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Washington — U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Thursday banned Russia-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky from providing its popular antivirus products in the United States over national security concerns, the U.S. Commerce Department said. "Kaspersky will generally no longer be able to, among other activities, sell its software within the United States or provide updates to software already in use," the agency said in a statement. The announcement came after a lengthy investigation found Kaspersky's "continued operations in the United States presented a national security risk due to the Russian Government's offensive cyber capabilities and capacity to influence or direct Kaspersky's operations," it said. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said, "Russia has shown time and again they have the capability and intent to exploit Russian companies, like Kaspersky Lab, to collect and weaponize sensitive U.S. information." Kaspersky, in a statement to AFP, said the Commerce Department "made its decision based on the present geopolitical climate and theoretical concerns," and vowed to "pursue all legally available options to preserve its current operations and relationships." "Kaspersky does not engage in activities which threaten U.S. national security and, in fact, has made significant contributions with its reporting and protection from a variety of threat actors that targeted U.S. interests and allies," the company said. The move is the first such action taken since an executive order issued under Donald Trump's presidency gave the Commerce Department the power to investigate whether certain companies pose a national security risk. Raimondo said the Commerce Department's actions demonstrated to America's adversaries that it would not hesitate to act when "their technology poses a risk to the United States and its citizens." While Kaspersky is headquartered in Moscow, it has offices in 31 countries around the world, servicing more than 400 million users and 270,000 corporate clients in more than 200 countries, the Commerce Department said. As well as banning the sale of Kaspersky's antivirus software, the Commerce Department also added three entities linked to the firm to a list of companies deemed to be a national security concern, "for their cooperation with Russian military and intelligence authorities in support of the Russian government's cyber intelligence objectives." The Commerce Department said it "strongly encouraged" users to switch to new vendors, although its decision does not ban them from using the software should they choose to do so. Kaspersky is allowed to continue certain operations in the United States, including providing antivirus updates, until September 29, "in order to minimize disruption to US consumers and businesses and to give them time to find suitable alternatives," it added.  

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washington — The number of arrests by Border Patrol agents of people crossing illegally into the United States fell in May to the third lowest of any month during the Biden presidency, while preliminary figures released Thursday show encounters with migrants falling even more in the roughly two weeks since the president announced new rules restricting asylum.  The figures are likely welcome news for a White House that has been struggling to show to voters concerned about immigration that it has control of the southern border. But the number of people coming to the border is often in flux, dependent on conditions in countries far from the U.S. and on smugglers who profit from global migration.  The Border Patrol made 117,900 arrests of people entering the country between the official border crossing points in May, Customs and Border Protection said in a news release. That's 9% lower than during April, the agency said. The agency said preliminary data since President Joe Biden's June 4 announcement restricting asylum access show arrests have fallen by 25%.  "Our enforcement efforts are continuing to reduce Southwest border encounters. But the fact remains that our immigration system is not resourced for what we are seeing," said Troy A. Miller, the acting head of CBP.  The U.S. has also benefited from aggressive enforcement on the Mexican side of the border, where Mexican authorities have been working to prevent migrants from making their way to the U.S.-Mexico border.  The figures are part of a range of data related to immigration, trade and drug seizures that the CBP releases monthly. The immigration-related figures are closely watched at a time of intense political scrutiny over who is entering the country and whether the Biden administration has a handle on the situation.  Immigration is a top concern for voters, with many saying Biden hasn't been doing enough to secure the country's borders. Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, has made immigration a cornerstone of his campaign by saying he's going to deport people in the country illegally en masse and take other measures to crack down on immigration.  After Biden announced his plan to restrict asylum access at the southern border, opponents sued, saying it was no different from a similar effort under Trump.

