Author: Tage

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 Dragon spacecraft are expected to reach the space station around 11:30 p.m. Saturday. Returning to Earth alongside Wilmore and Williams will be NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Their return is scheduled for Wednesday, to allow for an overlap of the two crews to brief the new team. Wilmore and Williams arrived aboard the International Space Station in June 2024 and expected to stay in space for about 10 days. But their return was delayed after mechanical issues with their spacecraft, which, after weeks of troubleshooting was subsequently sent back to Earth without them. Their return was continually pushed back due to other technical delays. …

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 paramedics. “Michael Garcia’s life has been forever changed,” his attorney, Nick Rowley, said. “No amount of money can undo the permanent catastrophic harm he has suffered, but this jury verdict is a critical step in holding Starbucks accountable for flagrant disregard for customer safety and failure to accept responsibility,” he added. Starbucks said it planned to appeal the verdict. “We sympathize with Mr. Garcia, but we disagree with the jury’s decision that we were at fault for this incident and believe the damages awarded to be excessive,” company spokesperson Jaci Anderson said in a statement. “We have always been committed to the highest safety standards in our stores, including the handling of hot drinks,” she added. …

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. …

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 charges that he illegally stored classified documents at his Florida estate and that he worked to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Both cases were dismissed after Trump won election in November, with the department citing a long-standing policy of not prosecuting a sitting president. “Now, as the chief law enforcement officer in our country, I will insist upon and demand full and complete accountability for the wrongs and abuses that have occurred. The American people have given us a mandate, a mandate like few people thought possible,” Trump said. Trump has fired prosecutors who investigated him during the Biden administration and scrutinized thousands of FBI agents who investigated some supporters of the president who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Representative Jamie Raskin, the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, called Trump’s speech a “staggering violation of [the] traditional boundary between independent criminal law enforcement and presidential political power.” Speaking outside Justice shortly after Trump spoke, Raskin said, “No other president in American history has stood at the Department of Justice to proclaim an agenda of criminal prosecution and retaliation against his political foes.” Trump has long been critical of both the department and the FBI. He has installed political allies into top leadership positions at both of those agencies. FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi attended Friday’s talk. In introducing Trump, Bondi said, “We all work for the greatest president in the history of our country. … He will never stop fighting for us, and we will never stop fighting for him and for our country.” During his speech, Trump promised “historic reforms” at the agencies and said, “Under the Trump administration, the DOJ and the FBI will once again become the premier crime fighting agencies on the face of the Earth.” His speech had echos of his campaign rallies, with music blaring from speakers before Trump entered the department’s Great … “Trump vows accountability for those who pursued him in court cases” →

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 court judge filing an injunction to usurp the executive authority of the president of the United States,” she added. In the suit filed by federal employee unions, U.S. District Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California said that the process had been a “sham,” as some employees were told they were being fired for poor performance. Just before issuing his ruling Thursday, Alsup said, “It is sad, a sad day. Our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie.” The departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury and Veterans Affairs were ordered to “immediately” rehire the employees. Alsup, however, noted that federal agencies may still proceed with reductions in force, following proper procedure. Later Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Bredar also ruled that probationary employees must be reinstated after finding that 18 agencies had acted illegally in firing them. Democratic attorneys general representing the District of Columbia, Maryland and 18 other states argued that agencies failed to follow proper procedures for mass layoffs, including providing states with 60 days’ notice. “Lacking the notice to which they were entitled, the states weren’t ready for the impact of so many unemployed people. They are still scrambling to catch up,” Bredar wrote in his memorandum explaining his decision. …

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 first simple salute to pi in 1988, Shaw and his wife, Catherine, took — guess what? — pies — and tea to the museum for the celebration of the infinite number. Shaw became known as the Prince of Pi and reigned over the museum’s annual honoring of the never-ending number for years, until his death in 2017. Pi Day festivities grew to include the honoring of mathematical genius Albert Einstein because he was born on March 14. The U.S. House of Representatives officially designated March 14 as National Pi Day in 2009. The Exploratorium posted on its website that this year’s observance of pi would include the annual Pi Procession, which the museum described as being executed by “a high spirited crowd” through the museum and would circle the museum’s Pi Shrine 3.14 times, while “waving the digits of pi and dancing along” to a brass band. And, of course, all participants in the revelry would be rewarded with a free slice of pie. Pi Day is now celebrated around the world by pi lovers and is viewed as a way to arouse interest in the sciences among young people. Pi lovers had a special treat in 2015, History.com reports. That year Pi Day was celebrated on 3/14/15 at 9:26:53 a.m. The combined numbers of the date and time represent the first 10 digits of pi — 3.141592653. …

