New evidence has revealed that the omicron variant of the coronavirus was already present in western Europe well before the first cases were officially identified in southern Africa. Authorities in the Netherlands said Tuesday that it detected the variant in test samples as early as November 19 — a full week before the positive cases […]
The U.S. State Department is calling on Houthi rebels in Yemen to vacate a U.S. compound they breached in the capital, Sanaa, this week and release detained Yemeni nationals hired by the United States to guard the facility. The compound had housed the U.S. Embassy until 2015, when the U.S. suspended operations there because of […]
WASHINGTON — The United States observes its Columbus Day holiday on Monday as well Indigenous Peoples Day. Columbus Day has been a federal holiday since 1971 to celebrate the 1492 landing of Christopher Columbus in the Americas. Recognition of the violence, disease and other suffering inflicted by European nations on the people already living in the […]
Two explosions near the Kabul airport on Thursday killed U.S. military personnel and Afghans who were gathering there in an effort to flee the country. At least 60 Afghans were killed and another 143 were wounded, according to an Afghan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was quoted by The Associated […]
The Pentagon says “a number of U.S. service members” were killed in a “complex attack” outside the Kabul airport, where thousands of people have been gathering in an effort to leave the country after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. The area was hit with two explosions Thursday. An intelligence source told VOA’s Carla Babb that […]
WASHINGTON – Two U.S. congressmen made a previously unannounced trip to the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Tuesday for what they said was a visit to assess the ongoing evacuation effort and to pressure U.S. President Joe Biden to extend his August 31 for withdrawing the remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan. “We conducted this visit in secret, speaking about it only after […]
Canada Monday reopened its land border with the United States to vaccinated citizens for non-essential travel, the first time U.S. citizens could do so since March of 2020. Under the plan, along with filling out an application, visitors must provide proof of full vaccination with a Canada health department-approved vaccine and a negative COVID-19 test […]
Facebook says it will no longer allow advertisers to target those 18 and under based on their interests and activity on other sites. The new policy, which also applies to Instagram and Facebook Messenger, still allows targeting of teens, but only based on age, gender and location. Cutoff ages may vary by country as Facebook […]
WASHINGTON – A group of centrist U.S. senators remained deadlocked Monday on trying to reach agreement on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package to repair the country’s deteriorating roads and bridges and boost funding for broadband internet service. The Republican and Democratic lawmakers had hoped to finalize their plan but still had not reached agreement for […]