The newest way to bet on bitcoin, the cyptocurrency that has taken Wall Street by storm with its stratospheric price rise and wild daily gyrations, will arrive Sunday when bitcoin futures start trading. The launch has given an extra kick to the cyptocurrency’s scorching run this year. It has nearly …
your ad hereWilliam and Harry Choose Sculptor for Diana Statue
A sculptor who produced the image of Queen Elizabeth used on Britain’s coins has been chosen to create a new statue of Princess Diana, the office of Princes William and Harry said Sunday, to commemorate 20 years since her death. Ian Rank-Broadley, whose effigy of the Queen has appeared on …
your ad hereArches National Park in Utah Attracts More Than a Million Visitors a Year
If God were a stonemason … Utah’s Arches National Park would be the back room of his workshop. The Arches National Park, established almost a century ago, is now one of the most popular destinations for Americans and tourists from around the world. The park has more than 2,000 natural …
your ad hereNorth Dakota: The Silicon Valley of Drones
North Dakota’s vast flatlands have long been known for fertile fields of canola seeds, grazing cattle, and oil drilling. But in recent years, those wide open spaces have also become the U.S. proving ground for commercial drone research and testing. VOA’s Lin Yang and Beibei Su recently visited Grand Forks, …
your ad hereSatellite Technology Helps Protect Ocean Wildlife
Scientists around the world are increasingly using satellite technology to study life on earth. Small, inexpensive transponders attached to animals track their movement and interaction with humans, helping scientists and activists protect endangered species. Oceana, an international organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of the world’s oceans, teamed with …
your ad hereArgentina Blocks Two Activists From Entry on Eve of WTO Meeting
Argentina blocked two European activists from entering the country on the eve of the World Trade Organization’s ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires, the two told a local radio program Saturday. Sally Burch, a British activist and journalist for the Latin American Information Agency, said Argentina had already revoked credentials given …
your ad hereLaw to Bring Down Mob Now Used Against Weinstein
The federal anti-racketeering law has been used since the late 1970s to bring down mob bosses. Could it be used to prosecute Harvey Weinstein? Lawyers for six actresses who say they were sexually assaulted by the movie producer filed a lawsuit Wednesday in New York arguing that Weinstein was, essentially, …
your ad hereDiscovery of Two Tombs Dating Back 3,500 Years Announced in Egypt
Egypt authorities announced Saturday that archaeologists had discovered two small ancient tombs in Luxor, a southern city. The tombs date back about 3,500 years and are located on the west bank of the river Nile. “It’s truly an exceptional day. … The 18th dynasty private tombs were already known. But it’s …
your ad hereDiscovery of Two Ancient Tombs Announced in Egypt
The tombs are the latest discovery in Luxor, which is known for its temples and tombs from different dynasties of ancient Egyptian history. …
your ad hereTears, Pomp, Extravagance as France Mourns Rocker Hallyday
France bid farewell to its biggest rock star Saturday, honoring Johnny Hallyday with an extravagant funeral procession down Paris’ Champs-Elysees Avenue, a presidential speech and a televised church ceremony filled with the country’s most famous faces. Few figures in French history have earned a send-off with as much pomp as …
your ad hereWarming Arctic, Drier Regions, and Wildfires: Is There a Link?
Many scientists believe the Arctic, one of the fastest-changing places on the planet, could drive change in other parts of the world, including wildfire-ravaged Southern California. In a recent NASA mission called Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG), climate scientist Josh Willis embarked on a journey to study ice in Greenland and …
your ad hereWarming Arctic, Drier Regions and Wildfires: Is There a Link?
