USA

white house — The White House on Thursday said it was monitoring a complaint by China to the World Trade Organization that accuses the United States of making “unfounded and false allegations” about China’s role in the fentanyl trade to justify tariffs on Chinese products. The complaint was made Wednesday, a day after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods by 10%. The White House …

The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Thursday new sanctions on Iran’s oil industry, targeting an international network that facilitates the shipment of millions of barrels of Iranian oil to China. In a release, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, said the sanctions target Sepehr Energy, a front company through which Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, or AFGS, ships the oil. The …

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan duo in the U.S. House is proposing legislation to ban the Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek from federal devices, similar to the policy already in place for the popular social media platform TikTok. Lawmakers Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat from New Jersey, and Darin LaHood, a Republican from Illinois, on Thursday introduced the “No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act,” which would ban federal …

A food bank in the Southwest United States is tackling hunger and emergency food needs with a flavorful fundraiser that has local chefs competing for the best soup. Gustavo Martinez Contreras has our story from New Mexico. …

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that his relationship with religion had “changed” after a pair of failed assassination attempts last year, as he advocated at the National Prayer Breakfast at the Capitol for Americans to “bring God back into our lives.” Trump joined a Washington tradition of more than 70 years that brings together a bipartisan group of lawmakers for fellowship. He was …

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday. Japanese officials say they want to reaffirm the US-Japan alliance and build strong personal ties between Ishiba and Trump. VOA’s Bill Gallo reports from Seoul, South Korea. Camera: Bill Gallo …

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, MEXICO — A line of Mexican National Guard and Army trucks rumbled along the border separating Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, among the first of 10,000 troops Mexico has sent to its northern frontier following tariff threats by President Donald Trump.  Masked and armed National Guard members picked through brush running along the border barrier on the outskirts of Ciudad Juárez, …

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of State said on Wednesday American government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees. “The government of Panama has agreed to no longer charge fees for U.S. government vessels to transit the Panama Canal,” the department said in a post on X. It said the agreement will save the U.S. government millions of dollars each year. The Panama …

President Donald Trump is reigniting a fierce debate: Should everyone born on U.S. soil automatically become a citizen? This question strikes at the heart of American identity, history and law. Trump signed an executive order last month seeking to end the right, but two federal judges have placed injunctions on the order, pausing it indefinitely. Here’s what you need to know about birthright citizenship. …

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has launched investigations over the past two weeks into three news outlets and reinstated complaints against three others.   Earlier this week, CBS News complied with an FCC request to hand over the raw footage and transcript from an October interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.   The FCC’s request for the material was “unusual,” according to Harold …

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday intended to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. The order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” gives federal agencies wide latitude to ensure entities that receive federal funding abide by Title IX in alignment with the Trump administration’s view, which interprets “sex” as the gender someone was assigned at birth. …

PENTAGON — The first undocumented migrants — described by U.S. officials as the “the worst of the worst” — are being held in jail cells at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, waiting to be sent home.  The Pentagon Wednesday confirmed 10 “high-threat illegal aliens” arrived Tuesday at the detention facility, where they are being held under the watch of officers with U.S. Immigration …

U.S. President Donald Trump’s idea for the United States to take over the Gaza Strip has shocked Israelis and Palestinians. While some Israelis welcome the idea, Palestinians categorically reject it. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem. …

New Delhi — A U.S. deportation flight carrying Indian nationals accused of entering the U.S. illegally landed in the northern state of Punjab Wednesday – the first such flight to India since the Trump administration launched a crackdown on illegal immigrants. The military aircraft, which landed amid tight security, brought 104 deportees, according to media reports. Authorities did not confirm the number, but said the deportees …

After the recent discovery of a clandestine tunnel connecting the US and Mexican cities of El Paso and Juarez, Mexican authorities have launched an operation to uncover other illegal underground passages. Veronica Villafañe narrates this report by Cesar Contreras. …

Retired Lt. Col. Harry Stewart Jr, a decorated World War II pilot who broke racial barriers as a Tuskegee Airmen and earned honors for his combat heroism, has died. He was 100. Stewart was one of the last surviving combat pilots of the famed 332nd Fighter Group also known as the Tuskegee Airmen. They were the nation’s first Black military pilots. The Tuskegee Airmen National …

U.S. President Donald Trump said he wants the U.S. to take ownership of Gaza, moving beyond his earlier statements of forcing Gazans to relocate to neighboring Jordan and Egypt. Trump made the stunning announcement Tuesday evening, as he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report. …

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said he wants the United States to take ownership of Gaza, moving beyond his earlier statements of forcing Palestinians in the war-torn enclave to relocate to neighboring Jordan and Egypt. “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,” he said during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu …

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday stopped U.S. engagement with the U.N. Human Rights Council, extended a halt to funding for the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA and ordered a review of the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO. “It’s got great potential and based on the potential we’ll continue to go along with it, but they got to get their act together,” Trump told reporters. “It’s …

Congressional Democratic leadership warned President Donald Trump on Tuesday that they would use upcoming government funding talks as leverage to fight the administration’s changes in U.S. government agencies. Democrats’ warnings come as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, moved the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the control of the U.S. State Department earlier this week. The administration has said …

WASHINGTON — Former Democratic congresswoman turned President Donald Trump supporter Tulsi Gabbard is one step closer to leading the U.S. intelligence community following a party-line vote in the Senate Intelligence Committee.   All nine Republicans on the committee voted late Tuesday to send Gabbard’s nomination to serve as director of national intelligence for a vote before the full Senate.  The committee’s eight Democrats voted against Gabbard’s …

MAYVILLE, NEW YORK — In 2022, Salman Rushdie was about to deliver a lecture before a live audience in western New York when a man ran toward him and plunged a knife into the author’s hand as he raised it in self-defense. “After that there are many blows, to my neck, to my chest, to my eye, everywhere,” Rushdie recalled in a memoir that followed. “I …

Washington — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the controversial environmental lawyer turned public health critic, cleared his first hurdle on Tuesday to become the nation’s top health official when the senate finance committee voted to advance his nomination for a floor vote.  Republicans voted together to advance his nomination, while Democrats all opposed.  His nomination now will face a full senate vote, despite concerns about the work …

ISLAMABAD  — The Taliban have warned that the military weapons left behind by the United States in Afghanistan now belong to them as “spoils of war” and will be utilized to defend against any attempts to reclaim them.    The statement marks the first official response from the internationally unrecognized government in Kabul to President Donald Trump’s pledge on the eve of his Jan. 20 inauguration …