US Appeals court allows DEI crackdown

A U.S. federal appeals court Friday lifted a block on the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government, pausing a lower court ruling blocking enforcement of a series of presidential executive orders halting support of DEI initiatives. The three-judge panel on the Fourth Circuit of Appeals, in Richmond, Virginia, found that the directives by President Donald Trump were likely constitutional, disagreeing with a ruling in February by a federal judge in Maryland. The judges are allowing the Trump administration to implement the policy while they consider a final decision on the constitutionality of the orders. U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson in Baltimore had blocked implementation of Trump’s executive order nationwide pending the outcome of a lawsuit brought by the city of Baltimore and groups that claimed, among other things, the executive orders -- one abolishing DEI programs in the federal government and another requiring recipients of federal grants to not operate DEI programs -- improperly targeted constitutionally protected free speech. The Trump administration maintains the orders do not ban or discourage any speech but target instead unlawful discrimination. In addition to directing federal agencies to end diversity programs, the executive orders also precluded federal contractors from having them. Trump also ordered the Justice Department and other agencies to identify businesses, schools and nonprofit organizations that were deemed unlawfully discriminating through DEI policies.

Forecasters warn of tornadoes in US in coming days

U.S. weather forecasters warned of the threat of tornados in multiple states this weekend following at least five twisters in the state of Missouri on Friday. Friday's storms left some 100,000 buildings without power as severe weather continued into the night. The tornado risk was expected to continue into the weekend in a slew of states including Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. Accuweather predicted the storm risk to peak from Saturday afternoon to Saturday night. The National Weather Service warned of heavy thunderstorms from the Midwest to the Mississippi Valley, bringing with them the chance of flash flooding, power outages, downed trees and travel disruptions. In Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey issued a state of emergency on Friday, extending into Sunday. In her proclamation, she said "this severe weather could cause significant damage to public and private property and poses a danger to the health and safety of the people of Alabama, including potential disruption of essential utility systems, personal injury and loss of life." The proclamation means the state National Guard will be on alert and could be activated. Missouri also declared a state of emergency. Forecasters expect the thunderstorms to swamp the South and move toward the East Coast on Saturday night into Sunday. Although the tornado threat is expected to decrease, the East Coast will likely face hail and potentially damaging wind gusts. The storm system is expected to move off into the Atlantic Ocean sometime Sunday night into Monday.

Trump intent on imposing global tariffs

The on-again, off-again tariffs between the United States and other countries are again under scrutiny, with the U.S. president not budging. VOA White House Correspondent Carolyn Presutti reports.

Kremlin: Reasons to be optimistic about ceasefire deal

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday there are reasons for “cautious optimism” regarding a proposed ceasefire deal between Ukraine and Russia, following talks between a U.S. envoy and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Speaking to reporters in a telephone news briefing, Peskov referenced comments from Putin on Thursday in which he expressed qualified support for a U.S. ceasefire proposal to halt Russia’s war with Ukraine for 30 days but said some questions needed to be answered. Peskov said that “while much remains to be done, Putin “expressed solidarity with [U.S. President Donald] Trump’s position.” He said Putin held late night talks Thursday with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, during which Putin “conveyed information and additional signals to President Trump.” The Kremlin spokesperson said both sides agreed Putin and Trump should speak, adding that the timing of the conversation will be agreed upon once Witkoff has conveyed the new information to Trump. In his nightly address to his nation Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Putin’s comments were “very manipulative” and that he thought Putin’s qualified support for the U.S. plan was an effort to lay the groundwork for rejecting it. “He is in fact preparing a rejection at present, because Putin is, of course, scared to tell President Trump that he wants to continue this war, that he wants to kill Ukrainians,” Zelenskyy said. He noted Ukraine had accept the U.S. proposal and was ready to organize monitoring and verification. “We are not setting conditions that complicate the process; Russia is,” Zelenskyy said. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday that no discussions between Trump and Putin have been scheduled, but she said that could always change. Referencing comments on the president’s Truth Social media account, Leavitt said Trump is pressuring the Russians to “do the right thing.” She called the talks in Moscow Thursday “a productive day for the United States of America and for the world in terms of peace.” On Thursday at the White House, ahead of talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump said it would be “very disappointing” if Russia ends up rejecting U.S. efforts to end the fighting. Meanwhile, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Friday that Russia’s prioritization of funding its war with Ukraine has likely resulted in insufficient funding for average Russians’ health care, leading to shortages of medical staff and equipment. In its defense intelligence report, the ministry said Russia reportedly closed at least 160 hospitals in 2024, including 18 maternity facilities and at least 10 children’s clinics. The report said Russia’s small towns and villages have been particularly affected. The Defense Ministry said the 500,000 casualties Russia has sustained in the Ukraine war most certainly continue to put a strain on all levels of care in the Russian military medical system.

