Author: Tage

The United States enacted new 25% tariffs Wednesday on all steel and aluminum imports, ending previous exemptions that had been in place for a number of U.S. allies. The move affects imports from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and the European Union. “In my judgment, these modifications are necessary to address the significantly increasing share of imports of steel articles and derivative steel articles from these sources, which threaten to impair U.S. national security,” U.S. President Donald Trump said in a proclamation announcing the tariffs. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the U.S. action “entirely unjustified,” but ruled out imposing retaliatory tariffs. “Tariffs and escalating trade tensions are a form of economic self-harm and a recipe for slower growth and higher inflation. They are paid by the consumers. This is why Australia will not be imposing reciprocal tariffs on the United States,” Albanese said Wednesday. Canada was spared an even higher set of tariffs after Trump backed down from a threat to push duties on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50%. Trump ignited an economic war last week with Canada, normally a staunch ally and the second biggest U.S. trading partner after Mexico, by first imposing and then delaying for a month a 25% tariff on all products exported to the United States. Trump said he is pressuring Canada to further curb the flow of migrants and illicit drugs, especially the deadly opioid fentanyl, into the United States. Canada’s response included officials in Ontario province imposing a 25% levy on electricity sold to 1.5 million American customers, drawing Trump’s ire and the threat to increase the steel and aluminum tariffs. U.S. and Canadian officials spoke Tuesday and agreed to reverse course, with Ontario canceling the electricity levy and the Trump administration dropping the steel and aluminum tariffs back to 25%. Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau retaliated to Trump’s targeting of Canadian goods last week by announcing increased tariffs on U.S. exports. Mark Carney, who is set to become prime minister in the coming days, said Tuesday that the government’s response will maximize impact on the United States and minimize impact on Canada. “My government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect and make credible, reliable commitments to free and fair trade,” Carney said in a statement. Trump has further stoked tensions with Canada by suggesting it become the 51st U.S. state. … “US enacts tariffs on all steel, aluminum imports” →

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. …

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 … “China boosting development of AI for use in trade war with US” →

The Republican-majority U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday took a key step toward funding the federal government past a March 14 deadline. The short-term spending measure — also known as a continuing resolution (CR) — passed in a 217-213 vote, with one Republican voting no and one Democrat voting yes. The measure still has to pass the Republican-majority Senate to be signed into law. “Voting against the CR will hurt the American people and kill the incredible momentum that President [Donald] Trump has built over the past 51 days,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday afternoon. Appropriations bills are required to pass a 60-vote threshold for passage in the Senate, which means Republicans will need to secure Democratic votes. The House went out of session for the rest of the week starting Tuesday afternoon, putting pressure on senators to pass its version of the CR. “We are prepared to take it up here in the Senate and make sure that on Friday, the government stays open. But it will be up to the Democrats as to whether or not that happens between now and then,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Tuesday. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson quelled dissent from within his own party to pass the spending measure. He told reporters Tuesday the seven-month continuing resolution was an important step toward implementing Trump’s agenda of rooting out government waste and abuse through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “It allows us to move forward with changing the size and scope of the federal government. There is a seismic shift going on in Washington right now. This is a different moment than we have ever been in. The DOGE work is finding massive amounts of fraud, waste and abuse,” Johnson said. “We have a White House that is actually dedicated to getting us back onto a fiscally responsible track.” Independent watchdogs and analysts, however, say DOGE is using overly broad claims of fraud to generate support for large-scale cuts to federal programs and offices. Earlier Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance spoke to lawmakers on Capitol Hill to shore up support for the measure. Representative Thomas Massie was the lone Republican holdout, despite Trump’s post Monday night on Truth Social calling for Massie to lose his seat if he voted against the spending measure. The continuing resolution buys lawmakers time to reach a compromise on Senate … “US House passes short-term funding resolution as shutdown date nears” →

The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed two bills involving China. One will restrict the Department of Homeland Security from purchasing batteries made by Chinese companies. The other will set up a working group in the Department of Homeland Security to monitor and respond to threats from China. The bills will now await consideration by the Senate. Click here for the full story in Mandarin. …

