NEW YORK — A public memorial service bursting with choral music and the Berklee College of Music’s Nebulous String Quartet, with Stevie Wonder and the Rev. Al Sharpton also on the bill, celebrated the life and legacy of Grammy-winning singer and pianist Roberta Flack. 

Flack’s songs “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly with His Song” made her a global star in the 1970s and beyond. She died last month at age 88. 

Wonder was among the artists scheduled to perform during the service at a historic Harlem church, while Sharpton was to deliver the eulogy, according to the memorial program. 

Flack was an influential performer with an intimate vocal and musical style that ranged easily between soul, jazz and gospel. 

Her “Celebration of Life” memorial was livestreamed at www.RobertaFlack.com and on YouTube. 

Here are some highlights: 

For the memory of a singing legend, an historic location 

Flack’s memorial was open to the public at The Abyssinian Baptist Church. Founded in 1808, it is one of the oldest Black Baptist churches in the U.S. 

The church was decorated for the ceremony with stunning white and yellow bouquets and filled quickly beforehand. At the center, a screen showed a young Flack at the piano and played highlights of her career. 

It was a fitting location: Flack grew up with church gospel and her mother played organ at the Lomax African Methodist Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia. As a teen, she began accompanying the church choir on piano. 

The program featured a powerful quote from Flack. 

“Remember: Always walk in the light,” it read. “If you feel like you’re not walking in it, go find it. Love the Light.” 

A celebration of a life in music … with music 

“Many of us are here today because she has touched not just our hearts, but she also touched our souls,” said the Rev. Dr. Kevin R. Johnson, the senior church pastor who led the service. 

Choir performances including a rousing rendition of “Amazing Grace” came in between a video recollection of Flack’s life and scripture readings. 

“That’s what we call church, y’all,” Johnson said at the close of one choral performance. 

Organ and piano riffs played off and on in the background. 

“She just sang the song. She let you hear the lyrics. She let you understand the beauty. But I also want you to understand that this woman was also a pure genius,” Santita Jackson, daughter of the Rev. Jesse Jackson and a friend of Flack, told the near-capacity crowd. 

Actor Phylicia Rashad remembered first seeing Flack perform when she was a student at Howard University — to an audience that grew rapt by her quiet, steady voice. 

Flack lived comfortably with her genius and without having to proclaim it to people, Rashad said. 

“She wore that like a loose fitting garment and lived her life attending to that which she cared for most: music, love and humanity,” Rashad said. 

What are some of Flack’s best-known songs? 

Flack leaves behind a rich repertoire of music that avoids categorization. Her debut, “First Take,” wove soul, jazz, flamenco, gospel and folk into one revelatory package, prescient in its form and measured in its approach. 

She will likely be remembered for her classics. Those include “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” her dreamy cover of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” written by English folk artist Ewan MacColl for his wife Peggy Seeger. It marked the beginning of Flack’s mainstream success when it was used in a love scene between Clint Eastwood and Donna Mills in his 1971 film “Play Misty for Me.” 

But most will think of “Killing Me Softly with His Song” when Flack’s name comes up in conversation. She first heard Lori Lieberman’s “Killing Me Softly with His Song” while on a plane and immediately fell in love with it. While on tour with Quincy Jones, she covered the song, and the audience fell in love with it, too, as they’d continue to for decades.
…

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.
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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 have intentionally failed to take required action about Teixeira’s suspicious behavior.

Teixeira, of North Dighton, Massachusetts, was part of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts. He worked as a cyber transport systems specialist, which is essentially an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks. He remains in the Air National Guard in an unpaid status, an Air Force official said.

Teixeira’s lawyers described him as an autistic, isolated individual who spent most of his time online, especially with his Discord community, and never meant to harm the United States. “His intent was to educate his friends about world events to make certain they were not misled by misinformation,” they wrote. “He needed someone to share the experience with.”

Prosecutors countered that Teixeira did not suffer from any intellectual disability and that his post-arrest diagnosis of “mild, high-functioning” autism was of “questionable relevance.”

Authorities said he first typed out classified documents he accessed and then began sharing photographs of files that bore SECRET and TOP SECRET markings.

Prosecutors also said he tried to cover his tracks before his arrest. Authorities found a smashed tablet, laptop and an Xbox gaming console in a dumpster at his house.
…

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

 
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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 a way to send them back to their countries of origin.

Critics described it as a way for the U.S. to export its deportation process.

The agreement fueled human rights concerns when hundreds of deportees detained in a hotel in Panama City held up notes to their windows pleading for help and saying they were scared to return to their own countries.

Under international refugee law, people have the right to apply for asylum when they are fleeing conflict or persecution.

Those that refused to return home were later sent to a remote camp near Panama’s border with Colombia, where they spent weeks in poor conditions, were stripped of their phones, unable to access legal council and were not told where they were going next.

Lawyers and human rights defenders warned that Panama and Costa Rica were turning into “black holes” for deportees, and said their release was a way for Panamanian authorities to wash their hands of the deportees amid mounting human rights criticism.

Upon being released Saturday night, human rights lawyers identified at least three people who required medical attention. One has been vomiting for over a week, another deportee had diabetes and hadn’t had access to insulin in the camp and another person had HIV and also didn’t have access to medicine in detention.

Those who were released, like Omagh, said they could not return home.

As an atheist and member of an ethnic minority group in Afghanistan known as the Hazara, he said returning home under the rule of the Taliban — which swept back into power after the Biden administration pulled out of the country — would mean he would be killed. He only went to the U.S. after trying for years to live in Pakistan, Iran and other countries but being denied visas.

Omagh was deported after presenting himself to American authorities and asking to seek asylum in the U.S., which he was denied.