Report: US bird population is declining

The U.S. bird population is declining at an alarming rate, according to a report published Thursday by an alliance of science and conservation groups. Habitat loss and climate change are among the key contributing factors to the bird population losses, according to the 2025 U.S. State of the Birds report. More than 100 of the species studied, have reached a "tipping point," losing more than half their populations in the last 50 years. The report revealed that the avian population in all habitats is declining, including the duck population, previously considered a triumph of conservation. "The only bright spot is water birds such as herons and egrets that show some increases," Michael Parr, president of the American Bird Conservancy, told Reuters. The decline in the duck population fell by approximately 30% from 2017, but duck population numbers still remain higher, however, than their 1970 numbers, according to an Associated Press account on the report. "Roughly one in three bird species (229 species) in the U.S. requires urgent conservation attention, and these species represent the major habitats and systems in the U.S. and include species that we've long considered to be common and abundant," Amanda Rodewald, faculty director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Center for Avian Population Studies told Reuters. Included among the birds with highest losses, Reuters reported, are the mottled duck, Allen's hummingbird, yellow-billed loon, red-faced cormorant, greater sage-grouse, Florida scrub jay, Baird's sparrow, saltmarsh sparrow, mountain plover, Hawaiian petrel, Bicknell's thrush, Cassia crossbill, pink-footed shearwater, tricolored blackbird and golden-cheeked warbler. Some of the birds in this "red alert" group are already protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, the news agency said. "For each species that we're in danger of losing, it's like pulling an individual thread out of the complex tapestry of life," Georgetown University biologist Peter Marra. who was not involved in the new report, told AP. While the outlook may seem dire, it is not without hope, said Marra, who noted the resurgence of the majestic bald eagle.

US October-February budget deficit hits record $1.147 trillion

WASHINGTON — The U.S. budget deficit for the first five months of fiscal 2025 hit a record $1.147 trillion, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday, including a $307 billion February deficit for President Donald Trump's first full month in office that was up 4% from a year earlier. The October-February deficit, which included nearly four months until Jan. 20 under former president Joe Biden, topped the previous record $1.047 trillion from October 2020 to February 2021, a period marked by high COVID-19 relief spending and pandemic-constrained revenues. The Treasury said February's deficit rose $11 billion from the same month in 2024, as outlays for debt interest, Social Security and health care benefits swamped growth in revenues. The results showed little impact from Trump's initial import tariffs on major trading partners and his administration's efforts to slash government spending so far. February receipts totaled $296 billion, a record for that month. That figure was up 9%, or $25 billion, compared with the year-earlier period. But outlays in February totaled $603 billion, also a record for that month, and up 6%, or $36 billion, from a year earlier. After calendar adjustments for both receipts and outlays, the adjusted deficit would have been $311 billion, matching the record February reported budget deficit in 2021, which was driven by COVID-19. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a fiscal watchdog group, said government borrowings so far this fiscal year work out to about $8 billion a day. "What needs no confirmation is that we are almost halfway through the fiscal year and yet we have done nothing in the way of making progress toward getting our skyrocketing debt under control," the group's president, Maya MacGuineas, said in a statement. Fiscal year-to-date receipts rose 2%, or $37 billion, to a record $1.893 trillion, but outlays grew 13%, or $355 billion, to a record $3.039 trillion. Including calendar shifts of benefit payments, the adjusted year-to-date deficit would have been $1.063 trillion - still a record - up 17%, or $157 billion, from the prior-year period. Effects of tariffs, DOGE Trump imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports on Feb. 4, but that increase did not materially impact customs receipts last month and will likely start showing up in March data, a Treasury official said. Trump increased the extra duty on Chinese goods to 20% on March 4. Net customs receipts totaled $7.25 billion in February, down from $7.34 billion in January but up from $6.21 billion in February 2024. The budget results for February did not show an appreciable change in overall outlays as a result of Trump's drive to slash the federal workforce and government spending through the informal Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, led by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk. The Department of Education, a major target of DOGE for cuts, saw its outlays fall to $8 billion last month from $14 billion in the year-earlier period. The Treasury official attributed the decline to reductions in outlays for elementary and secondary education programs. The U.S. Agency for International Development, which the Trump administration is attempting to dismantle, still showed an outlay of $226 million for February, compared to $542 million in the year-earlier period. Driving the spending growth in February and year-to-date periods were higher spending on Treasury's interest on the public debt, outlays for Child Tax Credit payments and increased Social Security payments due in part to a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment for 2025. For the year-to-date period, Treasury's interest costs for the public debt came to $478 billion, up about 10%, or $45 billion, from a year earlier and outstripping military outlays of about $380 billion. Social Security outlays grew 8% to about $663 billion.

Total lunar eclipse to be visible from Western Hemisphere on Thursday

A total lunar eclipse will be visible in the Western Hemisphere overnight Thursday, with the best views in North America and South America. Skywatchers in Africa and parts of Europe may also be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the celestial spectacle. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth, the moon and the sun line up and the Earth’s shadow blocks, or eclipses, the moon. The moon will look like a coppery red ball in the sky, a phenomenon known as the blood moon. The moon’s color is the result of stray bits of sunlight filtering through Earth's atmosphere. Skywatchers won’t need any special equipment, glasses or gadgets to see the eclipse, although binoculars or a telescope could provide a better view. "As long as the sky is clear, you should be able to see it," Shannon Schmoll, director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University, told The Associated Press. In North America, peak viewing time will be at 2:59 a.m. EDT (6:59 GMT) March 14. That’s when the Earth’s deepest, darkest shadow – the umbra – will cover the moon. The moon is expected to be totally obscured for 65 minutes, although the eclipse will last for about six hours in its entirety. Check here for where and when the blood moon will be visible in different parts of the hemisphere. The last total lunar eclipse occurred in 2022, but the world won’t have to wait long for the next one. A total lunar eclipse will happen overnight this September 7 and 8 and will be visible across Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia. A partial eclipse will occur later this month, on March 29. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.

