U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he “most likely” would give TikTok 90 more days to work out a deal that would allow the popular video-sharing platform to avoid a U.S. ban. Trump said in an NBC News interview that he had not decided what to do but was considering granting TikTok a reprieve…
read moreWASHINGTON — It is unclear who will take over at the Pentagon and the military services when the top leaders all step down Monday as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office. As of Friday, officials said they had not yet heard who will become the acting defense secretary. Officials said the military chiefs of…
read moreWHITE HOUSE — Israel’s Cabinet approved a deal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release, with 24 ministers voting in favor and eight ministers rejecting the agreement. The deal is scheduled to be implemented beginning Sunday. The deal to end the fighting between Israel and Hamas was achieved after more than a year of negotiations, with…
read moreThe Israeli Cabinet approved the Gaza ceasefire for hostage release early Saturday, paving the way for the deal to be implemented beginning Sunday, a day before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara looks at how his incoming administration might enforce the multiphase deal, and the president-elect’s role in securing it.…
read moreLabels on wine, distilled spirits and malt beverages in the U.S. would be required to list alcohol content and nutritional information per serving, plus notification of potential allergens, under two new rules proposed Thursday by the Treasury Department. The department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is seeking public content on proposals to require…
read morePHUKET, THAILAND — Plastic bottles and empty beer cans roll on the sea floor in the waters around Phuket in southern Thailand, while ever more garbage piles up on the island itself, a tourist hotspot better known for its pristine beaches and stunning sunsets. In one corner of the island, trucks and tractors trundle back and…
read moreSpaceX says a fire might have caused its Starship to break during liftoff and send trails of flaming debris near the Caribbean. SpaceX’s Elon Musk said preliminary indications are that leaking fuel built up pressure in the cavity above the engine firewall. The resulting fire would have doomed the spacecraft. On Friday, the Federal Aviation…
read moreA former CIA analyst pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in Virginia to charges that he leaked classified information about Israeli plans to strike Iran. Asif William Rahman, 34, of Vienna, Virginia, was arrested last year in Cambodia and later taken to Guam. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each…
read moreWASHINGTON — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that the government would reach its statutory borrowing limit on Tuesday and begin employing “extraordinary measures” to keep from breaching the cap and risking a potential catastrophic default. Yellen, in a letter on Friday to congressional leaders just three days before the Biden administration turns over U.S. government…
read moreWashington views every presidential inauguration as different from the previous one, but Monday’s inauguration of Donald Trump will really stand out. VOA Senior Washington Correspondent Carolyn Presutti explains. Cameras: Adam Greenbaum, Carolyn Presutti. …
read moreAfter Donald Trump is sworn in as president, there will be a swirl of activity at the White House. Over about six hours, the belongings of outgoing President Joe Biden and family will be removed and the residence will be made into a home for the new chief executive. VOA’s Dora Mekouar reports. …
read moreAs with all massive disasters, there are individual stories of loss and hope. We’re now hearing some of those stories even as wildfires continue to burn in and around Los Angeles. Khrystyna Shevchenko met with one family that chose to ignore evacuation orders to fight wildfires threatening their home. Khrystyna Shevchenko has the story, narrated…
read moreBLANTYRE, MALAWI — Malawi’s government launched a plan Thursday to stop cholera outbreaks by 2030. Officials say that if the government and international partners can effectively cooperate, they can greatly reduce the prevalence of cholera in the southern African country, where it has killed at least 1,700 people over the past three years. Partners include the…
read moreWASHINGTON — Firefighters have contained more of the Palisades and Eaton fires in Southern California, the state’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Friday morning. For the time being, the strongest winds have calmed, but the National Weather Service said dangerous conditions are expected again next week. The strongest winds are expected Tuesday night. The…
read moreWashington — The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the federal law banning TikTok beginning Sunday unless it’s sold by its China-based parent company, holding that the risk to national security posed by its ties to China overcomes concerns about limiting speech by the app or its 170 million users in the United States. A sale…
read moreWASHINGTON — South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency central to his vision of cracking down on illegal immigration, is facing senators Friday at a confirmation hearing that is her first chance to lay out her vision for the sprawling Department of Homeland Security. Noem, a two-term governor and former U.S.…
read moreMOSCOW — A Russian court on Friday upheld the jail term of Robert Shonov, a former U.S. Consulate worker sentenced to almost five years for “secret collaboration with a foreign state.” Shonov, a Russian citizen, worked for more than 25 years at the U.S. Consulate in the far eastern city of Vladivostok until 2021, when Moscow…
read moreWASHINGTON — Hours after Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin nailed its first-ever orbital mission, SpaceX seized back the spotlight on Thursday as its latest test of Starship, its gargantuan next-generation mega rocket, ended with the upper stage dramatically disintegrating over the Atlantic. In terms of sheer excitement, Elon Musk’s company didn’t disappoint, underscoring its technical prowess by…
read moreSasha Selipanov, a well-known car designer, was born in the Soviet Union but at 17 moved to the U.S. In California, he mastered the skill of designing high-end cars, creating vehicles for Lamborghini and Bugatti among others. He showed VOA Russian the concept of his first hypercar, which he is building in Los Angeles. Click…
read moreFirefighters from all over the United States are currently in Los Angeles fighting deadly wildfires. Backup from Canada and Mexico arrived this week as well. VOA’s Fernando Mejía spent some time with a team of Mexican firefighters. Veronica Villafañe narrates this report. Camera: Fernando Mejía …
read moreSlovenian model turned US first lady Melania Trump is headed back to the White House after a bittersweet experience in the limelight after her husband, President-elect Donald Trump, first took office in 2016. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias gives us a look at her life and voter expectations for her second term. Camera: Veronica Balderas Iglesias…
read moreWith a pending law declaring the social media application TikTok illegal in the United States, set to take effect on Sunday, the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is signaling that it plans to try to find a way to prevent the service from going offline. Under current law, the service’s parent company, China-based…
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