concluded in his home state of Georgia, where VOA’s Kane Farabaugh has more. Camera: Kane Farabaugh …
read moreTechnology companies, industry executives and entrepreneurs are in Las Vegas, Nevada, this week for CES, the consumer electronics show featuring the latest advancements in artificial intelligence, vehicle technology, robotics and more. Tina Trinh reports from Las Vegas. …
read moreWASHINGTON — Russia’s efforts to obtain China’s help in enhancing artificial intelligence is seen as a bid to challenge America’s lead in the field even as the outgoing Biden administration is expected to impose new export control measures to further curb Beijing’s access to AI chips. As the new year began, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered…
read morewashington — Republican Vice President-elect JD Vance said Thursday that he would resign from his U.S. Senate seat from Ohio at midnight ahead of his inauguration later this month. President-elect Donald Trump and Vance defeated the Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, in the Nov. 5 U.S.…
read morelondon — Russia has said it is closely watching the situation with Greenland, following U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s refusal to rule out military or economic measures to take control of the territory from Denmark. “We are observing this rather dramatic development of the situation, but so far, thank God, [it remains] at the level of statements,”…
read moreWASHINGTON — As they filed into the front pews at the National Cathedral, wearing dark suits and mostly solemn faces, one current and four former presidents came together for Jimmy Carter’s funeral. For a service that stretched more than an hour, the feuding, grievances and enmity that had marked their rival campaigns and divergent politics gave…
read moreLAS VEGAS — So much of the technology showcased at CES includes gadgets made to improve consumers’ lives — whether by leveraging AI to make devices that help people become more efficient, by creating companions to cure loneliness, or by providing tools that help people with mental and physical health. But not all innovation is good,…
read moreJimmy Carter, the 39th U.S. President, is being honored with the pageantry of a state funeral in the nation’s capital, The Associated Press reported. He will later be honored a second service and burial in his tiny Georgia hometown that launched a Depression-era farm boy to the world stage. …
read moreALBANY, NEW YORK — New York’s highest court on Thursday declined to block Donald Trump’s upcoming sentencing in his hush money case, leaving the U.S. Supreme Court as the president-elect’s likely last option to prevent the hearing from taking place Friday. One judge of the New York Court of Appeals issued a brief order declining to…
read moreThe United States Supreme Court has fast-tracked oral arguments on a challenge by the Chinese company ByteDance — the owner of TikTok — to a new law that would ban the social media platform on grounds of national security. VOA’s Steve Herman reports. …
read moreFor the first time, a person in the United States has died after being infected with the bird flu. Louisiana health officials reported the death on Monday. The World Health Organization says the risk of infection for the general population remains low, but as VOA’s Dora Mekouar reports, some medical experts are still sounding the…
read moreWASHINGTON — Nearly a quarter of animals living in rivers, lakes and other freshwater sources are threatened with extinction, according to new research published Wednesday. “Huge rivers like the Amazon can appear mighty, but at the same time freshwater environments are very fragile,” said study co-author Patricia Charvet, a biologist at Brazil’s Federal University of Ceará.…
read moreWASHINGTON — Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is set to be honored Thursday with a funeral at Washington National Cathedral before being buried in his home state of Georgia. Carter’s living presidential successors – Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden – are due to attend the Washington funeral, with Biden…
read moreMore than 130,000 people in the Los Angeles area were under evacuation orders early Thursday as firefighters battled multiple major wildfires that already killed at least five people and destroyed more than 1,000 structures. A new, fast-moving fire broke out late Wednesday in the Hollywood Hills, prompting the latest round of orders for people to…
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