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AUGUSTA, Maine — Former U.S. Marine Gerry Brooks died alone at a nursing home in Maine, abandoned and all but forgotten. Then the funeral home posted a notice asking if anyone would serve as a pallbearer or simply attend his burial.  Within minutes, it was turning away volunteers to carry his casket.  A bagpiper came forward to play at the service. A pilot offered to perform a flyover. Military groups across the state pledged a proper sendoff.  Hundreds of people who knew nothing about the 86-year-old beyond his name showed up on a sweltering afternoon and gave Brooks a final salute with full military honors Thursday at the Maine Veterans' Memorial Cemetery in Augusta.  Patriot Guard Riders on motorcycles escorted his hearse on the 40-mile route from the funeral home in Belfast, Maine, to the cemetery. Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars paid tribute with a 21-gun salute. Volunteers held American flags next to the casket while a crane hoisted a huge flag above the cemetery entrance.  Some saluted while filing by. Others sang The Marines' Hymn.  "It's an honor for us to be able to do this," said Jim Roberts, commander of the VFW post in Belfast. "There's so much negativity in the world. This is something people can feel good about and rally around. It's just absolutely wonderful." He said Brooks' son, granddaughter and son-in-law came to the funeral but did not speak during the service.  'We will always be there' The VFW is called a couple times a year about a deceased veteran with no family or with one that isn't willing to handle the funeral arrangements, said Roberts. But "we will always be there." Like other veterans helping out Thursday, he hadn't known Brooks.  So many groups volunteered to take part in paying tribute that there wasn't enough space to fit them into the 20-minute burial service, said Katie Riposta, the funeral director who put out the call for help last week.  "It renews your faith in humanity," she said.  More than 8 million of the U.S. veterans living are 65 or older, almost half the veteran population. They are overwhelmingly men. That's according to a U.S. Census Bureau report last year. As this generation dies, it said, their collective memory of wartime experiences "will pass into history."  A master of 'dad jokes' Much about Brooks' life is unknown.  He was widowed and lived in Augusta. He died on May 18, less than a week after entering a nursing home, Riposta said. A cause of death was not released.  The funeral home and authorities reached his next of kin, but no one was willing to come forward or take responsibility for his body, she said.  "It sounds like he was a good person, but I know nothing about his life," Riposta said, noting that after Brooks' death, a woman contacted the funeral home to say he had once taken her in when she had no other place to go, with no details.  "It doesn't matter if he served one day or made the military his career," she said. "He still deserves to be respected and not alone."  The crowd on Thursday wasn't all strangers — and it turned out Brooks hadn't been one, either.  Victoria Abbott, executive director of the Bread of Life shelter in Augusta, said he had come every day to eat at their soup kitchen, always ready to crack "dad jokes" and make the staff smile. He had a favorite table.  "Your quintessential 80-year-old, dad jokes every day," Abbott said. "He was really great to have around. He was part of the soup kitchen family."  But most people there Thursday met him too late. The memorial book posted online by Direct Cremation of Maine, which helped to arrange the burial, had a few strangers' good wishes.  "Sir," one began, and ended with "Semper Fi."  The two others, a couple, thanked Brooks for his service. "We all deserve the love kindness and respect when we are called home. I hope that you lived a full beautiful life of Love, Kindness, Dreams and Hope," they wrote.  They added: "Thank you to all those who will make this gentleman's service a proper, well-deserved goodbye."  Linda Laweryson, who served in the Marines, said this was the second funeral in little over a year that she has attended for a veteran who died alone. Everyone deserves to die with dignity and be buried with dignity, she said.  Laweryson read a poem during the graveside service written by a combat Marine who reflects on the spot where Marines graduate from boot camp.  "I walked the old parade ground, but I was not alone," the poem reads. "I walked the old parade ground and knew that I was home." 