“My hope was freedom. Just freedom,” he said. “They didn’t give me the chance. I asked many times to speak to an asylum officer and they told me ‘No, no, no, no, no.’”

Still, he said that leaving the camp was a relief. Omagh and other migrants who spoke to the AP detailed scarce food, sweltering heat with little relief and aggressive Panamanian authorities.

In one case, Omagh and others said, a Chinese man went on a weeklong hunger strike. In another, a small riot broke out because guards refused to give a migrant their phone. The riot, they said, was suppressed by armed guards.

Panamanian authorities denied accusations about camp conditions, but blocked journalists from accessing the camp and canceled a planned press visit last week.

While international aid organizations said they would organize travel to a third country for people who didn’t want to return home, Panamanian authorities said the people released had already refused help.

Omagh said he was told in the camp he could be sent to a third country if it gives people from Afghanistan visas. He said that would be incredibly difficult because few nations open their doors to people with an Afghan passport.

He said he asked authorities in the camp multiple times if he could seek asylum in Panama, and said he was told that “we do not accept asylum.”

“None of them wants to stay in Panama. They want to go to the U.S.,” said Carlos Ruiz-Hernandez, Panama’s deputy foreign minister, in an interview with the AP last month.

That was the case for some, like one Chinese woman who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity, fearing repercussions from Panamanian authorities.

Upon getting off the bus, the first thing she wanted to do was find a Coca-Cola. Then, she’d find a way back to the U.S.

“I still want to continue to go to the United States and fulfill my American dream,” she said.
…

SELMA, Ala. — Charles Mauldin was near the front of a line of voting rights marchers walking in pairs across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965. 

The marchers were protesting white officials’ refusal to allow Black Alabamians to register to vote, as well as the killing days earlier of Jimmie Lee Jackson, a minister and voting rights organizer who was shot by a state trooper in nearby Marion. 

At the apex of the span over the Alabama River, they saw what awaited them: a line of state troopers, deputies and men on horseback. After they approached, law enforcement gave a warning to disperse and then unleashed violence. 

“Within about a minute or a half, they took their billy clubs, holding it on both ends, began to push us back, to back us in, and then they began to beat men, women and children, and tear gas men, women and children, and cattle prod men, women and children viciously,” said Mauldin, who was 17 at the time. 

Selma on Sunday marked the 60th anniversary of the clash that became known as Bloody Sunday. The attack shocked the nation and galvanized support for the U.S. Voting Rights Act of 1965. The annual commemoration paid homage to those who fought to secure voting rights for Black Americans and brought calls to recommit to the fight for equality. 

For foot soldiers of the movement, the celebration comes amid concerns about new voting restrictions and the Trump administration’s effort to remake federal agencies they said helped make America a democracy for all. 

“This country was not a democracy for Black folks until that happened,” Mauldin said of voting rights. “And we’re still constantly fighting to make that a more concrete reality for ourselves.” 

Speaking at the pulpit of the city’s historic Tabernacle Baptist Church, the site of the first mass meeting of the voting rights movement, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said what happened in Selma changed the nation. But he said the 60th anniversary comes at a time when there is “trouble all around” and some “want to whitewash our history.” But he said like the marchers of Bloody Sunday, they must keep going. 

“At this moment, faced with trouble on every side, we’ve got to press on,” Jeffries said to the crowd that included the Rev. Jesse Jackson, multiple members of Congress and others gathered for the commemoration. 

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell of Alabama said they are gathering in Selma for the 60th anniversary “at a time when the vote is in peril.” 

Sewell noted the number of voting restrictions introduced since the U.S. Supreme Court effectively abolished a key part of the Voting Rights Act that required jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination to pre-clear new voting laws with the Justice Department. 

Sewell this week reintroduced legislation to restore the requirement. The proposal has repeatedly stalled in Congress. The legislation is named for John Lewis, the late Georgia congressman who was at the lead of the Bloody Sunday march. 

The annual celebration will conclude with a ceremony and march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. At the time, the Bloody Sunday marchers walked in pairs across the Selma bridge. Mauldin was in the third pair of the line led by Lewis and Hosea Williams. 

“We had steeled our nerves to a point where we were so determined that we were willing to confront. It was past being courageous. We were determined, and we were indignant,” Mauldin recalled in an interview with The Associated Press. 

Mauldin, who took a blow to the head, said he believes law enforcement officers were trying to incite a riot as they attacked marchers. 

Kirk Carrington was just 13 on Bloody Sunday. As the violence erupted, a white man on a horse wielding a stick chased him all the way back to the public housing projects where his family lived. 

Carrington said he started marching after witnessing his father get belittled by his white employers when his father returned from service in World War II. Standing in Tabernacle Baptist Church where he was trained in non-violent protest tactics 60 years earlier, he was brought to tears thinking about what the people of his city achieved. 

“When we started marching, we did not know the impact we would have in America. We knew after we got older and got grown that the impact it not only had in Selma, but the impact it had in the entire world,” Carrington said. 

Dr. Verdell Lett Dawson, who grew up in Selma, remembers a time when she was expected to lower her gaze if she passed a white person on the street to avoid making eye contact. 

Dawson and Mauldin said they are concerned about the potential dismantling of the Department of Education and other changes to federal agencies. Trump has pushed to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the federal government. 

Support from the federal government “is how Black Americans have been able to get justice, to get some semblance of equality, because left to states’ rights, it is going to be the white majority that’s going to rule,” Dawson said. 

“That that’s a tragedy of 60 years later: what we are looking at now is a return to the 1950s,” Dawson said. 
…

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.
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WASHINGTON — The Trump administration rescinded a waiver on Saturday that had allowed Iraq to pay Iran for electricity, as part of President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran, a State Department spokesperson said.

