Biden Administration Unveils Strict Auto Standards to Speed Electric Shift 

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New York — President Joe Biden’s administration announced Wednesday revised pollution standards for cars and trucks meant to accelerate the U.S. auto industry’s shift to electric to mitigate climate change. The rules set ambitious emission reductions for 2032 but are moderated somewhat compared with preliminary standards unveiled last April. Following carmaker criticism, the final rules give manufacturers greater flexibility and ease the benchmarks in the first three years. Those shifts were criticized as a sop to corporations from at least one environmental group, even as the final rule won praise from other leading NGOs focused on climate change. The final rulesmore

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Efforts by US to Crack Down on TikTok Spark Backlash Against Israel

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Washington — The initial backlash came quickly. Within hours of last week’s vote in the House of Representatives approving legislation that could lead to a ban of the popular TikTok app in the United States, anger and outrage poured onto multiple social media platforms. Some of the anger targeted U.S. lawmakers who supported the bill. Some focused on China. And a number of social media accounts, some with large followings, put the blame on Israel and pro-Jewish groups in the United States. “A foreign government is influencing the 2024 election,” Briahna Joy Gray posted on X. “I’m not talking about China,more

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Judge Allows Trump to Appeal Ruling Keeping DA on Georgia Election Case

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ATLANTA, GEORGIA — The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case is allowing Donald Trump to appeal a ruling letting Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis remain on the prosecution.  Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Wednesday granted a request by defense attorneys to ask the Georgia Court of Appeals to review the judge’s decision. It’s now up to the appeals court to decide whether the court will hear it.  McAfee in a ruling last week denied the defense’s request to disqualify Willis from the case or dismiss the indictment over her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. The judgemore

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Biden to Tout Government Investing $8.5 Billion in Intel’s Computer Chip Plants in Four States  

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Washington — The Biden administration has reached an agreement to provide Intel with up to $8.5 billion in direct funding and $11 billion in loans for computer chip plants in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico and Oregon.  President Joe Biden plans to talk up the investment on Wednesday as he visits Intel’s campus in Chandler, Arizona, which could be a decisive swing state in November’s election. He has often said that not enough voters know about his economic policies and suggested that more would support him if they did know.  Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the deal reached through her department wouldmore

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Ex-Trump Aide Navarro Reports to Prison to Serve Contempt Sentence

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MIAMI, FLORIDA — Peter Navarro, Donald Trump’s former White House trade advisor, reported to a Florida prison on Tuesday to begin serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress. Navarro, 74, is the highest-ranking former member of the Trump administration to spend time behind bars for actions stemming from the former Republican president’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Navarro was found guilty of two counts of contempt in September for refusing to comply with a subpoena to testify before the congressional panel that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. Navarro,more

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Top US Congressional Leaders Say Spending Deal Reached

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WASHINGTON — The top Republican and Democrat in the U.S. Congress on Tuesday said they had reached a deal to keep the government funded through the rest of the fiscal year that began in October, setting off a race to pass it before a weekend shutdown deadline.  The last sticking point was funding for the Department of Homeland Security, as a surge in migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border has become a major issue in the election rematch between Democratic President Joe Biden and his Republican predecessor Donald Trump.  Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer revealedmore

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Q&A: TikTok Owner Is Essentially ‘Subsidiary’ of China’s Communist Party, US Lawmaker Says  

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washington — The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill March 13 that, if enacted into law, would give ByteDance, the Chinese owner of the TikTok social media app, 180 days to divest its U.S. assets or face a ban over concerns about national security, including Beijing’s ability to access Americans’ private information through the company ByteDance denies it would provide such private data to the Chinese government, despite reports indicating such information could be at risk. VOA sat down on the day the bill passed with Republican Representative Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on state, foreignmore

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US Supreme Court Examines Government Efforts to Curb Online Misinformation

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Washington — The US Supreme Court was hearing arguments on Monday in a social media case involving free speech rights and government efforts to curb misinformation online. The case stems from a lawsuit brought by the Republican attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri, who allege that government officials went too far in their efforts to get platforms to combat vaccine and election misinformation. A lower court last year restricted some top officials and agencies of President Joe Biden’s administration from meeting and communicating with social media companies to moderate their content. The ruling was a win for conservative advocates who allegemore

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Back to the Moon – Part 1

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After the Apollo program ended, the US took a long hiatus from lunar exploration. What happened during this time, and what has NASA been doing? This documentary by the Voice of America’s Russian service explores the multiple attempts to return to the Moon, the space developments that laid the foundation for future concepts, and the birth of the Artemis lunar program. …

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Biden Jokes About His Opponent’s Age — and His Own — During Roast

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washington — The big news this week, U.S. President Joe Biden said at a weekend Washington roast, was that two candidates had clinched their party’s nomination for president. But one was too old, too mentally unfit for the job, he said.  “The other’s me,” Bidden quipped.  The digs against Republican Donald Trump kept coming from the president at the annual Gridiron Club and Foundation Dinner, as Biden deflected ongoing criticism that his memory is hazy and he appears confused, instead highlighting moments when the 77-year-old Trump has slipped up, too.  “Don’t tell him, he thinks he’s running against Barack Obama, that’smore