Measles outbreaks in West Texas and New Mexico are now up to more than 250 cases, and two unvaccinated people have died from measles-related causes. Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that is airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000. Texas state health officials said Tuesday there were 25 new cases of measles since the end of last week, bringing Texas’ total to 223. Twenty-nine people in Texas are hospitalized. New Mexico health officials announced three new cases Tuesday, bringing the state’s total to 33. The outbreak has spread from Lea County, which neighbors the West Texas communities at the epicenter of the outbreak, to include one case in Eddy County. Oklahoma’s state health department reported two probable cases of measles Tuesday, saying they are associated with the West Texas and New Mexico outbreaks. A school-age child died of measles in Texas last month, and New Mexico reported its first measles-related death in an adult last week. Measles cases have been reported in Alaska, California, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines an outbreak as three or more related cases — and there have been three clusters that qualified as outbreaks in 2025. In the U.S., cases and outbreaks are generally traced to someone who caught the disease abroad. It can then spread, especially in communities with low vaccination rates. The best way to avoid measles is to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old. People at high risk for infection who got the shots many years ago may want to consider getting a booster if they live in an area with an outbreak, said Scott Weaver with the Global Virus Network, an international coalition. Those may include family members living with someone who has measles or those especially vulnerable to respiratory diseases because of underlying medical conditions. Adults with “presumptive evidence of immunity” generally don’t need measles shots now, the CDC said. Criteria include written documentation of adequate vaccination earlier in life, lab confirmation of past infection or being born before 1957, when most people were likely to be infected naturally. … “Measles cases rising in southwestern US as more states report infections” →

The American South has long been associated with white-columned mansions, rustic farmhouses, and aging structures steeped in history. But an exhibition at the National Building Museum in Washington is showcasing the vibrant, modern and forward-thinking architecture emerging from the region today. Maxim Adams has the story. Video editor: Sergii Dogotar, Anna Rice …

U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up his trade war with Canada on Tuesday, doubling the 25% U.S. tariff on its northern neighbor’s steel and aluminum exports to 50% after Canada’s Ontario provincial leader said he is adding a 25% levy on electricity sold to 1.5 million American customers. In an all-caps post on his Truth Social media platform, Trump called Canada “one of the highest tariffing nations anywhere in the world.” The president said the doubled U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs would take effect Wednesday morning. In addition, Trump demanded that Ottawa “must immediately drop their Anti-American Farmer Tariff of 250% to 390% on various U.S. dairy products, which has long been considered outrageous.” Trump ignited the economic war last week with Canada, normally a staunch ally and the U.S.’s second-biggest trading partner after Mexico, by first imposing and then delaying for a month a 25% tariff on all products exported to the United States. Trump said he is pressuring Canada to further curb the flow of migrants and illicit drugs, especially the deadly opioid fentanyl, into the United States. Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau retaliated by announcing increased tariffs on U.S. exports. Then, Doug Ford, Ontario’s provincial leader, said that effective Monday, he was charging 25% more for electricity Ontario sends to residential and business customers in three northern U.S. states that border Canada: Michigan, Minnesota and New York. “I will not hesitate to increase this charge. If the United States escalates, I will not hesitate to shut the electricity off completely,” Ford said at a news conference in Toronto. He added, “Believe me when I say I do not want to do this. I feel terrible for the American people, who didn’t start this trade war. It’s one person who is responsible. It’s President Trump.” With the added Canadian duty, U.S. residential bills in the three states would increase by about $69 a month, Ford said. In his social media posting, Trump responded that he will “shortly be declaring a National Emergency on Electricity within the threatened area. This will allow the U.S to quickly do what has to be done to alleviate this abusive threat from Canada.” “If other egregious, long time Tariffs are not likewise dropped by Canada, I will substantially increase, on April 2nd, the Tariffs on Cars coming into the U.S. which will, essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada,” … “Trump escalates trade war; doubles tariffs on Canada steel, aluminum” →

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 Roosevelt Hotel: A window into New York City’s history” →

