Новини

The Russian lawmaker attributed to Trump a quote from a deepfake video created by Ukrainian bloggers and shared on the Telegram messaging platform.
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A regional jet collided with a U.S. military helicopter late Wednesday as it approached a Washington airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

An FAA statement said the jet operated by American Airlines was traveling from Wichita, Kansas, and was approaching its landing runway at Reagan National Airport when it collided with the Sikorsky H-60 helicopter around 9 p.m.

There was no immediate information about casualties.

Video of the crash captured from a camera at the nearby Kennedy Center shows two sets of lights converging before a fireball erupts.

American Airlines said it was aware of the incident, but did no immediately provide more information.

The crash prompted a large emergency response, including boats in the Potomac River, which planes fly over to make landings at the airport.
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Russian disinformation narratives about illicit organ harvesting and biological experiments in Ukraine have no basis in fact. Russia intentionally distorts Ukrainian law intended to support vital medical procedures.
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WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump’s budget office on Wednesday rescinded a memo freezing spending on federal grants, less than two days after it sparked widespread confusion and legal challenges across the country.

The Monday evening memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget sparked uncertainty over a crucial financial lifeline for states, schools and organizations that rely on trillions of dollars from Washington and left the White House scrambling to explain what would and wouldn’t be subject to a pause in funding.

The reversal was the latest sign that even with unified control of Washington, Trump’s plans to dramatically and rapidly reshape the government has some limits.

The White House confirmed that OMB pulled the memo Wednesday in a two-sentence notice sent to agencies and departments but said that Trump’s underlying executive orders targeting federal spending in areas such as diversity, equity and inclusion and climate change remained in place.

Administration officials said the notice to halt loans and grants was necessary to conduct a review to ensure that spending complies with Trump’s recent blitz of executive orders. Agencies had been directed to answer a series of yes or no questions on each federal program by Feb. 7. The questions included “does this program promote gender ideology?” and “does this program promote or support in any way abortion?”

Still, the vaguely worded memo, combined with incomplete answers from the White House throughout the day, left lawmakers, public officials and average Americans struggling to figure out what programs would be affected by the pause. Even temporary interruptions in funding could cause layoffs or delays in public services.

The freeze was scheduled to go into effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday but was stayed by a federal judge until at least Monday after an emergency hearing requested by nonprofit groups that receive federal grants. An additional lawsuit by Democratic state attorneys general was also pending.

“The Executive Orders issued by the President on funding reviews remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented by all agencies and departments,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, blaming the confusion on the courts and news outlets, not the administration. “This action should effectively end the court case and allow the government to focus on enforcing the President’s orders on controlling federal spending.”

Administration officials insisted that despite the confusion, the order still had its intended effect by underscoring to federal agencies their obligations to abide by Trump’s executive orders.

Although Trump had promised to turn Washington upside down if elected to a second term, the effects of his effort to pause funding were being felt far from the nation’s capital. Organizations such as Meals on Wheels, which receives federal money to deliver food to the elderly, and Head Start, which provides early childcare in lower-income communities, were worried about getting cut off.

On Tuesday, Trump administration officials said programs that provide direct assistance to Americans, including Medicare, Social Security, student loans and food stamps, would not be affected. But they sometimes struggled to provide a clear picture.

Leavitt initially would not say whether Medicaid was exempted from the freeze, but the administration later clarified that it was.

Democratic critics of the order moved swiftly to celebrate the action.

“This is an important victory for the American people whose voices were heard after massive pressure from every corner of this country — real people made a difference by speaking out,” said Senator Patty Murray. “Still, the Trump administration — through a combination of sheer incompetence, cruel intentions and a willful disregard of the law — caused real harm and chaos for millions over the span of the last 48 hours which is still ongoing.”

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said, “Americans fought back, and Donald Trump backed off.”
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За даними агентства, в січні 2025 року АРМА продало хлорид калію на суму 112,6 мільйона гривень
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Документ, серед іншого, передбачає продовження терміну для обовʼязкового проходження ВЛК ще на чотири місяці – до червня червня 2025 року
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Washignton — President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship in the U.S. has ignited a legal and political debate, raising questions about the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the extent of presidential power.

The amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil.

“We’re the only country in the world that does this with birthright, as you know. And it’s just absolutely ridiculous. But, you know, we’ll see. We think we have very good grounds and certain people have wanted to do this for decades,” Trump said while signing the executive order on his first day in office.

The United States is one of about 30 countries that grant automatic citizenship to individuals born on their soil, including Brazil, Mexico, and Canada, among others. The practice is known as jus soli (Latin for “right of the soil”). But the U.S. remains notable for its broad application of unconditional jus soli, as enshrined in the 14th Amendment.

