While President Donald Trump has thrust transgender people back into the conflict between conservative and liberal values in the United States, geneticists are quietly working on a major research effort to unlock the secrets of gender identity. A consortium of five research institutions in Europe and the United States, including …
your ad hereMeet Vogue’s Latest Model — London’s First Female Police Chief
Upmarket fashion magazine Vogue has featured an unexpected new model in its latest edition — London’s first female police chief. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has posed in her uniform for the glossy magazine as part of a feature that celebrates women at the top of their game. Dick, 56, …
your ad hereGoogle Street View Cars Map Methane Leaks
Finding underground gas leaks is now as easy as finding a McDonalds, thanks to a combination of Google Street View cars, mobile methane detectors, some major computing power and a lot of ingenuity. When a city’s underground gas lines leak, they waste fuel and release invisible plumes of methane, a …
your ad hereWannaCry Hero Arrested in US After Hacking Conference
U.S. security agents have arrested the British hacker known for discovering a “kill switch” that nullified a widespread ransomware attack earlier this year. Marcus Hutchins, a 23-year-old malware researcher who uses the name Malware Tech, was detained by the FBI on Wednesday at the Las Vegas airport, where he was …
your ad hereTrump Set to Embark on 1st Vacation Since Inauguration
Donald Trump once questioned the wisdom of taking vacations. “What’s the point?” he asked. But now the president is getting ready to join the annual August exodus from this town he calls “the swamp.” Trump is due to set out Friday on his first extended vacation from Washington since the …
your ad hereFacebook to Step Up Fact-Checking in Fight Against Fake News
Facebook is to send more potential hoax articles to third-party fact checkers and show their findings below the original post, the world’s largest online social network said on Thursday as it tries to fight so-called fake news. The company said in a statement on its website it will start using …
your ad hereMexico Sees End 2018 as Best Case for Implementing New NAFTA
Under a best-case scenario, a newly negotiated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) would not be implemented before the end of next year or the start of 2019, Mexico’s economy minister said Thursday. Among other issues, NAFTA talks would focus on how to provide more certainty in dispute resolutions, Economy …
your ad hereTop 5 Songs for Week Ending Aug. 5
We’re in the mix with the five most popular songs in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart, for the week ending August 5, 2017. Lo and behold, we get a new song this week to supercharge our lineup. It happens in fifth place, where French Montana and Swae Lee …
your ad hereHBO: Email System Likely Not Affected in Monday Hack Attack
In an email to HBO staff Wednesday, CEO Richard Plepler said the company’s email system likely was not affected in Monday’s hacking of the cable network. “We do not believe that our email system as a whole has been compromised,” Plepler wrote, warning his staff to be wary of media …
your ad hereTrump Expected to Boost Pressure on China
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to increase pressure on China to change its trade practices and do more to stop North Korea’s weapons programs. Reports by financial news media Thursday predicted Trump will sign an order in the coming days to open an investigation of Chinese demands that foreign …
your ad hereAvon CEO McCoy to Leave Company
Avon’s CEO will leave the company in March as the struggling beauty products maker continues a turnaround campaign. Sheri McCoy has led the company for five years and sits on the board, but there has been some external pressure from activist investors for a change in leadership. Avon …
your ad hereMiners Union, Federal Officers at Odds Over Increase in US Coal Deaths
Deaths in U.S. coal mines this year have surged ahead of last year’s, and federal safety officials say workers who are new to a mine have been especially vulnerable to fatal accidents. But the nation’s coal miner’s union says the mine safety agency isn’t taking the right approach to fixing …
your ad hereKeystone XL Pipeline Survives Politics But Economics Could Plug It
The proposed Keystone XL pipeline survived nine years of protests, lawsuits and political wrangling that saw the Obama administration reject it and President Donald Trump revive it, but now the project faces the possibility of death by economics. Low oil prices and the high cost of extracting Canadian crude from …
your ad here3-D View of Cells Could Mean New Ways to Fight Disease
What turns a cell into a brain cell, or a muscle cell, or a cancer cell for that matter? It is all about the DNA, and what genetic markers get turned on and off. Scientists at the Salk Institute have created a 3-D map of a cell that is giving …
your ad here3D View of Cells Could Mean New Ways to Fight Disease
What turns a cell into a brain cell, or a muscle cell, or a cancer cell for that matter? It is all about the DNA, and what genetic markers get turned on and off. Scientists at the Salk Institute have created a 3D map of a cell that is giving …
your ad hereMore Women Starting Businesses in US
Women in the United States are starting bushiness at one and a half times the rate of their male peers. Effective entrepreneurship could help cut the economic gap between women and men, which the World Economic Forum says could otherwise take decades to close around the globe. As VOA’s Jim …
your ad hereTrump Endorses Bill to Limit Green Card Immigration
U.S. President Donald Trump has endorsed a measure that would dramatically reduce the number of low-skilled immigrants admitted to the United States, and introduce a merit-based points system. VOA White House correspondent Peter Heinlein reports. …
your ad hereArtist Creates Unique Bead Sculptures on Social Injustices
The art of beadwork goes back centuries. In Baltimore, Maryland, American artist Joyce Scott continues the art form by creating elaborate beaded pieces that often focus on social and political injustices. …
your ad hereIn Hotels, China Filling Gaps in ‘Great Firewall’
In China, the plush international hotel lobby has been one of the few places to find gaps in the “Great Firewall,” a sophisticated system that denies online users access to blocked content such as foreign news portals and social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Now that small crack …
your ad hereTop Democrats Back Trump on China Trade Probe
Three top Democratic senators, in a rare show of bipartisanship, on Wednesday urged U.S. President Donald Trump to stand up to China as he prepares to launch an inquiry into Beijing’s intellectual property and trade practices in coming days. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer pressed the Republican president to skip …
your ad hereMichelangelo’s Unrealized Marble Dream Comes True in Italian Quarry
In 1517, Michelangelo climbed Mount Altissimo in Tuscany and found the marble of his dreams. It was, the Renaissance master wrote, “of compact grain, homogeneous, crystalline, reminiscent of sugar.” He deemed it perhaps even more precious than that from nearby Carrara, where he had obtained marble for some of his …
your ad hereIraqi Farmers to Get Needed Cash Via Mobile Phones
Families in rural Iraq will get access to urgently needed cash to invest in farming via a new money transfer program on mobile phones funded by the Belgium government, the United Nation’s food agency said Wednesday. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said the cash-for-work program will benefit more than …
your ad hereRepsol: Drilling Suspended on Vietnam Oil Block Disputed by China
Spain’s Repsol said it had suspended oil drilling in a block off Vietnam, where the prospecting in South China Sea waters claimed by China had infuriated Beijing and brought Chinese pressure on Vietnam to stop. Tension has been growing between Vietnam and China over energy development in the waterway, where …
your ad hereDow Jones Closes Above 22,000 — a 6th-straight Record High
The Dow Jones Industrial Average set a sixth-straight record Wednesday, closing above 22,000 for the first time, but experts point out that whatever goes up must always come down. The Dow closed up a fraction at 22,016. Healthy earnings reports from computer technology giant Apple, the world’s largest publicly traded …
your ad hereNew Website Aims to Track Russian-backed Propaganda on Twitter
A website launched on Wednesday seeks to track Russian-supported propaganda and disinformation on Twitter, part of a growing non-governmental effort to diminish Moscow’s ability to meddle in future elections in the United States and Europe. The “Hamilton 68” dashboard was built by researchers working with the Alliance for Securing Democracy, …
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