Ivanka Trump teamed up Wednesday with Republican legislators to try to ensure the tax overhaul package under construction on Capitol Hill includes an expansion of the child tax credit. The White House adviser and presidential daughter, appearing at a Capitol Hill news conference with GOP lawmakers, framed the tax credit …
your ad hereNot at Home? Amazon Wants to Come in and Drop Off Packages
Don’t want Amazon boxes sitting on the porch? The company hopes you’ll let a stranger inside to drop them off. Amazon said Wednesday it will launch a service called Amazon Key next month that will let people allow the door to be unlocked when they’re not there so packages can …
your ad hereWidely-used Toxins Excluded in US Agency’s Chemical Review
Spurred by the chemical industry, President Donald Trump’s administration is retreating from a congressionally mandated review of some of the most dangerous chemicals in public use: millions of tons of asbestos, flame retardants and other toxins in homes, offices and industrial plants across the United States. Instead of following …
your ad hereBlake Lively Tackles Blindness in New Complex Film Role
To play a blind woman for her latest film role, Blake Lively took no short cuts into the darkness. The 30-year-old actress learned to use a walking cane, wore opaque contact lenses off-camera to better understand her character, and learned how to navigate the main set without her vision. “I …
your ad hereFrench Film Institute Goes Ahead With Polanski Retrospective
France’s famed film institute La Cinematheque Francaise says it will go ahead with a retrospective of works by director Roman Polanski despite opposition by feminist groups. La Cinematheque said Wednesday that calls to cancel the Polanski screenings – attended by the director – only began “in the last few …
your ad hereNegligence Alleged in Sex Abuse Case Against Weinstein Co.
An aspiring actress has sued The Weinstein Co. alleging it was aware of sexual misconduct by its co-founder, Harvey Weinstein. Dominique Huett claims in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles that Weinstein performed oral sex on her against her wishes at a Beverly Hills hotel in 2010. …
your ad hereFacebook to Build Wind Farm to Help Power Omaha Data Center
Facebook is partnering with a developer to build a wind power farm in northeast Nebraska that will supply energy for the company’s planned data center. The social media giant announced last week that it has partnered with Trade Winds Energy to build the Rattlesnake Creek Wind Project in rural Dixon …
your ad hereCell Game: Novel Software Helps Match Up Inmates, Prisons
A university engineering department has developed what amounts to a Tinder app for criminals — a computer program that matches inmates with suitable prisons. The software, unique in the corrections field, has saved the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections about $3 million in its first year. It’s resulted in fewer prison …
your ad hereAusterity to Hit Jordan as Debt Spikes, Economy Slows
Jordan’s high and rising public debt has worried the International Monetary Fund and prompted a downgrade from Standard & Poor’s. So the government is planning a blast of austerity by year-end. Tax hikes and subsidy cuts —- likely to be highly unpopular —- are on the agenda as the country’s …
your ad hereTrump OKs Test Program to Expand Domestic Drone Flights
Americans could see a lot more drones flying around their communities as the result of a Trump administration test program to increase government and commercial use of the unmanned aircraft. President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead Wednesday, signing a directive intended to increase the number and complexity of drone flights. …
your ad hereRock & Roll Pioneer Fats Domino Dies
Fats Domino, the amiable rock `n’ roll pioneer whose steady, pounding piano and easy baritone helped change popular music while honoring the traditions of the Crescent City, died Tuesday. He was 89. Mark Bone, chief investigator with the Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, coroner’s office, said Domino died of natural causes …
your ad hereApple Reduced Face ID Accuracy to Ease Production: Bloomberg
Apple Inc recently allowed its suppliers to reduce the accuracy of the iPhone X’s facial recognition system to speed up production of the smartphone, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the situation. The Face ID system – among the $999 iPhone X’s most talked about features – …
your ad hereCompanies in Ukraine, Russia Come Under New Cyberattack
