USA

Tens of thousands of students in the Southeast are dealing with school disruptions after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc so severe — on homes, campuses and municipal power and water systems — that some districts have no idea when they will reopen. While virtual learning helped during the COVID-19 school closures, that has not been an option for this crisis because internet and cellphone service has …

NEW YORK — Cher, Mary J. Blige and Ozzy Osbourne were among this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, an elite group formally introduced into the music pantheon Saturday at a star-studded concert gala. Kool & the Gang, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, A Tribe Called Quest, and Peter Frampton round out the 2024 class of honorees, artists honored at the ceremony held in Cleveland, …

SAVANNAH, Georgia — At least seven people were killed Saturday after part of a ferry dock collapsed on Georgia’s Sapelo Island, authorities said. Multiple people were taken to hospitals, and crews from the U.S. Coast Guard, the McIntosh County Fire Department, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and others were searching the water, according to spokesperson Tyler Jones of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which …

Some 200,000 mail carriers have reached a tentative contract deal with the U.S. Postal Service that includes backdated pay raises and a promise to provide workers with air-conditioned trucks.  The new agreement, which still needs to be ratified by union members, runs through November 2026. Letter deliverers have been working without a contract since May 2023.  Both the union and the Postal Service welcomed the …

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA — On a desolate slab of island tundra in western Alaska, a resident of Adak will again become the last American to cast an in-person ballot for president, continuing a 12-year tradition for the nation’s westernmost community. The honor of having the last voter in the nation fell to Adak when they did away with absentee-only voting for the 2012 election and added in-person …

WASHINGTON — Over the past four years, judges at Washington’s federal courthouse have punished hundreds of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in an unprecedented assault on the nation’s democracy. On the cusp of the next presidential election, some of those judges fear another burst of political violence could be coming. Before recently sentencing a rioter to prison, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he prays …

BANGKOK — Southeast Asia is bearing the mounting brunt of U.S. trade curbs aimed at stemming the forced labor of ethnic minority Uyghurs in China, with billions of dollars in blocked exports, the latest U.S. trade figures show. Economists and human rights experts ascribe the heavy hit the region is taking to global supply chains shifting to reroute exports from China through Southeast Asia and to …

BRADENTON BEACH, Florida — When a hurricane sets its sights on Florida, storm-weary residents may think of catastrophic wind, hammering rain and dangerous storm surge. Mounds of sand swallowing their homes? Not so much. That’s the reality for some after Hurricanes Helene and Milton clobbered Florida’s Gulf Coast with back-to-back hits in less than two weeks. Storm surge as high as 3 meters swept mountains of …

Asheville, north carolina — A rare copy of the U.S. Constitution printed 237 years ago and sent to the states to be ratified has been sold for $9 million at an auction in North Carolina.  Brunk Auctions sold the document, the only copy of its type thought to be privately owned, at the private auction Thursday. The name of the buyer was not immediately released.  Bidding …

WASHINGTON — China-based DJI sued the U.S. Defense Department on Friday for adding the drone maker to a list of companies allegedly working with Beijing’s military, saying the designation is wrong and has caused the company significant financial harm. DJI, the world’s largest drone manufacturer that sells more than half of all U.S. commercial drones, asked a U.S. District Judge in Washington to order its removal …

washington — A group of Republican lawmakers is demanding a federal investigation into the U.S. consulting firm McKinsey over its work with the Chinese government and state-owned enterprises, even as the company reportedly is revamping its China business to reduce risks.  A letter — signed by Representative John Moolenaar of Michigan, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa — asks the Justice …

A union representing striking machinists at Boeing said Friday that it was “actively engaged in indirect discussions” with the plane maker that were being facilitated by Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su. “We are fully committed to these talks. It is our responsibility to attempt to reach a resolution,” the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 751 said in a social media post. …

WASHINGTON — As the United States prepares for a presidential election next month, the idyllic New York suburb of Teaneck, New Jersey, is gearing up for elections that reflect a broader trend in U.S. politics. Two Muslim women are running for local office in Teaneck, a town of 41,000 residents with a significant Muslim population. They are among hundreds of Muslim candidates in local, state and …

A Canadian surveillance plane over the East China Sea — Over the blue waters of the East China Sea, a Canadian air force patrol crew scans the horizon, searching for vessels suspected of making illicit transfers of oil to North Korea. The 20-member crew aboard the Aurora CP-140 is on the front line of a U.S.-led multinational effort to enforce United Nations sanctions that cap North …

HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS — The Texas Supreme Court halted Thursday night’s scheduled execution of a man who would have become the first person in the United States put to death for a murder conviction tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. The late-night ruling to spare for now the life of Robert Roberson, who was convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter in 2002, capped a flurry …

The Biden administration is shelling out billions of dollars for clean energy and approving major offshore wind projects as officials race to secure major climate initiatives before President Joe Biden’s term comes to an end. Biden wants to establish a legacy for climate action that includes locking in a trajectory for reducing the nation’s planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Former President Donald Trump has pledged to …

berlin — U.S. President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will discuss increased reports of antisemitic acts in both countries over the last year as war has raged in the Middle East when they meet Friday in Berlin, a Biden administration official told reporters on the eve of Biden’s state visit to Germany. “This is an area where the United States and Germany have worked …

An independent panel formed to investigate the performance of the Secret Service after an assassination attempt in July against former President Donald Trump has called for extensive changes to the agency, including the installation of new leadership from the outside. In a report issued Thursday morning, the panel praised the bravery of the individual agents who work to protect political figures in the United States. …

Becoming a U.S. citizen is an important moment for many immigrants, giving them a voice in the nation’s democratic process. In Tucson, Arizona, a city just an hour’s drive from the border with Mexico, community leaders are working to help others achieve this step. VOA’s immigration reporter Aline Barros has more. Camera – Henry Hernandez. …

ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA — Early in-person voting began statewide Thursday in the presidential battleground of North Carolina, including in mountainous areas where thousands of potential voters still lack power and clean running water after Hurricane Helene’s epic flooding. More than 400 locations in all 100 counties were slated to open for the 17-day early vote period, said State Board of Elections Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell. …

LOS ANGELES — The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $880 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse dating back decades, in what an attorney said was the largest single child sex abuse settlement with a Catholic archdiocese, it was announced Wednesday. After the announcement of the agreement in principle, Archbishop José H. Gomez said in a statement, “I am sorry for every one …

U.S. forces carried out airstrikes Wednesday against Houthi militant weapons storage sites in Yemen, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. The strikes, conducted by B-2 bombers, targeted weapons the Houthis have used in a yearlong campaign of attacks against ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that have disrupted major sea shipping routes. “This was a unique demonstration of the United States’ …

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Wednesday to put on hold a new federal rule targeting carbon pollution from coal- and gas-fired power plants at the request of numerous states and industry groups in another major challenge to President Joe Biden’s efforts to combat climate change. The justices denied emergency requests by West Virginia, Indiana and 25 other states — most of them Republican led …

Washington — President Joe Biden is heading to Germany Thursday and will visit Angola the first week in December, rescheduling visits that were postponed so he could remain in Washington to monitor the federal response to Hurricane Milton as it struck Florida.  The White House confirmed Biden will depart for his quick trip to Berlin on Thursday. It will offer him the opportunity to huddle with …