TEHRAN, Iran — In the second live debate on state television, six presidential candidates on Thursday discussed Iran's economic problems ahead of the country's June 28 election.  Three more debates are planned in the days before the vote in a shortened campaign to replace Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei once thought to be a possible successor to the 85-year-old cleric. Raisi and seven others died in a helicopter crash in May.  Like the first debate, the second one also related to economics, with the candidates discussing their proposals for Iran's spiraling economy, which is struggling under sanctions imposed by the United States and other Western nations.  The candidates also discussed inflation, the budget deficit, fuel consumption subsidies and education. They all promised to try to get the sanctions lifted and to introduce reforms, but none offered concrete details.  "Negotiation is a method of struggle," said prominent candidate Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, 62, with regards to getting the Western sanctions on Iran lifted. Qalibaf is a former Tehran mayor with close ties to the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.  He emphasized the destructiveness of the sanctions on the economy and said that Iranians have a right to a good life, not just an ordinary life.  Iran's vice president, Amir Hossein Qazizadeh Hashemi, 53, said he would continue Raisi's unfinished administration and vowed to develop the tourism industry.  Regarding the health sector and the emigration of doctors and nurses, Qalibaf said there should be a fundamental change in the way health workers are paid to increase the motivation to stay.  Many doctors and nurses reportedly have left Iran in recent years over its deepening economic woes and poor working conditions. Qalibaf's call for more pay for health workers was repeated by the other candidates.  All the candidates said they believed the Education Ministry was the most important part of the government because "the next generation of the country is raised in this ministry." Qalibaf said the ministry's budget must be increased.  The one pro-reform candidate, Masoud Pezeshkian, who is backed by pro-reform figures such as former President Mohammad Khatami and former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, thinks the economic crisis can be resolved by solving party differences inside the country as well as external factors.  The June 28 election comes at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, its arming of Russia in that country's war on Ukraine and its wide-reaching crackdowns on dissent.  Iran's support of militia proxy forces throughout the wider Middle East, meanwhile, has been increasingly in the spotlight as Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels attack ships in the Red Sea over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

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Windhoek, Namibia — Amnesty International has called on authorities in Namibia to ensure the safety of the LGBTQ+ community as a court prepares to rule in a case challenging the laws that criminalize homosexual conduct. In November 2020, the Law Reform Commission of Namibia recommended discarding laws related to sodomy as they relate to intimate same-sex practices between homosexual men. However, the parliament of Namibia has been slow to repeal these laws, which prompted gay activist Friedel Dausab to sue the government on the ground that the sodomy law is not consistent with the Namibia constitution. The High Court of Namibia will rule on this matter Friday. "There were many pieces of laws that have been in the law books for many years, basically since before independence, many of which really did not make sense any longer and they are just not compatible with the modern times," said Etuna Joshua, the chairperson of the Law Reform and Development Commission of the Ministry of Justice. Linda Baumann, an LGBTQ+ activist, said the community has taken extra security measures to ensure its safety during and after the proceedings on Friday. Baumann said Namibia has seen an increase in violence against LGBTQ+ persons, which she says is directly linked to a Supreme Court ruling that said marriages between same-sex couples performed out of the country were valid. She said that since that ruling, religious and faith-based groups have incited violence against the LGBTQ+ community. "Amnesty [International] is not exaggerating," said Baumann. "What we are doing as a movement is to alert ourselves around the issue around safety and security because we have anti-groups. ... We've also seen murders of LGBT people in six months. Six people, six months." A local daily newspaper recently published a report on a string of killings where LGBTQ+ people were the victims. However, some critics say Namibia has a high number of killings in general and the killings cannot be regarded as hate crimes. Mercedez Von Cloete, a transgender activist who successfully sued the state for a transphobic assault at the hands of a police officer seven years ago, said the community is at risk of targeted violence if the sodomy law is repealed by the High Court. "It was targeted violence as a result of not only political but also religious hate speech as well as mob organizing that has made LGBTQ people — especially in the last couple of months — feel unsafe. … And I applaud Amnesty International for the fact that they were able to at least raise an alarm." Amnesty International human rights lawyer Mandipa Machacha told VOA that "while Namibia traditionally had tolerance towards LGBT persons compared to other countries [in Africa], there has always been a certain level of hostility, and the situation deteriorated significantly following the 2023 ruling which recognized same-sex unions." She said Amnesty International fears Friday's ruling may drive homophobia against members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Islamabad — As Pakistan this week celebrated Eid al-Adha — the festival coinciding with the Hajj pilgrimage — journalists in the country mourned the loss of yet another colleague. On Tuesday night, unidentified gunmen killed Khalil Jibran and injured a lawyer accompanying him in the Khyber tribal district of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Reports indicate the journalist was on his way home with friends when the attackers ambushed his car. Authorities said Jibran's bullet-riddled body showed signs that he might have had a physical altercation with his attackers at the crime scene before being killed. This was at least the sixth killing of a journalist in Pakistan this year. Four media members were killed just in May. "It makes me feel miserable and insecure, and unsafe," said veteran Pakistani journalist Absar Alam, who survived an assassination attempt in April 2021 in the nation's capital, Islamabad. 