Pence to Highlight Night 3 of Republican National Convention

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U.S. Vice President Mike Pence highlights Wednesday’s third night of the Republican National Convention with a speech from Baltimore’s Fort McHenry.The schedule of speakers also includes Senators Marsha Blackburn and Joni Ernst, as well as Richard Grenell, the former acting director of national intelligence.Kellyanne Conway, one of President Donald Trump’s top advisers from his 2016 presidential campaign and throughout his time in the White House, is also set to speak days before stepping down from her position.On Tuesday night, first lady Melania Trump expressed sympathy for the hundreds of thousands of Americans affected by the coronavirus pandemic.“Since March, our livesmore

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Mike Pence: A Conservative Loyal Voice for Trump

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U.S. Vice President Mike Pence takes center stage Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention, a loyal ally of President Donald Trump during their nearly four years at the top of the American government.Pence is speaking from Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, where U.S. soldiers defended the young United States from a British attack in 1814, inspiring the writing of the U.S. national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It is a venue in keeping with the Republicans’ convention theme of “Honoring the Great American Story.”Pence was relatively unknown nationally four years ago when Trump, a first-time politician, picked him as hismore

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Harris Will Be Democrats’ Main Counter to Trump on Thursday

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Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Thursday plans a speech condemning President Donald Trump, hours before he is set to accept renomination for a second term, for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Harris will detail a “profound failure of leadership” from Trump and highlight proposals by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to control the virus and confront the economic fallout, Biden’s campaign told The Associated Press. With Trump planning an evening address from the White House lawn, Harris’ afternoon remarks from Washington will be the Democrats’ main counter to the president on the final day of the Republicans’more

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US School District Lost 700 Students During Online Classes

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Hundreds of students in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, didn’t participate in online learning last spring and all but vanished after the coronavirus pandemic drove the district to close classrooms. Keloland.com reported 700 kids, or 3% of the district’s student body, never connected with their teachers during the last quarter of the year. Assistant Superintendent Teresa Boysen said the district tried to reach out to the students but never connected with them. She says phone numbers and emails changed and some students moved to different towns so they’d have someone to take care of them while parents kept working.  Boysen said some studentsmore

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Melania Trump Headlines Second Night of Republican National Convention

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On the second night of the four-day Republican National Convention, first lady Melania Trump offered her case for a second term for President Donald Trump, joining others, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who broke with tradition and delivered his speech from Jerusalem. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this recap.Camera: Laurentius Wahyudi                          Produced by: Kim Weeks  …

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First Lady Addresses Pandemic, Racial Unrest in Convention Speech

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U.S. first lady Melania Trump expressed sympathy Tuesday night for the victims of the coronavirus pandemic, a marked contrast from her husband, President Donald Trump, who often has diminished the impact of the infectious disease and said it will disappear. “Since March, our lives have been changed drastically,” the first lady said in a late- evening speech in the newly redesigned White House Rose Garden. “My deepest sympathy goes out to everyone who has lost a loved one. My prayers are with those who are ill or suffering. “I know many people are anxious and some feel helpless,” she said. “I want you to knowmore

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New Supporters of Trump Attend RNC

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This week the Republican Party is hoping to pave the way for a repeat of President Donald Trump’s 2016 win by energizing the party faithful and wooing undecided voters. Public opinion polls show the president trailing Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden. At the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, VOA’s Carolyn Presutti spoke with several voters who said they did not back Trump in 2016, but they will this year.Camera: Mary Cieslak  …

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Melania Trump, Top Diplomat Pompeo to Address 2nd Night of Republican National Convention 

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U.S. first lady Melania Trump is telling American voters Tuesday night why they should re-elect her husband, President Donald Trump, delivering a key address at the Republican National Convention from the White House Rose Garden she recently redesigned. The first lady, an émigré from Slovenia and now a naturalized U.S. citizen, has been an infrequent participant in the U.S. political scene and has rarely accompanied her husband to political rallies. But an aide to Melania Trump, chief of staff Stephanie Grisham, said in advance of the first lady’s nationally televised address that, “Every word in this speech is from her.” Other key speakers are set to voice their support for the president asmore

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Can Trump Deploy Federal Agents to Police the Polls?