Are there limits to 14th Amendment?

The amendment, ratified in 1868, was designed to address citizenship questions following the U.S. Civil War and to overrule the Supreme Court’s 1857 Dred Scott decision, which denied African Americans citizenship.

The text reads: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

“This language ratifies the traditional understanding that anyone born in the United States is automatically a citizen,” John Yoo, a professor at University of California Berkeley Law School and visiting fellow at the Hoover Institute, told VOA in a phone intervie

However, critics argue that the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” implies that at least one parent must be a U.S. citizen for a child to be granted citizenship.

According to Yoo, this interpretation aligns more closely with the European jus sanguinis, or “law of blood” approach, which ties citizenship to parentage rather than birthplace.

“To me, that just doesn’t make sense of the language of the 14th Amendment and historical practice,” Yoo said. “The Supreme Court, in cases like United States v. Wong Kim Ark, has consistently interpreted the amendment to mean birthright citizenship.”

Critics of Trump’s executive order say the 14th Amendment is a cornerstone of civil rights in the United States.

“The 14th amendment, it was created to give birthright citizenship. … Constitutional rights cannot be taken away by a president. They can only be taken away by Congress, and thus the executive order is illegal,” said Tuyet Duong, an immigration lawyer and policy expert with the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum.

However, supporters of the executive order argue a more limited interpretation of the amendment is warranted.

“President Trump has made it clear that restoring fairness to our immigration system and defending the true intent of the 14th Amendment are central to his vision of making America great again,” Republican Congressman Brian Babin of Texas, told reporters during a press conference last Thursday.

Amy Swearer, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, wrote in a report in 2019 that there is good reason for the United States to reconsider its long-standing policy of automatically granting citizenship to everyone born on U.S. soil.

Swearer argued that the 14th Amendment was intended to give birthright citizenship only to those U.S.-born children whose parents were “like the freed slaves, subject to the complete jurisdiction of the United States. In a modern immigration context, this would mean that the Constitution only mandates birthright citizenship for the U.S.-born children of citizens, nationals, and lawful permanent residents.”

Legal challenges

Trump’s executive order is facing significant legal challenges, with multiple lawsuits in progress. Twenty-two Democratic-led states have filed a lawsuit arguing the order violates the 14th Amendment.

A federal judge in Seattle has temporarily stopped the birthright citizenship order from taking effect. Last Thursday, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour of Seattle temporarily blocked it, describing it as “blatantly unconstitutional.”

But if the case reaches the Supreme Court, the outcome could reshape the nation’s understanding of citizenship.

If the court were to side with Trump, the most immediate impact will be on newborns and those yet to receive birth certificates and Social Security numbers. And questions about retroactive application would arise.

“Figuring out how this rule would operate retroactively is extremely complex. Would it deny citizenship to people born here historically without citizen parents? How far back would it go? These are precisely the issues the 14th Amendment was designed to avoid,” Yoo told VOA.

While much of the focus is on judicial challenges, Yoo pointed out that Congress could settle the issue legislatively.

“Congress could extend birthright citizenship by statute, reaffirming the traditional understanding. But it’s unclear what Congress might do in this politically charged environment,” Yoo said.

Still, he believes the Supreme Court would uphold birthright citizenship.

“The text of the 14th Amendment, its history, and consistent Supreme Court rulings all point to birthright citizenship,” he said.
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Washington — The Trump administration has ended extended protections for Venezuelans with Temporary Protected Status, TPS, in the United States, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News in an interview on Wednesday. 

Noem said Homeland Security would not follow a Biden-era move that gave Venezuelans in the U.S. with the TPS program an additional 18 months of protections, adding: “We are going to follow the process, evaluate all of these individuals that are in our country, including the Venezuelans that are here.” 
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Реєстр збирає відомості про збитки, завдані російською армією українським організаціям та приватним особам, а також культурній спадщині та довкіллю
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The Trump administration issued a memo Tuesday offering federal government workers a financial incentive to leave their posts by the end of September.

The resignation program is part of the administration’s efforts to shrink the federal workforce.

An email to many of the 2 million federal workers said they could remain on the government payroll until Sept. 30, the end of the government’s fiscal year, and could have their work duties reduced or eliminated in the interim.

Those workers would also be exempt from a Trump mandate that employees need to return to working in their offices full time.

Employees have until Feb. 6 to accept the offer, and were directed to do so with an email reply with the word “resign.”

The potential impact of the program on tax-payer services was not clear.

