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The U.N. refugee agency welcomes the closure of three detention centers in Libya but voices concern about the whereabouts and fate of the refugees, asylum seekers and migrants who were held in the facilities. The U.N. refugee agency has been advocating for the release of…

Officials have declared a public health emergency over the rising number of hepatitis A cases in Florida, the latest part of the country dealing with outbreaks of the liver disease. Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees declared an emergency Thursday to allow the state to spend…

Boeing is working on new software for the 737 Max that will use a second flight control computer to make the system more reliable, solving a problem that surfaced in June with the grounded jet, two people briefed on the matter said Friday.    When…

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says his pick for national intelligence director has decided to withdraw from the running, citing unfair media coverage.    In a tweet Friday, Trump said Republican Representative John Ratcliffe of Texas had decided to stay in Congress. Questions about Ratcliffe's…

The Vatican's diplomatic envoy to Nicaragua said Thursday he has received a letter from President Daniel Ortega's government apparently saying talks with the opposition on resolving the country's more than year-old political standoff are over. Apostolic Nuncio Waldemar Somertag told The Associated Press that this…

President Donald Trump opened a revved-up rally Thursday in Cincinnati by tearing into the Democrats he has been elevating as his new political foils, with attacks on four liberal congresswomen of color and their party’s leadership of cities. The president, who faced widespread criticism for…

Despite the reported death of the son and heir apparent of al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials warn the global terror group remains a significant threat to the United States. The officials refused to confirm the death of Hamza bin Laden, said to have…

A war of words continues between U.S. President Donald Trump and a powerful Democratic lawmaker investigating the Trump White House, Congressman Elijah Cummings of Maryland. The president has criticized the legislator's Baltimore district in comments that many have denounced as racist. Today, like many urban…

Divers and environmentalists found an unpleasant surprise in Aegean waters near Greece and are working to fix it.  What looked like colorful coral turned out to be a plastic wasteland, just one of many challenges delicate marine ecosystems face. VOA's Arash Arabasadi dives in for a…

The prospect of Britain crashing out of the European Union with no deal at the end of October is creating a tumultuous first few weeks in office for Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The British pound sterling is plunging, and there are warnings of widespread disruption.…

The Trump administration said Wednesday it will set up a system to allow Americans to legally import lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada, weakening a longstanding ban that had stood as a top priority for the politically powerful pharmaceutical industry. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex…

Singer-songwriter Ron Bultongez is living the American Dream from growing up in the Democratic Republic of Congo to being named the “Hometown Hero” of Plano, TX to becoming a Top 24 Finalist on American Idol 2018, where he left Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan in…

Puerto Rico's governor says he's chosen former Congress representative Pedro Pierluisi as the U.S. territory's secretary of state. That post would put Pierluisi in line to be governor when Rossello steps down this week – but he's unlikely to be approved by legislators. Ricardo Rossello…

Turkey's National Security Council met Tuesday to decide whether to launch a military offensive into Syria against the YPG Kurdish militia.  With Washington backing the YPG and warning against any unilateral action, the two NATO allies could be on a collision course. President Recep Tayyip…

Boston police are tracking nearly 5,000 people — almost all of them young black and Latino men — through a secretive gang database, newly released data from the department shows. A summary provided by the department shows that 66% of those in its database are…

California's Democratic governor signed a law Tuesday requiring presidential candidates to release their tax returns to appear on the state's primary ballot, a move aimed squarely at Republican President Donald Trump. But even if the law withstands a likely legal challenge, Trump could avoid the…

The unprecedented resignation of Puerto Rico's governor after days of massive island-wide protests has thrown the U.S. territory into a full-blown political crisis. Less than four days before Gov. Ricardo Rossello steps down, no one knows who will take his place. Justice Secretary Wanda Vazquez,…

For weeks, Turkey has been amassing its troops near its border with Syria for what appears to be an imminent attack against U.S.-backed Kurdish forces that Ankara views as terrorists. In this border town in northern Syria, locals say such an attack could throw the…

Ethiopians planted more than 350 million trees in one day, officials say, in what they believe is a world record. Ethiopia's minister of innovation and technology, Getahun Mekuria, tweeted estimates of the number of trees being planted throughout the day Monday. By early evening, he…

Poverty in the Philippines, a chronic development issue that makes the country an outlier in Asia, is declining because of economic strength followed by job creation. The archipelago’s official poverty rate dropped to 21% in the first half of last year from 27.6% in the…

New British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will make his first official visit to Scotland on Monday in an attempt to bolster the union in the face of warnings over a no-deal Brexit.  Johnson will visit a military base to announce new funding for local communities,…

U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators shift to Shanghai this week for their first in-person talks since a G20 truce last month, a change of scenery for two sides struggling to resolve deep differences on how to end a year-long trade war. Expectations for progress during…

A judge in Australia's Northern Territory has been accused of racism towards Indigenous defendants. Court transcripts published in the Australian media show Judge Greg Borchers accusing an Aboriginal woman of abandoning her children while drunk in that "great indigenous fashion." He also said that "anthropologists"…

New terror legislation to stop foreign fighters from returning to Australia has been approved by lawmakers. The government says the new laws will prevent carnage in Australia.  But experts say the exclusion measures will apply mostly to women and children, and will increase the risk…

Two American teenagers have been charged with the alleged killing of an Italian police officer following a drug deal gone wrong. The northern Californians refused to answer questions from the judge who nonetheless decided to keep them in custody. Italy is under shock at the…

Shelsea, whose husband was recently detained by ICE inside her family’s home, recounts the moments leading up to his arrest. ...

President Donald Trump listened to Robert Mueller testify to Congress this past week, then misrepresented what the former special counsel said. Some partisans on both sides did much the same, whether to defend or condemn the president. Trump seized on Mueller’s testimony to claim anew…

President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran is at a crossroads. His administration is trying to decide whether to risk stoking international tensions even more by ending one of the last remaining components of the 2015 nuclear deal. The U.S. faces a Thursday deadline…