John Legend is expected on a Massachusetts college campus this week to receive a social justice award. The singer-songwriter becomes the first recipient of the Salem Advocate for Social Justice award when he accepts the honor Tuesday at Salem State University. Legend is to perform and also discuss …
your ad hereGuy in Gorilla Costume Finishes London Marathon After 6 Days
An English policeman wearing a gorilla costume while crawling the London Marathon has finally finished the race, almost a week after starting. Metropolitan Police officer Tom Harrison, who goes by the name “Mr. Gorilla,” raised a reported 26,000 pounds ($33,650) for the Gorilla Organization, which is dedicated to conserving …
your ad hereVOA Observes Jazz Appreciation Month
April 30 is International Jazz Day, with events and concerts being held throughout the world. It also marks the end of Jazz Appreciation Month in the United States. Sponsored by the National Museum of American History, it’s designed to stimulate and encourage people to participate, study and listen to a …
your ad hereIranian Filmmaker Jailed Over His Work Released Early
An award-winning Iranian filmmaker imprisoned over his work has been released after serving about five months of his yearlong sentence, though he doesn’t know whether he’ll make movies again in the Islamic Republic. Keywan Karimi told The Associated Press on Sunday that he credited international pressure for his early …
your ad hereRefugees Turn Skills From Home into New Business
Once they acclimate to their new environment, overcoming language, social and cultural barriers, refugees in the U.S. often thrive. Some translate their experiences into assets that are valuable to their new community, as did Parvin and Yadollah Jamalreza. VOA’s June Soh visited their popular tailoring shop in Charlottesville, Virginia. …
your ad here‘The Godfather’ at 45: The Trials, Inspiration Behind the Film
Al Pacino was considered too short, Marlon Brando was required to do a screen test, and director Francis Ford Coppola was almost fired. The director and cast of The Godfather reminisced Saturday in a 45th anniversary reunion in New York about the trials, perseverance and inspiration that resulted in the …
your ad hereGrowth Slows in April in China’s Manufacturing Sector
Growth in China’s manufacturing sector slowed in April, official data showed Sunday, pointing to an unsteady recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. The monthly purchasing managers’ index by the Chinese Federation of Logistics and Purchasing fell to 51.2 in April, lower than the 51.8 recorded in March. The …
your ad hereWhite House Press Corps Dinner More Sober, Less Glitz
The White House press corps gathered Saturday for its annual black-tie dinner, a toned-down affair this year after Donald Trump snubbed the event, becoming the first incumbent U.S. president to bow out in 36 years. Without Trump, who scheduled a rally instead to mark his 100th day in office, the …
your ad hereArtificial Womb Provides Hope for Premature Babies
Every year, an estimated 15 million babies are born prematurely. It’s believed 1 million children die around the world each year of complications of pre-term birth. Researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia may have developed a technology that could change that outlook. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
your ad hereEV Manufacturers Expect Surge in Demand
Despite lingering anxiety over their range, interest in electric cars is rising, especially in industrialized countries. Manufacturers say they are improving the mileage by building more charging stations, but the industry is still waiting for a major breakthrough in battery technology. VOA’s George Putic reports. …
your ad hereSenegal to Introduce HPV Vaccine to Battle Cervical Cancer
Cervical cancer is preventable, yet it remains the most common type of cancer in Africa, the World Health Organization says. WHO data show that Senegal currently has one of the world’s highest rates of the disease, with over 1,400 new cases diagnosed each year. The country’s health officials have stepped …
your ad hereLate-night TV Host Samantha Bee’s Show Briefly Upstages Correspondents’ Dinner
Washington’s once-glitzy “nerd prom” was briefly upstaged Saturday as comedians and Hollywood stars gathered for jokes and jests about President Donald Trump for a tongue-in-cheek event to counter the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Late-night TV star Samantha Bee pulled in celebrities for the first “Not the White House Correspondents’ …
your ad herePeople’s Climate March Brings Thousands to Washington
Thousands rallied Saturday in Washington for the People’s Climate March. Organizers said they hoped the day’s events would send a clear message to the Trump administration and lawmakers in Washington about their climate policies. VOA’s Elizabeth Cherneff has more. …
your ad hereIT Workers, Companies Cautious on H1B Visa Program Review
During a recent visit to Wisconsin, President Donald Trump announced he was signing an Executive Order reviewing the visa program that brings many technical workers to the United States, known as the H1B visa. About 85,000 workers come to the United States annually using an H1B visa. More from VOA’s …
your ad hereThousands of Environmentalists March in Washington
Thousands of environmental activists marched in the U.S. capital Saturday to try to draw support for climate-related causes. The People’s Climate March was meant to coincide with President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office, according to its organizers, who have condemned what they see as the administration’s lack of concern …
your ad hereFormer Street Boy Jazzing Up Nairobi Streets with His Saxophone
If you’ve been walking through downtown Nairobi lately, you may have seen Moses Odhiambo. The 29-year-old self-taught saxophonist has been drawing crowds and inspiring a love of music in young people who, like himself, are growing up on the streets. Moses Odhiambo plays his saxophone amid the usual buzz of evening …
your ad hereMissions Help Tell Dramatic History of Lone Star State
San Antonio, Texas, is home to the greatest concentration of Catholic missions in North America, including The Alamo, the state’s first mission dating to 1718. The most visited historic landmark in Texas was also a fort and the site of a battle that played a pivotal role in the state’s …
your ad hereHacker Claims to Have Stolen Netflix Series, Seeks Ransom
A hacker claims to have stolen the upcoming season of Netflix’s hit series “Orange Is The New Black,” and is demanding that the video streaming service pay an unspecified ransom to prevent all the new episodes from being prematurely released online. The hacker, operating under the name The Dark …
your ad hereStrato-glider to Explore Little-known Mountain Waves
Later this year, two pilots in a sailplane will try to break the world altitude record for a glider, soaring more than 27 kilometers above sea level. But their primary mission will be to explore the little-known phenomenon called “mountain waves” and to carry a number of experiments designed by …
your ad hereOn 100th Day in Office, Trump to Focus on Trade
President Donald Trump will spend his 100th day in office talking tough on trade in one of the states that delivered his unlikely win. The president is expected to sign an executive order Saturday that will direct his Commerce Department and the U.S. Trade Representative to perform a comprehensive …
your ad hereTrump Signs Order Opening Arctic for Oil Drilling
President Donald Trump is re-opening for oil exploration areas that President Barack Obama had closed, a move that environmental groups have promised to fight. In an executive order Friday, the president reversed the Obama administration’s decision to prohibit oil and gas drilling in the Arctic waters off Alaska. The order …
your ad hereBeyond ‘Fake News:’ Facebook Fights ‘Information Operations’
Facebook is acknowledging that governments or other malicious non-state actors are using its social network to sway political sentiment, including elections. That’s a long way from CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s assertion in November that the idea that bogus information on Facebook influenced the U.S. presidential election was “pretty crazy.” It also …
your ad hereUS Economy Grows at Disappointing 0.7% in First Quarter
The latest economic data indicate the U.S. economy is growing at the slowest rate in three years. The GDP or gross domestic product, the broadest measure of all goods and services produced in the country, increased at a disappointing 0.7 percent annual rate, according to new government estimates released Friday. That’s …
your ad hereSpanish heritage in San Antonio
FIFA Audit Official Admits Bribery in US Probe
The sprawling American investigation of bribery and corruption in international soccer has reached into Asia and claimed the first guilty plea from a senior official in the new FIFA leadership. A member of the FIFA Audit and Compliance Committee, Richard Lai of Guam, was provisionally suspended Friday by the FIFA …
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