U.S. President Joe Biden faces physical and political isolation as he deals with COVID and as more Democrats urge him to step aside as the party’s nominee. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports. …
Leave a commentNairobi, Kenya — Experts say Africa needs to invest in robust infrastructure if the continent is to have reliable internet after recent outages due to underwater cable failures highlighted the continent’s reliance on single-path connectivity. Disruptions in March and May caused online banking problems and communication delays. Businesses experienced interruptions in many countries. In March, on the Atlantic coast of West Africa, four submarine cables that deliver the internet to at least 17 countries went offline. Less than two months later, Eastern and Southern Africa experienced outages after two undersea cables were damaged. In Tanzania, the U.S. Embassy in Dar esmore
Leave a commentRepublican Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance took center stage at the third night of the Republican National Convention Wednesday. Donald Trump’s running mate embraced an “America First” approach to foreign policy and security. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. …
Leave a commentMILWAUKEE — Introducing himself to the nation after being tapped as Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance is planning to use his Wednesday night address to the Republican National Convention to share the story of his hardscrabble upbringing and make the case that his party best understands the challenges facing struggling Americans. The 39-year-old Ohio senator is a relative political unknown. In his first primetime speech since becoming the nominee for vice president, Vance is expected to talk about growing up poor in Kentucky and Ohio, his mother addicted to drugs and his father absent, and how he later went onmore
Leave a commentWashington — President Joe Biden on Wednesday tested positive for COVID-19, the White House said in a statement, shortly after he abruptly canceled a Las Vegas speech where he planned to appeal to Latino voters. The 81-year-old president tested positive before his first event in Las Vegas Wednesday and is experiencing “mild symptoms,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in the statement. She added that he is vaccinated and boosted against the virus and will return to his home in Rehoboth, Delaware, where he will self-isolate. “The White House will provide regular updates on the President’s status as he continuesmore
Leave a commentwashington — Senator J.D. Vance, former President Donald Trump’s newly announced running mate, will take center stage Wednesday evening at the Republican National Convention, focusing on the day’s theme, “Make America Strong Again.” Vance, 39, a former venture capitalist, has less than two years in public office and little foreign policy background. His recent comments mostly align with Trump’s “America First” doctrine and have revealed a worldview that can be summed up as pro-Israel, anti-China and causing anxiety in Europe. A former U.S. Marine who was deployed in Iraq, Vance is skeptical of American military intervention overseas and, with the exceptionmore
Leave a commentwashington — U.S. Representative Adam Schiff of California on Wednesday became the highest-profile Democrat to call for President Joe Biden to drop his reelection bid, as the party pushed ahead with plans to formally nominate Biden via a virtual vote in early August before the party’s convention two weeks later. The move to schedule the vote comes after nearly 20 Democrats in Congress have called on Biden to exit the presidential race in the wake of his halting debate performance against Republican former President Donald Trump last month. Among Democrats nationwide, nearly two-thirds say Biden should let his party nominate amore
Leave a commentMilwaukee — On the floor of the Republican National Convention Tuesday evening, vice presidential candidate JD Vance greeted and shook hands with excited delegates as he walked toward his seat. It was a marked contrast from former President Donald Trump, who entered the hall a few minutes later and was separated from supporters by a column of Secret Service agents. His ear still bandaged after an attempted assassination, Trump closely hugged the wall. Instead of handshakes or hellos for those gathered, he offered fist pumps to the cameras. The contrast underscores the new reality facing Trump after a gunman opened firemore
Leave a commentThe U.S. Republican Party put some of Donald Trump’s intra-party former foes briefly back in the spotlight on the second night of its nominating convention. VOA’s chief national correspondent Steve Herman was on the convention floor Tuesday and has details from Milwaukee. …
Leave a commentPresident Joe Biden addressed Black supporters in the battleground state of Nevada Tuesday, his first campaign appearance since the assassination attempt on his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump. He linked the attack on Trump to racial and gun violence, imploring Americans to “condemn violence in any form.” White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report. …
Leave a commentMILWAUKEE — Immigration took center stage as the Republican National Convention resumed Tuesday, with speakers spotlighting a key element of former President Donald Trump’s political brand that helped endear him to the GOP base when he began his first campaign in 2015. Among speakers slated for Tuesday night were families who’ve been impacted by violent crime — part of a GOP strategy to link crime to border policies. They include the family of Rachel Morin, a Maryland woman whom prosecutors say was killed and raped by a fugitive from El Salvador and whose story has been frequently highlighted by Trump onmore
Leave a commentwhite house — With the recent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, the conversation around guns and gun policy is heating up — even as President Joe Biden is asking the country to cool down. This is the first assassination attempt on a former or current U.S. president since 1981, when Ronald Reagan was shot “First of all, that is preposterous,” said U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas when asked about rumors that the assassination attempt was an inside job involving the current administration. “It is also dangerous to propagate rumors that are so unequivocally false and provocative,” hemore
Leave a commentWashington — In his short time in the U.S. Senate, J.D. Vance, the newly tapped Republican vice presidential nominee, has been a hawk on China. He has introduced legislation to restrict Chinese access to U.S. financial markets and to protect U.S. higher education from Chinese influence. In an interview with Fox News shortly after being named as former President Donald Trump’s running mate on Monday, Vance called China “the biggest threat” to the United States. When asked about Russia’s war in Ukraine, Vance said Trump would negotiate with Moscow and Kyiv to “bring this thing to a rapid close so Americamore
Leave a commentU.S. voters are assessing the impact of Saturday’s attempted assassination of presidential candidate Donald Trump. As VOA correspondent Scott Stearns reports, they are considering what the shooting means for the country and this November’s election. VOA’s Russian, Spanish, Persian and Korean language services contributed to this report. …
Leave a commentWashington — All eyes will be on Joe Biden as he addresses Black supporters Tuesday in the battleground state of Nevada, his first campaign appearance since the assassination attempt on his Republican rival, former president Donald Trump. The U.S. president is expected to sharpen the choice voters will face this November, while calling for unity amid concerns of escalating political violence in the country. In Las Vegas, at a convention of an American civil rights organization, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, Biden will highlight his administration’s support for Black voters who have been part ofmore
Leave a commentAfter months of speculation, Donald Trump announced his vice presidential running mate. J.D. Vance joins the Republican presidential ticket as one of the youngest vice presidential candidates since Richard Nixon in 1952. The nomination puts his newcomer status and political inexperience to the test. Tina Trinh reports. …
Leave a commentFormer President Donald Trump made a triumphant return to the public eye at the Republican National Convention late Monday, two days after he was wounded in an attempted assassination. Carolyn Presutti reports from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. …
Leave a commentThe weekend assassination attempt on Donald Trump has silenced much of the chatter over President Joe Biden’s political future. But as Trump charged forward Monday, appearing at the Republican National Convention and naming his vice presidential pick, the Biden administration prepared for a Tuesday campaign stop in this uncertain stage in the presidential race. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House. …
Leave a comment