WASHINGTON — The arrest of a Palestinian activist who helped organize campus protests of the war in Gaza has sparked questions about whether foreign students and green card holders are protected against being deported from the U.S. Mahmoud Khalil was arrested Saturday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Homeland Security officials and President Donald Trump have indicated that the arrest was directly tied to his role in the protests last spring at Columbia University in New York City. Khalil is being held at an immigration detention center in Jena, Louisiana, while he awaits immigration court proceedings that could eventually lead to his deportation. His arrest has drawn criticism that he’s being unfairly and unlawfully targeted for his activism while the federal government has essentially described him as a terrorist sympathizer. Here is a look at what the protections for foreign students and green card holders are and what might be next for Khalil: Can someone with a green card be deported? A green card holder is someone who has lawful permanent residence status in the United States. Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer teaches immigration law at Cornell Law School. She said lawful permanent residents generally have many protections and “should be the most protected short of a U.S. citizen.” But that protection is not absolute. Green card holders can still be deported for committing certain crimes, failing to notify immigration officials of a change in address, or engaging in marriage fraud, for example. The Department of Homeland Security said Khalil was taken into custody because of Trump’s executive orders prohibiting antisemitism. Trump has argued that protesters forfeited their rights to remain in the country by supporting the Palestinian group Hamas, which controls Gaza and has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. Khalil and other student leaders of Columbia University Apartheid Divest have rejected claims of antisemitism, saying they are part of a broader anti-war movement that also includes Jewish students and groups. But the protest coalition, at times, has also voiced support for leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, another Islamist organization designated by the U.S. as a terrorist group. Khalil has not been convicted of any terrorist-related activity or charged with any wrongdoing. But experts say the federal government has fairly broad authority to arrest and try to deport a green card holder on terrorism grounds. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, green card holders do not need to be … “Activist’s arrest raises questions on US protections for foreign students, green card holders” →

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA — Each year, nearly 54,000 women in the U.S. state of Louisiana are released from prison, according to Operation Restoration, a New Orleans-based nonprofit organization with a mission to support women and girls impacted by incarceration as they attempt to restore their lives. For many women, restoring their lives proves too difficult. Some 30% return to jail within five years. “The number of barriers a woman faces when she is released from incarceration is unfathomable,” Syrita Steib, Operation Restoration’s founder and president told VOA. “There are food and housing issues, of course, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.” “You are on parole, but you have to pay the state money for that supervision,” Steib continued. “Where do you get the money for that at first, though? If you’ve been in prison for years or decades, you don’t have the network connections or technology literacy most people lean on to find a job.” As Shenica Jackson, 43, readied for her release last year after more than 13 years in prison, she shared many of these concerns. Jackson was one of two individuals arrested in 2011 when an ongoing feud turned violent. “I was full of regret, of course,” Jackson said. “Regret that I took someone’s life, regret that I was leaving my daughter without a mother to take care of her, and regret that I had robbed myself of my future.” “When you’re incarcerated at 30 years old, you don’t imagine you’re going to have lots of opportunities after that,” she added. “I thought my life was over.” That changed when she saw Operation Restoration was training women in prison to work as laboratory assistants. That program has licensed 67 formerly incarcerated women, including Jackson. “It gives me something to be proud of,” Jackson said. “It feels good to try to improve yourself and learn something new.” Finding second chances Operation Restoration has more than a dozen programs including providing housing, work training, education, food, clothing and legal advocacy. It is the kind of help that founder Steib needed when she was released from prison in 2009. Steib served nearly 10 years for her role in a burglary and arson at a car dealership when she was a teenager. When she was released, she felt overwhelmed and disoriented. “The world moves on without you,” Steib said, “and it happens at a rapid pace. When you get out … “US nonprofit helps former female inmates reintegrate into society, job market” →

The Senate voted Monday to confirm Lori Chavez-DeRemer as U.S. labor secretary, a Cabinet position that puts her in charge of enforcing federally mandated worker rights and protections as the White House is trying to eliminate thousands of government employees. Chavez-DeRemer will oversee the Department of Labor, one of several executive departments named in lawsuits challenging the authority of billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency to order layoffs and access sensitive government data. The Labor Department had nearly 16,000 full-time employees and a proposed budget of $13.9 billion for fiscal year 2025. Some of its vast responsibilities include reporting the U.S. unemployment rate, regulating workplace health and safety standards, investigating minimum wage, child labor and overtime pay disputes, and applying laws on union organizing and unlawful terminations. Several prominent labor unions, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, endorsed Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination. The former Republican congresswoman from Oregon is the daughter of a Teamster, and during her one term in the House earned a reputation as pro-labor. The Senate voted to confirm Chavez-DeRemer 67-32, with 17 Democrats voting yes and three Republicans voting no. The Senate has now confirmed all but one of Trump’s picks for his Cabinet. Its Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions had voted 14-9 in favor of her nomination last week, with all Republicans except Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky giving Chavez-DeRemer their support. Three Democrats on the committee — Senators John Hickenlooper of Colorado, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire — voted with the majority. During her confirmation hearing before the committee, several Republican senators grilled Chavez-DeRemer about her decision to co-sponsor legislation that would have made it easier for workers to unionize and penalized employers who stood in the way of organizing efforts. She declined to explicitly state whether she still backed the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, also known as the PRO Act. Chavez-DeRemer explained she had signed on as a co-sponsor because she wanted a seat at the table to discuss important labor issues. Under further questioning, she walked back some of her support of the bill, saying that she supported state “right to work” laws, which allow employees to refuse to join a union in their workplace. The PRO Act did not come up for a vote during her time in Congress, but the legislation was reintroduced in the House and Senate last week. … “Senate confirms Lori Chavez-DeRemer as Trump’s labor secretary” →