The decision to let Iraq’s waiver lapse upon its expiration “ensures we do not allow Iran any degree of economic or financial relief,” the spokesperson said, adding that Trump’s campaign on Iran aims “to end its nuclear threat, curtail its ballistic missile program and stop it from supporting terrorist groups.”

Trump restored “maximum pressure” on Iran in one of his first acts after returning to office in January. In his first term, he pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal, a multinational agreement to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

The U.S. government has said it wants to isolate Iran from the global economy and eliminate its oil export revenues in order to slow Tehran’s development of a nuclear weapon.

Iran denies pursuing nuclear weapons and says its program is peaceful.

For Iraq, the end of the waiver “presents temporary operational challenges,” said Farhad Alaaeldin, foreign affairs adviser to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

“The government is actively working on alternatives to sustain electricity supply and mitigate any potential disruptions,” Alaaeldin told Reuters. “Strengthening energy security remains a national priority, and efforts to enhance domestic production, improve grid efficiency and invest in new technologies will continue at full pace.”

Washington has imposed a range of sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program and support for terrorist organizations, effectively banning countries that do business with Iran from doing business with the U.S.

“President Trump has been clear that the Iranian Regime must cease its ambitions for a nuclear weapon or face Maximum Pressure,” said national security spokesperson James Hewitt. “We hope the regime will put the interests of its people and the region ahead of its destabilizing policies.”

Pressure on Baghdad

Trump initially granted waivers to several buyers to meet consumer energy needs when he reimposed sanctions on Iran’s energy exports in 2018, citing its nuclear program and what the U.S. calls its meddling in the Middle East.

His administration and that of Joe Biden repeatedly renewed Iraq’s waiver while urging Baghdad to reduce its dependence on Iranian electricity. The State Department spokesperson reiterated that call on Saturday.

“We urge the Iraqi government to eliminate its dependence on Iranian sources of energy as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said. “Iran is an unreliable energy supplier.”

The U.S. has used the waiver review in part to increase pressure on Baghdad to allow Kurdish crude oil exports via Turkey, sources have told Reuters. The aim is to boost supply to the global market and keep prices in check, giving the U.S. more room to pursue efforts to choke off Iranian oil exports.

Iraq’s negotiations with the semiautonomous Kurdish region over the oil export resumption have been fraught so far.

“Iraq’s energy transition provides opportunities for U.S. companies, which are world-leading experts in increasing the productivity of power plants, improving electricity grids, and developing electricity interconnections with reliable partners,” the State Department spokesperson said.

The spokesperson played down the impact of Iranian electricity imports on Iraq’s power grid, saying, “In 2023, electricity imports from Iran were only 4% of electricity consumption in Iraq.” 
…

NEW YORK — Fast-moving brush fires burned through a large swath of land on New York’s Long Island on Saturday fanned by high winds, spewing gray smoke and prompting the evacuation of a military base and the closure of a major highway. 

Officials said three of the four fires were fully contained while the other one, in Westhampton, was 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.” 

New York Governor 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. 

“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,” she said, adding that more evacuations may be needed. 

Hochul said homes, a chemical factory and an Amazon warehouse were at risk. 

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 (2.5 miles) 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 said in a statement. 
…

WASHINGTON — House Republicans unveiled a spending bill Saturday that would keep federal agencies funded through Sept. 30, pushing ahead with a go-it-alone strategy that seems certain to spark a major confrontation with Democrats over the contours of government spending.

The 99-page bill would provide a slight boost to defense programs while trimming non-defense programs below 2024 budget year levels. That approach is likely to be a nonstarter for most Democrats who have long insisted that defense and non-defense spending move in the same direction.

Congress must act by midnight Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown.

Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, is teeing up the bill for a vote on Tuesday despite the lack of buy-in from Democrats, essentially daring them to vote against it and risk a shutdown. He also is betting that Republicans can muscle the legislation through the House largely by themselves.

Normally, when it comes to keeping the government fully open for business, Republicans have had to work with Democrats to craft a bipartisan measure that both sides can support. That’s because Republicans almost always lack the votes to pass spending bills on their own.

Crucially, the strategy has the backing of President Donald Trump, who has shown an ability so far in his term to hold Republicans in line.

Trump praised the bill, writing on X that Republicans have to “remain UNITED — NO DISSENT — Fight for another day when the timing is right.”

“Great things are coming for America, and I am asking you all to give us a few months to get us through to September so we can continue to put the Country’s ‘financial house’ in order,” he said.

House Republicans’ leadership staff outlined the contours of the measure, saying it would allow for about $892.5 billion in defense spending and about $708 billion in non-defense spending. The defense spending is slightly above the prior year’s level, but the non-defense spending, the aides said, was about $13 billion below last year.

The measure also will not include funding requested by individual lawmakers for thousands of community projects around the country, often referred to as earmarks.

The bill does not cover the majority of government spending, including programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Funding for those two programs are on auto pilot and are not regularly reviewed by Congress.

The top Democrats on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro and Washington Senator Patty Murray, both issued statements blasting the legislation.

“I strongly oppose this full-year continuing resolution,” DeLauro said.

Murray said the legislation would “give Donald Trump and Elon Musk more power over federal spending — and more power to pick winners and losers, which threatens families in blue and red states alike.”

Maine Senator Susan Collins, who heads the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the focus must be on preventing a shutdown because closures have negative consequences all across government.

“They require certain essential government employees, such as Border Patrol agents, members of our military and Coast Guard, TSA screeners, and air traffic controllers, to report to work with no certainty on when they will receive their next paycheck,” Collins said. “We cannot allow that to occur.”

Trump’s request for unity appears to be having an effect. Some conservatives who almost never vote for continuing resolutions expressed much openness to one last week.

