The U.S. Secret Service said Saturday it was responding to reports of a mid-day shooting outside the White House. “BREAKING: Secret Service personnel are responding to reports of a person who allegedly suffered a self-inflicted gun shot wound along the north fence line of @WhiteHouse,” said the agency, which is tasked with protecting the government and other national leaders. U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were at their Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach, Florida at the time of the reported shooting and were expected to return to Washington later in the day. The White House press secretary said Trump has been briefed on the incident. Multiple news accounts said the White House was on lockdown as a result of the reported shooting.      The country is embroiled in an intense debate over federal and state gun control laws following the February 14 massacre of 17 …

Just a few miles from the South Side Chicago neighborhood former president Barack Obama called home for nearly a quarter century, he spoke to a mostly supportive audience at McCormick Place Convention Center about his plans to give back to his adopted hometown. “We’ve got a plan where over the next four years we are going to create $3 billion worth of economic activity.  We are going to create over 5,000 jobs just in the construction, 2,500 jobs that will be permanent and ongoing,” he told the crowd at the start of his latest public meeting about the project. Though born in Hawaii, raised in Indonesia, and educated in New York City, former president Barack Obama has adopted the city of Chicago, his wife’s birthplace, as his hometown, and the South Side of Chicago is where he got his start in politics as a community organizer in the 1980s, making …

North Korea warned Saturday it would respond if the U.S. holds joint military drills next month with South Korea, contending they would hinder a recent thaw in relations between the two Koreas. The thaw will be tested when the exercises, which were suspended for the duration of the Winter Olympics in South Korea, start in late March or early April. A South Korean presidential security adviser said this week the joint exercises are set to begin in early April, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. North Korea, whose official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, has repeatedly described the drills as a threat. “If the U.S. finally holds joint military exercises while keeping sanctions on the DPRK, the DPRK will counter the U.S. by its own mode of counteraction and, the U.S. will be made to own all responsibilities for the ensuing consequences,” North Korea’s official KCNA …

The mass shooting of 17 people at a Florida high school in February has reignited the long-running debate over gun laws in the United States. Here is a look at some gun rights and gun control groups in the U.S.: Prominent gun rights groups National Rifle Association The NRA, which claims 5 million members, is one of the country’s most powerful lobbying groups for gun rights. Founded in 1871, it seeks to educate the public about firearms and defend U.S. citizens’ Second Amendment rights. It has directly lobbied for and against legislation since 1975. The Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks data reported to the Federal Election Commission, says the group has made nearly $23 million in direct political contributions since 1989. Gun Owners of America Gun Owners of America was formed in 1975 to protect the rights of gun owners. The group says on its website that it sees “firearms ownership as a freedom …

Before a phone conversation this week to discuss the war in Syria and Russian nuclear arms, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump had not spoken to each other in more than five months. That gap, described by diplomats on both sides of the Atlantic as shockingly long, underscores the challenge Merkel faces if she succeeds in forming a coalition government later this month and, as German officials suggest, tries to reset the relationship with Trump. A strong believer in close transatlantic ties, Merkel was the go-to leader in Europe for both Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush when Washington and Berlin were navigating the global financial crisis, Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and Iran’s nuclear program. But her relationship with Trump got off to a frosty start and has never recovered. Is trust lacking? At a time of rising transatlantic tensions over trade, the Iran …

In agitating for a trade war, President Donald Trump may have forgotten William Tecumseh Sherman’s adage that “war is hell.” The Civil War general’s observation can be apt for trade wars, which may create conditions for a shooting war. A look at Trump’s spoiling-for-a-fight tweet Friday: TRUMP: “When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!” THE FACTS: History suggests that trade wars are not easy. The president’s argument, in essence, is that high tariffs will force other countries to relent quickly on what he sees as unfair trading practices, and that will wipe out the trade gap and create factory jobs. That’s his motivation for announcing that the …