'An alarming deterioration' The first three months under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have been marred by "an alarming deterioration in press freedom," according to Reporters Without Borders. Listing the attacks on journalists and a raft of government measures, Reporters Without Borders, known by its French acronym RSF, recently urged Sharif's coalition government to uphold its commitment to media freedom. "The many press freedom violations reveal a climate of violence and a determination to censor that has little in common with the undertakings given by the political parties in their election campaign manifestos, and the message of support for journalists by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif," said Celia Mercier, head of RSF's South Asia desk. The organization ranks Pakistan very low — 152nd out of 180 countries in its global press freedom index, in which 1 is the best. "Space for true journalism has reduced in Pakistan. It's toxic. It's unsafe. There are all kinds of actors — state actors, nonstate actors — who are making our space more limited," said Alam. Electronic curbs The latest step that could further limit space for journalism and access to information may be the implementation of a national firewall to filter any online content authorities deem inappropriate. In a January interview with a news channel, Pakistan's then-interim prime minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, announced the measure. "Very soon a national firewall will be deployed," Kakar said. A high-ranking government official recently confirmed to VOA Urdu that Sharif government authorities were working to deploy that nationwide online censorship tool, although the government has not issued a formal statement about it. This follows the mid-February suspension of the X social media platform, formerly Twitter, on orders of Pakistan's Ministry of Interior. Speaking to VOA, the ministry spokesperson said he did not have information about the national firewall. "It is not the domain of the Interior Ministry," said Qadir Yar Tiwana, adding that just because the ministry banned X, it could not be held responsible for all similar measures. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, the country's independent telecom regulator, and the Ministry of Information Technology – two offices Tiwana said would be responsible for implementing any firewall — did not respond to VOA requests for comment. Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar received VOA's query about the firewall but did not share a response in time for the publication of this story. At a recent press conference, however, Tarar dismissed the suggestion that Pakistan discussed acquiring the firewall from China during Sharif's recent visit there. Sadaf Khan, co-founder of the nonprofit Media Matters for Democracy, told VOA the lack of information about the firewall was adding to fears of further decline in media freedom and privacy in the country. "There is no clarity on what this firewall is [or] how invasive it is. Is it surveilling data? Is there an encryption blockage?" Khan said. "If there is a bit of digital literacy, if people are smart about it, they will still be able to access the information that they need. However, obviously, it does increase the chance for surveillance. There might just be a chilling effect. This kind of ambiguity creates a lot of fear." Legislative curbs Government efforts to curb what it considers fake news and propaganda online have compounded fears of declining freedoms of information and expression. In May, the federal government created the National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency under the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act. Despite the existence of the Federal Investigation Agency's Cybercrimes Cell, Tarar said in a press conference that "there was a call for a specific authority to address the issue of online harassment." Critics say it is unclear how broad the new agency's powers will be or what its impact on privacy and online freedom might look like. Later that same month, the government in Punjab province, where Sharif's niece Maryam Nawaz is the chief minister, enacted what was called an anti-defamation law. Media and civil society condemned the law for protecting state institutions from scrutiny and requiring no proof of damage for filing a defamation lawsuit. The law is currently being challenged in the Lahore High Court. Alam, the veteran Pakistani journalist who served as the chairman of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority from 2015 to 2017, said some of the state's concerns regarding fake news are not unfounded. "It's not only the state that suffers from fake news and irresponsible journalism," Alam said, pointing to cases where Pakistani citizens won defamation lawsuits in Britain for content broadcast there by Pakistani channels. Given Britain's tough laws, Alam said, Pakistani news channels now often refrain from airing potentially defamatory content in the United Kingdom but still show it in Pakistan. Still, he acknowledged, strict laws in Pakistan are often used as a tool to target journalists. "Past history tells that all governments have been using such laws against journalism, not against fake news spreaders," Alam said. Awaiting justice Media watchdogs regard Pakistan as a dangerous country for journalists. Most cases of journalists targeted for their work remain unresolved. On Thursday, journalists in several towns across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa protested Jibran's killing. The day before, locals, journalists and civil society activists protested with Jibran's shrouded remains, temporarily blocking a highway that runs to the border with Afghanistan. Although Sharif condemned the killing, Alam is not optimistic that justice will be served anytime soon. "Successive governments in the last many years have not apprehended the culprits who attacked journalists," said Alam, whose attackers and their financiers are out on bail or have disappeared. "So, I think the statement by the prime minister may be part of the verbal support to journalists but, practically speaking, the problem is in our culture."

