Students Protest Tuition Hikes as Universities Continue Online

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Most U.S. universities are returning to online learning in their fall schedules as the coronavirus pandemic continues, and students are challenging paying full tuition.   Many universities are operating hybrid models — combining courses in person and courses online — while others are remaining online only for the 2020-2021 academic year.  As of July 29, 23.5% of nearly 3,000 U.S. universities and colleges are planning for fully in-person or primarily in-person classes, 14% are proposing hybrid models, and 30% are planning for a fully online or primarily online fall semester, according to data from The Chronicle of Higher Education and Davidsonmore

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Q&A: What’s Happening at the US Postal Service, And Why?

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The U.S. Postal Service is warning states it cannot guarantee that all ballots cast by mail for the Nov. 3 election will arrive in time to be counted, even if ballots are mailed by state deadlines. That’s raising the possibility that millions of voters could be disenfranchised. It’s the latest chaotic and confusing development involving the agency, which has found itself in the middle of a high-stakes election year debate over who gets to vote in America, and how. Those questions are particularly potent in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, which has led many Americans to consider voting bymore

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Trump Making Campaign Stops During Biden’s Convention Week

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U.S. President Donald Trump is campaigning in key battleground election states and blanketing many Americans’ computer screens with his political ads during former Vice President Joe Biden’s Democratic convention week.Trump is visiting four states that could prove crucial for his chances to win a second four-year term in the White House, starting Monday with stops in the midwestern cities of Mankato, Minnesota and Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  Then he is flying to the southwestern city of Yuma, Arizona on Tuesday and to near Biden’s boyhood home in the northeastern city of Scranton, Pennsylvania on Thursday, the same day Biden makes his presidential nomination acceptancemore

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Students Call for Radical Changes to Thailand Government

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Thousands of protesters called for radical changes to the Thai government Sunday — the latest in near daily protests lead by students against the government.Bangkok police estimated 10,000 attendees, which would make the demonstration the largest Thailand has seen since the 2014 coup. Student leaders are demanding new elections to form a new parliament, including the dismissal of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former general who took power in the 2014 coup and won disputed elections last year. But Sunday’s protests also called for changes to the monarchy  a sensitive subject in Thailand, where anyone criticizing the Royal Family may face long prisonmore

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A Century After Gaining Right to Vote, Do Women Still Face Voter Suppression?

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Feminists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries fervently campaigned for women’s suffrage in the United States by organizing, petitioning and picketing.  One hundred years ago this month they were finally granted the right to vote through passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. From the time the amendment was introduced to Congress in 1878, it took more than 40 years for it to be passed and then ratified by three-quarters of the states. The fight to vote goes back to the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. Held at Weslyan Methodist Church, the convention was attended by an estimated 300 people, including abolitionist Frederick Douglass. No women of color were present.  The church is now part of the Women’s Rights At the first women’s rights convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the principle author of the Declaration of Sentiments, a document that called for equality with men, includingmore

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America Marks 100th Anniversary of Women’s Voting Rights

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Feminists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries fervently campaigned for women’s suffrage in the United States by organizing, petitioning and picketing.  One hundred years ago this month they were finally granted the right to vote through passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. From the time the amendment was introduced to Congress in 1878, it took more than 40 years for it to be passed and then ratified by three-quarters of the states. The fight to vote goes back to the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. Held at Weslyan Methodist Church, the convention was attended by an estimated 300 people, including abolitionist Frederick Douglass. No women of color were present.  The church is now part of the Women’s Rights At the first women’s rights convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the principle author of the Declaration of Sentiments, a document that called for equality with men, includingmore

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100th Anniversary of US Women’s Voting Rights  

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One hundred years ago in August, U.S. women were granted the right to vote through the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment was introduced to Congress in 1878 and took more than 40 years to be passed and ratified by three-quarters of the states. VOA’S Deborah Block looks at the history of the women’s suffrage movement and women’s equality today.Produced by: Deborah Block, Kim Weeks   …

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7 Ways COVID-19 has Changed Politics

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No roaring crowd will welcome former Vice President Joe Biden’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, and he may have to keep proper social distance from his vice presidential running mate, Kamala Harris.President Donald Trump, likewise, will not get the arena full of supporters he wanted at the Republican Party convention the following week — complete with colorful balloons cascading from the rafters. He may deliver his acceptance speech from the White House.Packing thousands of cheering, shouting party faithful indoors during a global respiratory pandemic would not be a good idea, both parties concluded. The speeches, parties andmore

