Much of Washington is ready to party like it’s 2019, before the coronavirus, when the biggest risk at the annual White House press corps gala was more likely to be jokes that ruffled too many political feathers. After the pandemic nixed the event in 2020 and 2021, the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner returns Saturday night, with Joe Biden as the first sitting president to …
‘A Huge Demand’: Ukrainian Women Train to Clear Landmines
Learning to identify and defuse explosives is something Anastasiia Minchukova never thought she would have to do as an English teacher in Ukraine. Yet there she was wearing a face shield, armed with a landmine detector and venturing into a field dotted with danger warnings. Russia’s war in Ukraine took Minchukova, 20, and five other women to Kosovo, where they are attending a hands-on course …
Despite Payment, Investors Brace for Russia to Default
Prices for Russian credit default swaps — insurance contracts that protect an investor against a default — plunged sharply overnight after Moscow used its precious foreign currency reserves to make a last-minute debt payment Friday. The cost for a five-year credit default swap on Russian debt was $5.84 million to protect $10 million in debt. That price was nearly half the one on Thursday, which …
Satellites Detect California Cow Burps, a Major Methane Source, From Space
Satellites have detected methane emissions from belching cows at a California feedlot, marking the first time emissions from livestock – a major component of agricultural methane – could be measured from space. Environmental data firm GHGSat this month analyzed data from its satellites and pinpointed the methane source from a feedlot in the agricultural Joaquin Valley near Bakersfield, California in February. This is significant, according …
White House Correspondents Dinner Returns, With Biden Headlining
U.S. President Joe Biden will resume a Washington tradition by speaking at the White House Correspondents Association dinner on Saturday night, the first president to speak at the annual event since 2016. After being canceled for two years due to COVID-19 pandemic and boycotted by Donald Trump during his presidency, the event returns with gusto this year, featuring remarks by comedian Trevor Noah. More than …
In Scandinavia, Wooden Buildings Reach New Heights
A sandy-colored tower glints in the sunlight and dominates the skyline of the Swedish town of Skelleftea as Scandinavia harnesses its wood resources to lead a global trend towards erecting eco-friendly high-rises. The Sara Cultural Center is one of the world’s tallest timber buildings, made primarily from spruce and towering 75 meters over rows of snow-dusted houses and surrounding forest. The 20-story timber structure, which …
Man Sentenced for Shooting Vegas Officer Amid 2020 Protest
A 21-year-old man who shot and paralyzed a Las Vegas police officer during a racial justice protest on the Las Vegas Strip in June 2020 was sentenced Friday to 20-50 years in state prison. The officer, Shay Mikalonis, was 29 when he was shot and now breathes with the help of a ventilator. He and his family were in the courtroom while Edgar Samaniego read …
Surge in Gun Ownership Among Minorities in US
More members of minority groups in the United States are buying guns as the fear of violence and crime increases. VOA’s Aunshuman Apte in New York spoke with some minority gun owners to learn more about why they bought their weapons. …
Biden, Mexican President Warn of ‘Unprecedented’ Migration Flow
U.S. President Joe Biden and his Mexican counterpart, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, warned of “unprecedented” pressure from migration in a call Friday that highlighted a major political headache for the White House ahead of November elections. “In view of the unprecedented flows of migrants from throughout the hemisphere to our two countries, the presidents reiterated the need to build stronger tools for managing regional migration …
Largest US Wildfire Rages Out of Control in New Mexico
Firefighters in New Mexico failed Friday to pin back the flames of the United States’ largest wildfire, which is burning perilously close to a string of mountain villages. The blaze is the most destructive of dozens in the U.S. Southwest that are more widespread and burning earlier than normal in the year due to climate change, scientists say. Thousands of people in the Mora valley, …
Zelenskyy’s Invite to G20 Not Enough for Biden
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who holds this year’s G-20 presidency, has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the group’s summit in Bali later this year, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans to attend. However, Zelenskyy’s invitation may not be enough to secure the attendance of U.S. and other Western leaders keen on isolating Moscow. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report. …
Trump, Fighting Contempt Fines, Says He Doesn’t Have Records
Donald Trump’s lawyers, seeking to reverse their client’s $10,000-per-day contempt fine, provided a New York judge Friday with an affidavit in which the former president says he didn’t turn over subpoenaed documents to the state attorney general’s office because he doesn’t have them. The judge, though, was unmoved and refused to lift sanctions he imposed on Trump on Monday. Judge Arthur Engoron criticized the lack …
Chilling Calls, Legal Action as Russia Seeks to Silence Dissent
First came a court summons alleging Mikhail Samin had discredited the Russian army. Then came the threatening calls. Samin, a 22-year-old from Moscow who has been posting commentary about the war in Ukraine on social media, shared details of those chilling calls with VOA. In one expletive-laden call, a man warned that Samin had 24 hours to delete his posts, saying that only then, “you …
Islamic State ‘Beatle’ Sentenced to Life for Murdering US Hostages
A U.S. judge on Friday imposed a lifetime prison sentence on a member of an Islamic State militant group nicknamed “The Beatles” that beheaded American hostages, at a hearing where one victim’s mother told the defendant, “I will not hate you.” U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis in Alexandria, Virginia, held an emotionally charged sentencing hearing for London-born Alexanda Kotey, 38, who pleaded guilty to murdering …
Amazon Stock Falls After Company Reports First Quarterly Loss in 7 Years
Amazon share prices fell 11% Friday after the massive online retailer posted its first quarterly loss in seven years. Amazon lost $3.84 billion during the first quarter of this year after recording a profit of $8.11 billion in the same period last year. Revenue growth for the quarter was the slowest ever for the company, rising 7.3%. The company blamed investments in warehouses and more …
Media Watchdog RSF Puts French News Sites Back Online in Mali
Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has put the websites of two major French broadcasters back online in Mali, after the country’s military government pulled the broadcasters off the air in March and officially banned them from the Malian airwaves this week. RSF put the sites back online Thursday, creating mirrors of the sites that can be accessed in Mali and are updated in …
What Is the US-Launched ‘Uniting for Ukraine’ Program?
U.S. President Joe Biden recently announced the Uniting for Ukraine program, which aims to streamline the process for Ukrainians who have fled their country and are seeking safety in the United States. The new program, which took effect Monday, will complement existing legal pathways available to those fleeing Russian aggression due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, Biden administration officials said. “The U.S. Department of Homeland …
Relatives: Former US Marine Killed Fighting in Ukraine
A former U.S. Marine was killed fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in the war with Russia, his relatives told news outlets in what’s the first known death of a U.S. citizen fighting in Ukraine. Rebecca Cabrera told CNN her son, Willy Joseph Cancel, 22, was killed Monday while working for a military contracting company that sent him to Ukraine. Cabrera said her son was working as …
Russia Makes Last-Gasp Dollar Bond Payments in Bid to Avoid Default
Russia made what appeared to be a late u-turn to avoid a default on Friday, as it made a number of already-overdue international debt payments in dollars despite previously vowing they would only be paid in rubles. Whether the money would make it to the United States and other Western countries that sanctioned Russia was still not clear, but it represented another major twist in …
New Gas Pipeline Boosts Europe’s Bid to Ease Russian Supply
Mountainous and remote, the Greek-Bulgaria border once formed the southern corner of the Iron Curtain. Today, it’s where the European Union is redrawing the region’s energy map to ease its heavy reliance on Russian natural gas. A new pipeline — built during the COVID-19 pandemic, tested and due to start commercial operation in June — would ensure that large volumes of gas flow between the …