Somali American member of Congress Ilhan Omar faces repeat primary challenge

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Minneapolis, Minnesota — Democratic U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, one of the progressive House members known as the “Squad” and a sharp critic of how Israel has conducted the war in Gaza, is trying to avoid the fate of two of her closest allies when Minnesota holds its primary elections Tuesday. Omar is defending her Minneapolis-area 5th District seat against a repeat challenge from former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels, a more centrist liberal whom she only narrowly defeated in the 2022 primary. In the main statewide race on the ballot, conservative populist and former NBA player Royce White is facingmore

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Elon Musk interview of Trump marred by technical issues

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WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s interview with billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk finally got underway on Musk’s social media platform X on Monday evening, following a lengthy delay caused by technical problems that kept many users from accessing the live stream. Musk, who has endorsed Trump, began the event at 8:42 p.m., more than 40 minutes after the scheduled start time. He blamed the difficulties on a distributed denial-of-service attack, in which a server or network is flooded with traffic in an attempt to shut it down, though his claim was not confirmed. More than 1.3 million people were listeningmore

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Judge rules RFK Jr. not a state resident, can’t be on New York ballot

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ALBANY, N.Y. — A judge ruled Monday that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name should not appear on New York’s ballot, saying that he falsely claimed a New York residence on nominating petitions despite living in California. Kennedy’s lawyers quickly vowed to appeal ahead of the Aug. 15 deadline. If the judge’s ruling is upheld, it would not only keep Kennedy off the ballot in New York but could also lead to challenges in other states where he used an address in New York City’s suburbs to gather signatures. The ruling came after a North Carolina judge decided earliermore

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FBI investigating after Trump campaign says it was hacked by Iran

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. FBI said on Monday it was investigating after Donald Trump’s presidential campaign said its internal communications were hacked and the campaign blamed the Iranian government. The former president said on Saturday that Microsoft had informed his campaign that Iran had hacked one of its websites. Trump said Iran was “only able to get publicly available information.” The FBI is also investigating an alleged hack targeting advisers to the campaign of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, The Washington Post reported on Monday. The FBI began the investigation in June, when Biden was still running formore

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Elon Musk to interview Trump on X social media network

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washington — Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is due to interview Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on the X social media network on Monday in an event that could inject more surprises into the turbulent U.S. presidential election. The interview, scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern Time (0000 Tuesday GMT), could provide the former president an opportunity to seize the limelight at a time when his campaign is seen as sagging. His Democratic rival for the Nov. 5 election, Vice President Kamala Harris, has erased Trump’s lead in opinion polls and energized Democratic voters with a series of high-energy rallies. The interview onmore

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Harris is pushing joy. Trump paints a darker picture. Will moods matter?

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WASHINGTON — At the top of his first speech as her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz turned to Vice President Kamala Harris and declared, “Thank you for bringing back the joy.” The next day, Harris took the theme a step further, branding the Democratic ticket “joyful warriors.” Contrast that with former President Donald Trump, who opened a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida a few days later by saying, “We have a lot of bad things coming up,” and predicting the U.S. could fall into an economic depression unseen since the dark days of 1929 or even anothermore

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Trump campaign deals with hack; Harris pledges to eliminate tip taxes

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Former President Donald Trump announced that one of his campaign websites was hacked. While details are still coming in, Trump’s VP pick JD Vance granted several news interviews Sunday in which he attacked the Democratic presidential ticket. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz continue rallying supporters on the campaign trail with a focus on the economy. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports. …

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In fight for West, Harris campaigns in Arizona, Trump in Montana

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GLENDALE, Arizona — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned in a packed arena in Arizona on Friday, hoping to put Republican candidate Donald Trump on the back foot in the West, while Trump held his own rally in Montana to support a Republican candidate for Senate. The Democratic presidential candidate, less than a month into her bid for the White House, has been on a weeklong tour after naming her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, with a focus on building excitement for her campaign in seven states that could tip the November 5 election. That tour on Friday brought hermore

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Military service of VP hopefuls Walz, Vance scrutinized

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pentagon — For the first time in 20 years, both Republicans and Democrats have a military veteran on their presidential ticket. The last time this occurred was when President George W. Bush faced Senator John Kerry in 2004. While Democratic vice presidential hopeful Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Republican vice presidential nominee Ohio Senator JD Vance have different political views, both share a history of military service. Walz served 24 years as a member of the Army National Guard after voluntarily enlisting at age 17. According to the Minnesota National Guard, Walz served in Nebraska as a senior sergeant and anmore

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Harris, Walz campaign in Arizona, where every vote will be critical

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phoenix — Vice President Kamala Harris and her new running mate held a rally in Arizona Friday as part of their tour of electoral battlegrounds, visiting a state with a Democratic U.S. senator she passed over in favor of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and gun control advocate, had been a top contender for running mate. He’s won two tough races in politically divided Arizona. In passing over Kelly, Harris may have lost the chance to win over people like Gonzalo Leyva, 49, a landscaper in Phoenix. Leyva plans to vote for former President Donaldmore

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Trump heads to Montana rally after plane was diverted but landed safely

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BOZEMAN, Mont. — Former President Donald Trump headed to Montana for a Friday night rally in hopes of ousting the state’s Democratic senator, but his plane first had to divert to an airport on the other side of the Rocky Mountains because of a mechanical issue, according to airport staff. Trump’s plane was en route to Bozeman, Montana, when it was diverted Friday afternoon to Billings, 142 miles to the east, according to Jenny Mockel, administrative assistant at Billings Logan International Airport. Mockel said the former president was continuing to Bozeman via private jet. Trump’s campaign posted a video of himmore

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US election looms over US-South Korea-Japan security cooperation

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washington — Experts in Washington are split on their perspectives of the durability of the recently elevated U.S.-South Korea-Japan security cooperation in the event of former President Donald Trump winning the November U.S. presidential election, given his critical stance toward U.S. alliances in the past. Last month, the U.S., South Korea and Japan signed a memorandum of cooperation on the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework (TSCF), which is aimed at institutionalizing the countries’ security partnership against threats from China and North Korea. While not legally binding, the memorandum is expected to facilitate trilateral security cooperation regardless of any leadership changes in theirmore

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US presidential campaign: The view from Ukraine

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The U.S. presidential campaign is being closely followed in Ukraine as its outcome could significantly impact regional security, U.S. foreign policy, NATO support, aid to Ukraine, and relations with Russia. VOA Eastern Europe Chief Myroslava Gongadze reports. Camera: Daniil Batushchak, Vladyslav Smilianets …

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Biden set to share a legacy with LBJ  

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U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to pass the Democratic Party’s torch to Vice President Kamala Harris makes him a lame-duck president – one who remains in office without any hope of an additional term. VOA’s chief national correspondent Steve Herman at the White House looks at how Biden’s legacy may eventually compare to the previous one-term president who did not run for reelection. …

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Foreign policy differences with fellow Republicans could complicate second Trump presidency

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Congressional Republicans closely align with presidential nominee Donald Trump on a number of key foreign policy issues, including U.S. support for Israel. But as VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, lawmakers still have significant differences on China, tariff policy and aid to Ukraine that could complicate a second Trump term. Videographer: Saqib Ui Islam …

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