All three major U.S. stock indexes dropped sharply in Monday morning trading, with investors worried about the uncertainty of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on key trading partners and then his refusal to rule out the possibility of a U.S. recession in the coming months.   The key Dow Jones average of 30 blue chip stocks dropped more than 1%, with the broader S&P 500 index falling 2 percentage points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq barometer off more than 3 percentage points.   The S&P 500 finished Friday with a 3.1% weekly drop, its biggest such decline in six months, and the index is down 7.4% from its all-time high set on Feb. 19.  Trump imposed new 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian exports to the U.S. last week and then days later paused the duties until April 2, leaving it uncertain what might happen then.  Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told NBC News over the weekend, “There’s going to be no recession in America,” but Trump hedged.  “I hate to predict things like that,” the U.S. leader told Fox News. “There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big. We’re bringing wealth back to America. That’s a big thing.” He then added, “It takes a little time. It takes a little time.”  On Monday, the sell-off of big-tech stocks continued. The stock of electric carmaker Tesla, whose chief executive is billionaire Elon Musk, a key Trump adviser, slid more than 8%.   Other key technology stocks such as Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia and Meta Platforms all dropped by more than 2%.  The U.S. economy, the world’s largest, has already given some signals of weakening, mostly through surveys showing increased pessimism from consumers, whose purchases account for 70% of the country’s economic output. A widely followed collection of real-time indicators compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta suggests the U.S. economy may already be shrinking.  Analyst David Mericle at the Goldman Sachs investment company cut his 2025 year-over-year estimate for U.S. economic growth from 2.2% to 1.7%, largely because Trump’s tariffs look like they will be bigger than he was previously forecasting. He said he sees a one-in-five chance of a recession over the next year. …

WASHINGTON — Construction crews began removing the large painting of the words “Black Lives Matter” on a street one block from the White House on Monday as Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser struggles to fend off threats of encroachment from both President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress.  Bowser pointed to the change on the social platform X last week, writing: “The mural inspired millions of people and helped our city through a painful period, but now we can’t afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference. The devastating impacts of the federal job cuts must be our number one concern.”  The move shows Bowser’s striking shift in tone toward Trump and congressional Republicans since the president’s first term in office. Bowser, a Democrat, ordered the painting and renamed the intersection Black Lives Matter Plaza as a public act of defiance in June 2020. It came after days of chaotic protests at that location over police brutality following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.  Her approach to the protests brought her into direct conflict with Trump. The president at the time accused Bowser of losing control of her city and threatened to invoke his power to take over the Metropolitan Police Department. He didn’t follow through but declared his own multiagency lockdown that included helicopters flying at low altitudes to intimidate protesters.  In Trump’s second stint in the White House, Bowser has worked to avoid conflict and downplay any points of contention. She traveled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate to meet with the president after his election and has publicly emphasized their points of agreement, such as a mutual desire to return federal workers back to their offices full time.  Trump recently revived a frequent campaign talking point about wanting a federal “takeover” of the nation’s capital, describing Washington as riddled with crime, graffiti and homeless encampments. Bowser has refused to comment on reports that the White House was preparing an executive order targeting Washington; she publicly said that the greatest threat to the so-called Home Rule autonomy was “some of the people in Congress.”  Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, have repeatedly threatened to interfere in city affairs in large and small ways. A measure currently before Congress, named the Bowser Act, seeks to completely revoke the Home Rule Act of 1973 that grants the capital city limited autonomy.  That would be deeply controversial, likely testing the … “Crews remove ‘Black Lives Matter’ street mural near White House” →