US markets flail amid trade war, uncertainty in Washington

U.S. President Donald Trump received a piece of good news Wednesday morning, when the Labor Department reported a lower-than-expected annualized inflation rate of 2.8% for February. It was a bright spot in a week that had seen stock market turmoil in response to the escalation of a potentially damaging trade war and continued uncertainty about the administration's ongoing effort to slash the federal workforce. At one point on Tuesday, the S&P 500 stock index had fallen by 10% since hitting an all-time high in February — a decline that would have qualified as a market "correction" had it not recovered slightly before the end of the day. The index was up slightly on Wednesday afternoon but off 8.8% from last month's high. Economists warned that the positive inflation news may be a temporary respite. Since the beginning of March, Trump has imposed additional tariffs of 10% on Chinese goods, tariffs as high as 25% on many goods imported from Mexico and Canada, and an across-the-board tariff of 25% on steel and aluminum. The impact of those moves was not reflected in the numbers released Wednesday. Also not reflected was the pledge from the European Union and other countries to impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, which would make it harder for American manufacturers to sell their products outside the domestic market. Strong medicine Trump has occasionally acknowledged his policies may cause short-term economic disruption and pain but has insisted they will lead to greater prosperity that will benefit all Americans. At an appearance before the Business Roundtable in Washington on Tuesday, he insisted that manufacturing firms are already scouting new U.S. locations so they can move operations and avoid tariffs. "They're looking all over the place for places. … And also, very importantly, the tariffs are — they don't want to pay 25% or whatever it may be, it may go up higher," the president said. At a separate event at the White House on Tuesday, Trump was asked about Americans who might be concerned that a tanking stock market had damaged their retirement savings. "Markets, they're going to go up, they're going to go down, but you know what? We have to rebuild our country," Trump said. "Our country had to do this," he said. "We had to go and do this. Other countries have taken away our business, taken away our jobs." Deregulation and 'tax cuts' Mary Lovely, a senior fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said economists will be closely watching certain factors for clues about where the economy is headed in the coming months. The Trump administration has signaled that it wants to enact sweeping deregulation on some industries, which could boost certain sectors of the economy and help lower prices. "This is something that a lot of companies say is going to offset the cost, but it's clearly going to be selective," Lovely said, so the degree to which it will impact the broader economy is unclear. A second factor will be whether Congress extends tax cuts enacted during Trump's first term or adds additional reductions. "A lot of people talk about the 'tax cuts,' but in fact, most of them are extensions," Lovely said. So, unless there are new cuts, "it's not new juice for the economy," she said. Lovely also pointed out that higher prices due to tariffs will have a disproportionately harmful effect on lower-income Americans. They will see a larger percentage of their income eaten up by higher prices as tax policies largely benefiting the wealthy are likely to be extended. "So, you have a kind of reverse Robin Hood going on there," she said. Consumer uncertainty The economists who spoke to VOA — whether their focus was consumer behavior, corporate decision-making or the vagaries of international trade — all said that the number one issue facing economic actors today is uncertainty. On tariff policy, in particular, the Trump administration has been inconsistent in its approach, announcing that specific new tariffs would be imposed only to shift direction — sometimes on the same day. On Tuesday, for instance, Trump announced a further 25% tariff on some goods from Canada only to walk back the threat hours later. Elizabeth Renter, a senior economist with the personal finance website NerdWallet, said the effects on consumer confidence are already measurable. "We've begun seeing the impact of potential economic policies make their way into the data," she told VOA via email. "Inflation expectations have risen, consumer sentiment has fallen and households are feeling more pessimistic about their future financial conditions." "Current consumer reactions are pretty natural responses to uncertainty about the economy," Renter wrote. "It's difficult to make financial plans when you're uncertain of where policy will land, and people are being confronted with possible changes often. This sentiment shapes behavior, as businesses and households may pull back on planned investments and spending, choosing to save their money in a precautionary way instead. Those behavior changes can shape the economy directly." Businesses reel For corporations trying to make business decisions, the environment feels treacherous, Desmond Lachman, a senior fellow with the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute, told VOA. "It's very worrying what's going on, because what Trump has done is just injected a huge amount of uncertainty into economic policymaking," he said. "You saw that most clearly with the import tariffs," Lachman said. "One minute he's got the tariff on, the next minute he's got it off, the next minute he's making an exemption. The next day he's announcing another tariff. So, it's very difficult for businesses to plan. They've just got no clue what's going on … and can't make a reasonable investment decision." The vacillating on tariffs hasn't been businesses' only concern, Lachman said. The effort by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, led by the world's richest man, Elon Musk, to slash the government workforce has created confusion. In a number of cases, workers have been summarily fired only to be called back to work shortly after, creating doubt about which government programs will be supported by adequate staff going forward. "Things just look very haphazard to the markets, and they're voting with their feet," Lachman said. Trade in disarray On Wednesday, the European Union and Canada announced a raft of retaliatory tariffs set to roll out next month on billions of dollars' worth of U.S. goods. The levies, which will affect Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Kentucky bourbon and various agricultural products, were in response to Trump's global 25% tariff on steel and aluminum. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer issued a blistering statement Wednesday accusing the European Union of ignoring legitimate U.S. interests in having strong domestic steel and aluminum production sectors. "The EU's punitive action completely disregards the national security imperatives of the United States — and indeed international security — and is yet another indicator that the EU's trade and economic policies are out of step with reality." Lachman of the American Enterprise Institute said he is concerned about the dangers of further escalation. "This is dangerous where we're going," he said. "I'm particularly worried about the retaliation — if [Trump] retaliates for the retaliation." He said that risks a cycle of ever-increasing tariffs of the sort that helped deepen the Great Depression nearly 100 years ago. "We just get this kind of tit for tat and ratchet up, and there are no winners," he said. "It's just a question of who's going to lose more."

