https://www.voanews.com Voice of America is an international news and broadcast organization serving Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia, the Middle East and Balkan countries https://www.voanews.com/Content/responsive/VOA/en-US/img/logo.png https://www.voanews.com en 2026 - VOA 60 Tue, 09 Jun 2026 19:35:05 -0400 Pangea CMS – VOA The Vatican issued an update Saturday on the health of Pope Francis, who remains in Rome’s Gemelli hospital under the care of doctors, saying that while his prognosis remains "complex," the pope is no longer in "imminent danger" of death.On Friday, the Vatican’s Holy See Press Office announced that since Francis’ condition is now considered stable, barring any major developments, updates on his health will be less frequent. The 88-year-old pontiff has spent four weeks in... https://www.voanews.com/a/vatican-francis-stable-out-of-imminent-danger-of-death/8011730.html https://www.voanews.com/a/vatican-francis-stable-out-of-imminent-danger-of-death/8011730.html Sat, 15 Mar 2025 14:09:19 -0400 Europewebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) Britain’s leader encouraged his global counterparts to continue pushing for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine at the start of a virtual meeting Saturday intended to end the fighting between the two countries.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told a virtual meeting of mostly European leaders that “sooner or later” Russia would have to engage in talks on reaching a ceasefire in the three-year conflict.He addressed the group, described as a “coalition of the willing,” of mostly European... https://www.voanews.com/a/starmer-sooner-or-later-russia-must-yield-to-peace/8011681.html https://www.voanews.com/a/starmer-sooner-or-later-russia-must-yield-to-peace/8011681.html Sat, 15 Mar 2025 11:56:05 -0400 Ukrainewebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) The replacement crew for the International Space Station was launched late Friday, paving the way for the return home of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, two NASA astronauts stuck on the space station for nine months.The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 7:03 p.m. from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying Crew-10 members: NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi and Russia’s Kirill Peskov. The crew is part of a routine six-month rotation.Crew-10 and the... https://www.voanews.com/a/nasa-spacex-launch-crew-to-space-station-to-retrieve-stuck-astronauts/8011575.html https://www.voanews.com/a/nasa-spacex-launch-crew-to-space-station-to-retrieve-stuck-astronauts/8011575.html Sat, 15 Mar 2025 06:04:44 -0400 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) A California jury Friday imposed a $50 million fine on Starbucks in the case of a delivery driver burned by a scalding cup of hot tea at a company location in Los Angeles.Michael Garcia was picking up three drinks in 2020 but one, he claimed, was "negligently" unsecured and spilled in his lap. He claimed that he consequently "suffered severe burns, disfigurement, and debilitating nerve damage to his genitals" and he was taken to an emergency room by... https://www.voanews.com/a/8011572.html https://www.voanews.com/a/8011572.html Sat, 15 Mar 2025 05:47:48 -0400 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) 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... https://www.voanews.com/a/us-appeals-court-allows-dei-crackdown/8011570.html https://www.voanews.com/a/us-appeals-court-allows-dei-crackdown/8011570.html Sat, 15 Mar 2025 05:35:26 -0400 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) A Friday report by the United Nations says Iran is using advanced technology, including drones, facial recognition and a citizen-reporting app to crack down on violations of its mandatory hijab laws.A key element of the effort is the government-backed Nazer app, which enables the police and "vetted" members of the public to report alleged violations by women in vehicles, including those in ambulances, mass transit and taxis. The report describes the app as allowing users to upload... https://www.voanews.com/a/un-iran-using-drones-to-enforce-hijab-law/8011563.html https://www.voanews.com/a/un-iran-using-drones-to-enforce-hijab-law/8011563.html Sat, 15 Mar 2025 04:49:23 -0400 Iranwebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) Cuba’s power grid failed Friday night, leaving millions of the island nation’s 10 million residents in the dark.The outage, which began around 8 p.m. Eastern time, affected most of western Cuba, including the capital of Havana.Cuba has struggled with blackouts in recent months, including a nationwide one in December. Friday’s power failure was the fourth widespread one in five months. Government officials blame U.S. economic sanctions for the ongoing crisis, while others point to aging... https://www.voanews.com/a/widespread-power-outage-in-cuba-leaves-millions-in-dark-/8011557.html https://www.voanews.com/a/widespread-power-outage-in-cuba-leaves-millions-in-dark-/8011557.html Sat, 15 Mar 2025 04:15:11 -0400 Americaswebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) 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... https://www.voanews.com/a/forecasters-warn-of-tornadoes-in-us-in-coming-days/8011541.html https://www.voanews.com/a/forecasters-warn-of-tornadoes-in-us-in-coming-days/8011541.html Sat, 15 Mar 2025 02:11:12 -0400 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) U.S. President Donald Trump promised to seek accountability for those who pursued legal cases against him when he was out of office, speaking Friday at the Justice Department."Our predecessors turned this Department of Justice into the Department of Injustice. But I stand before you today to declare that those days are over, and they are never going to come back. They're never coming back," Trump said.During his years out of office, the department twice indicted Trump on... https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-vows-accountability-for-those-who-pursued-him-in-court-cases-/8011522.html https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-vows-accountability-for-those-who-pursued-him-in-court-cases-/8011522.html Fri, 14 Mar 2025 23:12:18 -0400 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday that South Africa's ambassador to Washington had been declared persona non grata, signaling worsening relations between the two countries.In a post on X, Rubio said South Africa's ambassador to the U.S., Ebrahim Rasool, was "no longer welcome in our great country.""Ebrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS [President of the United States]."There has been no immediate... https://www.voanews.com/a/us-to-expel-south-africa-ambassador-as-relations-deteriorate/8011493.html https://www.voanews.com/a/us-to-expel-south-africa-ambassador-as-relations-deteriorate/8011493.html