Indonesia aims to build cutting-edge spaceport but faces obstacles

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Jakarta, Indonesia — Indonesia aims to launch 19 satellites into low-Earth orbit next year, part of an ambitious plan to move the country into the forefront of the world’s growing space industry and reduce its reliance on other countries for its satellite data. The broader program, known as the 2045 space map, is set to begin next year. Officials hope to boost Indonesia’s economy and drive foreign direct investment by leveraging its unique geography as a near-equatorial, fuel-efficient launch point for space travel and research. While the satellite launches would support key economic sectors such as agriculture and mining with remote-sensingmore

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Famous US presidential debate moments

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Public debates between presidential candidates have become a mainstay of American elections, though this wasn’t always the case. Sometimes amusing and sometimes shocking, presidential debates have been full of key moments shaping the way the public perceives the candidates and the issues. …

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Ahead of Thursday presidential debate, a look back to 2020

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The first debate of the 2024 U.S. presidential election takes place on Thursday. But it isn’t the candidates’ first time debated each other. VOA’s senior Washington correspondent, Carolyn Presutti, looks back to 2020 for some clues about what we will see and hear in the debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. …

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Once a rallying cry, ‘radical Islamic terrorism’ fades from Trump rhetoric

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Washington — In 2016, Donald Trump’s presidential campaign echoed with a frequent vow to crush “radical Islamic terrorism.”  Fast forward to today, as he seeks a second chance in the White House, Trump rarely mentions the phrase, his erstwhile rhetoric about Islamist terrorism eclipsed by a focus on immigration, crime and other domestic issues.   The shift came into sharp relief on Sunday when a coordinated terrorist assault on a police station, churches and synagogues in southern Russia left at least 20 people dead. What might once have prompted a flurry of tweets went unmentioned on Trump’s Truth Social platform.   Why themore

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Unpacking US campaign spending

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Elections in the United States are some of the most expensive in the world. In 2020, more than $16 billion was spent on U.S. presidential and congressional races. 2024 election costs are likely to be higher. How do campaigns help finance these elections? Fundraising. …

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How the presidential candidates see top foreign policy issues 

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washington — An aggressive Russia, an emboldened China, a tempestuous Middle East and the fragile global relationships needed to confront these challenges are major foreign policy issues neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump can dodge if either wins November’s election. As the two men hold their first presidential debate on Thursday, they’ll likely use their talking points to paint a picture of the role they want the United States to occupy on the world stage. The difference couldn’t be starker, said Jeremi Suri, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin. “Biden’s approach is a combination of liberal internationalismmore

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How Biden, Trump differ over Ukraine policy

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U.S. presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump meet Thursday for the first of their two scheduled debates. Russia’s war on Ukraine is expected to be one of the top foreign policy questions. VOA’s Tatiana Vorozhko looks at how the two candidates differ in their approach to Ukraine. …

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Chinese hackers have stepped up attacks on Taiwanese organizations, cybersecurity firm says

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Hong Kong — A suspected Chinese state-sponsored hacking group has stepped up its targeting of Taiwanese organizations, particularly those in sectors such as government, education, technology and diplomacy, according to cybersecurity intelligence company Recorded Future.  In recent years, relations between China and Taiwan, a self-governed island across the Taiwan Strait that Beijing claims as its territory, have deteriorated. The cyberattacks by the group known as RedJulliett were observed between November 2023 and April 2024, during the lead up to Taiwan’s presidential elections in January and the subsequent change in administration.  RedJuliett has targeted Taiwanese organizations in the past, but this ismore

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Apple’s App Store rules breach EU tech rules, EU regulators say

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AMSTERDAM — Apple’s App Store rules breach EU tech rules because they prevent app developers from steering consumers to alternative offers, EU antitrust regulators said on Monday, a charge that could result in a hefty fine for the iPhone maker. The European Commission, which also acts as the European Union’s antitrust and technology regulator, said it had sent its preliminary findings to Apple following an investigation launched in March. The charge against Apple is the first by the Commission under its landmark Digital Markets Act which seeks to rein in the power of Big Tech and ensure a level playing fieldmore

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Germany assures China that doors still open to discuss EU surcharges

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Shanghai, China — The German vice-chancellor assured China on Saturday that the “doors” remained “open” to discuss EU surcharges on Chinese electric vehicles, without reassuring Beijing which promised to “firmly defend” its manufacturers. Also, the Minister of Economy and Climate, Robert Habeck is making a visit that seems like a last chance to avoid a trade war between the Old Continent and the second world power, an important economic partner of Germany. A task further complicated by the political context, the German leader reproached China on Saturday for its economic support for Russia against a backdrop of the invasion of Ukraine,more

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Trump backs Ten Commandments in all schools, urges Christians to vote 

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washington — Donald Trump told a group of evangelicals they “cannot afford to sit on the sidelines” of the 2024 election, imploring them at one point to “go and vote, Christians, please!”  Trump also endorsed displaying the Ten Commandments in schools and elsewhere while speaking to a group of politically influential evangelical Christians in Washington on Saturday. He drew cheers as he invoked a new law signed in Louisiana this week requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom.  “Has anyone read the ‘Thou shalt not steal’? I mean, has anybody read this incredible stuff? It’s justmore

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Gaza war divides Democrats in New York primary

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How a U.S. congressional district north of New York City votes in the June 25 primary race could reveal how much the war in Gaza is on the minds of Americans. The outcome could inform Democrats trying to regain control of the House of Representatives in November. Veronica Balderas Iglesias explains. …

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China, France launch satellite to better understand universe

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Xichang, China — A French-Chinese satellite blasted off Saturday on a hunt for the mightiest explosions in the universe, in a notable example of cooperation between a Western power and the Asian giant. Developed by engineers from both countries, the Space Variable Objects Monitor, or SVOM, will seek out gamma-ray bursts, the light from which has traveled billions of light years to reach Earth. The 930-kilogram (2,050-pound) satellite carrying four instruments — two French, two Chinese — took off around 3 p.m. aboard a Chinese Long March 2-C rocket from a space base in Xichang, in the southwestern province of Sichuan,more

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Trump departs from anti-immigrant rhetoric with green card proposal

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Miami, florida — Former President Donald Trump said in an interview posted Thursday he wants to give automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges, a sharp departure from the anti-immigrant rhetoric he typically uses on the campaign trail. Trump was asked about plans for companies to be able to import the “best and brightest” in a podcast taped Wednesday with venture capitalists and tech investors called the “All-In.” “What I want to do, and what I will do is, you graduate from a college, I think you should get automatically as part of your diploma a greenmore

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US bans Russia’s Kaspersky antivirus software

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Washington — U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration on Thursday banned Russia-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky from providing its popular antivirus products in the United States over national security concerns, the U.S. Commerce Department said. “Kaspersky will generally no longer be able to, among other activities, sell its software within the United States or provide updates to software already in use,” the agency said in a statement. The announcement came after a lengthy investigation found Kaspersky’s “continued operations in the United States presented a national security risk due to the Russian Government’s offensive cyber capabilities and capacity to influence or direct Kaspersky’s operations,”more

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