“While a few agencies and even branches of the military are likely to see increases in the size of their workforce, the majority of federal agencies are likely to be downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force,” the memo said.

People working in immigration, national security and for the Postal Service were not part of the offer.

The memo also said the “federal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and who strive for excellence in their daily work.”

Unions representing federal employees criticized the administration’s move.

The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 150,000 federal workers, told its members the resignation memo “is designed to entice or scare you into resigning” and said “we strongly urge you not to resign in response.”

Everett Kelley, head of the American Federation of Government Employees union that includes some VOA employees, said in a statement that the offer “should not be viewed as voluntary” and that the administration’s actions show its goal is “to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to.”

Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters
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WASHINGTON — The U.S. military said on Tuesday it will allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain undocumented migrants at Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado, further widening the Pentagon’s role in President Donald Trump’s undocumented immigration crackdown.

The decision comes on top of U.S. military deportation flights of undocumented migrants out of the country and the deployment of just over 1,600 active-duty troops to the U.S. border with Mexico following Trump’s emergency declaration on undocumented immigration last week.

The U.S. military’s Northern Command said in a statement it started providing facilities at Buckley to ICE starting on Monday “to enable U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stage and process criminal aliens within the U.S.”

“ICE requirements for the facility include a temporary operations center, staging area, and a temporary holding location for the receiving, holding, and processing of illegal aliens,” Northern Command said in the statement.

“This facility will be manned by ICE senior leaders, special agents, and analysts, as well as members of (Department of Homeland Security) components and other federal law enforcement agencies.”

Northern Command did not say how many undocumented migrants might be detained at Buckley or whether additional U.S. military bases might soon be opening for detention of undocumented migrants.

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Buckley Space Force Base is located in the city of Aurora, a Denver suburb, which figured prominently during Trump’s presidential campaign last year. Trump said during his campaign that apartment complexes in Aurora had been taken over by members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, a claim refuted by top city officials at the time. During a campaign event there in October, Trump pledged to launch an Operation Aurora targeting gang members.

This is not the first time a military has been used to house undocumented migrants. The Pentagon had approved requests to house unaccompanied migrant children under Joe Biden’s administration and undocumented migrant children and families during Trump’s first term.

Trump, a Republican, issued an array of executive orders on Monday aimed at deporting record numbers of migrants in the U.S. without legal status.

In a little more than a week in office, Trump rolled back Biden-era guidance that limited arrests of non-criminal migrants, ordered other federal law enforcement to assist with immigration work, and scrapped a Biden policy that restricted enforcement at schools, churches, hospitals and other sensitive locations.

Immigration arrests have reached about 1,000-1,200 per day in recent days, according to ICE, far above the daily average of 311 in fiscal year 2024.

Critics say Trump’s immigration crackdown could separate families, hurt U.S. businesses and violate due process rights of migrants.
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WASHINGTON — America’s children have continued to lose ground on reading skills in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and have made little improvement in math, according to the latest results of an exam known as the nation’s report card.

The findings are yet another setback for U.S. schools and reflect the myriad challenges that have upended education, from pandemic school closures to a youth mental health crisis and high rates of chronic absenteeism. The national exam results also show growing inequality: While the highest-performing students have started to regain lost ground, lower-performing students are falling further behind.

Given every two years to a sample of America’s children, the National Assessment of Educational Progress is considered one of the best gauges of the academic progress of the U.S. school system. The most recent exam was administered in early 2024 in every state, testing fourth- and eighth-grade students on math and reading.

“The news is not good,” said Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which oversees the assessment. “We are not seeing the progress we need to regain the ground our students lost during the pandemic.”

Among the few bright spots was an improvement in fourth grade math, where the average score ticked up 2 points on a scale of 500. It’s still 3 points lower than the 2019 pre-pandemic average, yet some states and districts made significant strides, including in Washington, D.C., where the average score increased 10 points.

For the most part, however, American schools have not yet begun to make progress.

The average math score for eighth grade students was unchanged from 2022, while reading scores fell 2 points at both grade levels. One-third of eighth grade students scored below “basic” in reading, more than ever in the history of the assessment.

Students are considered below basic if they are missing fundamental skills. For example, eighth grade students who scored below basic in reading were typically unable to make a simple inference about a character’s motivation after reading a short story, and some were unable to identify that the word “industrious” means “to be hard working.”

Especially alarming to officials was the divide between higher- and lower-performing students, which has grown wider than ever. Students with the highest scores outperformed their peers from two years ago, making up some ground lost during the pandemic. But the lowest performers are scoring even lower, falling further behind.