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 short-term continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the government for the next six months, reduce total government spending by about $7 billion from last year’s levels and shift money to the military and away from non-defense spending. Many Democrats expressed anger after the top-ranking Democrat in the chamber, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, announced Thursday night that while he disliked the bill, a shutdown was a “far worse option.” Speaking on the Senate floor Friday morning, Schumer said not passing the Republican funding bill would give more power to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort led by Elon Musk, including which agencies would be shut down. “A shutdown would allow DOGE to shift into overdrive,” he said. Dozens of House Democrats, who opposed the funding measure in the lower chamber, sent a letter to Schumer on Friday, expressing their “strong opposition” to his plan to vote for the bill. Former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged Senate Democrats to go against their leader. In a Friday statement, she wrote, “America has experienced a Trump shutdown before — but this damaging legislation only makes matters worse.” Trump had called on Congress to pass the funding bill and on Friday praised Schumer for supporting it. “Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing — Took ‘guts’ and courage!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. Appropriations bills require a 60-vote threshold for passage in the Senate, which means Republicans needed to secure at least eight Democratic votes. The bill cleared the procedural hurdle 62-38. Schumer previously called for the Senate to pass an earlier version of the CR that Democrats were involved in negotiating. “Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort. But Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input, any input, from congressional Democrats,” Schumer said on the Senate floor late Wednesday. The House passed the short-term spending measure 217-213 on Tuesday. One Democrat voted for the bill and … “Senate averts government shutdown, overcomes Democratic opposition” →

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 hostages after receiving a proposal from mediators to resume negotiations on the second phase of a Gaza ceasefire deal. The statement said the proposal had been offered by unnamed mediators as part of the work in Qatar to restart ceasefire negotiations. The United States, Egypt and host Qatar have been mediating the ceasefire talks. Hamas expressed its “complete readiness to begin negotiations and reach a comprehensive agreement on the issues of the second phase.” Later Friday, in a joint statement issued along with the National Security Council, Witkoff’s office explained he and National Security Council Senior Middle East Director Eric Trager had presented the bridge proposal to extend the current ceasefire beyond Ramadan and Passover and allow time to negotiate a framework for a permanent ceasefire. In the statement, Witkoff said that under the proposal, Hamas would release additional living hostages in exchange for prisoners, and that the extension of the phase-one ceasefire would allow more time for humanitarian aid to resume into Gaza. He said the U.S. had its Qatari and Egyptian mediating partners convey to Hamas “in no uncertain terms” that the new proposal would have to be implemented soon and Edan Alexander would have to be released immediately. “Unfortunately, Hamas has chosen to respond by publicly claiming flexibility,” Witkoff said in the statement, “while privately making demands that are entirely impractical without a permanent ceasefire.” In a statement released on the X social media platform, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that while Israel had accepted “the Witkoff framework,” Hamas “continues to wage psychological warfare against hostage families.” The statement went on to say that the prime minister would convene his ministerial team Saturday evening for a detailed briefing from the negotiating team and “decide on steps to free the hostages and achieve all our war objectives.” Hamas is believed to be holding 24 living hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered its war with … “US envoy says Hamas misrepresented release of hostage” →

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. …

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. …

Officials tell VOA the shortage of amphibious warfare ships has reached a breaking point. While the ships make up just 10% of the fleet, they are the go-to alternative to aircraft carriers when commanders need something more precise or expedient. VOA Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb reports. …