Representative Ralph Norman said he has never voted for a continuing resolution — what lawmakers often call a CR — but he is on board with Johnson’s effort. He said he has confidence in Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency, a team led by Elon Musk, to make a difference on the nation’s debt.

“I don’t like CRs,” Norman said. “But what’s the alternative? Negotiate with Democrats? No.”

“I freeze spending for six months to go identify more cuts? Somebody tell me how that’s not a win in Washington,” added Republican Representative Chip Roy, another lawmaker who has frequently voted against spending bills but supports the six-month continuing resolution.

Republicans are also hoping that resolving this year’s spending will allow them to devote their full attention to extending the individual tax cuts passed during Trump’s first term and raising the nation’s debt limit to avoid a catastrophic federal default.

Democratic leaders are warning that the decision to move ahead without consulting them increases the prospects for a shutdown. One of their biggest concerns is the flexibility the legislation would give the Trump administration on spending.

The Democratic leadership in both chambers has stressed that Republicans have the majority and are responsible for funding the government. But leaders also have been wary of saying how Democrats would vote on a continuing resolution.

“We have to wait to see what their plan is,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York. “We’ve always believed the only solution is a bipartisan solution, no matter what.”

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said earlier this week that the Democratic caucus would meet and discuss the legislation at the “appropriate moment.” But he struck a more forceful tone Friday.

Jeffries said Democrats are ready to negotiate a “meaningful, bipartisan spending agreement that puts working people first.” But he said the “partisan continuing resolution” threatens to cut funding for key programs, such as veterans benefits and nutritional assistance for low-income families.

“That is not acceptable,” Jeffries said.

Trump has been meeting with House Republicans in an effort to win their votes on the legislation. Republicans have a 218-214 majority in the House, so if all lawmakers vote, they can afford only one defection if Democrats unite in opposition. The math gets even harder in the Senate, where at least seven Democrats would have to vote for the legislation to overcome a filibuster. And that’s assuming all 53 Republicans vote for it.
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TEHRAN, IRAN — Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he rejects a U.S. push for talks between the two countries because they would be aimed at imposing restrictions on Iranian missile range and its influence in the region.

Speaking to a group of officials on Saturday, Khamenei did not identify the United States by name but said a “bullying government” was being persistent in its push for talks.

“Their talks are not aimed at solving problems, it is for … let’s talk to impose what we want on the other party that is sitting on the opposite side of the table,” he said.

Khamenei’s remarks came a day after President Donald Trump acknowledged sending a letter to Khamenei seeking a new deal with Tehran to restrain its rapidly advancing nuclear program and replace the nuclear deal he withdrew America from during his first term in office.

Khamenei said U.S. demands would be military and related to the regional influence of Iran.

“They will be about defense capabilities, about international capabilities of the country,” he said. They will urge Iran “not to do things, not to meet some certain people, not to go to a certain place, not to produce some items, your missile range should not be more than a certain distance. Is it possible for anybody to accept these?”

Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, said such talks would not address solving problems between Iran and the West. Although Khamenei did not name any person or country, he said the push for talks creates pressure on Iran in public opinion.

“It is not negotiation. It is commanding and imposition,” he said.

Trump, in comments to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, did not mention the letter directly. But he made a veiled reference to possible military action, saying, “We have a situation with Iran that, something’s going to happen very soon. Very, very soon.”

Trump’s overture comes as Israel and the United States have warned they will never let Iran acquire a nuclear weapon, leading to fears of a military confrontation as Tehran enriches uranium at near-weapons-grade levels — something done only by atomic-armed nations.

Tehran has long maintained its program is for peaceful purposes, even as its officials increasingly threaten to pursue the bomb as tensions are high with the U.S. over its sanctions and with Israel as a shaky ceasefire holds in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Iran’s accelerated production of near-weapons-grade uranium puts more pressure on Trump. He has repeatedly said he’s open to negotiations with the Islamic Republic while also increasingly targeting Iran’s oil sales with sanctions as part of his reimposed “maximum pressure” policy.

Late in August, Khamenei in a speech opened the door to possible talks with the U.S., saying there is “no harm” in engaging with the “enemy.” However, more recently the supreme leader tempered that, saying that negotiations with America “are not intelligent, wise or honorable,” after Trump floated the possibility of nuclear talks with Tehran.
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WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he was appointing Fox News host Laura Ingraham and Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo to the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

In February, weeks after taking office, Trump fired the center’s president, replaced the board of trustees and named himself chairman of the organization.

The moves represented a takeover by Trump of a cultural institution that is known for its signature Kennedy Center Honors performances and is home to the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera.

“This completes our selection,” Trump said on social media after announcing the appointments of Ingraham and Bartiromo. Trump said last month special U.S. envoy Richard Grenell will serve as the interim executive director of the center.

Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump, a Republican, has embarked on a massive government makeover, firing and sidelining hundreds of civil servants and top officials at agencies in his first steps toward downsizing the bureaucracy and installing more loyalists.

During his first term in office, Trump declined to attend the annual Kennedy Center Honors, considered the top award for achievement in the arts. In December, at the last show attended by former President Joe Biden, the center’s leaders made clear Trump was welcome to come in the future.

Earlier this week, the hit musical Hamilton canceled its run at the center after Trump’s takeover. 
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WASHINGTON — Calls to revoke China’s Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status have grown louder in recent months.

In a memo released on the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump asked his Cabinet members to “assess legislative proposals regarding PNTR.” Three days later, Republican Representative John Moolenaar, the chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and Democratic lawmaker Tom Suozzi introduced the first bipartisan bill that would revoke China’s PNTR status.

China has held PNTR status since 2000, when Congress first passed legislation on the matter. Prior to that, Beijing’s trade status was reviewed annually.