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Monday in a case from Colorado to decide whether state and local governments can enforce laws banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ children.   The conservative-led court is taking up the case amid actions by President Donald Trump targeting transgender people, including a ban on military service and an end to federal funding for gender-affirming care for transgender minors.   The justices also have heard arguments in a Tennessee case over whether state bans on treating transgender minors violate the Constitution. But they have yet to issue a decision. Colorado is among roughly half the states that prohibit the practice of trying to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling.   The issue is whether the law violates the speech rights of counselors. Defenders of such laws argue that they regulate the conduct of professionals who are licensed by the state.  The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver upheld the state law. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has struck down local bans in Florida. In 2023, the court had turned away a similar challenge, despite a split among federal appeals courts that had weighed state bans and come to differing decisions.   At the time, three justices, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas, said they would have taken on the issue. It takes four justices to grant review. The nine-member court does not typically reveal how justices vote at this stage of a case so it’s unclear who might have provided the fourth vote.   The case will be argued in the court’s new term, which begins in October. The appeal on behalf of Kaley Chiles, a counselor in Colorado Springs, was filed by Alliance Defending Freedom, the conservative legal organization that has appeared frequently at the court in recent years in cases involving high-profile social issues. One of those cases was a 5-4 decision in 2018 in which the justices ruled that California could not force state-licensed anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers to provide information about abortion.   Chiles’ lawyers leaned heavily on that decision in asking the court to take up her case. They wrote that Chiles doesn’t “seek to ‘cure’ clients of same-sex attractions or to ‘change’ clients’ sexual orientation.” In arguing for the court to reject the appeal, lawyers for Colorado wrote that lawmakers acted to regulate professional conduct, “based on overwhelming evidence that efforts to change a child’s … “Supreme Court will take up state bans on conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ children, in Colorado case” →

Bedford, Massachusetts — A military court-martial convened on Monday for Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira, who was sentenced in federal court to 15 years in prison for leaking highly classified military documents after the most consequential national security breach in years. Teixeira pleaded guilty last year to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act. He faces additional military charges of disobeying orders and obstructing justice in the court-martial, held at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts. Military prosecutors said the court-martial is appropriate given that obeying orders is the “absolute core” of the military. Teixeira’s lawyers argued that further action would amount to prosecuting him twice for the same offense. The leaks exposed to the world unvarnished secret assessments of Russia’s war in Ukraine, including information about troop movements in Ukraine, and the provision of supplies and equipment to Ukrainian troops. Teixeira also admitted posting information about a U.S. adversary’s plans to harm U.S. forces serving overseas. Before he was sentenced in November in U.S. District Court in Boston, Teixeira showed little emotion as he stood in court and apologized for his actions. The 22-year-old previously admitted he illegally collected some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets and shared them with other users on the social media platform Discord. “I wanted to say I’m sorry for all the harm that I brought and caused,” Teixeira said. “I understand all the responsibility and consequences fall upon my shoulders alone and accept whatever that will bring.” Afterward, Teixeira hugged one of his attorneys, looked toward his family and smiled before being led from court. His family left without commenting to reporters, but his mother and others submitted letters to the court seeking leniency. “I know Jack deeply regrets his actions and is ready to accept his punishment for his part in this situation,” his mother, Dawn Dufault, wrote. “While I understand the severity of his charges and the importance of ensuring justice, I implore you, Your Honor, to consider Jack’s true nature and his unique challenges, as I have observed over the years.” The security breach raised alarm over the country’s ability to protect its most closely guarded secrets and forced the Biden administration to scramble to try to contain the diplomatic and military fallout. The leaks also embarrassed the Pentagon, which tightened controls to safeguard classified information and disciplined members found to … “Court-martial convenes for Pentagon leaker already facing years behind bars” →

