US senators vow action after briefing on Chinese Salt Typhoon telecom hacking
WASHINGTON — U.S. government agencies held a classified briefing for all senators on Wednesday on China’s alleged efforts known as Salt Typhoon to burrow deep into American telecommunications companies and steal data about U.S. calls. The FBI, Director of National…
From VOA Mandarin: Biden hits hard at China’s AI; Trump may pound harder
The Biden administration issued what is likely its final set of export control rules against Beijing earlier this week. The rules forbid companies from exporting an important chip component crucial for training artificial intelligence to China. Experts say it will…
Ukraine demands Russia return ‘kidnapped’ children
UNITED NATIONS — Ukraine demanded Wednesday that Russia end what Kyiv called “the largest kidnapping campaign in modern history” and return Ukrainian children forcibly transferred from its territory during the ongoing war. “Ukraine is searching for nearly 20,000 children who…
Blinken: Ukraine must make hard, but necessary, decisions
In his final appearance at NATO headquarters as U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken spoke about Ukraine and what he said are the hard, but necessary, decisions it must make about mobilizing its forces on the front lines to “deal…
Transgender rights case lands at US Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is hearing arguments Wednesday in just its second major transgender rights case, which is a challenge to a Tennessee law that bans gender-affirming health care for minors. The justices’ decision, not expected for several months,…
Many former X users migrate to Bluesky social media platform
Bluesky, a decentralized social media platform, recently experienced significant growth, surpassing 22 million users. The surge is attributed to users migrating from X due to their dissatisfaction with changes under Elon Musk’s ownership. Andrei Dziarkach has the story, narrated by…
Middle East crisis: Live updates for 4 December
The Middle East crisis continues to deepen, with families in Gaza struggling to secure basic food amid constant displacement, plummeting temperatures, and relentless conflict. Meanwhile, the full-blown war in Syria has reignited, where the status quo has been “radically altered”…
Ukraine: UNICEF chief urges greater protection for children ‘caught in this nightmare’
Catherine Russell, head of UN child rights agency, UNICEF, appealed for greater protection efforts by both the international community and the parties to the conflict, and a political solution to end the war. “Children are depending on this Council to…
Australia urges greater internet user choice amid Google dominance, genAI
Australia’s competition watchdog said there was a need to revisit efforts to ensure greater choice for internet users, citing Google’s dominant search engine market share and its competitors’ failure to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. A report by the…
NATO chief says Russia weaponizing winter in its war in Ukraine
NATO chief Mark Rutte said Tuesday he is confident that whatever military aid allies can supply to Ukraine in the coming months will be provided, as he warned that Russia is again using the onset of winter as a weapon…