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US Sanctions Network Smuggling American Tech to Iran’s Central Bank

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Washington — The U.S. Treasury Department unveiled sanctions against a network of companies and individuals for facilitating illegal technology transfers from dozens of U.S. firms to Iranian entities, including the country’s central bank.  The sanctions relate to Informatics Services Corporation (ISC), the technology arm of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), the Treasury Department said in a statement Friday.   It also sanctioned a number of alleged ISC subsidiaries and front companies based in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, and three individuals allegedly linked to them including Pouria Mirdamadi, a French-Iranian dual national.  Brian Nelson, the U.S. Treasury undersecretary for terrorismmore

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Judge: DA Must Step Aside or Remove Special Prosecutor in Trump Case

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ATLANTA, GEORGIA — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis must step aside from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump or remove the special prosecutor with whom she had a romantic relationship before the case can proceed, the judge overseeing it ruled Friday.  Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee did not find that Willis’ relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade amounted to a conflict of interest that should disqualify her from the case. However, he said, the allegations created an “appearance of impropriety” that infected the prosecution team.  “As the case moves forward, reasonable members of the public couldmore

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Trump Arrives at Hearing on Whether to Dismiss Classified Documents Case

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FORT PIERCE, FLORIDA — Donald Trump arrived Thursday at a federal courthouse in Florida, where a judge will hear arguments on whether to dismiss the criminal case accusing the former president of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left the White House.  The motorcade carrying the 2024 Republican presumptive presidential nominee arrived shortly before the hearing was set to begin before U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump.  The dispute centers on the Trump team’s interpretation of the Presidential Records Act, which they say gave him the authority to designate the documentsmore

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World’s Largest Drone Maker Expands in US Amid Rights Abuse Allegations  

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washington — Chinese drone maker DJI is expanding in the U.S. with its first flagship store in New York City amid allegations of links to human rights abuses and ties to China’s military. DJI’s “first concept” North American store on New York’s Fifth Avenue welcomes customers into a futuristic, minimalist space to shop. The company describes itself on its website as “the world’s leader in civil drones and creative camera technology.” “We continue to see growing consumer demand throughout North America as we expand our consumer product portfolio,” said Christina Zhang, senior director of corporate strategy at DJI. Headquartered in Shenzhen,more

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Spacex Hoping to Launch Starship Farther in 3rd Test Flight

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BOCA CHICA, Texas — SpaceX’s Starship, a futuristic vehicle designed to eventually carry astronauts to the moon and beyond, was poised for a third uncrewed test launch Thursday that Elon Musk’s company hopes will carry it farther than before, even if it ends up exploding once again in flight. The spacecraft, mounted atop its towering Super Heavy rocket booster, was due for liftoff as early as 8 a.m. EDT from SpaceX’s Starbase launch site on the Gulf of Mexico near Boca Chica, Texas. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration just granted a license for the test flight on Wednesday afternoon. Unlike themore

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Biden Talks About Roads, Bridges, While Protesters Shout About Death in Gaza

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Milwaukee, Wisconsin — U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday visited Wisconsin, a key swing state that he narrowly won in 2020, meeting with community members at a once shuttered but now thriving children’s community center to sell them on how he believes his economic policies are making their lives better. Biden’s approval ratings in the Badger State have recently slumped, and on Wednesday afternoon, as Biden chatted privately with campaign volunteers at his new campaign headquarters in Milwaukee, less than a block away, several dozen protesters took aim at one reason why. “Free, free, free Palestine!” the group members yelled asmore

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Hunter Biden Rebuffs Republicans’ Invite to Appear for Public Hearing

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WASHINGTON — Hunter Biden on Wednesday rejected an invitation from Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives to appear for a public hearing next week alongside former business associates, an inquiry his attorney dismissed as a “carnival side show.”  In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Abbe Lowell, the president’s son’s attorney, blasted Republicans’ efforts to bring his client before a public hearing after he sat for a nearly seven-hour deposition last month.  “Your latest step — this March 6 invitation — is not a serious oversight proceeding,” Lowell said in the letter. “It is your attempt to resuscitate yourmore

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Judge in Georgia Election Case Dismisses Some Trump Charges

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ATLANTA, GEORGIA — The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case on Wednesday dismissed some of the charges against former President Donald Trump, but many other counts in the indictment remain.  Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote in an order that six of the counts in the indictment must be quashed, including three against Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee.  But the order leaves intact other charges, and the judge wrote that prosecutors could seek a new indictment on the charges he dismissed.  The six charges are about soliciting elected officials to violate their oaths of office. Thatmore

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Japan Private Rocket Explodes Just After Launch

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Tokyo — A rocket made by a Japanese company exploded just after launch on Wednesday, with public broadcaster NHK showing footage of the fiery failure. Tokyo-based startup Space One had been aiming to become the first Japanese private firm to successfully place a satellite into orbit. Its 18-meter solid-fuel Kairos rocket blasted off from the startup’s own launch pad in Wakayama prefecture in western Japan, carrying a small government test satellite. But seconds after the launch, the rocket erupted into a ball of flame, with black smoke filling the launch pad area. Burning debris was seen falling onto the surrounding mountainmore

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