Braver Angels, a nonprofit organization, aims to bridge the political divide by fostering civil dialogue across differences. We take a brief look at one of their initiatives, the 1:1 Conversation, where individuals with opposing views spend a couple of hours engaging in meaningful discussion. …
read moreU.S. lawmakers Thursday weighed the impact that President Donald Trump’s 90-day foreign aid freeze will have on competition with China. Trump signed an executive order within hours of being sworn in as president ordering a halt to all U.S. international assistance while the new administration determines whether the aid aligns with his “America First” policy.…
read moreWASHINGTON — A key Republican senator on Thursday said he was struggling with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination by President Donald Trump to run the top U.S. health agency, saying he had reservations about the nominee’s “misleading arguments” on vaccines. “Your past of undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me,” Republican Senator…
read moreCHICAGO — Alderman Michael Rodriguez represents Chicago’s 22nd Ward, including the “Little Village” neighborhood on the west side of the city. Outside his office windows, he has an up-close view of 26th Street, an important thoroughfare with stores and merchants attracting immigrants from across the region. “26th Street is known as the capital of the Mexican…
read moreNEW YORK — U.S. President Donald Trump is making plans to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence and create a new national sculpture garden while reviving efforts to harshly punish those who vandalize or destroy existing statues and monuments. Trump signed an executive order Wednesday establishing a White House task force to plan what he…
read moreKampala, Uganda — Uganda has confirmed an outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the capital Kampala, with the first confirmed patient dying from the disease on Wednesday, the health ministry said on Thursday. The patient, a nurse at the Mulago referral hospital in the capital, had initially sought treatment at various facilities, including Mulago after developing…
read moreThe U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee is set to question former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as she seeks confirmation to become the nation’s director of national intelligence. Gabbard is expected to face questions about her 2017 visit to Syria, when during her time in Congress she met with then-President Bashar al-Assad. At the time she faced criticism…
read moreDays after Chinese upstart DeepSeek revealed a breakthrough in cheap AI computing that shook the U.S. technology industry, the chief executives of Microsoft and Meta defended massive spending that they said was key to staying competitive in the new field. DeepSeek’s quick progress has stirred doubts about the lead America has in AI with models…
read moreA small Chinese company sent shockwaves around the tech world this week with news that it has created a high-performing artificial intelligence system with less computing power and at a lower cost than ones made by U.S. tech giants. Michelle Quinn reports. …
read moreWASHINGTON — The State Department on Wednesday sought to clarify President Donald Trump’s order to freeze and review foreign development aid after the top U.S. diplomat blunted some of the chaos that ensued with an emergency order that could shield the world’s largest HIV program from the 90-day funding freeze. At the White House, Trump…
read moreThe Russian lawmaker attributed to Trump a quote from a deepfake video created by Ukrainian bloggers and shared on the Telegram messaging platform. …
read moreRobert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as the nation’s top health official, faced tough questions from senators Wednesday about his views on vaccinations, COVID-19 and the nation’s health care system. A member of one of America’s most famous political families, Kennedy could face a tough road to confirmation. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent…
read moreA report issued Wednesday by Google found that hackers from numerous countries, particularly China, Iran and North Korea, have been using the company’s artificial intelligence-enabled Gemini chatbot to supercharge cyberattacks against targets in the United States. The company found — so far, at least — that access to publicly available large language models (LLMs) has…
read moreWASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate kicked off Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearing Wednesday. Candidates for the President’s Cabinet must be confirmed by the Senate. But individuals considered for politically appointed positions are thoroughly vetted during presidential transitions by a president-elect’s legal team. What to know about this process. Click here for the full story in…
read moreNEW YORK — Former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison for accepting bribes of gold and cash and acting as an agent of Egypt — crimes his own lawyer said earned him the nickname “Gold Bar Bob.” U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein announced the sentence after the Democrat tearfully…
read moreWASHINGTON — In a contentious confirmation hearing on his nomination to become the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. struggled to answer questions about how he would reform Medicaid or Medicare, the government health care programs used by millions of disabled, poor and older Americans. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician and…
read moreISLAMABAD — A senior World Health Organization official cautioned Wednesday that the eradication of polio in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the only countries where the paralytic virus persists, is threatened by the suspension of funding from the United States. In an online news conference, Hanan Balkhy, regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, emphasized the crucial role of…
read moreAccording to Harvard University, about 200 copies of the original Declaration of Independence were produced in 1776. Only about two dozen remain. In New York, a new copy from the times of the Founding Fathers was discovered. On Jan. 24, it was put on auction. Elena Wolf has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Videographer:…
read moreWashignton — President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship in the U.S. has ignited a legal and political debate, raising questions about the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the extent of presidential power. The amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil. “We’re the only country in the world that does…
read moreNuuk, Greenland — The road south from Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, runs out at the tip of a blizzard-scoured peninsula stretching into the Labrador Sea. Icebergs drift beyond the sea ice toward the open ocean, carved off the glacier some 100 kilometers away at the head of the Nuup Kangerlua fjord. Locals call this spot “the edge…
read moreWashington — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is pulling the security protections and clearance of retired Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Mark Milley, and he has ordered the Pentagon’s inspector general to review Milley’s actions while serving as the nation’s top uniformed officer to determine if a demotion is warranted, two defense officials confirmed late Tuesday. The inspector…
read moreThe Trump administration issued a memo Tuesday offering federal government workers a financial incentive to leave their posts by the end of September. The resignation program is part of the administration’s efforts to shrink the federal workforce. An email to many of the 2 million federal workers said they could remain on the government payroll…
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