USA

New U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods went into effect Tuesday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump backed off plans to impose tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods. The new 10% duty that Trump announced Saturday is a first step in pressuring China, the president said Monday. China has said it would take countermeasures in response to the tariff, including action at the World Trade …

STATE DEPARTMENT — The United States and El Salvador have reached what U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called “the most unprecedented and extraordinary” deal to further curb illegal immigration. After about three hours of meetings with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele at his residence in Lake Coatepeque, San Salvador, Rubio said that Bukele has offered to house dangerous American criminals in Salvadoran jails, including U.S. citizens …

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which manages tens of billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. foreign aid programs, was essentially closed down on Monday, with employees locked out of their offices and computer systems. Several senior figures in the agency were placed on leave as the Trump administration took steps to fold its functions into the Department of State.  Speaking to reporters in …

WASHINGTON — A judge in the nation’s capital kept a temporary block on a Trump administration plan for a freeze on federal funding Monday after some nonprofit groups said they’re still struggling to get promised grants and loans. U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan extended an order she issued last week that paused a sweeping plan to freeze potentially trillions in federal spending. While the memo …

U.S. stock markets fell sharply in early trading Monday but pared their losses after President Donald Trump paused a planned 25% tariff on Mexican imports. The three major U.S. stock indices — the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue chip stocks, the broader S&P 500 and the tech-heavy NASDAQ — all dropped nearly 2% or more on fears that Trump’s new tariffs targeting Canada, …

Washington — U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday ordering the U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments to create a sovereign wealth fund and said it may purchase TikTok.  “We’re going to stand this thing up within the next 12 months. We’re going to monetize the asset side of the U.S. balance sheet for the American people,” he told reporters. “There’ll be a combination …

State Department — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said cooperation with Panama has sent “a clear message” the U.S. will act to curb illegal immigration, as he observed a U.S.-funded deportation flight departing from Albrook International Airport in Panama on Monday morning. The flight returned dozens of undocumented Colombians to their home country. According to a Colombian official, 32 men and 11 women were repatriated, …

U.S. President Donald Trump said he spoke Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a day before the start of new tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China. Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he and Trudeau would talk again at mid-afternoon, while pushing his argument that the new tariff was aimed at forcing Canada to do more to curb the flow …

London — World Health Organization member states will discuss cutting part of its budget by $400 million in light of President Trump’s move to withdraw the United States, its biggest government funder, from the agency, a document released on Monday showed. Opening the agency’s annual executive board meeting, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also defended the agency’s work and recent reforms and reiterated a call …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet Monday with U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff during a visit to Washington focused on Israel’s ceasefire with Hamas and other regional issues. Netanyahu’s office said he and Witkoff would discuss Israel’s ceasefire positions. The talks come as negotiations are expected to open this week on the second phase of the ceasefire, with the two sides …

U.S. President Donald Trump said he planned to speak Monday with the leaders of Canada and Mexico, days after announcing tariffs on goods from those countries and China that have were met with pledges of retaliatory tariffs and other actions. The new tariffs affect the top three U.S. trading partners, but Trump said the move would be “worth the price” to bolster U.S. interests. Despite …

Washington — FBI employees were ordered Sunday to answer a detailed list of questions about any work they may have done on criminal cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, stoking fear among staff about a fresh round of firings at the law enforcement agency. “I know myself and others receiving this questionnaire have a …

Los Angeles — Former President Jimmy Carter has won a posthumous Grammy award.  Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, died in December at age 100. Prior to his passing, Carter was nominated in the audio book, narration, and storytelling recording category at the 2025 Grammys for “Last Sundays in Plains: A Centennial Celebration,” recordings …

Washington — The Trump administration has placed two top security chiefs at the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave after they refused to turn over classified material in restricted areas to Elon Musk’s government-inspection teams, a current and a former U.S. official told The Associated Press on Sunday.  Members of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, eventually did gain access Saturday to the …

The Trump administration continued making its case Sunday on the need for tariffs on imports from Canada, China and Mexico. The three countries have threatened retaliatory measures, but say they are still open to dialogue and cooperation with the United States. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias has the story. …

Taipei, Taiwan — U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 10% tariffs on Chinese goods has been met with mixed reactions from Beijing, with the Chinese government threatening to roll out countermeasures and some Chinese businesses expressing concerns about potential disruption to their exports to the U.S. market. While the Chinese Ministry of Commerce vowed to challenge the Trump administration’s move at the World Trade Organization, …

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. — U.S. groundhog Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow Sunday and predicted six more weeks of wintry weather, his top-hatted handlers announced to a raucous, record-sized crowd at Gobbler’s Knob in Pennsylvania. Phil was welcomed with chants of “Phil, Phil, Phil,” and pulled from a hatch on his tree stump shortly after sunrise before a member of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club read from a scroll …

LOS ANGELES — Anthony Obi never imagined the night of Jan. 7 would be the last time he’d step inside his safe haven.  The Houston rapper, known professionally as Fat Tony, has lived in the Altadena neighborhood for a year and says he and his neighbors were prepared for heavy winds and perhaps a few days of power outages.  “I totally expected, you know, maybe my …

WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department said Saturday that the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) — the world’s leading HIV initiative — was covered by a waiver for life-saving humanitarian assistance during a 90-day pause in foreign aid. Just hours after taking office on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump ordered the pause so foreign aid contributions could be reviewed to see if they align …

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to travel to Washington to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, Hamas frees three more Israeli hostages — including a dual U.S. citizen — and Israel frees dozens of Palestinian prisoners. The next phase of the Gaza ceasefire is expected to be on the agenda when the leaders meet on Tuesday. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem. …

WASHINGTON — U.S. warplanes took aim at the Islamic State affiliate in Somalia, hitting what officials described as high-ranking operatives in the terror group’s mountainous stronghold. U.S. President Donald Trump announced the precision strike Saturday on social media, describing the main target as a “Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led.” “These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United …

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, in an unprecedented move, announced late Friday it would remove four media organizations including The New York Times from their dedicated office spaces in the Pentagon, citing a desire to make room for others.  The memo on a “New Annual Media Rotation Program” said it would also remove National Public Radio, NBC News and Politico, which must vacate their …

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Venezuela has agreed to receive all Venezuelan undocumented migrants captured in the United States and pay for their transport. “Venezuela has agreed to receive, back into their country, all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the U.S., including gang members of Tren de Aragua,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. He said Venezuela …

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Friday fired a group of prosecutors involved in the Jan. 6 criminal cases and demanded the names of FBI agents involved in those same probes so they can possibly be ousted, moves that reflect a White House determination to exert control over federal law enforcement and purge agencies of career employees seen as insufficiently loyal. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil …