Plastic waste accounts for 10 to 12 percent of all solid waste in Kenya, according to the United Nations Environmental Program. A Kenyan tech company is using plastic waste to print 3D models that help college students with their learning while reducing damage to the environment. Mohammed Yusuf reports from Nairobi. …
read moreBogota, Colombia — U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that he was ordering tariffs, visa restrictions and other retaliatory measures to be taken against Colombia after its government rejected two flights carrying migrants. Trump said the measures were necessary, because the decision of Colombian President Gustavo Petro “jeopardized” national security in the United States. “These measures…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump says he’d like to see regional actors accept more Palestinian refugees. Aboard Air Force One, Trump shared a vision to “just clean out” Gaza and create a virtual clean slate. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. …
read moreCairo — Tens of thousands of Palestinians waited, blocked on the road, to return to their homes in northern Gaza on Sunday, voicing frustration after Israel accused Hamas of breaching a ceasefire agreement and refused to open crossing points. A day after a second exchange of Israeli hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli…
read moreABOARD AIR FORCE ONE — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was in talks with multiple people over buying TikTok and would likely have a decision on the popular app’s future in the next 30 days. “I have spoken to many people about TikTok and there is great interest in TikTok,” Trump told reporters…
read moreWASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday threatened bounties on the heads of Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders, sharply escalating the tone as he said more Americans may be detained in the country than previously thought. The threat comes days after the Afghan Taliban government and the United States swapped prisoners in one of the…
read moreWASHINGTON — The CIA now believes the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic most likely originated from a laboratory, according to an assessment released Saturday that points the finger at China even while acknowledging that the spy agency has “low confidence” in its own conclusion. The finding is not the result of any new intelligence, and…
read moreROME — The president of Haiti’s transitional presidential council said the Trump administration’s decisions to freeze aid programs, deport migrants and block refugees will be “catastrophic” for Haiti. Leslie Voltaire made the comment in an interview with The Associated Press in Rome on Saturday following a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican. He visited the…
read moreGUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA — U.S. military planes carrying dozens of expelled migrants arrived in Guatemala, authorities said Friday, as President Donald Trump moved to crack down on illegal immigration. A total of 265 Guatemalans arrived on three flights — two operated by the military, and one a charter, the Central American country’s migration institute said, updating…
read moreHARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA — Looking for a quick fix for their fast-growing electricity diets, tech giants are increasingly looking to strike deals with power plant owners to plug in directly, avoiding a potentially longer and more expensive process of hooking into a fraying electric grid that serves everyone else. It’s raising questions over whether diverting power to…
read moreWASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary Saturday, putting the South Dakota governor in charge of a sprawling agency that is essential to national security and President Donald Trump’s plans to clamp down on illegal immigration. Republicans kept the Senate working Saturday to install the latest member of Trump’s national security team.…
read moreIn 2016, Herschel Hepler was browsing Google Images to practice his paleography — the study of historical writing systems — when he stumbled upon an eerily familiar photo that would lead to a groundbreaking discovery. “I recognized it immediately and said, ‘That’s a manuscript in our collection,’” Hepler, a curator at the Museum of the…
read moreTASHKENT, 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 moreOAKLAND, CALIFORNIA — From his home in northern California, Nick Russell, a former farm manager, is monitoring the Los Angeles-area fires. He knows that about 600 kilometers south, people in Los Angeles are relying on his team’s live neighborhood-by-neighborhood updates on fire outbreaks, smoke direction, surface wind predictions and evacuation routes. Russell is vice president 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…
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