VOA recently sat down with Republican Representative Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin, who also proposed legislation, along with Republican lawmaker Chris Smith, to revoke China’s PNTR status. He said China is stealing American technology, setting up police stations in various cities across the U.S. and engaging in unfair trade practices. “One of the most important things we can do is to revoke China’s PNTR and have it renewed on an annual basis,” he said.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: The relationship between the U.S. and China has gone through dramatic changes since China entered the WTO in 2001. How do you describe the current state of U.S.-China relations? How did we get here?

U.S. Representative Tom Tiffany: I think the goodwill of the American people has been abused. When you look at the theft of intellectual property — I just mentioned the police stations, something that is anathema to American society — I believe this goes back to when most favored nation status was given to Communist China and that’s why I’ve introduced legislation with Representative Chris Smith from New Jersey to revoke that permanent status and have it be renewed annually. I believe we will get much greater accountability by the Communist Chinese government. I think this is one of the most important things that we can do. We have the largest consumer base, and that has led to prosperity for China over the last few decades. I believe they should respect that, and they have not. One way in which we can deal with this is to have an annual renewal for most favored nation status.

VOA: You represent Wisconsin’s 7th congressional district. How have the actions taken by China affected people in your district, especially on the trade front?

Tiffany: I’ll give you one example. We grow almost all the ginseng in my district, in northern Wisconsin, and the Communist Chinese have used this as a weapon in trade negotiations. Because Wisconsin is such an important state, in terms of elections, they’ve tried to turn the ginseng growers against Republicans, against President Trump, by saying we’re not going to take your ginseng anymore. Because China took a lot of America’s ginseng — it’s the best that is produced in the world — they’ve used trade, specifically in regard to ginseng, as a political weapon and that should not be the case. I’m hoping that the Communist Chinese will relent on this now and allow ginseng to be imported into their country once again in the same volumes that they did a decade ago.

VOA: Do you support imposing tariffs on Chinese goods coming to the U.S., and what are the other urgent steps that the U.S. should be taking to deal with China’s unfair trade practices?

Tiffany: I do agree with tariffs, and I like the president’s idea of having reciprocal tariffs. If you’re going to tariff 25% on a particular product, then we’re going to tariff 25% on a particular product. We would prefer to just see free trade, but it has to be fair trade.

I think there’s a couple other things that we watch very closely here in America. We see the abuse of the Uyghur people in Western China. That is unacceptable in a free society. We do not want companies importing goods that are using slave labor. We haven’t had a full accounting of what happened in the Wuhan lab with the coronavirus … it appears almost certain that it came from that lab and caused incredible damage to not just America, but countries around the world. We need a full accounting in regard to those things and China needs to provide that.

VOA: Where do you see U.S.-China relations heading in the next decade?

Tiffany: If we continue with the policies of President Trump, I think we have the potential to have good relations. You know, maybe [Chinese President] Xi Jinping chooses not to give up communism, and that’s how he wants to rule his country, and that would be very unfortunate. But I think we’d end up with better relations when we have a strong America.
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WASHINGTON — Giving a new meaning to the phrase mad scientists, angry researchers, doctors, their patients and supporters ventured out of labs, hospitals and offices Friday to fight against what they call a blitz on life-saving science by the Trump administration.

In the nation’s capital, a couple thousand gathered at the Stand Up for Science rally. Organizers said similar rallies were planned in more than 30 U.S. cities.

Politicians, scientists, musicians, doctors and their patients made the case that firings, budget and grant cuts in health, climate, science and other research government agencies in the Trump administration’s first 47 days in office are endangering not just the future but the present.

“This is the most challenging moment I can recall,” University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann told the crowd full of signs belittling the intelligence of President Donald Trump, his cost-cutting aide Elon Musk and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “Science is under siege.”

Astronomer Phil Plait told a booing crowd, “We’re looking at the most aggressively anti-science government the United States has ever had.”

Rally co-organizer Colette Delawalla, a doctoral student in clinical psychology, said, “We’re not just going to stand here and take it.”

Science communicator, entertainer and one-time engineer Bill Nye the Science Guy challenged the forces in government that want to cut and censor science. “What are you afraid of?” he said.

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen challenged the crowd, some in white lab coats if only for show, to live up to the mad scientist moniker: “Everybody in America should be mad about what we are witnessing.”

The crowd was. Signs read “Edit Elon out of USA’s DNA,” “Delete DOGE not data,” “the only good evidence against evolution is the existence of Trump” and “ticked off epidemiologist.”

Health and science advances are happening faster than ever, making this a key moment in making people’s lives better, said former National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, who helped map the human genome. The funding cuts put at risk progress on Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and cancer, he said.

“It’s a very bad time with all the promise and momentum,” said Collins.

“I’m very worried about my country right now,” Collins said before breaking out into an original song on his guitar.

Emily Whitehead, the first patient to get a certain new type of treatment for a rare cancer, told the crowd that at age 5 she was sent hospice to die, but CAR T-cell therapy “taught my immune system to beat cancer” and she’s been disease free for nearly 13 years.

“I stand up for science because science saved my life,” Whitehead said.

Friday’s rally in Washington was at the Lincoln Memorial, in the shadow of a statue of the president who created the nearby National Academy of Sciences in 1863.

From 11 million kilometers away from Earth, NASA proved science could divert potentially planet-killing asteroids, former NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said. On his space shuttle flight nearly 40 years ago, he looked down to Earth and had a “sense of awe that you want to be a better steward of what we’ve been given,” he said.

The rallies were organized mostly by graduate students and early career scientists. Dozens of other protests were also planned around the world, including more than 30 in France, Delawalla said.

Protesters gathered around City Hall in Philadelphia, home to prestigious, internationally recognized health care institutions and where 1 in 6 doctors in the U.S. has received medical training.