Judge extends ban on Columbia student's deportation from US

NEW YORK — A U.S. judge on Wednesday extended his order blocking federal authorities from deporting a detained Columbia University student, in a case that has become a flashpoint of the Trump administration's pledge to deport some pro-Palestinian college activists. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman had temporarily blocked Mahmoud Khalil's deportation earlier this week and extended the prohibition on Wednesday in a written order following a hearing in Manhattan federal court to allow himself more time to consider whether the arrest was unconstitutional. The Department of Homeland Security says Khalil, 30, is subject to deportation under a legal provision holding that migrants whose presence in the country are deemed by the U.S. Secretary of State to be incompatible with foreign policy may be removed, according to a document seen by Reuters. "The Secretary of State has determined that your presence or activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States," read the DHS document, dated March 9, ordering Khalil to appear before an immigration judge on March 27. The document did not provide additional detail. The DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Khalil's lawyers say his arrest on Saturday by DHS agents outside his university residence in Manhattan was in retaliation for his outspoken advocacy against Israel's military assault on Gaza following the October 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, a U.S.- designated terrorist group, and thus violated Khalil's right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. "Mr. Khalil was identified, targeted, detained and is being processed for deportation on account of his advocacy for Palestinian rights," Khalil's lawyer, Ramzi Kassem, said in court. In her first media interview, Noora Abdalla, Khalil's wife, told Reuters after the hearing she hoped her husband would be free and back in New York in time for the birth of their first child, who is due next month. "It's been so hard not having him here," she said. "There's a lot of emotions and pain. He's been there for me truly every step of the way." Outside the courthouse on Wednesday, Kassem told reporters that the legal provision DHS referred to was rarely used and was not meant to silence dissent. Khalil was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and came to the U.S. on a student visa in 2022, becoming a permanent resident last year. He was a prominent member of Columbia's protest movement against Israel's military assault on Gaza. U.S. President Donald Trump has said on social media that Khalil supported Hamas, but his administration has not charged him with a crime and has not provided evidence to show Khalil's alleged support for Hamas. The Trump administration says pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, including Columbia, have included support for Hamas and antisemitic harassment of Jewish students. Student protest organizers say criticism of Israel is being wrongly conflated with antisemitism. "This is not about free speech," Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters earlier on Wednesday during a trip to Ireland. "Being a supporter of Hamas and coming into our universities and turning them upside down ... If you told us that's what you intended to do when you came to America, we would have never let you in." Refusing to stay silent' The case could ultimately test where immigration courts draw the line between protected free speech and alleged support for groups the United States calls terrorists. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan, holding signs reading "Release Mahmoud Khalil" and chanting "Down, down with deportation, up, up with liberation." At the hearing, Brandon Waterman, a lawyer for the government, said Khalil's challenge to his arrest should be moved to New Jersey, where he was held when his lawyers first sought his release, or Louisiana, where he is currently being held. Furman also ordered that Khalil be allowed two hourlong private phone calls with his lawyers, one on Wednesday and one on Thursday, after Kassem said Khalil's sole phone call with a member of his legal team from detention in Louisiana so far was cut off prematurely and was on a line recorded and monitored by the government. Even before Furman blocked it, there was no indication Khalil's deportation was imminent. Khalil has the right to plead his case to avoid deportation before a separate judge in immigration court, a potentially lengthy process.

NASA's newest space telescope blasts off to map the entire sky and millions of galaxies

NASA’s newest space telescope rocketed into orbit Tuesday to map the entire sky like never before — a sweeping look at hundreds of millions of galaxies and their shared cosmic glow since the beginning of time. SpaceX launched the Spherex observatory from California, putting it on course to fly over Earth’s poles. Tagging along were four suitcase-size satellites to study the sun. Spherex popped off the rocket's upper stage first, drifting into the blackness of space with a blue Earth in the background. The $488 million Spherex mission aims to explain how galaxies formed and evolved over billions of years, and how the universe expanded so fast in its first moments. Closer to home in our own Milky Way galaxy, Spherex will hunt for water and other ingredients of life in the icy clouds between stars where new solar systems emerge. The cone-shaped Spherex — at 500 kilograms, or the heft of a grand piano — will take six months to map the entire sky with its infrared eyes and wide field of view. Four full-sky surveys are planned over two years, as the telescope circles the globe from pole to pole, 650 kilometers up. Spherex won’t see galaxies in exquisite detail like NASA’s larger and more elaborate Hubble and Webb space telescopes, with their narrow fields of view. Instead of counting galaxies or focusing on them, Spherex will observe the total glow produced by the whole lot, including the earliest ones formed in the wake of the universe-creating Big Bang. “This cosmological glow captures all light emitted over cosmic history,” said the mission’s chief scientist Jamie Bock of the California Institute of Technology. “It’s a very different way of looking at the universe,” enabling scientists to see what sources of light may have been missed in the past. By observing the collective glow, scientists hope to tease out the light from the earliest galaxies and learn how they came to be, Bock said. “We won’t see the Big Bang. But we’ll see the aftermath from it and learn about the beginning of the universe that way,” he said. The telescope’s infrared detectors will be able to distinguish 102 colors invisible to the human eye, yielding the most colorful, inclusive map ever made of the cosmos. It's like "looking at the universe through a set of rainbow-colored glasses,” said deputy project manager Beth Fabinsky of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. To keep the infrared detectors super cold — minus minus 210 degrees Celsius — Spherex has a unique look. It sports three aluminum-honeycomb cones, one inside the other, to protect from the sun and Earth's heat, resembling a 3-meter shield collar for an ailing dog. Besides the telescope, SpaceX’s Falcon rocket provided a lift from Vandenberg Space Force Base for a quartet of NASA satellites called Punch. From their own separate polar orbit, the satellites will observe the sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere, and the resulting solar wind. The evening launch was delayed two weeks because of rocket and other issues.