China has warned about the “huge impact” on global trading, if U.S. President Donald Trump proceeds with his plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum products. Wang Hejun, head of China’s commerce ministry’s trade remedy and investigation bureau, said in a statement late Friday the tariffs would “seriously damage multilateral trade mechanisms represented by the World Trade Organization and will surely have huge impact on normal international trade order.” The Chinese official added, “If the final measures of the United States hurt Chinese interests, China will work with other affected countries in taking measures to safeguard its own rights and interests.” Allies weigh in Meanwhile earlier Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Trump’s tariff plans were “absolutely unacceptable.” Trudeau said Friday he is prepared to “defend Canadian industry.” Canada is the United States’ biggest foreign source of both materials. He warned …

The suspected shooter in a double murder on the campus of Central Michigan University had been hospitalized a day earlier for behaving erratically, according to the chief of campus police. Bill Yeagley told reporters early Saturday that 19-year-old James Eric Davis Jr., who allegedly shot his parents to death in a residence hall Friday, had been hospitalized for a few hours after campus police encountered him Thursday night “not really making a lot of sense,” Yeagley said. He said his officers suspected Davis may have been using drugs. Yeagley said Davis’s parents, notified by campus authorities about their son’s behavior, picked him up from the hospital and took him back to his residence hall Friday morning. Thousands of students were heading home on Friday for the start of spring break. Davis is alleged to have shot both his parents on the fourth floor of a residence hall around 8:30 a.m. …

President Donald Trump will spend the weekend at his resort in Florida after a busy if not chaotic week that saw the president assert himself on a range of issues including gun violence, international trade and the opioid crisis. Trump is often eager to seize the spotlight, but the results are often unpredictable, as we hear from VOA National correspondent Jim Malone. …

Australia’s smallest state, Tasmania, began voting Saturday in a local assembly election, with the incumbent conservative Liberal Party stirring controversy by promising softer regulations for gun ownership if it is returned to power. The Liberals’ move to shore up support among gun owners and rural voters is a sensitive issue in Tasmania, as Australia’s worst mass murder took place on the island in 1996, when a gunman killed 35 people at Port Arthur. The state Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Management Rene Hidding, wrote to firearms owners in early February promising a re-elected Liberal Party would extend gun ownership license periods by up to 10 years, reduce penalties for storage offenses and establish a council to represent gun owners. 1996 shooting Following the 1996 mass shooting, Australia banned all semi-automatic rifles and all semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns, and introduced a restrictive system of licensing and ownership controls. Australia has …

“Absolutely unacceptable” were the words Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used to describe U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement that he plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum products. Trudeau made the comment Friday, adding that he is prepared to “defend Canadian industry.” Canada is the United States’ biggest foreign source of both materials. He warned that the tariffs would also hurt U.S. consumers and businesses by driving up prices. The European Union was also stung by Trump’s plan, as evidenced by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s warning that the EU could respond by taxing quintessentially American-made products, such as bourbon whiskey, blue jeans and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Juncker told German media Friday that he does not like the words “trade war.” “But I can’t see how this isn’t part of warlike behavior,” he said. Trump had tweeted earlier in the day: “Trade wars …

Police in camouflage uniforms searched neighborhoods near Central Michigan University on Friday for a 19-year-old student suspected of fatally shooting two people at a dormitory and then running from campus. Central Michigan University confirmed that the two people killed were the parents of a student suspect. Police released a photo of James Eric Davis Jr., urging the public to call 911 if they see him but also warning that he shouldn’t be confronted. Hours after a campus lockdown, police started a “slow, methodical removal” of staff and students who were ordered to take shelter in campus buildings, Lt. Larry Klaus said. “He should be considered armed and dangerous,” Klaus said of Davis.   The shooting occurred around 8:30 a.m. at Campbell Hall, a residence hall at Central Michigan, which is about 70 miles (112.6 kilometers) north of Lansing. Klaus described the shooting as a “family-type domestic situation” and said the …