PENTAGON — U.S. government lawyers are expected to face off with attorneys for civil and immigration rights groups over the use of a U.S. naval base in Cuba to hold migrants slated for deportation. Arguments in the two lawsuits over operations at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, filed against the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Kristi Noem, are set for a U.S. District Court in Washington on Friday. The suits allege that the U.S. government has overstepped its bounds by denying migrants sent to Guantanamo Bay access to legal representation and also by attempting to send migrants to the base’s facilities without the proper legal authority in violation of the U.S. Constitution. DHS officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the upcoming hearing, but they have repeatedly denied the allegations while criticizing the groups bringing the lawsuits. “The American Civil Liberties Union appears far more interested in promoting open borders and disrupting public safety missions than in protecting the civil liberties of Americans,” a DHS spokesperson told VOA in a statement earlier this month, declining to be named. “They should consider changing their name,” the spokesperson added, further describing the legal challenges as “baseless.” President Donald Trump first raised the idea of using the U.S. naval base in Cuba as part of his administration’s plans for mass deportations shortly after taking office in January. Homeland Security’s Noem said the base, which features a secure prison to hold captured terrorists, would be used to house “the worst of the worst.” Trump and other U.S. officials also suggested the base could be used to hold up to 30,000 migrants while they awaited deportation. Those plans, however, never fully materialized. The U.S. began sending what officials described as “high threat illegal aliens” to Guantanamo Bay’s detention center in early February, followed by other nonviolent migrants, who stayed at other facilities. At times, the facilities held close to 200 detainees, many of whom were deported to Honduras, Venezuela or other countries. But despite efforts to prepare the facilities for more migrants, capacity has been limited. According to a U.S. defense official, who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity, the prison as currently configured can hold only 130 detainees, while the base’s Migrant Operations Center and a temporary tent city can hold, at most, 550 people. As VOA first reported, DHS officials decided to remove all 40 remaining migrants from … “Homeland Security, rights group to meet in court over migrants at Guantanamo Bay” →

A California federal judge on Thursday ordered six U.S. agencies to reinstate thousands of recently hired employees who were fired as part of President Donald Trump’s purge of the federal workforce. The ruling made by U.S. District Judge William Alsup during a hearing in San Francisco applies to the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of Interior and the Treasury Department. Alsup last month temporarily blocked the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the human resources department for federal agencies, from ordering agencies to fire probationary employees, but he declined at the time to require that fired workers get their jobs back. Probationary workers typically have less than one year of service in their current roles, although some are longtime federal employees. They have fewer job protections than other government workers but, in general, can be fired only for performance issues. Alsup said on Thursday that OPM has no power to order firings, and there was evidence that it had improperly directed the termination of workers at the six agencies. He did not order the 16 other agencies named in the lawsuit by unions and nonprofit groups to reinstate workers. “It is a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie,” Alsup said. The potential scale of Trump’s efforts to shrink the U.S. federal government could become clearer on Thursday, the deadline for government agencies to submit plans for a second wave of mass layoffs and to slash their budgets. …

Washington — The recent arrest of Palestinian activist and U.S. legal permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil, who played a prominent role in last year’s Columbia University protests over the war in Gaza, has prompted questions about the limits of a green card. A green card holder since 2024, Khalil was granted lawful permanent residency status in the U.S. But green card holders can lose their status and face deportation if they violate immigration law. A federal judge on Wednesday extended efforts to halt Khalil’s deportation, and the New York resident remains in detention in Louisiana although he has not been charged with any crime. It is not a criminal offense to disagree, even openly, with the U.S. government’s policy or actions, and the Bill of Rights protects free speech and the right to assemble. The why Green cards can be revoked, New York-based immigration lawyer Linda Dakin-Grimm told VOA. “It’s not that common, but it also isn’t rare. People lose their green cards most often when they’re convicted of crimes. … A green card is not citizenship. It’s seen as a privilege that you earn, but you can also lose it if you engage in conduct that is contrary to the conditions that green card holders live under,” she said. Examples of crimes that can cause a green card holder can lose their status include aggravated felonies, drug offenses, fraud, or national security concerns such as ties to a terrorist group. Green card holders can also lose their status and lawful permanent residency status for being deemed a threat to national security. If a green card holder is accused of a crime, their criminal case will go through the justice system. But the process to revoke their permanent status takes place in immigration court, where officials must present evidence to justify revoking a green card. The how Revoking a green card is a legal process that starts when the U.S. government determines that an individual has violated immigration laws. The case can come to the government’s attention in different ways, either through a routine immigration check, law enforcement investigation, or whistleblower. “It could theoretically be a whistleblower. Someone who has some information. … Could they call the State Department? Maybe. Could they call the ICE hotline? Maybe,” Dakin-Grimm said. The Department of Homeland Security usually initiates the process. The green card holder will receive a document known as a Notice to Appear … “Under what circumstances can a US green card be revoked?” →