US economy on edge with uncertainty over tariffs

Talk of tariffs combined with fears of inflation sent the U.S. stock market tumbling Monday and again on Tuesday, a day of give and take between the United States and Canada with President Donald Trump defending his use of tariffs. VOA White House correspondent Carolyn Presutti explains.

China boosting development of AI for use in trade war with US

NEW DELHI — Encouraged by the enthusiastic reception to its DeepSeek artificial intelligence platform in January, China's leaders are going all out to encourage AI companies to harness the power of this technology to compete with the United States and other countries in business and military spheres. China considers AI an important tool to handle U.S. restrictions on Chinese business, particularly after DeepSeek shook up Wall Street, resulting in a loss of $589 billion for Nvidia stockholders in late January. "The government in China works directly with the private sector and universities in the advancement and deployment of AI technology and are reducing their dependence on imports of high-technology products," said Lourdes Casanova, director of Cornell University's Emerging Markets Institute. The past few weeks have seen China rolling out several new AI models, including Manus, which experts say can rival the latest model of ChatGPT. Industry experts were more than surprised to find that DeepSeek was equally efficient as ChatGPT, though it used older generation Nvidia chips. The U.S. has banned the supply of advanced chips. "China and the U.S. have pulled way out front in the AI race. China used to be one to two years behind the U.S. Now, it is likely two to three months," Jeffrey Towson, owner of Beijing-based TechMoat Consulting, told VOA. "Alibaba's Qwen is now a clear leader internationally in LLMs [large language models]. Chinese Kling AI and Minimax are arguably the global leaders in video generation," Towson said. Government involvement In 2017, China released an AI development program to make the country a world leader by 2030. The government's Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan said that AI would be adopted across different sectors and drive economic transformation. "China has the most elaborate AI strategy compared to any other country," Rogier Creemers, assistant professor in Modern Chinese Studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands, told VOA. China has established a National Computing Power Grid — somewhat like electricity grids — making it possible for Chinese AI companies to invest less in their own computing power. In the U.S., each company must fend for itself, Creemers said. Competition ChatGPT's updated GPT4 large language model has gotten the attention of several top-ranking CEOs of Chinese tech companies. Baidu chief Robin Li recently said his firm was under "huge pressure and a sense of crisis" after seeing the updated ChatGPT. Baidu, which has launched Ernie Bot, said "the gap [between China] and leading international levels [in the field] has widened." "AI plus robotics is likely where China will take a commanding lead over the U.S., just like in EVs,” Towson said. “Chinese companies like Unitree are already pulling ahead. Watch for China to surprise everyone in personalized robots, industrial robots and speciality robots,” he said. Communist Party control Chinese President Xi Jinping recently convened a meeting with heads of private companies, including tech firms, calling on them to "show your talent" in overcoming challenges such as an economic slowdown and U.S. restrictions on Chinese business. "There are discussions that the growth of large language models — the technology behind chatbots like DeepSeek and ChatGPT — may be hindered by media censorship, because the models will have less diverse data to work with," said Creemers. On the other hand, the government's control ensures industrial policy coordination, which is helpful in the growth of AI in China. China is focusing more on specialized software for health and other industries, which can largely tolerate political censorship. Chinese AI models are improving diagnostic accuracy in diverse areas from detecting rib fractures to cancer. US ban on advanced chips "It will take some time, but it would not be a surprise if China is also soon capable of building advanced chips for AI," Cornell’s Casanova said. Companies such as Huawei have shown that they can design and manufacture advanced chips successfully, thereby overcoming restrictions imposed by the U.S., she said. Towson said China is 100% dedicated to building an independent semiconductor supply chain. "It is advancing faster than anyone thought possible. But the frontier is always advancing, and it's unclear how this will play out over time," he said. "But you can do a lot with software,” Creemers said. “China can work with more chips with less computing power or with fewer sophisticated chips." The risk for China is not limited to chips, because the Trump administration could impose restrictions on the Chinese AI model. It could also react to China’s restriction on the use of ChatGPT, because it can violate its censorship rules. AI and the military China's air force is using AI-powered biometric tests to screen potential pilots as part of a rigorous hiring process, according to state broadcaster CCTV. "AI now plays a crucial role in interpreting candidates' biological signals, revealing underlying health risks that might not be immediately apparent to human evaluators," CCTV said. "This data-driven approach allows the air force to predict long-term risks, ultimately ensuring that only the most suitable candidates are chosen." Chinese researchers have also revealed that the Chinese army has been using Meta's publicly available Llama model to develop an AI tool for potential military applications.