PENTAGON — A shortage of amphibious warfare ships for commanders across the globe has reached a breaking point, with defense officials warning VOA the crisis has triggered a monthslong drought in critical firepower from sea-based Marines. “I have the Marines, and I have the squadrons, and I have the battalions and the batteries … I just don’t have the amphibs,” Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith told VOA in an exclusive interview. While the amphibious warfare ships, known as amphibs, make up just 10% of the fleet, they are the go-to alternative to aircraft carriers when commanders need something more precise or expedient. They also are the only ships made for the Marine Corps’ rapid reaction forces, known as Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs), to get equipment and troops from sea to shore during an assault. “Amphibs are vital to us. They are an existential part of who we are as Marines,” Smith said. Military’s Swiss Army Knife Once deployed, these units of about 2,000 Marines and sailors are the military’s Swiss Army Knife, providing everything from strike power with F-35 fighter jets, to support in non-combatant evacuation operations and disaster relief, like when the 15th MEU rushed humanitarian aid to the Philippines after deadly floods and landslides last October. It takes three amphibs – one big-deck amphib and two smaller ones – to make an Amphibious Ready Group that transports the Marines, a unit often referred to as an ARG/MEU. Smith says the military needs three of these 3-ship units deployed abroad at all times –one from the East Coast, one from the West Coast, and one from Japan – a plan known as 3.0. “The INDOPACOM Commander, the EUCOM Commander, the AFRICOM commander have all called for an ARG/MEU, so 3.0 is the requirement.” However, Smith tells VOA he cannot achieve this requirement with the number of amphibs that are ready today. ‘Running ships to ground’ While the U.S. military was busy fighting two wars in the Middle East, its amphib fleet, plagued with maintenance deferments and delays, fell into disrepair, said Shelby Oakley with the Government Accountability Office. Oakley authored a GAO report in December that showed half of the 32 amphibs in the fleet are in poor material condition. “You’re running these ships to ground, not taking care of them,” she told VOA. “This is kind of equivalent to just driving your car and never changing the oil … “Exclusive: Top US Marine says ‘crisis’ with amphibious ships causing coverage gaps” →

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 … “Rubio says purge of USAID programs complete, with 83% of agency’s programs gone “ →

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     …

A single-engine airplane carrying five people crashed and burst into flames Saturday in the parking lot of a retirement community near a small airport in suburban Pennsylvania, and everyone on board survived, officials and witnesses said. The fiery crash happened around 3 p.m. just south of Lancaster Airport in Manheim Township, police Chief Duane Fisher told reporters at an evening briefing. All five victims were taken to hospitals in unknown condition. Nobody on the ground was hurt, the chief said. Brian Pipkin was driving nearby when he noticed the small plane climbing before it suddenly veered to the left. “And then it went down nose first,” he told The Associated Press. “There was an immediate fireball.” Pipkin called 911 and then drove to the crash site, where he recorded video of black smoke billowing from the plane’s mangled wreckage and multiple cars engulfed in flames in a parking lot at Brethren Village. He said the plane narrowly missed hitting a three-story building at the sprawling retirement community about 120 km west of Philadelphia. A fire truck from the airport arrived within minutes, and more first responders followed quickly. “It was so smoky and it was so hot,” Pipkin said. “They were really struggling to get the fire out.” A dozen parked cars were damaged, Fisher said. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed there were five people aboard the Beechcraft Bonanza. Air traffic control audio captured the pilot reporting that the aircraft “has an open door, we need to return for a landing.” An air traffic controller is heard clearing the plane to land, before saying, “Pull up!” Moments later, someone can be heard saying the aircraft was “down just behind the terminal in the parking lot street area.” The FAA said it will investigate. The crash comes about a month after seven people were killed when an air ambulance burst into flames after crashing onto a busy Philadelphia street. …

Panama City — After weeks of lawsuits and human rights criticism, Panama on Saturday released dozens of migrants who were held for weeks in a remote camp after being deported from the United States, telling them they have 30 days to leave the Central American nation. It thrust many like Hayatullah Omagh, a 29-year-old who fled Afghanistan in 2022 after the Taliban took control, into a legal limbo, scrambling to find a path forward. “We are refugees. We do not have money. We cannot pay for a hotel in Panama City, we do not have relatives,” Omagh told the Associated Press in an interview. “I can’t go back to Afghanistan under any circumstances … It is under the control of the Taliban, and they want to kill me. How can I go back?” Authorities have said deportees will have the option of extending their stay by 60 days if they need it, but after that many like Omagh don’t know what they will do. Omagh climbed off a bus in Panama City alongside 65 migrants from China, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Nepal and other nations after spending weeks detained in poor conditions by the Panamanian government, which has said it wants to work with the Trump administration “to send a signal of deterrence” to people hoping to migrate. Human rights groups and lawyers advocating for the migrants were waiting at the bus terminal, and scrambled to find the released migrants shelter and other resources. Dozens of other people remained in the camp. Among those getting off buses were migrants fleeing violence and repression in Pakistan and Iran, and 27-year-old Nikita Gaponov, who fled Russia due to repression for being part of the LGBTQ+ community and who said he was detained at the U.S. border but not allowed to make an asylum claim. “Once I get off the bus, I’ll be sleeping on the ground tonight,” Gaponov said. Others turned their eyes north once again, saying that even though they had already been deported, they had no other option than to continue after crossing the world to reach the U.S. The deportees, largely from Asian countries, were part of a deal stuck between the Trump administration and Panama and Costa Rica as the U.S. government attempts to speed up deportations. The administration sent hundreds of people, many families with children, to the two Central American countries as a stopover while authorities organize … “Panama releases dozens of detained deportees from US into limbo” →

