French President Emmanuel Macron expressed “pride, humility and determination” and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti spoke of his city’s proud Olympic past as the rivals to host the 2024 Games met International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach on Monday. The IOC will hold a meeting on Tuesday where it is …
your ad hereReport: Cutting Food Source Leads to Dramatic Drop in Number of Mosquitoes
Insecticides, mosquito nets, and disrupting breeding grounds all reduce mosquito populations and slow the spread of malaria. Now, researchers want to take away the insect’s food to fight the disease that kills a child every two minutes. Mosquitoes mostly feed on plant sugars that can be hard to find during …
your ad hereTrump to Nominate Quarles to Be Fed’s Top Banking Regulator
U.S. President Donald Trump plans to nominate former Treasury official Randal Quarles to be the Federal Reserve’s top banking regulator, the White House said on Monday. If confirmed by the Senate, Quarles would be the first vice chair of supervision at the Fed, a role created after the 2008 financial …
your ad hereUS Expected to Scrap Visa Program for Entrepreneurs
President Donald Trump’s administration is postponing and plans to drop a program to provide visas for foreign entrepreneurs who launch companies in the United States. The visa program, proposed last year by former President Barack Obama, was intended to give entrepreneurs who are not eligible for other types of visas …
your ad hereSpyware in Mexico Targeted International Experts Critical of Government
Investigators said Monday that targets of high-tech spying in Mexico included an international group of experts backed by the Organization of American States who had criticized the government’s probe into the disappearance of 43 students. Previous investigations by the internet watchdog group Citizen Lab found that the spyware had been …
your ad hereTaking Hula From Ancient Tradition to 21st Century Art
On stage in their grass skirts and colorful shirts, the hula dancers look like a traditional island group. But when the music starts, it’s obvious this performance is anything but traditional. With their stylized, lively movements, the dance seems closer to Broadway than to the ancient dance developed in Hawaii …
your ad hereActor Tom Hanks to Receive Award for Work Reflecting US History
For his work in films reflecting U.S. history such as “Saving Private Ryan,” “Apollo 13” and “Bridge of Spies,” actor Tom Hanks has won this year’s Records of Achievement Award, the National Archives Foundation said on Monday. Hanks, 61, will receive the award, given to individuals who bring a broad …
your ad hereTanzania’s President Signs New Mining Bills into Law
Tanzanian President John Magufuli said on Monday he has signed into law new mining bills which require the government to own at least a 16 percent stake in mining projects. The laws, which also increase royalties tax on gold and other minerals, were passed by parliament last week despite opposition …
your ad hereMusk Tweets Pictures of First Model 3 to Roll Off the Line
Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk on Sunday tweeted pictures of the first Model 3 sedan to roll off the assembly line. Tesla board member Ira Ehrenpreis was the first to put down a $1,000 deposit on the Model 3 and gifted the car to Musk for his 46th birthday, …
your ad hereFood Crises Getting Worse in Somalia, Kenya
Severe food crises are growing in Kenya and Somalia, as the Horn of Africa continues to receive below-normal rainfall, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network. The hunger-tracking group says 2.9 million people in Kenya and 3.2 million in Somalia are experiencing Phase 3 or higher on the network’s …
your ad hereUS Court: Madrid Museum Must Face Heirs’ Claim in Nazi Art Case
A federal appeals court on Monday revived a lawsuit seeking to force a Madrid museum to return an Impressionist masterpiece to the family of a Jewish woman who was compelled to sell it to a Nazi art appraiser for $360 in 1939 so she could flee Germany. The 9th U.S. …
your ad hereCholera Outbreak Reaches 300,000 People Infected in Yemen
A cholera outbreak in Yemen “continues to spiral out of control,” according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which says there are now over 300,000 suspected cases of the water-borne disease. The country is also struggling to battle famine in the midst of a two-year war between a …
your ad hereChina’s Ambition, US Retreat on Show in Serbian Factory Town
A giant Chinese red flag flutters on a pole where an American flag used to fly at a steel mill in this dusty industrial Serbian town. The company logos of U.S. Steel are faded on the huge chimneys stacks, replaced by those of a Chinese company. When U.S. Steel sold …