The Roosevelt Hotel: A window into New York City's history

The Roosevelt Hotel, a New York City landmark for over a century, once again faces an uncertain future. Last month, city officials announced plans to stop using it as a migrant shelter and processing center beginning this summer. Opened in 1924 to cater to passengers using the nearby Grand Central Terminal, the iconic hotel has weathered Prohibition, the Great Depression, a World War and 9/11. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, however, forced the hotel to close its doors to guests due to financial losses before its short-lived reincarnation in 2023 as a hub for undocumented migrants flooding the city. Through it all, the Roosevelt, affectionately known as the “Grand Dame of Madison Avenue,” became a favorite movie backdrop featured in countless Hollywood classics and TV shows. While its fate remains in question, the Roosevelt's past, captured in photographs and movies, serves as a microcosm of New York City and American history. Here are seven images that capture key moments in the hotel's history. 1924: Named after President Theodore Roosevelt, the hotel opened just four years after the start of Prohibition, the 13-year national ban on alcohol in the United States. While Prohibition forced some city hotels to close, the area around Grand Central flourished in the postwar years, attracting commercial developers, including those behind the Roosevelt. While not among New York's most opulent hotels, the four-star property stood as a towering presence in Midtown Manhattan, rising 19 stories into the skyline. Because of Prohibition, the Roosevelt broke with tradition and featured storefronts instead of lounges and bars on its street level. It was also among the first hotels in the world to offer pet service, child care and an in-house doctor. 1929: With alcohol off the menu, the Roosevelt became a magnet for tourists and music lovers. At the height of Prohibition, famed bandleader Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians performed their first live show at the hotel’s Roosevelt Grill, continuing to entertain fans for the next three decades. Their rendition of “Auld Lang Syne,” a Scottish song about old friendships and loves, became a New Year’s Eve tradition. Variety magazine later hailed Lombardo as the “only Canadian ever to create an American tradition,” cementing his legacy at the Roosevelt. 1943: Hotel magnate Conrad Hilton bought the Roosevelt, along with The Plaza hotel, calling the Roosevelt “a fine hotel with grand spaces,” and took up residence in its Presidential Suite. The acquisition established Hilton as the first coast-to-coast American hotel chain. Four years later, the Roosevelt made history again when it became the first to offer a television set in every room. But Hilton's ownership ended in 1956 when his company was forced to sell the property as part of an antitrust lawsuit brought by the government. 1948: The Roosevelt became a political hub in the mid-20th century, serving as the campaign headquarters for Republican presidential nominee Thomas Dewey in 1944 and 1948. Dewey lost both elections and conceded them from the hotel. In the years that followed, the hotel hosted other high-profile political events. 1970s-2010s: Starting in the 1970s, the Roosevelt, with its neoclassical facade and old- world interior, became a favorite filming location for Hollywood studios. Among the more than a dozen movies filmed there: “The French Connection” (1971), “Wall Street” (1987), “Presumed Innocent” (1990) and “Maid in Manhattan” (2002). Several TV shows have also been filmed there, among them: “Mad Men” and “Law & Order.” 1979: The hotel changed owners multiple times before Pakistan International Airlines, with backing from Saudi Prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud, took over its management from a New York real estate family. The agreement came with the option to buy the hotel for $36.5 million after 20 years — a deal the airline finalized in 2000. Considered a national asset by the Pakistan government, the Roosevelt became the preferred lodging place for visiting Pakistani prime ministers and other dignitaries to New York. In the late 1990s, the hotel hosted a live performance in the Grand Ballroom by Junoon, Pakistan’s biggest rock band. 2020-2023: In recent decades, the Roosevelt has struggled financially. In 2020, it closed its doors to guests, citing the “unprecedented environment" stemming from the pandemic. It received a fresh start when New York City signed a three-year, $220 million lease in 2023 to use it as a migrant shelter and processing center. But the lease proved a mere Band-Aid for the struggling hotel. In February 2024, Mayor Eric Adams announced the city was canceling the lease, marking the end of an era in New York history.

Trump says he'll buy a Tesla to show support for Musk

WASHINGTON — With Elon Musk facing escalating political blowback and financial troubles, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would buy a Tesla vehicle from his company, an unusual show of support from the president to his most powerful adviser. It was the latest example of how Trump has demonstrated loyalty to Musk, who spent heavily on his comeback campaign last year and has been a key figure in his second administration. The Republican president announced early Tuesday that he was going to buy a new Tesla as "a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American.” Musk's electric vehicle company is being battered by sagging sales and plunging stock prices. He continues to run the automaker — as well as the social media platform X and the rocket manufacturer SpaceX — while also serving as Trump's adviser on overhauling and downsizing the federal government. “Elon Musk is ‘putting it on the line’ in order to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!" Trump wrote on social media. "But the Radical Left Lunatics, as they often do, are trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the World’s great automakers, and Elon’s ‘baby,’ in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for.” The White House did not immediately elaborate on Trump's plans, such as how the purchase would be handled or where the car would be kept. Presidents almost never drive for security reasons. Joe Biden got behind the wheel of an electric truck while promoting domestic manufacturing, and Barack Obama took a spin with Jerry Seinfeld in the White House driveway for a comedy show. But regardless of the practicality of Trump's purchase, his overnight announcement about buying a Tesla represented another step in how the president has blurred lines by bringing Musk into his administration. Musk is the world's richest person, with billions of dollars in government contracts. He's also exerting sweeping influence over Trump's administration through the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and traveling frequently with the president. During an interview with the Fox Business Network on Monday, host Larry Kudlow asked Musk “how are you running your other businesses” while also advising Trump. “With great difficulty,” he said. “But there’s no turning back, you say?” Kudlow responded. “I’m just here trying to make government more efficient, eliminate waste and fraud,” Musk said. Tesla has recently faced protests and vandalism. Police are investigating gunshots fired at a dealership in Oregon, and fire officials are examining a blaze that destroyed four Cybertrucks at a Tesla lot in Seattle. At times, the White House has needed to play cleanup for Musk, who had never worked in public service before and has admitted that he'll make mistakes along the way. For example, Musk presented inflated estimates of fraud in government benefits such as Social Security on Monday, leading Democrats to argue that he was planning cuts to the popular programs. “Most of the federal spending is entitlements,” Musk said in the interview. “That’s the big one to eliminate.” The next morning, a White House account on X criticized news organizations as “lying hacks” and told Democrats to “spare us the fake outrage" about reducing benefits. “He was clearly talking about the WASTE in the programs," the White House posted.