“As a doctor, I’m standing up for all of my transgender, nonbinary patients who are also being targeted,” said Cedric Bien-Gund, an infectious disease doctor at the University of Pennsylvania. “There’s been a lot of fear and silencing, both among our patients and among all our staff. And it’s really disheartening to see.” 
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WHITE HOUSE — U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday appeared to signal that he is ready to take military action on Iran, unless the country agrees to a new deal that would restrain its rapidly advancing nuclear program.

“There’ll be some interesting days ahead. That’s all I can tell you,” he told reporters in the Oval Office Friday.

Trump announced during a Fox Business News interview recorded Thursday night and aired Friday morning that he had sent a letter to Ali Khamenei, telling the Iranian supreme leader that it will be “a lot better for Iran” if they are willing to negotiate a nuclear deal.

“If we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing for them,” he said during the interview.

Trump said the U.S. is “down to final strokes with Iran,” and signaled he has his sights on the country’s “nice oil wells.”

“We have a situation with Iran that something’s going to happen very soon, very, very soon,” he said. “I’m just saying I’d rather see a peace deal than the other, but the other will solve the problem.”

The deal Trump is referring to would replace the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran. The JCPOA is a signature foreign policy achievement of his predecessor, former President Barack Obama. In 2018, during in his first term in office, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal.

Details of Trump’s new Iran deal are unclear. The White House has not responded to VOA’s request to provide the letter or further describe its contents.

The Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations said there has been no confirmation from Khamenei’s office that any letter had been received.

“We have not received such a letter so far,” the mission said in a statement sent to VOA Friday.

Brinkmanship

Trump is engaging in a “classic case of brinkmanship,” said Farzin Nadimi, a senior fellow with The Washington Institute. “He’s trying to raise the stakes with Iran, to compel its leadership to do deals with him.”

Early steps that Trump could take might include interdicting Iranian oil tankers to disrupt the country’s remaining lifeline amid crippling sanctions, but that could escalate the situation and trigger an Iranian tit-for-tat response, Nadimi told VOA.

“I don’t think at this moment the U.S. government is thinking it wants to bomb Iranian oil installations,” he added. “Initially, I think every focus will be on Iranian air defenses, long-range missile capabilities and the nuclear sites.”

On Thursday, Israel’s military said it performed a joint air force exercise with the U.S. this week involving Israeli F-15I and F-35I fighter jets flying alongside a U.S. B-52 bomber, in an apparent message to Iran. Israel said the exercise aims to practice “operational coordination between the two militaries to enhance their ability to address various regional threats.”

Trump campaigned on renewing “maximum pressure” on Iran, saying that his administration will not tolerate Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon or their support of terrorism in the Middle East and around the world. During his first term, Trump ordered the 2020 airstrike that killed Iran’s most powerful military commander, Qassem Soleimani.

However, it’s unclear why he is ramping up pressure on Tehran now, amid other rapid developments on Washington’s positions in various conflicts, including the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, said Seth Jones, president of the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“This was bound to be a much more aggressive policy than what we’ve seen,” Jones told VOA. “But I don’t know if there’s a clear strategy going forward.”

No negotiations under sanctions

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the prospect of nuclear negotiations with the U.S. while Tehran remains under heavy sanctions from Washington.

“We will not enter any direct negotiations with the U.S. so long as they continue their maximum pressure policy and their threats,” Araghchi said in an interview with AFP on Friday. He added that Tehran is speaking with “three European countries,” along with “Russia and China, [and] other members of the JCPOA.”

Trump has spoken more broadly about his desire to eliminate their nuclear weapons, signaling he wants to negotiate denuclearization efforts with China and Russia as well.

“It would great if everybody would get rid of their nuclear weapons,” he told reporters in the Oval Office Thursday.

Michael Lipin contributed to this report.
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Sediqa Khalili was a captain in the Afghan military until the Taliban’s takeover in 2021. She was evacuated to the United States, and she says she is grateful for the opportunities but heartbroken by the worsening conditions for women in Afghanistan. VOA’s Noshaba Ashna has the story, narrated by Bezhan Hamdard. Camera: Ajmal Songaryar
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In a win for Elon Musk’s X corporation, the U.S. state of California will no longer require social media companies to report about their content moderation practices. VOA’s Matt Dibble has more from Silicon Valley.
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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday criticized the United States for imposing tariffs on Chinese imports and vowed to “resolutely retaliate” if Washington continues to increase pressure on Beijing.

Speaking to local and foreign media outlets during the annual meeting of China’s parliament on Friday, Wang questioned the effectiveness of the U.S. government’s tariffs against China and called on Washington to avoid conflicts and confrontation.

“The U.S. should think about what they have gotten out of all the trade wars and tariff wars that they have initiated all these years,” Wang said, adding that the economic and trade relationship between the two countries should be “mutual and reciprocal.”

“No country can fantasize about developing good relations with China while suppressing and containing it,” he said, calling such behavior a “two-faced approach” that will be detrimental to the stability of bilateral relations and attempts to build trust.

Wang’s remarks come three days after the U.S. imposed an additional 10% tariff on all Chinese imports, bringing the total amount of tariff on Chinese products to 20% and prompting Beijing to slap tariffs of between 10% to 15% on a wide range of American agricultural products.

“[U.S. Treasury] Secretary [Scott] Bessent expressed serious concerns about the PRC’s counternarcotics efforts, economic imbalances, and unfair policies, and stressed the Administration’s commitment to pursue trade and economic policies that protect the American economy, the American worker, and our national security,” the Treasury said in a statement following a Feb. 28 telephone conversation with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, using the acronym for China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.

Despite his criticism of the U.S. tariffs against China, Wang said Beijing remains committed to maintain a “stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations” based on “mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.”

