Their clothes torn and dirty, nine barefoot children yell and applaud as a convoy of cars approaches on a busy street in Venezuela’s capital. Volunteers emerge handing out soup and clothes to the delight and excitement of the children who have come from a town a couple of hours outside …
your ad hereUS, Canada Lift Global Box Office as International Sales Flat
Worldwide movie ticket sales increased by 1 percent to a record $38.6 billion in 2016 as theaters in the United States and Canada rung up higher sales and overseas returns were flat, according to industry statistics released on Wednesday. Movie theaters have been competing with an explosion of digital entertainment …
your ad hereOnce Iconic US Retailer Sears Unsure of Its Future
Sears, once the monolith of American retail, says that there is “substantial doubt” that it will be able to keep its doors open. Company shares, which hit an all-time low last month, tumbled more than 12 percent Wednesday. Sears has been a member of the retail dead pool …
your ad hereLiverpool Plans Extravaganza for 50 Years of ‘Sgt. Pepper’
It was 50 years ago today — almost — that Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play. The English city of Liverpool is getting set to celebrate the half-centenary of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” one of the most influential albums by local heroes The Beatles. The city announced …
your ad hereUS Farm Interests Caution Trump on Mexico Trade War
Farmers in the U.S. agricultural heartland who helped elect Donald Trump are now pushing his administration to avoid a trade dispute with Mexico, fearing retaliatory tariffs that could hit over $3 billion in U.S. exports. The value of exports at risk is based on a Reuters analysis of a tariff …
your ad hereMost Wastewater Released Is Untreated, Putting Millions at Risk
Wastewater from households, industries and agriculture, if treated, could be a valuable resource rather than a costly problem, United Nations experts in a report on Wednesday. Treating and recycling wastewater would not only reduce pollution but could help meet growing demand for freshwater and other raw materials, they said. Below …
your ad hereCompany to Launch Diving Tours of Titanic
A travel company is offering a chance for well heeled travelers to dive the wreck of the RMS Titanic. Beginning in May of next year, Blue Marble Private says it will offer a chance for nine travelers to dive some 4,000 meters below the surface of the ocean to see …
your ad hereAustralia Couple Are 1st Foreigners to Own US Radio Stations
An Australian couple with roots in Alaska has bought more than two dozen radio stations in three states, marking the first time federal regulators have allowed full foreign ownership of U.S. radio stations. The Federal Communications Commission recently approved a request by Richard and Sharon Burns through their company Frontier …
your ad hereInside a Nigerian Hospital Fighting to Reduce Maternal Death Rate
Nigeria has one of the world’s worst rates of maternal mortality. 58,000 Nigerian women died from pregnancy complications in 2015. Health workers at a hospital in northern Kaduna state are trying to improve maternal health. Chika Oduah gives us an inside look at the hospital’s maternity ward. …
your ad hereIvory Coast Infant Separated From Parasitic Twin
Doctors at a Chicago-area hospital have successfully operated on a baby from Africa born with a parasitic twin and having four legs and two spines.The girl, known only as “Dominique” from Ivory Coast, is recovering well from the delicate and groundbreaking March 8 surgery and is expected to live a …
your ad hereOil Prices Fall on Bloated US Crude Storage
Oil prices dipped on Wednesday as rising crude stocks in the United States underscored an ongoing global fuel supply overhang despite an OPEC-led effort to cut output. Prices for front-month Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil, were at $50.79 per barrel at 0451 GMT, down 17 cents, or …
your ad hereChuck Barris, ‘Gong Show’ Creator, Dies at 87
Chuck Barris, whose game show empire included The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game and that infamous factory of cheese, The Gong Show, died at 87. Barris died of natural causes Tuesday afternoon at his home in Palisades, New York, according to publicist Paul Shefrin, who announced the death on behalf …
your ad hereReport: Climate Outlook Improves as Fewer Coal Plants Built