Demonstrators from a Jewish group filled the lobby of Trump Tower on Thursday to denounce the immigration arrest of a Columbia University activist who helped lead student protests on the Manhattan campus against Israel’s war in Gaza. The Jewish Voice for Peace protesters, who wore red shirts reading “Jews say stop arming Israel” and carried banners reading “Opposing fascism is a Jewish tradition” and “Fight Nazis not students,” chanted “Bring Mahmoud home now!” Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident who is married to an American citizen and who hasn’t been charged with breaking any laws, was arrested outside his New York City apartment on Saturday and faces deportation. President Donald Trump has said Khalil’s arrest was the first “of many to come” and vowed on social media to deport students who he said engage in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.” Police, who were staged inside and outside the Fifth Avenue building ahead of the demonstration, began arresting protesters after warning them to leave. Among the protesters was actor Debra Winger, who has discussed her Jewish faith and upbringing over the years. Winger accused the Trump administration of having “no interest in Jewish safety” and “co-opting antisemitism.” Khalil’s supporters say his arrest is an attack on free speech and have staged protests elsewhere in the city and around the country. Hundreds demonstrated Wednesday outside a Manhattan courthouse during a brief hearing on his case. Trump Tower serves as headquarters for the Trump Organization and is where the president stays when he is in New York. The skyscraper often attracts demonstrations, both against and in support of its namesake, though protests inside are less common. The building’s main entrance opens to a multi-story atrium that is open to the public and connects visitors to stores and eateries such as the Trump Grill. Khalil, 30, was being detained at an immigration detention center in Louisiana, where he has remained after a brief stop at a New Jersey lockup. Columbia was a focal point of the pro-Palestinian protest movement that swept across U.S. college campuses last year and led to more than 2,000 arrests. Khalil, whose wife is pregnant with their first child, finished his requirements for a Columbia master’s degree in December. Born in Syria, he is a grandson of Palestinians who were forced to leave their homeland, his lawyers said in a legal filing. …

WASHINGTON — The White House has withdrawn the nomination of Dr. David Weldon, a former Florida congressman, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Senate health committee announced Thursday morning that it was canceling a planned hearing on Weldon’s nomination because of the withdrawal. A person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the White House pulled the nomination because it became clear Weldon did not have the votes for confirmation. Weldon was considered to be closely aligned with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. health secretary who for years has been one of the nation’s leading anti-vaccine activists. A former Florida congressman, Weldon also has been a prominent critic of vaccines and the CDC, which promotes vaccines and monitors their safety. Weldon becomes the third Trump administration nominee who didn’t make it to a confirmation hearing. Previously, former congressman Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration for attorney general and Chad Chronister for the Drug Enforcement Administration. …

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced a wave of regulatory rollbacks on Wednesday including a repeal of Biden-era emissions limits on power plants and automobiles, as well as reduced protections for waterways. The announcements from Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency align with the president’s vows to slash regulations to boost industries from coal to manufacturing and ramp up oil and minerals production. But they are also destined to weaken bedrock environmental rules imposed by past presidencies to protect air and water quality and fight climate change. “Today is the most consequential day of deregulation in American history,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a video message posted on X. In total, his agency announced more than 30 deregulatory measures in a dizzying succession of press releases. Zeldin started the day by announcing he will narrow the definition of waterways that receive protection under the Clean Water Act — a move that could ease limits on runoff pollution from agriculture, mining, and petrochemicals. The agency later said it would review the Biden-era clean power plant rule that seeks to reduce carbon emissions from power plants to fight global warming and would also roll back greenhouse gas emissions standards for heavy- and light-duty vehicles for model year 2027 and later. The power and transport industries together make up around half of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and were vital targets in former President Joe Biden’s efforts to slow climate change. The agency also said it will take steps to undo a scientific finding from 2009 that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health, a provision that forms the bedrock of the EPA’s greenhouse-gas regulations so far. The so-called “endangerment finding” came as a result of a Supreme Court ruling in the 2007 Massachusetts v. EPA case that greenhouse gases are covered by the Clean Air Act. The EPA under former President Barack Obama finalized the finding in 2009, and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act – Joe Biden’s signature climate law – codified language deeming greenhouse gases are air pollutants. Obama’s EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said Wednesday was “the most disastrous day in EPA history.” Environmental groups said they will fight the rollback. “This move won’t stand up in court. We’re going to fight it every step of the way,” said Jason Rylander, legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. Other environmental groups slammed Trump’s broader deregulation agenda. “EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is … “EPA announces rollback of dozens of environmental regulations” →