“I hope that the United States will listen to the voices of the two peoples, recognize the general trend of historical development, look at China’s development objectively and rationally, actively and pragmatically carry out exchanges with China,” he told a roomful of journalists.

In addition to bilateral relations with the U.S. Wang also criticized Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy, saying the plan, which includes deploying mid-range capability missiles to countries like the Philippines, has only “stirred up trouble and create differences” in the region.

“Instead of being the battleground of big power competition, Asia should be the place to showcase international cooperation,” he said, adding that China advocates for open regionalism and sharing development opportunities in Asia based on mutual respect and benefit.

Analysts say Wang’s remarks suggest China is seeking to handle relations with the U.S. in a “firm yet not overly excited way.”

“China is telling the Trump administration that what they are doing is wrong, but they don’t seem to be putting proposals on the table, which may be their attempt to avoid escalation in bilateral relations,” said Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore.

China as the pro ‘status-quo’ power

In addition to weighing in on bilateral relations with Washington, Wang also reiterated China’s support for multilateralism and opposition to “unilateralism” and “hegemony,” a vague criticism of the U.S. decision to freeze foreign aid and pull out of some international organizations.

“We will safeguard the multilateral free trade system, create an open, inclusive and nondiscriminatory environment for international cooperation, and promote inclusive economic globalization,” he said during the news conference.

When asked about the current role of the United Nations, Wang said China opposes the monopolization of international affairs by a few countries and hopes the voices of countries in the Global South, which include developing nations in Africa, Latin America and Asia, could be “heard more often.”

“As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China is aware of its international responsibility and will firmly uphold the centrality of the United Nations, serve as the mainstay of the multilateral system and be the voice of justice for the Global South,” he said.

Some experts say Wang’s comments are part of Beijing’s efforts to present itself as a “steady” and “pro-status quo” power as the United States is dramatically changing its foreign policy approach.

“Beijing wants to reassure other countries that China is the safer pair of hands and at a time when the Trump administration is pursuing a more zero sum-oriented trade war against friends and foes alike, Wang is trying to signal that China is open for business,” Wen-ti Sung, a Taipei-based political scientist for the Australian National University, told VOA by phone.

Despite Wang’s statements, Chong in Singapore said China has yet to present concrete plans to fulfill their commitment to uphold the multilateral world system and support for developing countries.

“China has been saying they want a multipolar world order for decades, but none of Beijing’s concrete proposals are on the table right now,” he told VOA by phone.

Beijing remains cautious of the U.S.-Russia interaction

As the U.S. tries to increase engagement with Russia and facilitate a potential peace deal over the war in Ukraine, Wang said a “mature, resilient and stable” relationship between Beijing and Moscow won’t be interfered by any third party.

“Regardless of changes in the international environment, the historical logic of Sino-Russian friendship remains unchanged, and its endogenous dynamics will not diminish,” he said, adding that Beijing and Moscow will continue to “uphold the international system with the U.N. at its core and promote the development of the international order in a more just and rational direction.”

Chong said Wang’s remarks show Beijing is “cautious” about the recent interaction between Russia and the U.S.

“China understands if there is some sort of arrangement between the Americans and Russians, the U.S. gets to focus a lot more on competing with China in the Pacific, and Beijing could face a lot more pressure,” he told VOA.

Apart from elaborating on China’s foreign policy, Wang also reiterated Beijing’s claim over Taiwan.

“Advocating Taiwan independence is tantamount to secession, supporting Taiwan independence is tantamount to interference in China’s internal affairs, and condoning Taiwan independence is tantamount to destabilizing the Taiwan Strait,” he said, adding that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait will “eventually be reunified.” 
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pentagon — On a windy Thursday outside Washington at the Pentagon, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth welcomed his British counterpart to discuss how best to quickly end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“European leadership of NATO, led by the U.K., led by others, is, we believe, the future of defense on the continent,” Hegseth said.

British Defense Secretary John Healey said the United Kingdom had increased its defense spending and would continue to do so.

“You challenged us to step up on Ukraine, on defense spending, on European security. And I say to you that we have, we are, and we will further,” Healey said.

On the possibility of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, Healey said the U.K. believes Kyiv is ready to make the most of a “unique opportunity.”

But as to whether the U.S. has seen enough to resume intelligence sharing with Ukraine, that is up to President Donald Trump, the U.S. defense secretary said.

“We’re very encouraged by the signs we’re seeing. Ultimately, he will make the determination. But it is a pause for now,” Hegseth said.

Hegseth added that Trump is “laser focused” on ending the bloodshed.

In a joint address to Congress on Tuesday evening, Trump said he was working to end the war in Ukraine.

“It’s time to stop this madness,” he said.

Trump’s comments came the day after the United States paused military aid to Ukraine and a few days after an acrimonious Oval Office meeting on Feb. 28 concluded with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy leaving the White House without an agreement.

In his address, Trump said he received a letter Tuesday from Zelenskyy that said Kyiv was “ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible.”

VOA National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
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Many professional women work in different fields when they move to the United States. An Uzbek psychologist who has a green card now enjoys American life. “No matter what, females have to find a job and should have their destiny,” she said while working at a local restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee.

Click here for the full story in Uzbek.
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STATE DEPARTMENT — The U.S. State Department held a flag-raising ceremony on Thursday for hostages and wrongful detainees, reaffirming the U.S. government’s commitment to securing the return of American citizens and lawful permanent residents detained abroad.

“Our policies are 100% focused on returning people home,” said Adam Boehler, President Donald Trump’s special envoy for hostages. He added, “You’ll see some announcements in the coming days,” without providing further details.

“President Trump is committed to bringing home all Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained overseas.  This includes the Americans and all other hostages that Hamas is still holding hostage in Gaza,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA.

“Efforts to bring them home are ongoing and sensitive – we do not have any meetings to announce or readout at this time,” the spokesperson said.