Ukraine to present peace plan in US talks

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia — krainian officials are expected to present a partial ceasefire plan with Russia during talks Tuesday with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia. The Ukrainian plan includes halting long-range missiles strikes and a truce covering the Black Sea. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not expected to take part in Tuesday’s meetings, with Ukraine represented by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and military commander Pavlo Palisa.  Zelenskyy said on X ahead of the talks that Ukraine hopes for “practical outcomes.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz lead the U.S. delegation amid President Donald Trump’s push to broker a swift end to the war that began in early 2022 with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Rubio said Monday the United States hopes to resolve the pause in aid to Ukraine. He said the U.S. is in a listening mode and aims to understand what concessions Ukraine might be willing to make.  “The Ukrainians are already receiving all defensive intelligence information as we speak. I think all the notion of the pause in aid broadly is something I hope we can resolve. Obviously, I think what happens tomorrow will be key to that,” Rubio told reporters aboard a military plane before landing in Jeddah.  “We're not going to be sitting in a room drawing lines on a map, but just get a general sense of what concessions are in the realm of the possible for them [Ukrainians],” Rubio said, adding that there is no military solution to the war, and that both Russia and Ukraine need to “do difficult things.”  Later on Monday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Rubio in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah. Salman held a separate meeting with Zelenskyy in Riyadh earlier in the day.  Mineral deal?  Trump has voiced interest in making continued military aid conditional on access to Ukraine's raw materials.  More than four dozen minerals, including several types of rare earths, nickel and lithium, are considered critical to the U.S. economy and national defense. Ukraine has large deposits of uranium, lithium and titanium.  But Rubio clarified that securing a deal on Ukraine's mineral resources was not the primary focus of Tuesday’s talks.  “There's still more details to work out, and at this point, we're probably — rather than a memorandum of understanding — just wanting to sign a specific agreement. And that would take a little bit more time," he told reporters.  “I wouldn't prejudge tomorrow by whether or not we have a minerals deal. ... It's an important topic, but it's not the main topic on the agenda,” Rubio added.  Rubio also credited Britain and France for playing a constructive role in talks with Ukraine.  He told VOA that there have been no discussions about China playing a role in postwar peacekeeping and reconstruction in Ukraine.  This marks Rubio’s second visit to Saudi Arabia since taking office. He and other senior U.S. officials held talks with Russian officials in Riyadh on February 18. He is scheduled to travel to Canada on Wednesday for meetings with G7 foreign ministers. Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters

Rubio says purge of USAID programs complete, with 83% of agency's programs gone

Washington — Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday the Trump administration had finished its six-week purge of programs of the six-decade-old U.S. Agency for International Development, and said he would move the 18% of aid and development programs that survived under the State Department.  Rubio made the announcement in a post on X. It marked one of his relatively few public comments on what has been a historic shift away from U.S. foreign aid and development, executed by Trump political appointees at State and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency teams.  Rubio in the post thanked DOGE and "our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform" in foreign aid.  President Donald Trump on Jan. 20 issued an executive order directing a freeze of foreign assistance funding and a review of all of the tens of billions of dollars of U.S. aid and development work abroad. Trump charged that much of foreign assistance was wasteful and advanced a liberal agenda.  Rubio's social media post Monday said that review was now "officially ending," with some 5,200 of USAID's 6,200 programs eliminated.  Those programs "spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States," Rubio wrote.  "In consultation with Congress, we intend for the remaining 18% of programs we are keeping ... to be administered more effectively under the State Department," he said. Democratic lawmakers and others call the shutdown of congressionally-funded programs illegal, saying such a move requires Congress' approval.  The State Department in one of multiple lawsuits it is battling over its rapid shutdown of USAID had said earlier this month it was killing more than 90% of USAID programs. Rubio gave no explanation for why his number was lower, and no details of what programs were spared or how the State Department would run them.  The dismantling of USAID that followed Trump's order upended decades of policy that humanitarian and development aid abroad advanced U.S. national security by stabilizing regions and economies, strengthening alliances and building goodwill.  In the weeks after Trump's order, one of his appointees and transition team members, Pete Marocco, and Musk pulled USAID staff around the world off the job through forced leaves and firings, shut down USAID payments overnight and terminated aid and development contracts by the thousands.  Contractors and staffers running efforts ranging from epidemic control to famine prevention to job and democracy training stopped work. Aid groups and other USAID partners laid off tens of thousands of their workers in the U.S. and abroad.  Lawsuits brought by some of the nonprofit groups and businesses that had partnered with USAID say the form-letter contract terminations purge eliminated even programs that Rubio had said he wanted to save, violated the contract terms and stiffed aid groups and businesses of billions of dollars.  The shutdown has left many USAID staffers and contractors and their families still overseas, many of them awaiting U.S.-paid back payments and travel expenses back home. 