Washington — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appointed new leadership at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Sunday as the agency struggles to meet President Donald Trump’s stated goal of massive deportation operations aimed at undocumented immigrants in the U.S. illegally. Trump’s administration deported 37,660 people during his first month in office, U.S. Department of Homeland Security data first reported by Reuters last month show, far less than the monthly average of 57,000 removals and returns in the last full year of Joe Biden’s administration. Trump made the promise of deporting millions of people from the United States a centerpiece of his campaign. The acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Caleb Vitello, was reassigned last month for failing to meet expectations, Reuters previously reported. Noem said she was promoting Todd Lyons, ICE’s acting executive associate director, to be the agency’s acting director, and Madison Sheahan, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, to serve as deputy director. “I am appointing new ICE leadership to deliver results that President Trump and the American people rightfully demand,” Noem said in a statement, adding that Lyons and Sheahan would “lead the men and women of ICE to achieve the American people’s mandate to target, arrest and deport illegal aliens.” …

West Palm Beach, Florida — Air Force fighter jets intercepted a civilian aircraft flying in the temporarily restricted airspace near Donald Trump’s Florida home Sunday, bringing the number of violations to more than 20 since the president took office on Jan. 20. North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement that Sunday’s incident, which took place as Trump finished a round of golf at his West Palm Beach golf course, saw F-16s deploy flares to get the attention of the civilian pilot. Jets also conducted an intercept Saturday morning shortly after Trump arrived at the course from his private Mar-a-Lago club and residence. The airspace intrusions in the heavily congested south Florida airspace have prompted fighter jet intercepts but did not alter Trump’s schedule or impact his security, officials said. NORAD says the flares may have been visible from the ground but that they burn out quickly and don’t pose danger. Federal officials maintain a permanent flight restriction over Trump’s club that expands to a radius of 30 nautical miles when the president is in residence. Violations, and intercepts, are relatively routine, but NORAD is raising alarm over the frequency of the intrusions since Trump’s inauguration, saying it has responded to more than 20 incidents and blames civilian pilots for not following regulations requiring them to check for airspace restrictions before taking off. “Adherence to TFR [Temporary Flight Restrictions] procedures is essential to ensure flight safety, national security, and the security of the President,” General Gregory Guillot, the commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command said in a statement. “The procedures are not optional, and the excessive number of recent TFR violations indicates many civil aviators are not reading Notice to Airmen, or NOTAMS, before each flight as required by the FAA, and has resulted in multiple responses by NORAD fighter aircraft to guide offending aircraft out of the TFR.” …