Fri, 14 Mar 2025 22:05:55 -0400 Africawebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) Federal judges in two separate cases ruled this week that recent mass firings of employees as part of President Donald Trump’s push to cut the size of the federal workforce were illegal and ordered thousands of probationary employees to be reinstated — at least for now.The Trump administration pushed back, filing appeals in both cases."This injunction is entirely unconstitutional," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday."You cannot have a low-level district... https://www.voanews.com/a/judges-rule-mass-firings-of-agency-employees-to-be-illegal-/8011510.html https://www.voanews.com/a/judges-rule-mass-firings-of-agency-employees-to-be-illegal-/8011510.html Fri, 14 Mar 2025 22:03:43 -0400 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) Hindus across India and other South Asian countries, dressed mostly in white, smeared or sprayed friends and relatives with brightly colored powder Friday as millions celebrated the return of spring during Holi, the festival of colors.Friday is a nationwide holiday in India, so people can participate in the raucous, joyfully messy celebration, which usually lands on the last full moon of the lunar month heralding the end of winter.In neighboring Nepal, festival activities began Thursday and... https://www.voanews.com/a/millions-celebrate-hindu-holi-festival-approach-of-spring-/8011484.html https://www.voanews.com/a/millions-celebrate-hindu-holi-festival-approach-of-spring-/8011484.html Fri, 14 Mar 2025 21:41:19 -0400 South & Central Asiawebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) March 14 is Pi Day, an annual celebration of the mathematical constant of pi, representing the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter.The holiday is observed on March 14 or 3/14 because 3.14 are the first three digits of the infinite number pi — 3.14159 ... and on and on.The celebration of Pi Day was the brainchild of physicist Larry Shaw and was first observed in 1988 at San Francisco’s Exploratorium, a science museum, and has since grown into an international event.At that... https://www.voanews.com/a/pi-day-counts-on-never-ending-numerical-sequence-for-march-14-celebrations-/8011286.html https://www.voanews.com/a/pi-day-counts-on-never-ending-numerical-sequence-for-march-14-celebrations-/8011286.html Fri, 14 Mar 2025 19:57:14 -0400 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) The U.S. Senate passed a stopgap spending bill Friday evening, averting a partial government shutdown and overcoming Democratic opposition to the measure.The bill passed 54-46 after clearing a more difficult procedural hurdle to stop debate on the measure, which required at least 60 votes.The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed the bill earlier this week to meet a March 14 deadline to keep the government running.Senate Democrats had fractured over whether to support the... https://www.voanews.com/a/us-government-shutdown-likely-averted-democrats-fracture/8011226.html https://www.voanews.com/a/us-government-shutdown-likely-averted-democrats-fracture/8011226.html Fri, 14 Mar 2025 19:03:31 -0400 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said a Hamas statement issued Friday announcing it had agreed to release an American-Israeli soldier was, in reality, a condition of a "bridge" ceasefire proposal offered by U.S. officials earlier this week.Early Friday, the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas issued a statement saying it had agreed to release Edan Alexander, believed to be the last living American hostage held in Gaza, as well as the bodies of four other... https://www.voanews.com/a/us-envoy-says-hamas-misrepresented-release-of-hostage/8011067.html https://www.voanews.com/a/us-envoy-says-hamas-misrepresented-release-of-hostage/8011067.html Fri, 14 Mar 2025 15:35:19 -0400 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that there were 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... https://www.voanews.com/a/kremlin-reasons-to-be-optimistic-about-ceasefire-deal/8010812.html https://www.voanews.com/a/kremlin-reasons-to-be-optimistic-about-ceasefire-deal/8010812.html Fri, 14 Mar 2025 12:13:20 -0400 Ukrainewebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) 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... https://www.voanews.com/a/report-us-bird-population-is-declining/8010492.html https://www.voanews.com/a/report-us-bird-population-is-declining/8010492.html Fri, 14 Mar 2025 02:55:47 -0400 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had trapped the remaining Ukrainian soldiers in its western Kursk region, where they have held on for more than seven months in one of the most important battles of the war.Putin told reporters in Moscow that the situation in Kursk was "completely under our control, and the group that invaded our territory is in isolation," according to Reuters.Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Kursk last August to divert... https://www.voanews.com/a/putin-says-ukrainians-must-surrender-or-die-/8010430.html https://www.voanews.com/a/putin-says-ukrainians-must-surrender-or-die-/8010430.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 22:50:59 -0400 Europewebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for a U.S. ceasefire proposal to halt Russia’s war with Ukraine for 30 days, but he stressed that many details would have to be worked out and that any truce should pave the way to lasting peace.“We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis,” Putin told reporters Thursday in Moscow. He went on to list several... https://www.voanews.com/a/us-russian-officials-to-discuss-ukraine-ceasefire-proposal/8009215.html https://www.voanews.com/a/us-russian-officials-to-discuss-ukraine-ceasefire-proposal/8009215.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 07:16:18 -0400 Ukrainewebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) Russian aerial attacks overnight killed at least two people in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, officials said Thursday.Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram his region came under attack by Russian drones and shelling, and that one other person was injured.In the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, Governor Serhiy Lysak said at least three people were hospitalized after a Russian attack hit the city of Dnipro.Lysak said on Telegram the attack damaged multiple apartment... https://www.voanews.com/a/deadly-russian-aerial-attacks-hit-ukraine-s-kherson-region/8009158.html https://www.voanews.com/a/deadly-russian-aerial-attacks-hit-ukraine-s-kherson-region/8009158.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 05:50:57 -0400 Ukrainewebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)