USA

CAMP VERDE, Ariz. — U.S. forest managers have finalized a land exchange with the Yavapai-Apache Nation that has been decades in the making and will significantly expand the size of the tribe’s reservation in Arizona’s Verde Valley, tribal leaders announced Tuesday. As part of the arrangement, six parcels of private land acquired over the years by the tribe will be traded to the U.S. Forest Service …

The two candidates for U.S. president are making what they call their “closing arguments” to voters in this final week before the election. VOA’s Senior Washington Correspondent Carolyn Presutti brings us the sights and sounds from two rallies. …

DES MOINES, Iowa — For the first time since 1938, children in Des Moines, Iowa, will go trick-or-treating on Halloween. Going door-to-door for candy on All Hallows’ Eve has long been commonplace throughout the country. But not in Des Moines, where Iowa’s capital city took a different approach more than seven decades ago in hopes of tamping down on hooliganism. Instead, Des Moines children don their …

The Treasury Department on Monday finalized a new rule meant to prevent U.S.-based people and companies from investing in the development of a range of advanced technologies in China, thereby preventing Beijing from accessing cutting-edge expertise and equipment. The rule, which implements an executive order signed by President Joe Biden in 2023, focuses particularly on advanced semiconductors and microelectronics and the equipment used to make …

LOS ANGELES — Teri Garr, the quirky comedy actor who rose from background dancer in Elvis Presley movies to co-star of such favorites as Young Frankenstein and Tootsie, has died. She was 79.  Garr died Tuesday of multiple sclerosis “surrounded by family and friends,” publicist Heidi Schaeffer said. Garr battled other health problems in recent years and underwent an operation in January 2007 to repair an …

Washington — Resisting pressure from Beijing to publicly reject independence for Taiwan, the Biden administration underscores there is no change in its “one China” policy which takes no stand on the issue. “We do not support Taiwan independence. We expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion,” a senior administration official told VOA Tuesday, underscoring long-standing U.S. policy on the thorny issue. …

DANBURY, Conn. — Longtime Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon was released from prison early Tuesday, after serving a four-month sentence for defying a subpoena in the congressional investigation into the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021. Bannon left the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, according to Kristie Breshears, a spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Prisons. He planned to hold a news conference later …

London — Adidas has reached an out-of-court settlement with rapper Ye to end all legal proceedings between them, the sportswear brand said on Tuesday, adding that no money changed hands in the agreement. Adidas and Ye had been embroiled in multiple lawsuits for the past two years, since the German company ended a partnership with the rapper previously known as Kanye West over antisemitic comments he …

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed sweeping tariffs if elected for a second term: a 20% universal tax and 60% tax on goods from China. He argues that the policy will help create jobs, shrink the national debt and boost government revenue for public services, such as child care. Most economists, however, agree that it is ultimately U.S. consumers who will pay more. Economists …

President Joe Biden on Monday urged an end to the grueling Mideast conflict after Israel struck Iran early Saturday in what Washington said was justified retaliation for a strike on Israel earlier this month. Biden also threw his weight behind a new Egyptian proposal for a two-day cease-fire. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington …

Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos on Monday defended the newspaper’s decision not to endorse a U.S. presidential candidate after a report that more than 200,000 people had canceled their digital subscriptions following the move. The decision blocked an endorsement of Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris, the National Public Radio report said, and many people in messages on the newspaper’s website criticized Bezos, the billionaire founder …

state department — Top diplomatic and military officials from the United States and South Korea are set to convene in Washington this Thursday as the two allies closely monitor and express concerns about North Korea’s deployment of about 10,000 troops to Russia. Meanwhile, U.S. officials and analysts say that China could be displeased by Russia’s growing influence over North Korea, and that if Beijing chose, it …

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday hailed the start of the five-day festival of Diwali — the celebration that symbolizes the victory of light over darkness and is marked by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs around the world, especially in India.  Biden began the White House festivities by lighting a small prayer lamp known as a diya. Several hundred guests — including South Asian administration officials, …

Ankara is watching the U.S. elections closely. Analysts say Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stands to benefit from either a Donald Trump or Kamala Harris victory, but both scenarios come with risks for the Turkish leader and his aspirations. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. …

LOS ANGELES — McDonald’s announced Sunday that Quarter Pounders will again be on its menu at hundreds of its restaurants after testing ruled out beef patties as the source of the outbreak of E. coli poisoning tied to the popular burgers that killed one person and sickened at least 75 others across 13 states. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to believe that slivered onions …

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The ads promoting a November ballot measure to legalize sports betting in Missouri tout the potential for millions of new tax dollars devoted to schools. If voters approve the measure, it’s a good bet they will see even more ads offering special promotions for bettors.  Many of those promotional costs — in which sportsbooks provide cash-like credits for customers to place bets …

The good news: You will get a glorious extra hour of sleep. The bad: It’ll be dark as a pocket by late afternoon for the next few months in the U.S.  Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. local time next Sunday, Nov. 3, which means you should set your clock back an hour before you go to bed. Standard time will last until March …

PITTSBURGH — President Joe Biden on Sunday marked the sixth anniversary of a gunman’s deadly attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue and called out what he called an “appalling surge of antisemitism” amid the war in Gaza.  The 2018 attack claimed the lives of 11 worshippers from Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life congregations, which shared space in the synagogue in Squirrel Hill, the heart …

New York — “Venom: The Last Dance” showed less bite than expected at the box office, collecting $51 million in its opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, significantly down from the alien symbiote franchise’s previous entries. Projections for the third “Venom” film from Sony Pictures had been closer to $65 million. More concerning, though, was the drop off from the first two “Venom” films. The …

Since it started as a hashtag in 2012, GivingTuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, has become one of the biggest fundraising days of the year for nonprofits in the U.S. In 2022 and 2023, GivingTuesday raised $3.1 billion for charitable organizations, according to estimates from GivingTuesday. This year, GivingTuesday is on December 3. How did GivingTuesday start? The #GivingTuesday hashtag started as a project of the …

The divide between urban and rural voters is a key indicator in U.S. electoral politics. Cities favoring Democrats and rural areas favoring Republicans isn’t new. But since 2000, the gap has grown dramatically. What is behind this trend, and why is it so important? The answer is partly economic — but there are also complex cultural factors involved. Produced by Yass Monem and Nicky Woolf. …

An explanation of Temporary Protected Status, also known as TPS …

washington — A NASA astronaut who was hospitalized upon return from the International Space Station for an unspecified medical condition was released Saturday in “good health,” the U.S. space agency said.  The four-member Crew-8 mission splashed down off the coast of Florida early Friday after nearly eight months aboard the orbital laboratory.    NASA did not reveal which of the astronauts was hospitalized nor the reason, citing …

united nations — More than 600 million women and girls are now affected by war, a 50% increase from a decade ago, and they fear the world has forgotten them amid an escalating backlash against women’s rights and gender equality, top United Nations officials say.  U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a new report that amid record levels of armed conflict and violence, progress over the …