U.S. President Donald Trump is keeping new tariffs in place on Mexico, Canada and China to pressure them to block the flow of the deadly opioid fentanyl into the United States, top White House economic officials said Sunday. “If fentanyl ends, I think these [tariffs] will come off,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told NBC’s “Meet the Press” show. “But if fentanyl does not end, or he’s uncertain about it, he will stay this way until he is comfortable,” he said. “This is black and white. You got to save American lives.” Trump last week issued a string of whip-sawing tariff decisions that plunged the three major U.S. stock market indexes and roiled relations with Canada and Mexico, which are long-time U.S. allies and its closest neighbors, as well as its two biggest trading partners. Trump at first imposed 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican exports to the U.S., then exempted the duties on Mexican- and Canadian-made vehicles being transported into the U.S. and later by week’s end delayed the tariffs on almost all items for four weeks until April 2. But Lutnick said 25% U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports will take effect Wednesday as scheduled. Canada and Mexico are both top exporters of the metals to U.S. markets, with Canada accounting for most aluminum imports. The Commerce chief also rebuffed fears that Trump’s global tariffs would cause a recession in the United States. “Absolutely not,” he said. “There’s going to be no recession in America.” But Lutnick acknowledged that the tariffs would lead to higher prices for U.S. consumers on foreign-made goods. “Some products that are made foreign might be more expensive, but American products will get cheaper, and that’s the point,” Lutnick said. It was not clear how U.S.-produced goods would become cheaper, except in comparison to foreign-manufactured products. Trump, in a taped interview with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” show, dodged a question about a possible recession because of his tariff boosts, but said, “There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big.” “There could be a little disruption,” he said about stock market losses last week. “Look, what I have to do is build a strong country. You can’t really watch the stock market. If you look at China, they have a 100-year perspective. We go by quarters. And you can’t go by that.” Trump has at various times said his … “Trump to keep tariffs to pressure Mexico, Canada, China on fentanyl, aides say” →

New York — Fast-moving brush fires fanned by high winds burned through a large swath of land on New York’s Long Island on Saturday, spewing thick gray smoke into the sky and prompting the evacuation of a military base and the closure of a major highway.  Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency and said state agencies were responding to the fires around the Pine Barrens, a wooded area that is home to commuter towns east of New York City. She said homes, a chemical factory and an Amazon warehouse were at risk and more evacuations may be needed.  “This is still out of control at this moment,” Hochul told Long Island TV station News 12. “We’re seeing people having to be evacuated from the Westhampton area.”  Officials said three of the four fires were fully contained, with the fire in Westhampton 50% contained. Two commercial buildings were partially burned, but officials said homes were not in the line of fire.  One firefighter was flown to a hospital to be treated for burns to the face.  “Our biggest problem is the wind,” Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said. “It is driving this fire.”  Videos posted to social media showed flames shooting into the air and columns of black smoke rising above roads.  Air National Guard helicopters dropped water on the flames.  The Town of Southampton issued a warning in the afternoon against starting recreational fires due to the wildfire risk. That came around the time that the videos began appearing.  In a statement, Hochul said the National Guard was providing support by helicopter and working with local law enforcement.  “Public safety is my top priority, and I’m committed to doing everything possible to keep Long Islanders safe,” she said.  In her comments to News 12, Hochul declined to estimate the extent of the flames, saying only that they were growing rapidly.  Rough satellite data indicated that fire and smoke stretched roughly 3 kilometers along Sunrise Highway, according to NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System.  Police closed a section of the highway, which is a thoroughfare to the East End of Long Island.  The fires raged near the Francis S. Gabreski Airport, from which the National Guard launched at least one helicopter. One of the commercial buildings that partially burned was near the airport.  Personnel at the base evacuated as a precautionary measure starting around 1:45 p.m., spokesman Cheran Cambell … “New York governor declares state of emergency for wind-driven brush fire on Long Island” →

Washington — U..S Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday condemned the “radical Islamist terrorists” behind “massacres” of minorities in Syria and demanded that the interim administration hold those responsible to account. “The United States condemns the radical Islamist terrorists, including foreign jihadis, that murdered people in western Syria in recent days,” Rubio said in a statement. “The United States stands with Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities, and offers its condolences to the victims and their families,” he said. “Syria’s interim authorities must hold the perpetrators of these massacres against Syria’s minority communities accountable.” The violence against minorities erupted after gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Alawite minority, attacked the new security forces. War monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights later reported that security forces and allied groups killed at least 745 Alawite civilians in Latakia and Tartus provinces. Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who led the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that spearheaded the lightning offensive that toppled Assad, called for national coexistence after the killings. The United States under former president Joe Biden engaged with Sharaa after he came to power but said that any greater normalization would depend on meeting conditions including the protection of minorities. Donald Trump, then president-elect, said at the time that the United States had little interest in Syria and should stay out, and he has previously spoken of removing U.S. troops in the country to fight the Islamic State movement. Since taking office, the Trump administration has said little about Syria but has severely slashed assistance to groups assisting civilians in the war-ravaged country. The United States did not join Britain on Thursday in announcing an easing of Assad-era sanctions on Syria. …