New York — Christmas came early at the box office this year. “Moana 2” brought in a tidal wave of moviegoers over the Thanksgiving Day weekend, setting records with $221 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. That, combined with “Wicked” and “Gladiator II,” made for an unprecedented weekend in cinemas and a…
LOWVILLE, N.Y. — Heavy snowfall and numbing temperatures kept parts of the U.S. in a deep freeze Sunday as the Thanksgiving holiday weekend draws to a close. Despite the Arctic-type weather, however, snowmobilers and skiers are reveling in their respective wintry terrains, and weather forecasters gave possible good news ahead of the NFL game in…
Los Angeles has approved a so-called sanctuary city ordinance. It’s a response to President-elect Donald Trump’s promise of mass deportations when he assumes the presidency in January. The ordinance won’t stop federal officials from deporting undocumented immigrants, but it reinforces the city’s vow to protect its immigrant population. Angelina Bagdasaryan has the story, narrated by…
The United States is not considering returning to Ukraine the nuclear weapons it gave up after the Soviet Union collapsed, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday. Sullivan made his remarks when questioned about a New York Times article last month that said some unidentified Western officials had suggested U.S. President Joe Biden…
U.S. egg prices are rising once more as a lingering outbreak of bird flu coincides with the high demand of the holiday baking season. But prices are still far from the recent peak they reached almost two years ago. And the American Egg Board, a trade group, says egg shortages at grocery stores have been…
BILLINGS, MONTANA — U.S. wildlife officials finalized a recovery plan for imperiled populations of Canada lynx on Wednesday and proposed new habitat protections in the southern Rocky Mountains for the forest-dwelling wildcats that are threatened by climate change. The fate of the proposal is uncertain under President-elect Donald Trump: Officials during the Republican’s first term…
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has held multiple phone conversations with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban since winning the November 5 presidential election, according to sources who spoke to RFE/RL’s Hungarian Service. Hungarian government sources said Trump has sought Orban’s opinion on ending the Ukraine war, which has continued to drag on since Russia’s full-scale invasion…
WASHINGTON — Republican President-elect Donald Trump announced on Saturday night that he will nominate former National Security official and loyalist Kash Patel to lead the FBI, signaling an intent to replace the bureau’s current director, Christopher Wray. Patel, who during Trump’s first term advised both the director of national intelligence and the secretary of defense,…
THE WHITE HOUSE — U.S. President Joe Biden is “excited” to make his first trip to the African continent next week and will first stop briefly in the small island nation of Cabo Verde before making landfall in the Southwest African nation of Angola, a top White House official told VOA Friday. “He is excited…
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA — President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday he intends to nominate real estate developer Charles Kushner father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, to serve as ambassador to France. Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post, calling Charles Kushner “a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker.” Kushner is the founder of…