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In claiming that the 2020 election could be “rigged” by the Democrats, U.S. President Donald Trump recently hinted he may deploy federal authorities to polling places around the country on Election Day to root out corrupt practices that would impact the presidential election. Asked during a Fox News interview last week if he planned to deploy federal monitors to polling stations Nov. 3 to prevent fraudulent voting, Trump replied, “We’re going to have everything.” “We’re going to have sheriffs, and we’re going to have law enforcement, and we’re going to have, hopefully, U.S. attorneys. And we’re going to have everybody, and attorneymore

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Ethics Concerns Raised as Trump Uses White House as Convention Prop

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The use of the White House by President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump for events related to this week’s Republican National Convention are legal, according to administration officials.  For others working in the White House and the administration, however, there are lines not to be crossed, according to the Hatch Act, a 1939 federal law that prohibits most government officials from engaging in political activities while on the job.  Trump administration officials have been cited for breaking the Hatch Act 13 times by federal investigators at the Office of Special Counsel. At least a dozen more investigations aremore

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Can Anonymous Classrooms Protect Students from Beijing Snooping?

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With many American universities holding online courses this semester because of the pandemic, faculty members at Princeton, Harvard and other elite schools are looking for ways to protect the privacy and identity of students logging in from Hong Kong and China, where they are subject to China’s repressive rules on self-expression.  The Hong Kong National Security Law that passed in June allows Chinese authorities to prosecute any foreign institution, organization or individuals, regardless of their location, if they are involved in any action deemed to be a crime. Legal scholars say the law opens the door for a wide rangemore

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UN Security Council Declines Action on US-Sought Return of Iran Sanctions

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The president of the U.N. Security Council said Tuesday there is no consensus for restoring international sanctions on Iran in the 15-member council and that he would take no further action on a U.S. demand to re-impose them.  “It is clear for me that there is one member, which has a particular position on the issue, while there are significant numbers of members who have contrasting views,” said Council President Indonesian Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani. “In my view, there is no consensus in the council. Thus, the president is not in the position to take further action.”  Last week, U.S. Secretary of Statemore

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Biden To Be Regularly Tested for Coronavirus, Campaign Says

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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, will be tested regularly for COVID-19, an aide said on Monday, as the campaign prepares for the possibility of more public events in the run-up to November’s election.   Since the coronavirus began spreading widely in the United States in March, Biden has done few public events, most of them close to his Delaware home.   But following his formal nomination at last week’s Democratic National Convention, the campaign is expanding its health protocols in a new phase of the race that could see the former vice president inmore

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Can Anonymous Classrooms Protect Students from Beijing’s Snooping?

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With many American universities holding online courses this semester because of the pandemic, faculty members at Princeton, Harvard and other elite schools are looking for ways to protect the privacy and identity of students logging in from Hong Kong and China, where they are subject to China’s repressive rules on self-expression.  The Hong Kong National Security Law that passed in June allows Chinese authorities to prosecute any foreign institution, organization or individuals, regardless of their location, if they are involved in any action deemed to be a crime. Legal scholars say the law opens the door for a wide rangemore

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Campaign Says Biden To Be Regularly Tested for Coronavirus

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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, will be tested regularly for COVID-19, an aide said on Monday, as the campaign prepares for the possibility of more public events in the run-up to November’s election.   Since the coronavirus began spreading widely in the United States in March, Biden has done few public events, most of them close to his Delaware home.   But following his formal nomination at last week’s Democratic National Convention, the campaign is expanding its health protocols in a new phase of the race that could see the former vice president inmore

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Trump’s America First Agenda Shapes GOP Foreign Policy