March 9 marks 18 years since former FBI agent Robert Levinson was abducted in Iran.

In recognition of this, Congress, with bipartisan support, designated the Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Flag in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024.

On Thursday, FBI Director Kash Patel said Washington is determined to “zero out” hostage cases and wrongful detentions, as well as repatriating the remains of those who could not be brought home, through diplomatic and intelligence efforts.

The ceremony came a day after Trump welcomed eight former hostages who had been held by U.S.-designated terror group Hamas to the White House.

On Wednesday, the White House also confirmed that U.S. officials have engaged in ongoing discussions with Hamas. The talks, held in Doha, Qatar, mark the first known direct engagement between the United States and Hamas since the State Department designated the group as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.

Boehler led the direct talks with Hamas, which were reportedly focused on securing the release of U.S. hostages and exploring a potential end of the war without Hamas in power in Gaza.

Among the hostages still held by Hamas, five are U.S. citizens, including 21-year-old Edan Alexander, who is believed to be the last American-Israeli hostage still alive in Gaza.

His mother, Yael Alexander, recently spoke at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. “This is the simple truth: The situation with the hostages becomes more urgent every day,” she said.

“They are working on Phase 2 now. We don’t see it as a phase — we see it as the way to bring our son home. It doesn’t matter what you call it; what matters is that there is an agreement to bring the remaining hostages home as soon as possible,” she said.

This week, Israeli officials said that Israel is ready to move forward with the second phase of a Gaza ceasefire deal, provided Hamas agrees to release more of the 59 hostages it is still holding.

Some information was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
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With tariffs taking center stage in the Trump administration, experts warn that industries dependent on cross-border trade will feel the biggest impact. Stephanie Martinez explains.
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WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning a reorganization that includes cutting over 80,000 jobs from the sprawling agency that provides health care and other services for millions of veterans, according to an internal memo obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.

The VA’s chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, told top-level officials at the agency Tuesday that it had an objective to cut enough employees to return to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000. That would require terminating tens of thousands of employees after the VA expanded during the Biden administration, as well as to cover veterans impacted by burn pits under the 2022 PACT Act.

The memo instructs top-level staff to prepare for an agency-wide reorganization in August to “resize and tailor the workforce to the mission and revised structure.” It also calls for agency officials to work with the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency to “move out aggressively, while taking a pragmatic and disciplined approach” to the Trump administration’s goals. Government Executive first reported on the internal memo.

“Things need to change,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said in a video posted on social media Wednesday afternoon, adding that the layoffs would not mean cuts to veterans’ health care or benefits.

“This administration is finally going to give the veterans what they want,” Collins said. “President Trump has a mandate for generational change in Washington and that’s exactly what we’re going to deliver at the VA.”

Veterans have already been speaking out against the cuts at the VA that so far had included a few thousand employees and hundreds of contracts. More than 25% of the VA’s workforce is comprised of veterans.

The plans underway at the VA showed how the Trump administration’s DOGE initiative, led by billionaire Elon Musk, is not holding back on an all-out effort to slash federal agencies, even for those that have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement that the president “refuses to accept the VA bureaucracy and bloat that has hindered veterans’ ability to receive timely and quality care.” She added that the changes would “ensure greater efficiency and transparency” at the VA.

The VA last year experienced its highest-ever service levels, reaching over 9 million enrollees and delivering more than 127.5 million health care appointments, according to the agency’s figures.

However, Michael Missal, who was the VA’s inspector general for nine years until he was fired last month as part of Trump’s sweeping dismissal of independent oversight officials at government agencies, told the AP that the VA is already suffering from a lack of “expertise” as top-level officials either leave or are shuffled around under the president’s plans.

“What’s going to happen is VA’s not going to perform as well for veterans, and veterans are going to get harmed,” said Missal, who was a guest of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. at Trump’s Tuesday address to Congress.

In Congress, Democrats have decried the cuts at the VA and other agencies, while Republicans have so far watched with caution the Trump administration’s changes.

Rep. Mike Bost, the Republican chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said in a statement that he would “continue to ask questions and keep a close eye on how, or if, this plan evolves.”

“I have questions about the impact these reductions and discussions could have on the delivery of services, especially following the implementation of the PACT Act,” Bost added.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the Republican chair of the Senate Budget Committee, was displeased the VA had not given lawmakers an advance notification of the changes, saying it was “political malpractice not to consult Congress.”

“Maybe you’ve got a good reason to do it,” he said. “But we don’t need to be reading memos in the paper about a 20% cut at the VA.”

The changes underway at the VA are already prompting worry among veterans groups as they face layoffs and confusion about whether their services will be affected.

Brent Reiffer, a Marine veteran who receives medical care through the VA and advocates with the Wounded Warrior Project, said that among his community “confusion that leads to frustration” is setting in.

“If you draw that to a conclusion sometimes, it’s the veteran just throws the hands up and sort of doesn’t go to the VA,” Reiffer said. “What you end up with is a lot of veterans that are not getting the care that they deserve.”

Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees veteran’s affairs, said in a statement that the Trump administration “has launched an all-out assault” against progress the VA has made in expanding its services as the number of covered veterans grows and includes those impacted by toxic burn pits.

“Their plan prioritizes private sector profits over veterans’ care, balancing the budget on the backs of those who served. It’s a shameful betrayal, and veterans will pay the price for their unforgivable corruption, incompetence, and immorality,” Blumenthal said in a statement.

Democratic leaders in the House also spotlighted the impact of Trump’s cuts on veterans Wednesday.

Rep. Katherine Clark, the No. 2 ranked in House Democratic leadership, said at a news conference, “Democrats are here to say in unison we will not allow our veterans to be defined as government waste.”
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