It was most pronounced in eighth grade math: While the top 10% of students saw their scores increased by 3 points, the lowest 10% decreased by 6 points.

“We are deeply concerned about our low-performing students,” said Lesley Muldoon, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policies for the exam. “For a decade, these students have been on the decline. They need our urgent attention and our best effort.”

The latest setbacks follow a historic backslide in 2022. In that year’s exam, student achievement fell across both subjects and grade levels, in some cases by unprecedented levels.

This round of testing again featured students whose lives were disrupted by the pandemic. When COVID hit in 2020, the fourth graders were in kindergarten, and the eighth graders were in fourth grade.

But Carr said poor results can no longer be blamed solely on the pandemic, warning that the nation’s education system faces “complex challenges.”

A survey done alongside the exam found in 2022 that fewer young students were reading for enjoyment, which is linked to lower reading scores. And new survey results found that students who are often absent from class — a persistent problem nationwide — are struggling the most.

“The data are clear,” Carr said. “Students who don’t come to school are not improving.”

The results provide fresh fuel for a national debate over the impact of pandemic school closures, though they’re unlikely to add clarity. Some studies have found that longer closures led to bigger academic setbacks. Those slower to reopen were often in urban and Democratic-led areas, while more rural and Republican-led areas were quicker.

The new results don’t show a “direct link” on the topic, Carr said, though she said students clearly do better when they’re in school.

Among the states that saw reading scores fall in 2024 are Florida and Arizona, which were among the first to return to the classroom during the pandemic. Meanwhile, some big school systems that had longer closures made strides in fourth grade math, including Los Angeles and New York City.

The success of big urban districts — 14 of which saw notable improvement in fourth-grade math when the nation as a whole saw only minor gains — can be credited to academic recovery efforts funded by federal pandemic relief, said Ray Hart, executive director of the Council of Great City Schools. Investing in efforts like intensive tutoring programs and curriculum updates is “really proving to make a difference,” he said.

Republicans in Congress were quick to cast blame on Democrats and former President Joe Biden’s administration.

Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said the decline is “clearly a reflection of the education bureaucracy continuing to focus on woke policies rather than helping students learn and grow.”

“I’m thankful we have an administration that is looking to reverse course,” he said in a reference to President Donald Trump.

Compared with 2019 results, eighth grade reading scores are now down 8 points. Reading scores are down 5 points in both grades. And in fourth grade math, scores are down 3 points.

Yet officials say there’s reason to be optimistic. Carr highlighted improvement in Louisiana, where fourth grade reading is now back above pre-pandemic levels, and in Alabama, which accomplished that feat in fourth grade math.

Carr was especially laudatory of Louisiana, where a campaign to improve reading proficiency resulted in both higher- and lower-performing students exceeding 2019 scores.

“I would not say that hope is lost, and I would not say that we cannot turn this around,” Carr said. “It’s been demonstrated that we can.”
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Southeast and East Asia strategies will be aimed at countering China by toughening U.S. policies to secure regional peace and maximize American interests, analysts say.

Rubio gave a glimpse of what U.S. foreign policy will look like as he began his first day as the head of the State Department last week.

Speaking to his staff after he was sworn on Jan. 21, Rubio said, “Our job across the world is to ensure that we have a foreign policy that advances the national interest of the United States.”

Referencing President Donald Trump’s objective, Rubio continued that the “overriding goal of global policy is the promotion of peace, the avoidance of conflict.”

Putting “America First” and achieving “Peace through Strength” are twin pillars on which Trump said he will prop up the U.S. as he took office on Jan. 20.

Rubio is currently likely to consult with country directors of the region and coordinate with the Pentagon and intelligence agencies to formulate Asia Pacific strategies, said Richard Armitage, who served as deputy secretary of state during the Bush administration, to VOA Korean on Jan. 24.

“Secretary Rubio’s Southeast Asia policy will focus on countering China through stronger U.S. trade, security partnerships and supply chain diversification,” said Mark Kennedy, director at the Wilson Center’s Wahba Institute for Strategic Competition, to VOA on Jan. 23

On Pyongyang and Moscow, “Rubio will ask China – as Trump did – to help convince North Korea to resume negotiations with the U.S.,” said Joseph DeTrani, who served as special envoy for six-party denuclearization talks with North Korea during the George W. Bush administration.

“If successful, with or without China’s help, this may help to distance North Korea from Russia,” DeTrani told VOA on Jan. 24.

Rubio’s roots

In shaping and executing regional policies, Rubio’s strong opposition to authoritarianism, communism, and human rights violations is likely to “color his approach at the State Department,” said Evans Revere, who served as acting secretary for East Asia and Pacific Affairs during the George W. Bush administration.