A new strain of malicious software has paralyzed computers at a Ukrainian airport, the Ukrainian capital’s subway and at some independent Russian media. The Odessa international airport in Ukraine’s south, the Kyiv subway and prominent Russian media outlets such as Interfax and Fontanka on Tuesday reported being targeted. …
your ad hereQatari Exec Set to Meet Investigators in FIFA Bribery Case
Qatari soccer and television executive Nasser al-Khelaifi was scheduled to be questioned by Swiss investigators who allege he bribed a top FIFA official in World Cup broadcasting rights deal. Al-Khelaifi, the Paris Saint-Germain president, was set to meet with Switzerland’s federal prosecutors on Wednesday, two weeks after they revealed …
your ad hereKaspersky: We Uploaded US Documents But Quickly Deleted Them
Sometime in 2014, a group of analysts walked into the office of Eugene Kaspersky, the ebullient founder of Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, to deliver some sobering news. The analysts were in possession of a cache of files belonging to the Equation Group, an extraordinarily powerful band of hackers that …
your ad hereYou Own It: New Zealand Party Told to Pay for Eminem Rip-Off
A New Zealand judge said Eminem’s lyrics “You own it, you better never let it go” turned out to be prophetic after ruling a political party breached copyright by using a song similar to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” in its campaign ads. High Court Judge Helen Cull on Wednesday ordered the …
your ad hereOnline Resources Aid Female Candidates
Only about 1 in 5 politicians in the US is female, even though women make up just over half of the US population. With many saying 2018 could be “The Year of the Woman” in American politics, new tools have become available for women running for office. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti …
your ad hereA Look Back At America’s Decades-Long War On Drugs
The United States is suffering through an unprecedented, deadly wave of opioid and prescription drug overdoses. The drug crisis comes nearly 50 years after the government declared a “War on Drugs.” VOA’s Chris Simkins looks back at the War on Drugs and how experts say mistakes of the past cannot …
your ad hereNew York Man Smashes Pumpkins to Set Guinness Record
Pumpkins are everywhere across the United States each fall – flavoring lattes and ice cream, baked into pies and cookies, cut into jack-o-lanterns … and, in one New York City back yard, smashed into pieces. Faith Lapidus explains. …
your ad hereNo Roof? No Problem. Community-Shared Solar Offers Solar Energy for All
If you’re a city dweller, tapping into solar power can be challenging. Chances are, you live in an apartment and can’t install solar panels or get access to your roof. But community-shared solar programs are now allowing everyone to benefit from solar energy. …
your ad hereFighting Tumors Gets Individualized Approach
Doctors in the U.S. are increasingly employing a new approach when treating tumors, thanks to the new technology of genomic sequencing. It allows them to look at each patient and his or her cancer as an individual, and develop a customized therapy. The new approach is showing some promising results. …
your ad hereIndividualized Approach in Fighting Tumors
Doctors in the U.S. are increasingly employing a new approach when treating tumors, thanks to the new technology of genomic sequencing. It allows them to look at each patient and his or her cancer as an individual, and develop a customized therapy. The new approach is showing some promising results. …
your ad hereRobert Guillaume, Star of TV’s ‘Benson,’ Dies at Age 89
Two-time Emmy Award-winning actor Robert Guillaume, who became one of the most prominent black actors on U.S. television playing the cantankerous title character in the hit 1980s series Benson, died of complications from prostate cancer on Tuesday, his wife said. He was 89. The gravelly voiced Guillaume, who thrived in …
your ad hereTwitter to Label Election Ads after US Regulatory Threat
Twitter Inc said on Tuesday it would add labels to election-related advertisements and say who is behind each of them, after a threat of regulation from the United States over the lack of disclosure for political spending on social media. Twitter said in a blog post the company would launch …
your ad hereSource of Protective Space Shield Identified
Human-caused space pollution can range from a hammer that floats away from a space station, to a nuclear weapons test in the atmosphere, and could damage nearby spacecraft. But one unexpected source of “pollution” helps many satellites. The special pollution protects spacecraft from “killer electrons,” in a region above the …
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