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 … “US October-February budget deficit hits record $1.147 trillion” →

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. …

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, … “US markets flail amid trade war, uncertainty in Washington” →

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 … “Judge extends ban on Columbia student’s deportation from US” →

WASHINGTON — The son of imprisoned pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai this week brought the campaign to secure his father’s release to the Trump administration in Washington. Nearly two months into President Donald Trump’s second term, Lai’s son Sebastien and their international legal team were in Washington this week to meet with Trump administration officials and lawmakers in hopes that the United States can help push for Lai’s release. Lai, a businessman and founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong, stands accused of collusion with foreign forces and sedition under a Beijing-imposed national security law. He rejects the charges, but if convicted in an ongoing trial, he could face life in prison. “We were incredibly grateful that President Trump said that he will help release my father. It’s given us as a family a lot of hope,” the younger Lai said at a Wednesday event at the Cato Institute think tank in Washington. In October 2024, Trump said he would “100%” be able to secure Lai’s release if he were reelected. “I’ll get him out. He’ll be easy to get out. But we don’t have people that even talk about it,” Trump said in an interview with conservative podcast host Hugh Hewitt. The White House did not reply to VOA’s email requesting comment on whether the Trump administration had any specific plans to help secure Lai’s release. But a State Department spokesperson reaffirmed that the United States calls for Lai’s immediate release. “Lai’s lengthy trial and unjust detention are an example of how China uses vague national security laws to suppress fundamental freedoms and political discourse,” the spokesperson added in a statement emailed to VOA on Wednesday. Lai, a 77-year-old British national, has been held in solitary confinement in Hong Kong since late 2020. His trial, which was originally estimated to last about 80 days, has been ongoing since December 2023 and is widely viewed as politically motivated. Hong Kong authorities have rejected accusations that Lai’s trial is unfair and maintain that press freedom and the rule of law are intact. Speaking at the Cato Institute event, Mark Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong, suggested that the U.S. government should use sanctions against Hong Kong officials as a way to push for Lai’s release. Clifford, who previously served on the board of Apple Daily’s parent company, also suggested the United States could shutter the Hong … “Advocates for jailed publisher Lai turn to Trump administration” →

DAMASCUS, SYRIA — The United States encouraged its Syrian Kurdish allies to reach Monday’s landmark deal with the Islamist-led government in Damascus, six sources said, an agreement that could stave off further conflict in northern Syria at a time of uncertainty over the future of U.S. forces deployed there. The deal aims to stitch back together a country fractured by 14 years of war, paving the way for Kurdish-led forces, which hold a quarter of Syria, to merge with Damascus along with regional Kurdish governing bodies. Key details of how this will happen have yet to be spelled out, however. General Mazloum Abdi, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), was flown to Damascus for Monday’s signing with interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa aboard a U.S. military aircraft, three sources said. Three other sources — U.S. officials — said the United States had encouraged the SDF to move toward an agreement to resolve its status in the new Syria — the focus of multi-track talks which began after Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December and which Reuters reported on in January. “The U.S. played a very crucial role,” a senior regional intelligence source said. The deal came at a moment of pressure on both sides. Sharaa is grappling with the fallout of sectarian killings, which were reportedly carried out by militants aligned with his government, while the SDF is locked in conflict with Turkey-backed Syrian groups who are allied to Damascus. Four sources, including one close to the Syrian government, said the sectarian violence had nudged along the agreement. The intelligence source and a Damascus-based diplomat expected the deal to ease Turkish military pressure on the SDF, deemed by Ankara as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Turkey has welcomed the agreement. A Syrian government official said the presidency would work to address pending issues between the SDF and Turkey. Deep ties Washington has developed deep ties to Syria’s Kurdish groups since deploying forces to the country to fight Islamic State a decade ago, partnering with Kurdish fighters despite objections from Turkey. The U.S. troop deployment has come into renewed focus since President Donald Trump returned to power. Ahead of any policy decisions on Syria, the Pentagon has started developing plans for a potential withdrawal, should one be ordered, U.S. officials tell Reuters. Still, a U.S. defense official told Reuters on Tuesday there was no sign that a … “US steered Syrian Kurds toward Damascus deal, sources say” →