Led by cutbacks in China and India, construction of new coal-fired power plants is falling worldwide, improving chances climate goals can be met despite earlier pessimism, three environmental groups said Wednesday. A joint report by the groups CoalSwarm, the Sierra Club and Greenpeace follows a warning this week by two …
your ad herePartially Effective HIV Vaccine Could Help Turn Corner on Pandemic
When it comes to the deployment and use of an HIV vaccine, researchers say even a partially effective vaccine, although not perfect, still could prevent millions of infections each year. There are no AIDS vaccines in use, but many are in the development pipeline or clinical trials. The problem is …
your ad hereUN: Governments Must Recognize Wastewater as Resource
Wastewater from households, industries and agriculture should not be seen as a problem but a valuable resource which could help meet the demands for water, energy and nutrients from a growing global population, a U.N. water expert said. Globally, more than 80 percent of wastewater is released into rivers and …
your ad hereIn-house Clean Coal Technology
Thirty-three of Europe’s most polluted cities are in Poland. Part of the reason: in winter, people keep warm by burning coal. Northern China has a similar problem. And it’s a big problem. Burning coal pours particulate matter into the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming and significant health problems. But …
your ad hereHow Schools Are Going Solar
The cost for individual homes in the U.S. to “go solar” has dropped by more than 60 percent over the last decade. Those low costs helped convince more than a million Americans to install solar panels on their roofs. Now schools are beginning to get in on the benefits. One …
your ad hereHow One School is Going Solar
The cost for individual homes to go solar has dropped by more than 60 percent over the last decade. Those low costs helped convince more than a million private homes to install solar panels. Now schools are beginning to get in on the benefits. Erika Celeste reports from Fremont, Indiana. …
your ad hereMcCartney, Costello & the Album That Never Was
Paul McCartney’s “Flowers in the Dirt” box is as much an archeology project as a reissue, in which listeners can discover the bones of a landmark album that could have been made but wasn’t. Two of the reissue’s three audio discs are devoted to McCartney’s songwriting collaboration with Elvis …
your ad hereBrazil Senate Leader Sees Huge Spending Freeze
Brazil’s government plans to announce spending freezes of 30 billion to 35 billion reais ($9.7 billion to $11.3 billion) this week to help meet part of its 2017 budget deficit target, the Senate leader said on Tuesday. The rest of the shortfall will have to come from raised taxes and …
your ad hereBarber-turned-rapper Crowned ‘Afghan Star’ in Talent Show
A barber-turned-rapper has been crowned the winner of an Afghan talent show that offered its audience some relief from daily stories of insurgents and suicide bombs. Sayed Jamal Mubarez, from Afghanistan’s long-marginalized Hazara ethnic minority, won viewers over with lyrics capturing both the hope and despair of young people living …
your ad hereGoogle Adds ‘Shortcuts’ to Information, Tools on Smartphones
Google wants to make it easier for you to find answers and recommendations on smartphones without having to think about what to ask its search engine. Its new feature, called “shortcuts,” will appear as a row of icons below the Google search box. Where now you’d have to ponder and …
your ad hereDrone-catchers Emerge on a New Aerial Frontier
The enemy drone whined in the distance. The Interceptor, a drone-hunting machine from Silicon Valley startup Airspace Systems, slinked off its launch pad and dashed away in hot pursuit. The hunter twisted through the air to avoid trees, homed in on its target, fired a Kevlar net to capture it, …
your ad hereVenezuela’s Problems Could Doom US Heating Oil Charity
Amid continuing economic turmoil, Venezuela skipped heating oil contributions to a Massachusetts-based nonprofit for a second consecutive winter, signaling that the popular program that began with fanfare after Hurricane Katrina may be kaput. The decision by Venezuela’s Citgo Petroleum Corp. to bow out of the program founded by Joseph P. …
your ad hereGood Dog! Lab Stays Atop List of America’s Favorite Pooches
The friendly Labrador retriever has retained its long-held title as the most popular dog breed in the United States, while the fearless Rottweiler has climbed to its highest ranking in 20 years. The nation’s most sought after dogs of 2016 were unveiled in New York City on Tuesday by the …
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