washington — A key U.S. lawmaker warned Thursday that Russia is on the verge of ushering in the end of the Space Age with its new, nuclear anti-satellite weaponry. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican, told an audience in Washington that allowing Russia to gain such an advantage would be catastrophic. He called on President Joe Biden to mount an aggressive response. “This crisis is the Cuban missile crisis in space,” Turner said, comparing the moment to the 1962 confrontation between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union, which took both sides to the brink of nuclear conflict. But in this case, Turner said, Russia could unilaterally impose high costs on the U.S. simply by detonating a nuclear anti-satellite weapon in orbit. “This threat would mean that our economic, international security and social systems come to a grinding halt,” he said. “This would be a catastrophic and devastating attack upon Western economic and democratic systems.” Turner, who accused Biden of “sleepwalking into an irreversible day zero,” called on the White House to immediately declassify all of its intelligence on the Russian program to make the world aware of the full extent of the threat. The White House on Thursday rejected Turner’s accusations. “He's just wrong. He's just flat-out wrong,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “We have absolutely taken this very seriously,” Kirby said. “We've been working this particular problem set from every possible angle, including through intense diplomacy with countries around the world and, obviously, through direct conversations with Russia.” Russia has repeatedly denied the U.S. accusations, including last month when Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov dismissed concerns as “fake news.” "The Americans can say whatever they want, but our policy does not change,” Ryabkov told the Interfax news agency, adding that Moscow, "always consistently opposed the deployment of strike weapons in low-Earth orbit.” Turner first raised concerns about the prospect of a Russian anti-satellite weapons program in February, when he issued a statement warning of "a serious national security threat” and issued his initial call for the White House to declassify the relevant intelligence. Biden responded by confirming that Russia was developing a space-based, anti-satellite weapons system but added there was no indication that Russia had decided to move ahead with the program and that there was no nuclear threat to anyone on Earth. Concerns spiked last month when the U.S. accused Russia of using a May 16 space launch to deploy what the U.S. Defense Department described as an anti-satellite weapon “capable of attacking other satellites in low-Earth orbit.” “Russia deployed this new counterspace weapon into the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite,” Major General Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said at the time. “So, you know, obviously that's something that we'll continue to monitor.”

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islamabad — Authorities in northwestern Pakistan reported Thursday that an enraged crowd stormed a police station, seized a detainee facing blasphemy charges and killed him.    The evening violence erupted in Swat District, a popular tourist spot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, after local announcements that a tourist had desecrated the Quran. Residents tortured the man before area police took him into custody and moved him to their detention facility.    Witnesses and officials said a mob later gathered outside the police station, demanding the man be swiftly brought to justice for insulting Islam’s holy book. Police used aerial fire to disperse protesters but failed to prevent them from assaulting and setting fire to the building and police vehicles before taking “the suspect away.”    Zahidullah Khan, the district police chief, told local media that the crowd had also set fire to the suspect’s body after beating him to death. He added that the unrest resulted in several injuries.    Videos shared on social media showed a crowd gathered around a burning body in the middle of the street. VOA could not immediately ascertain the veracity of the footage from independent sources.     Khan said police reinforcements later arrived in the area and efforts were under way to defuse the tensions.     Blasphemy is a highly sensitive issue in majority-Muslim Pakistan, and mere allegations have led to mobs lynching scores of suspects — even some in police custody. Insulting the Quran or Islamic beliefs is punishable by death under the country's blasphemy laws, though no one has ever been officially executed.    Last month, hundreds of people gathered in a Christian settlement in the central Pakistani city of Sargodha and killed a Christian man in his early 70s after accusing him of desecrating the Quran.     In August 2023, in a similar blasphemy accusation, thousands of Muslim protesters attacked a Christian neighborhood. They burned scores of properties, including 21 churches, over allegations that two Christian brothers had desecrated the Quran.      Domestic and international rights groups have long demanded Pakistan reform its blasphemy laws, arguing they are often used to fulfill personal vendettas and disputes and intimidate religious minorities.    Critics say that hundreds of suspects, mostly Muslims, are languishing in jails in Pakistan because fear of retaliation from religious groups deters judges from moving their trials forward.