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Trump to Withdraw Pendley’s Nomination as Public Lands Chief

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President Donald Trump intends to withdraw the nomination of William Perry Pendley to head the Bureau of Land Management, a senior administration official said Saturday — much to the relief of environmentalists who insisted the longtime advocate of selling federal lands should not be overseeing them.Pendley, a former oil industry and property rights attorney from Wyoming, has been acting as the director of the agency for more than a year under a series of temporary orders from Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. Democrats alleged the temporary orders were an attempt to skirt the nomination process, and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock andmore

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Robert Trump, the President’s Younger Brother, Dead at 71

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President Donald Trump’s younger brother, Robert Trump, a businessman known for an even keel that seemed almost incompatible with the family name, died Saturday night after being hospitalized in New York, the president said in a statement. He was 71.The president visited his brother at a New York City hospital on Friday after White House officials said he had become seriously ill.It is with heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother, Robert, peacefully passed away tonight,” Donald Trump said in a statement. “He was not just my brother, he was my best friend. He will be greatly missed, butmore

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Evictions Across US Raise Concerns About Voting Process

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Over the past decade, Alison Eisinger has helped more than 1,000 people experiencing homelessness in Seattle register to vote. This year, despite the stakes involved in the U.S. presidential election in November, Eisinger isn’t making the same effort.Seattle already has 7,000 individuals who lack shelter, a number that could swell if a moratorium on evictions is lifted.“It would be irresponsible for us to think that voter registration is a top priority for someone who is wondering where they’ll get their next meal, or lay their head,” said Eisinger, who directs the King County Coalition on Homelessness, a nonprofit group. “Evenmore

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High-Schoolers Arrange Free Tutoring for Hundreds

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Two high-school students — one a Boy Scout — have created a free, online tutoring service for students during the COVID pandemic.  Manan ShahManan Shah, 16, a high-school senior and Boy Scout from New Jersey, saw many students struggling with online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and created a system to help them. “We still realized there was kind of that missing piece without a teacher being present at all times,” Shah explained to VOA. “So, we figured this was our way to give back if we could get a team of volunteers to help the other students.”  “We” is Shahmore

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Postal Service Warns States of Voting by Mail Delays

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The U.S. Postal Service is warning states that it cannot guarantee all ballots cast by mail for the November election will be counted as the country ramps up preparations for larger numbers of mail-in votes amid the coronavirus pandemic.The Washington Post reported Friday that the Postal Service sent warning letters to 46 states and the District of Columbia.In letters sent to at least several states, including the key battleground states of Michigan and Pennsylvania, the Postal Service said there is “significant risk” voters will not have enough time to complete their ballots and return them on time under current statemore

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Trump’s Ex-Lawyer Michael Cohen Says to Reveal President’s ‘Skeletons’ in Upcoming Book

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Michael Cohen, U.S. President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, on Thursday promised to show how Trump cheated in the 2016 election with Russian help in an upcoming book titled “Disloyal, A Memoir.”   “Trump had cheated in the election, with Russian connivance, as you will discover in these pages, because doing anything — and I mean anything — to ‘win’ has always been his business model and way of life,” Cohen writes in the book’s foreword, which was published online on Thursday.   The 3,700-word foreword does not reveal anything new about Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidentialmore

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Boy Scout Arranges Free Tutoring for Hundreds

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A youngster in the Boy Scouts of America has taken the U.S.-based youth development organization’s motto — “Be prepared” — well beyond himself to help hundreds of high-school students with online learning. Manan ShahManan Shah, 16, a high-school senior and Boy Scout from New Jersey, saw many students struggling with online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and created a system to help them. “We still realized there was kind of that missing piece without a teacher being present at all times,” Shah explained to VOA. “So, we figured this was our way to give back if we could get a team ofmore

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US Classifies Confucius Institute Center as Foreign Mission

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The United States announced Thursday that it would require the center that runs the Confucius Institute to register as a foreign mission of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, alleging the group’s Chinese language courses are part of a widespread campaign of influence and propaganda in the U.S.In a statement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo presented the Confucius Institute U.S. Center in Washington as “an entity advancing Beijing’s global propaganda and malign influence campaign on U.S. campuses and K-12 classrooms” and said that the center “has taken advantage of America’s openness.”The announcement comes of the heels of another spat over themore

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AP Fact Check: Harris Eligible to Serve as VP, President