your ad hereChina’s COSCO to Buy Orient Overseas for $6.3 Billion
China’s biggest shipping company, state-owned COSCO Shipping Holdings Co., is creating the world’s No. 3 container shipping giant by acquiring rival Orient Overseas (International) Ltd. Shares in both companies surged Monday following the announcement of the $6.3 billion deal. A wave of consolidation has created huge competitors in a global …
your ad hereGame Explores, Encourages the Creative Side of Coding
A common assumption is that writing computer code is a highly technical skill for people who are good at math and logic, but software engineers say another quality is just as important: creativity. A group of software developers in Palo Alto, California, has created a game called Osmo Coding Jam …
your ad hereThe Creative Side of Coding
A common assumption is that writing computer code is a highly technical skill for people who are good at math and logic. There is another quality in the tech world that is just as important: creativity. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee reports on a game that teaches children the creative side of …
your ad hereVenezuelan MLB Players Voice Anguish Amid Turmoil Back Home
They wanted to show the old seven-starred flag from their homeland. And when the Venezuelan players from the Pittsburgh Pirates finally found one on Amazon, they promptly held it upside down. “When you carry it reversed, that’s a symbol of protest,” Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli said about the display before …
your ad hereRural Amazon Violence Rises Amid Bureaucracy Over Land Titles
For a farmer in Brazil’s Amazon, Manoel Freire Camurca was doing pretty well for himself until a local power broker burned down his house and took the surrounding fields he had poured his life into. Camurca’s eviction eight months ago happened as officials were finalizing his claim to 500 hectares …
your ad hereUNESCO Adds to List of World Heritage Sites
A remote Iranian desert city, Ice Age-era caves in Germany and a stone wharf in Brazil built for arriving African slave ships are three new additions to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites. The World Heritage Committee spent a week meeting in Kraków, Poland, to consider 34 significant historical and …
your ad hereIOC Balks at Helping Rio With $35-40 Million Olympic Debt
The IOC has balked at helping Rio Olympic organizers pay a debt estimated at $35-40 million. The executive board of the International Olympic Committee, meeting Sunday in Lausanne, Switzerland, said it had already contributed a “record” $1.53 billion to last year’s Olympics, and questioned giving more after meeting with …
your ad hereFrom Paintings to Flash Protests, Venezuelan Artists Raise Voices
Deploying poems, paintings and posters, opposition-minded artists in Venezuela are expanding their anti-government protests, offering a peaceful alternative to the violent political unrest costing at least 90 lives in three months. “We don’t want to confront passers-by but to encourage reflection,” said Teresa Mulet, 46, a designer who joined a …
your ad hereAt France’s Davos, French Bosses Laud Impact of New President
Top French company bosses who have for years lamented their country’s slow pace of reforms at an annual summer gathering in Provence offered glowing praise this year for the first steps taken by newly elected President Emmanuel Macron. Sixty days after Macron became France’s youngest ever president, the CEOs gathered …
your ad hereChina Tests Self-sustaining Space Station in Beijing
Sealed behind the steel doors of two bunkers in a Beijing suburb, university students are trying to find out how it feels to live in a space station on another planet, recycling everything from plant cuttings to urine. They are part of a project aimed at creating a self-sustaining ecosystem …
your ad hereIOC Planning Refugee Team at 2020 Tokyo Games
Refugees are likely to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with the International Olympic Committee planning another refugee team after its first appearance at last year’s Rio de Janeiro Games. The IOC unveiled its first team of refugees last year in an effort to raise awareness of the issue and …
your ad hereIn Houston, Former Refugees are Transformed Through Their Art
With the delicacy of a conductor, Ammar Alobaidi runs his right index finger across his acrylic work — a bright, abstract piece that reflects his love for cubism and three sources of inspiration: Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian and Salvador Dalí. “The paintings and the colors look like music,” he said. …
your ad here