The former senator grew up in Miami with Cuban immigrant parents and has exhibited an aversion toward communist governments throughout his political career.

This stance, mixed with the twin foreign policy pillars, are likely to result in tough strategies for countries like North Korea and China and their activities in the region, according to analysts.

Rubio signaled this on a call with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday, stressing that “the Trump Administration will pursue a U.S.-PRC relationship that advances U.S. interests” and “the United States’ commitment to our allies in the region.” China’s official name is the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

He also expressed “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan and in the South China Sea.”

In line with the policy goal of avoiding conflict, Rubio may support Trump’s personal diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said Gary Samore, former White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction during the Obama administration.

North Korea said Sunday it conducted a sea-to-surface strategic cruise missile test the previous day.

Rubio, doubtful initially about Trump’s summits with Kim during his first term, said at a confirmation hearing earlier this month that Trump’s personal diplomacy was able to stop the country from testing missiles.

He spoke by phone with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul last week emphasizing the alliance is the linchpin of peace on the Korean Peninsula and across the Indo-Pacific.

In a meeting also last week in Washington, Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi discussed North Korea’s ties with Russia.

Rally against China

Among Southeast Asian countries, Rubio last week held calls with the foreign ministers of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, each time stressing stable maritime security in the South China Sea.

Particularly in his calls with Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo, Rubio underscored “PRC’s dangerous and destabilizing actions in the South China Sea.”

With Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, Rubio expressed concern over “China’s aggressive behavior in the South China Sea.”

Gregory Poling, director of the Southeast Asia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told VOA on January 23 that the Trump administration “will look primarily to the Philippines and outside partners like Japan and Australia to defend freedom of the seas in the South China Sea.”

One of the first meetings Rubio held was with the Australian, Japanese and Indian leaders of the Quad security dialogue last week in Washington where they expressed opposition to unilateral actions to change the status quo of the region by force or coercion and vowed to keep the Indo-Pacific free and open.

Poling continued the administration will look “secondarily to Vietnam, Singapore, and Indonesia to deepen practical maritime cooperation.”

Rubio “may push Indonesia to take a stronger stance vis-à-vis Chinese activities in disputed waters, particularly in light of controversial Indonesia-China maritime development deal signed in November 2024,” Anreyka Natalegawa, associate fellow for the Southeast Asia Program at CSIS told VOA on Jan. 23.

Indonesia and China signed a $10 billion deal in November agreeing to develop fisheries, oil and gas exploration, among other things, across their private sectors.

Diplomatic balancing

Analysts say Washington’s push to have regional countries align more closely with Washington could lead to some tensions. Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar tend to lean more toward Beijing, and Indonesia tends to balance its engagement with China and the U.S.

Robert McMahon, a foreign relations expert at The Ohio State University, said Rubio’s harsh stance on China could put Indonesia in a “difficult position, since it has not been willing to join the anti-China bandwagon.”

He told VOA in December after Rubio was nominated as the secretary of state that “to the extent that the United States tries to pressure Indonesia to move in that direction, that could lead to some conflict.”

Rubio said to his State Department staff last week that he expects other countries “to advance their national interests” but hopes “there will be many – in which our national interests and theirs align.”

Seng Vanly, an assistant dean and lecturer at the Techo Sen School of Government and International Relations at the University of Cambodia, said Washington is likely to increase pressure on Cambodia over concerns for human rights, democratic setbacks, and restricted civil society activities, coupled with its growing ties with China.

However, analysts say U.S. foreign policy under Rubio will likely balance issues such as human rights with regional security and economic goals.

Rahman Yaacob, a research fellow for the Southeast Asia program at the Lowy Institute, said, “Washington will be more practical.”

“While it could raise human rights issues with regional countries, the Americans understand if they disengage from the region because of human rights, China will fill in the void,” Yaacob said.

Han Noy from Khmer Service, Yuni Salim from Indonesian Service contributed to this report.
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In his inaugural address, U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to put the Panama Canal, a key global shipping route, back under the control of the United States, amid fear of growing Chinese encroachment. U.S. senators examined security concerns surrounding the canal Tuesday and looked at next steps. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson has more.
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Відомство просить громадян України, які перебувають на території ДРК, дотримуватися заходів безпеки
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Штаб повідомляє про 10 відбитих російських штурмів із 11 на Краматорському напрямку та 13  –  на Торецькому, де триває один бій
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«Оскільки світ уже небезпечно близький до прірви, рух навіть на одну секунду слід сприймати як ознаку надзвичайної небезпеки»
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