Washington’s cherished cherry tree blossoms signal the unofficial start of spring in the nation’s capital, and it looks like it’s coming a bit early this year.  The National Park Service announced Thursday that the projected peak date for the blossoms along the Tidal Basin would be March 17 to March 20. Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst said April 4 is the historical average date for peak bloom, which is the day when 70 percent of the blossoms are open in trees around the Tidal Basin.  This year’s National Cherry Blossom Festival will run from March 20 to April 15. Considered the world’s largest U.S.-Japanese celebration, the festival commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki to the District of Columbia. …

U.S. health officials say the worst of this season’s unusually strong flu outbreak is over.  In its weekly report Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the flu peaked in early February and is now on the decline. However, health officials say that while the worst has passed, the flu season is not yet over, and will likely continue for weeks.  The agency said reports of the influenza virus remained widespread in 45 states.  The Midwestern state of Indiana reported Friday that it recorded 244 flu-related deaths this season. Seventy-five percent of the deaths were in people age 65 and older. Nine of the deaths were in people under the age of 25.  Nationwide, health officials say 114 children have died from the flu this season.  Flu season usually begins in earnest in late December and peaks around February. This season, the virus was widespread in …

The outspoken Florida sheriff whose deputies responded to the Parkland school shooting usually deals with critics head on. But in recent days, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel has been mostly silent. He is taking heat from Republicans and gun-rights activists who believe the sheriff is focusing on guns and not accepting responsibility for failing to stop the school gunman before the shooting — and for his deputies not charging into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Israel ducked reporters outside a rally Thursday and has refused most interview requests, including one for this story. Meanwhile, his conservative critics have taken to the internet and airwaves to blast him. This contrasts with the days after the Feb. 14 shooting when Israel and his deputies were lauded for their work and he railed against the “detestable” killer who took down 17 people. He got cheers from his community when he told National Rifle …

Major utilities have found evidence of groundwater contamination at coal-burning power plants across the U.S. where landfills and man-made ponds have been used for decades as dumping grounds for coal ash, according to data released by plant owners under a Friday deadline.  Heightened levels of pollutants — including arsenic and radium in some cases — were documented at plants in numerous states, from Virginia and North Carolina to Washington and Alaska. The Environmental Protection Agency required the plant owners to install test wells to monitor groundwater pollution as a first step toward cleaning up the sites. The future of that effort was cast into uncertainty Thursday when the Trump administration announced it intends to roll back aspects of the program to reduce the industry’s compliance costs by up to $100 million annually. “There’s no dispute that the underlying groundwater is being contaminated. We see that clearly,” said Duke University professor …

The White House chief of staff revealed to reporters Friday that it was determined months ago there was no need for dozens of officials to have top secret clearances.  John Kelly said he made “immediate changes” after arriving as chief of staff when he noticed, in terms of the handling of classified material, the White House was not “up to the standards I was used to at the Department of Defense, administratively.” At that time, Kelly told reporters in his office Friday, when he realized the percentage of those still with interim clearance was “a lot,” totaling “a couple of spreadsheets’ worth of people,” he asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation to speed up the process, especially for top officials. Kelly also decided “not everyone needs a top secret clearance” and it was determined that “35, 40 or so people … realistically don’t need the top secret and they can …

Haitian and Salvadoran recipients of Temporary Protected Status, the humanitarian relief program allowing recipients to live and work legally in the U.S., are not sitting idle as their protections come to a scheduled close in 2019. In Boston, immigrants from both countries filed suit against President Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security last week, claiming the end of TPS was racially motivated. VOA’s Ramon Taylor reports. …

The Rev. Billy Graham’s children remembered “America’s Pastor” on Friday as a man devoted to spreading the Gospel, living his life at home as he preached it in stadiums, with a personable humility and an unwavering focus on the Bible. As his oldest son told the funeral congregation, “There weren’t two Billy Grahams.” His adult children — all speakers or preachers in their own right — recalled being taught by their parents how to read Scripture aloud and deliver sermons, but also taking quiet walks with their father and feeling his embrace even when they made mistakes. Franklin Graham, who delivered the main funeral message, said all of those qualities were part of the whole. “The Billy Graham that the world saw on television, the Billy Graham that the world saw in the big stadiums, was the same Billy Graham that we saw at home. There weren’t two Billy Grahams,” …