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The Republican Party’s foreign policy agenda has been almost entirely shaped in the past four years by President Donald Trump’s approach to international relations, including new trade deals, skepticism of international organizations, and calls to reduce U.S. troop deployments overseas.   Because of the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing protocols, the Republican Party this year did not write a new party platform, which traditionally gives an official outline of the party’s vision and policy priorities. However, the party said in a resolution released at this week’s convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, that if it had been able to convene in 2020 tomore

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NBA Star LeBron James’ Group Plans Effort to Recruit Poll Workers for November

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A group of athletes led by NBA star LeBron James will roll out a multimillion-dollar program in the next few weeks to recruit poll workers in heavily Black electoral districts for November’s election, a person familiar with the plans said on Monday.   More Than a Vote, a group of prominent athletes fighting voter suppression, will collaborate with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on the program in a dozen states, including battlegrounds such as Georgia, Michigan, Florida and Wisconsin, where disenfranchisement affects Black voters, the source said.    The New York Times first reported the effort, which will recruit youngmore

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Trump Takes Center Stage at Republican Convention

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Republicans opened their four-day convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, Monday, and unanimously nominated President Donald Trump for a second term. Mike O’Sullivan reports, in a nation battered by COVID-19 and a recession, speakers warned of darker days ahead if Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden is elected. Camera: Mary Cieslak   …

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US Schools Scramble to Close Digital Gap

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Many schools are opening around the U.S. for in-person classes, but many others are offering classes online only.  That has set parents, school officials and community members scrambling to make sure every student has the equipment they need for online learning.The pandemic has drawn attention to a long-standing problem in the U.S.: the gap between students who have the computers and internet access needed for online learning and those who do not.  Roughly 1 in 5 homes in the U.S. lack either a computer or an internet connection strong enough for online work, according to data from a Pew Research Centermore

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Praise for Health Care Workers, Barbs for Biden as GOP Convention Opens

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U.S. President Donald Trump took center stage at the Republican National Convention Monday night and immediately signaled that defending his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis is paramount in winning a second term. On the first night of the nationally televised Republican convention, Trump was shown greeting health care workers at the White House who – against the views of many Americans — praised his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. “You’re an incredible group,” Trump told several health care workers and two COVID-19 survivors who recovered from the infectious disease that has killed more than 177,000 people in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University data, the most of any nation in the world. “We have to make this China virus go away,” Trumpmore

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Trump Holding Center Stage at US Republican Convention

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A parade of Republicans is set Monday night to acclaim President Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention and call for his reelection. But the main event is the finale for the evening, Trump himself unleashing attacks on his Democratic opponent, former vice president Joe Biden. Party stalwarts renominated Trump earlier Monday for a second four-year term, with the U.S. leader appearing shortly after at the convention site in Charlotte, North Carolina. He called the November 3 vote “the most important election in the history of our country.” He contended that the only way Democrats could defeat him is through a riggedmore

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Amid US Economic Crisis, Trump’s Base Has Faith

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As Republicans encourage Americans to vote for President Donald Trump, they are making their case this week from Charlotte, North Carolina, where the pandemic has forced them to dramatically scale back their national convention. Even though the pandemic has shaken American businesses, there are many who say they still have faith in the president’s ability to bring economic prosperity back. Esha Sarai has the story from Charlotte.Camera: Esha Sarai, Mary Cieslak  Producer: Esha Sarai  …

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Anonymous Classrooms: Professors Try to Protect Students from Beijing’s Snooping

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With many American universities holding online courses this semester because of the pandemic, faculty members at Princeton, Harvard and other elite schools are looking for ways to protect the privacy and identity of students logging in from Hong Kong and China, where they are subject to China’s repressive rules on self-expression.  The Hong Kong National Security Law that passed in June allows Chinese authorities to prosecute any foreign institution, organization or individuals, regardless of their location, if they are involved in any action deemed to be a crime. Legal scholars say the law opens the door for a wide rangemore

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