VOA News When Pope Francis visits the United States next week on a three-city tour, he will deliver only four of his 18 planned speeches in English. The native of Argentina is most comfortable speaking in Spanish, a spokesman for the Vatican told The Associated Press, although the pontiff also speaks German and Italian fluently. […]readmore
VOA News South Carolina will seek the death penalty against the white man charged in the June killings of nine black people at a Charleston church, court documents showed Thursday. Dylann Roof, 21, faces multiple charges including nine counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and a weapons charge for the June 17 shooting […]readmore
DALLAS—Texas abortion providers asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to hear their challenge to the state’s restrictions on abortions that they contend are aimed more at shutting clinics than protecting women’s health.A U.S. appeals court in June upheld the main provisions of the Texas abortion law including one requiring clinics to have certain hospital-grade […]readmore
VOA News Hundreds of protesters gathered outside a federal courthouse in Kentucky where a local county clerk faces charges for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis defied last month’s court order to resume issuing marriage licenses to all eligible couples, straight or gay, a practice she stopped after […]readmore
VOA News Official figures from across the United States reveal a startling increase in the number of murders in several major cities this year — and officials are at a loss to pinpoint the exact reasons why. The New York Times says more than 30 cities across the nation have reported a sharp increase in homicides […]readmore
VOA News U.S. drug agents have arrested more than 90 people and seized 16 underground labs in a 20-state operation targeting illegal steroids. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Operation Cyber Juice involved more than 30 investigations and netted 636 kilos of steroid powder, 8,200 liters of raw steroid injectable liquid, and more than $2 million in […]readmore
VOA News A local court clerk in the central state of Kentucky continues to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples, despite a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court ordering her to do so. Local media reports that the office of Kim Davis, the elected court clerk in Kentucky’s Rowan County, refused licenses to two […]readmore
VOA News U.S. President Barack Obama is set to participate in a live webcast Friday to address concerns from the American Jewish community about the nuclear agreement with Iran. Obama will deliver remarks about the disputed deal signed by the United States, Iran and five world powers and take questions from participants. The webcast is […]readmore
VOA News A teenager in the U.S. state of Virginia has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for conspiring to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State group. A U.S. Justice Department statement Friday described 17-year-old Ali Shukri Amin as «a young American who used social media to provide material support» to […]readmore
VOA News Former U.S. president George W. Bush returned Friday to New Orleans – the scene of one of his presidency’s larger challenges – to tout the region’s recovery from the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history on the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Bush visited Warren Easton Charter High School, the same school he […]readmore