US-Ukraine to hold talks in Saudi Arabia on how to end war with Russia

Even as U.S.-led peace negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine recently faced setbacks, talks between Washington and Kyiv are set to take place this week in Saudi Arabia. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias has the details.

Firefighters knock down brush fire on Long Island, risk remains with high winds

New York — Firefighters in New York knocked down a dwindling brush fire in a wooded stretch of Long Island on Sunday as officials warned that high wind gusts could leave the region vulnerable to additional blazes. Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency a day earlier after four separate fires broke out across large swaths of Long Island's Pine Barrens region, prompting closures to the highway and evacuations of a military base. As of Sunday, all visible flames had been knocked down, including the last remaining fire burning in the hamlet of Westhampton, according to Suffolk County Fire Coordinator Rudy Sunderman. He said at a Sunday news conference that crews were working on containment lines around the fire to prevent further spread. Authorities said the fire had not grown since early Sunday. Still, officials were cautious as wind gusts of up to 48 kph were expected Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. "We're concerned because the winds are still blowing, that might spark up again," said Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine. Romaine thanked firefighters who worked through the night, adding that more than 80 volunteer fire departments battled the blaze, which burned about 243 hectares. Two firefighters were hospitalized for injuries and released, according to Sunderman. The cause of the fire remained under investigation. Dozens of detectives were interviewing 911 callers and using drones. Suffolk County officials said earlier that the police department's arson squad had initiated an investigation into the blaze, though there was no immediate evidence to suggest arson. "We're going to get to the bottom of what happened," said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina. "At this time it's too early to tell whether or not this fire started naturally or there's some nefarious origin." At least two commercial structures were damaged. Roughly 24 kilometers west, officials were monitoring a small brush fire along Sunrise Highway early Sunday, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Daniel J. Panico said. But there were no visible flames as of Sunday morning.

Secret Service shoots man near White House

Police in Washington are investigating the shooting of a man Sunday by U.S. Secret Service personnel near the White House. A Secret Service spokesperson said a day before the shooting, police had shared information about “a suicidal individual” who may have been traveling to Washington from the state of Indiana. Secret Service personnel spotted the person’s car near the White House and someone matching the person’s description walking in the area. The spokesperson said the person brandished a firearm as officers approached, and that Secret Service personnel fired shots during “an armed confrontation.” Authorities have not identified the person who was taken to a local hospital after being shot. No Secret Service personnel were injured, the agency said. President Donald Trump was in Florida at the time of the shooting. Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters    

Trump administration ends Iraq's waiver to buy Iranian electricity

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration rescinded a waiver on Saturday that had allowed Iraq to pay Iran for electricity, as part of President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran, a State Department spokesperson said. The decision to let Iraq's waiver lapse upon its expiration "ensures we do not allow Iran any degree of economic or financial relief," the spokesperson said, adding that Trump's campaign on Iran aims "to end its nuclear threat, curtail its ballistic missile program and stop it from supporting terrorist groups." Trump restored "maximum pressure" on Iran in one of his first acts after returning to office in January. In his first term, he pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal, a multinational agreement to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The U.S. government has said it wants to isolate Iran from the global economy and eliminate its oil export revenues in order to slow Tehran's development of a nuclear weapon. Iran denies pursuing nuclear weapons and says its program is peaceful. For Iraq, the end of the waiver "presents temporary operational challenges," said Farhad Alaaeldin, foreign affairs adviser to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. "The government is actively working on alternatives to sustain electricity supply and mitigate any potential disruptions," Alaaeldin told Reuters. "Strengthening energy security remains a national priority, and efforts to enhance domestic production, improve grid efficiency and invest in new technologies will continue at full pace." Washington has imposed a range of sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program and support for terrorist organizations, effectively banning countries that do business with Iran from doing business with the U.S. "President Trump has been clear that the Iranian Regime must cease its ambitions for a nuclear weapon or face Maximum Pressure," said national security spokesperson James Hewitt. "We hope the regime will put the interests of its people and the region ahead of its destabilizing policies." Pressure on Baghdad Trump initially granted waivers to several buyers to meet consumer energy needs when he reimposed sanctions on Iran's energy exports in 2018, citing its nuclear program and what the U.S. calls its meddling in the Middle East. His administration and that of Joe Biden repeatedly renewed Iraq's waiver while urging Baghdad to reduce its dependence on Iranian electricity. The State Department spokesperson reiterated that call on Saturday. "We urge the Iraqi government to eliminate its dependence on Iranian sources of energy as soon as possible," the spokesperson said. "Iran is an unreliable energy supplier." The U.S. has used the waiver review in part to increase pressure on Baghdad to allow Kurdish crude oil exports via Turkey, sources have told Reuters. The aim is to boost supply to the global market and keep prices in check, giving the U.S. more room to pursue efforts to choke off Iranian oil exports. Iraq’s negotiations with the semiautonomous Kurdish region over the oil export resumption have been fraught so far. "Iraq’s energy transition provides opportunities for U.S. companies, which are world-leading experts in increasing the productivity of power plants, improving electricity grids, and developing electricity interconnections with reliable partners," the State Department spokesperson said. The spokesperson played down the impact of Iranian electricity imports on Iraq's power grid, saying, "In 2023, electricity imports from Iran were only 4% of electricity consumption in Iraq."