The United Nations estimates as many as 6.5 million Ukrainians have fled the country since Russia’s invasion in 2022. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh explores the story of one Ukrainian teenager seeking safety in music in Chicago.

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WASHINGTON — The United States called on Vietnam Thursday to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity following Vladimir Putin's one-day visit to Hanoi, part of the Russian president’s brief Asian tour seeking to shore up alliances in the face of mounting Western sanctions. “We expect that any country, when it engages in conversations with the government of Russia, and especially when it hosts leaders from the government of Russia, will make clear their respect for the principles of the U.N. Charter, including sovereignty and territorial integrity, and convey that those principles must be upheld across the world,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told VOA during a briefing on Thursday. U.S. diplomat to Hanoi Meanwhile, the State Department’s top diplomat for Asia is traveling to Hanoi to reaffirm ties after the U.S. and Vietnam upgraded their bilateral relationship last year. “Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel J. Kritenbrink will travel to Hanoi, Vietnam, June 21 to 22,” according to a State Department press release. “He will meet with senior Vietnam government officials to underscore the strong U.S. commitment to implementing the U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and to working with Vietnam in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region.” Kritenbrink’s trip was planned “well before” Putin’s visit to Hanoi, according to Miller. Vietnam maintains three tiers of diplomatic relationship with other countries:  Comprehensive Partnerships; Strategic Partnerships; and Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships. The United States, China and Russia are among the countries that maintain top-tier ties with Vietnam. U.S. officials did not have an assessment, when asked by reporters, if there is any indication that Vietnamese companies or people are providing material support to Moscow for its war on Ukraine, or whether Washington has warned Hanoi against it. At the White House, John Kirby, the National Security Council communications adviser, told reporters that the U.S. will “stay focused on continuing to deepen” the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Vietnam and “broaden it, improve it, for our own mutual benefit to each other and to the region.” Putin’s visit to North Korea Russia and Vietnam pledged Thursday to deepen ties during a state visit by Putin aimed at bolstering his alliances to counter Western efforts to isolate Moscow over the war in Ukraine. Russia and Vietnam “want to push up cooperation in defense and security, how to deal with nontraditional security challenges on the basis of international law, for peace and security in the region and the world," Vietnamese President To Lam told reporters after talks with Putin. Putin traveled to Vietnam, a close ally of Moscow since the Cold War, after talks in Pyongyang with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Those two countries signed a mutual defense pact. In Washington, Republican Representative Mike Turner, who is the chairperson of the U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, voiced concerns over the possibility of Russia providing North Korea with technological assistance to improve its long-range ballistic missiles and their ability to directly target the United States. “I think we've all sort of felt intuitively that China, Russia, North Korea, Iran are working together in both their development of capabilities and in their threats to the United States. These symbolic meetings, I think, should allow us to focus on this as a threat that has already been occurring,” Turner said during an event at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. VOA’s White House correspondent Anita Powell and National Security correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. Some material in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

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Our correspondent Kane Farabaugh travels to Indiana University to report on the depth of the U.S.-China economic competition. Both countries are vying for global dominance. This week on The Inside Story: Competing with China.