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False claims that Kamala Harris is not legally eligible to serve as U.S. vice president or president have been circulating in social media posts since 2019, when she first launched her Democratic primary campaign.   On Thursday, after Harris was selected by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to serve as his running mate, President Donald Trump elevated the conspiracy while speaking to reporters from the White House podium.  A look at the claim:The Claim: Harris is ineligible to serve as vice president or president because her mother is from India and her father is from Jamaica. Trump said he “heard”more

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Shirley Chisholm’s Groundbreaking Run for President

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“I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am Black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women’s movement in this country, although I am a woman, and equally proud of that… I am the candidate of the people of America.”Those were the words the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress, Shirley Chisholm, uttered in her 1972 announcement that she was running for president, using the campaign slogan “Unbought and Unbossed.” The move was highly unusual and unlikely to succeed. But Chisholm was unusual, and her bid for the presidency is cited by manymore

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Trump Rejects Biden’s Calls for National Mask Mandate    

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Presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden is calling for a national mask mandate to cut the number of future deaths from the coronavirus in the United States.  “It doesn’t have anything to do with Democrats, Republican or independents,” Biden said, but “every single American should be wearing a mask when they are outside for the next three months at a minimum.”  Hour later, President Donald Trump accused Biden of politicizing the pandemic with the request, asserting that a mask mandate would cripple the economy, leading to a depression by wanting to “lock all Americans in their basements for months on end.”The former vice president, in Wilmington, said the governorsmore

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Trump Refuses to Reject Claims Harris Ineligible to Run for VP

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President Donald Trump is refusing to reject false claims circulating on social media that Kamala Harris may not be legally eligible for the vice presidency because of questions surrounding the immigration status of her parents at the time she was born.“I heard it today that she doesn’t meet the requirements,” Trump said, responding to VOA’s question. “And by the way, the lawyer that wrote that piece is a very highly qualified, very talented lawyer. I have no idea, that’s right. I would have thought, I would have assumed the Democrats would have checked that out before she gets chosen tomore

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Feds: Yale Discriminates Against Asian, White Applicants

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A Justice Department investigation has found Yale University is illegally discriminating against Asian American and white applicants, in violation of federal civil rights law, officials said Thursday.  Yale denied the allegation, calling it “meritless” and “hasty.” The findings detailed in a letter to the college’s attorneys Thursday mark the latest action by the Trump administration aimed at rooting out discrimination in the college application process, following complaints from students about the application process at some Ivy League colleges. The Justice Department had previously filed court papers siding with Asian American groups who had leveled similar allegations against Harvard University.  The two-yearmore

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Warning on Russia Adds Questions About Senate’s Biden Probe

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Even before last week’s intelligence assessment on foreign election interference, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson was facing criticism from Democrats that his investigation of presidential candidate Joe Biden and Ukraine was politically motivated and advancing Russian interests. But the stark warning that Russia is working to denigrate the Democratic presidential candidate adds to questions about the probe by Johnson’s Senate committee and whether it is mimicking, even indirectly, Russian efforts and amplifying its propaganda. The investigation is unfolding as the country, months removed from an impeachment case that had centered on Ukraine, is dealing with a pandemic and confronting the issuemore

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For Americans Waiting on Virus Aid, No New Relief in Sight

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Americans counting on emergency coronavirus aid  from Washington may have to wait until fall. Negotiations over a new virus relief package have all but ended, with the White House and congressional leaders far apart  on the size, scope and approach for shoring up households, re-opening schools and launching a national strategy to contain the virus. President Donald Trump’s top negotiator, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, tried to revive stalled talks Wednesday, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer dismissed the “overture,” saying the Trump administration is still refusing to meet them halfway. Congressional Republicans are largely sittingmore

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RFE/RL: Pompeo Vows US Action to Ensure ‘Good Outcome’ for Belarusian People

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking about the contentious Belarusian presidential election and the ensuing police crackdown against peaceful protesters, says that “we want good outcomes for the Belarusian people, and we’ll take actions consistent with that.” Pompeo, who earlier condemned the conduct of the election that handed authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka a sixth-straight term by a landslide, said in a wide-ranging interview Wednesday with RFE/RL in Prague that “we’ve watched the violence and the aftermath, peaceful protesters being treated in ways that are inconsistent with how they should be treated.” The vote Sunday, which the opposition has called “rigged,” has resulted in three-straightmore

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