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice has dropped a civil rights lawsuit it filed last year against the national nonprofit Southwest Key Programs alleging its employees had sexually abused unaccompanied minors who were housed in its shelters after entering the country illegally, according to a court filing. Austin, Texas-based nonprofit Southwest Key contracts with the federal government to care for young migrants arriving in the U.S. without parents or legal guardians. It has operated 27 shelters in Texas, Arizona and California. It is the largest provider of shelter to unaccompanied minor children. The U.S. Department of Justice sued in July 2024 in the Western District of Texas alleging a pattern of “severe or pervasive sexual harassment” going back to at least 2015 in the network of Southwest Key shelters. The complaint includes alleged cases of “severe sexual abuse and rape, solicitation of sex acts, solicitation of nude photos, entreaties for sexually inappropriate relationships, sexual comments and gestures.” The department decided to drop the lawsuit after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services stopped the placement of unaccompanied migrant children in shelters operated by Southwest Key and initiated a review of its grants with the organization, the department said in a press release on Wednesday. The department said it has moved all children in Southwest Key shelters to other shelters. “For too long, pernicious actors have exploited such children both before and after they enter the United States,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in the release. “Today’s action is a significant step toward ending this appalling abuse of innocents.” While Southwest Key did not immediately respond to a request for comment, it had previously sought to have the case dismissed and denied the allegations of sexual assault of children. “Southwest Key takes pride in its record of providing safe shelter care, and it vehemently denies the allegations that there is any ‘pattern or practice’ of sexual abuse, harassment or misconduct at its facilities, or that it ‘failed to take reasonable, appropriate, and sufficient action to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual abuse and harassment of the children entrusted to its care,’” it wrote in a court filing last year. The plans to dismiss the case were first reported by Bloomberg. In that story, the news outlet reported that an attorney for Southwest Key had reached out to the Justice Department and asked it to dismiss the matter, saying … “US drops lawsuit against shelter provider accused of sexual abuse of migrant children” →

DUBAI — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday rejected the idea of holding negotiations with the United States over a nuclear deal, as a letter arrived from U.S. President Donald Trump calling for such talks. Trump said last week he had sent a letter to Khamenei proposing nuclear talks but also warning that “there are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal” preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. The letter was handed over to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on Wednesday by Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates. While Araqchi and Gargash were meeting, Khamenei told a group of university students that Trump’s offer for talks was “a deception aimed at misleading public opinion,” state media reported. “When we know they won’t honor it, what’s the point of negotiating? Therefore, the invitation to negotiate … is a deception of public opinion,” Khamenei was quoted as saying by state media. Khamenei said negotiating with the Trump administration, which he said has excessive demands, “will tighten the knot of sanctions and increase pressure on Iran.” In 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy. Tehran reacted a year later by violating the deal’s nuclear curbs. Khamenei, who has the final word in Iranian state matters, said last week that Tehran would not be bullied into talks with “excessive demands” and threats. The UAE, one of Washington’s key Middle East security partners and host to U.S. troops, also maintains warm ties with Tehran. Despite past tensions, business and trade links between the two countries have remained strong, and Dubai has served as a key commercial hub for Iran for more than a century. While leaving the door open for a nuclear pact with Tehran, Trump has reinstated the “maximum pressure” campaign he applied in his first term as president to isolate Iran from the global economy and drive its oil exports towards zero. Iran has long denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. “If we wanted to build nuclear weapons, the U.S. would not be able to stop it. We ourselves do not want it,” Khamenei said. However, Iran’s stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, has jumped, the International Atomic Energy Agency said late last month. Separately, … “Iran’s Khamenei rejects idea of nuclear talks with US” →

The United States says China is the biggest threat to its national security, the pacing challenge that America’s military must stay ahead of to remain the world’s largest and most lethal fighting force. But as VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb reports, while the Chinese navy keeps growing, the number of ships in the U.S. fleet is decreasing. VOA footage by Mary Cieslak, Adam Greenbaum, Phil Datcher. …