A new report from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory predicts a link between sea ice melting in the Arctic and drier conditions in California over the next several decades. This finding comes at a time when several wildfires are raging across Southern California. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee reports on the work of …
your ad hereProvocative Exhibition Looks at Artists’ Response to Post-9/11 ‘Age of Terror’
A new exhibition aims to show how the art world has responded to the global changes since the terror attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. Age of Terror: Art since 9/11 at London’s Imperial War Museum brings together 40 artists from across the world whose works reflect …
your ad hereUS Economy Adding Jobs, But Employers Say Skills Gap is Rising
The U.S. economy posted another impressive month, adding 228,000 jobs in November. The unemployment rate, now at a 17-year low, remains unchanged at 4.1 percent. But even as more Americans returned to the workforce, job recruiters say the job market is changing and both employers and employees need to be …
your ad hereUN Members Sign Commitment to Reduce Plastic Pollution
The environmental group EcoWatch estimates that at least 1 million sea birds, and 100,000 marine mammals are killed every year by ingesting plastic or getting caught in it. It is an environmental nightmare, and it’s getting worse every year. But this week, more than 200 countries signed an agreement to …
your ad hereWashington’s Annual Downtown Holiday Market Is Open for Business
Washington’s annual Downtown Holiday Market is open for business. For the last 13 years, this unique seasonal market has provided shopping and entertainment from just after Thanksgving until right before Christmas. VOA’s Eunjung Cho reports. …
your ad hereAt Yayoi Kusama Show, a Long Wait to Experience Infinity
If you want to experience infinity, you’re going to have to wait a long time. On a recent Saturday, the line to see Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s new Infinity Mirror Rooms stretched all the way around a Manhattan city block, the end of the line even meeting up with …
your ad hereWind, Fire, Ash Destroy Much of California Avocado Crop
The wildfire that roared through the orchards of California’s Ventura County destroyed much of the region’s avocado crop not just with flames, but also with fierce Santa Ana winds and a thick blanket of ash. With the so-called Thomas Fire just 10 percent contained by Friday afternoon, after blackening more …
your ad here‘Worker Bee’ Round of NAFTA Talks to Focus on Easier Chapters
NAFTA trade negotiators convene in Washington next week for a limited round of talks unlikely to move the needle on major sticking points, but aimed at demonstrating some progress toward closing easier chapters. Last month’s round of negotiations to update the North American Free Trade Agreement in Mexico City failed to …
your ad hereFirst Black Astronaut Honored on 50th Anniversary of Death
AP Photo NY560, NY561, NY562 America’s first black astronaut, Air Force Maj. Robert Lawrence Jr., finally got full honors Friday on the 50th anniversary of his death. Several hundred people gathered at Kennedy Space Center to commemorate Lawrence, who almost certainly would have gone on to fly in space had …
your ad hereFrom Poles to Filipinos? UK Food Industry Needs Post-Brexit Workers
Britons who voted for Brexit in the hope of slashing immigration seem set for disappointment. In the farming and food industries at least, any exodus of Polish and Romanian workers may simply be followed by arrivals of Ukrainians and Filipinos. From dairy farms to abattoirs, employers say not enough Britons …
your ad here‘Star Wars’ Cast Reflects on Legacy of Fisher, Leia
Carrie Fisher may have been the “madcap Auntie Mame” to Mark Hamill’s “square” homebody, but despite their differences, the Star Wars siblings got along famously right till the end. While both skyrocketed to celebrity with their Star Wars roles in 1977 and remained inextricably linked through their on-screen family, Hamill …
your ad hereMaldives Rushes Through Trade Pact With China Despite Opposition
The Maldives government signed a free trade agreement with China during a visit to Beijing by its leader, Abdulla Yameen, it said on Friday, despite criticism from the opposition over the speed at which the deal was concluded. Under the deal – a document of more than 1,000 pages that …
your ad hereUSOC Says All Systems Go for Pyeongchang Olympics
The U.S. Olympic Committee on Friday said it would send a full team to compete at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in February despite mixed messages this week from the White House about whether the U.S. would participate. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley had said it was an “open question” as …
your ad hereChristie’s: Abu Dhabi to Acquire Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’
New-York based Christie’s auction house said Friday that Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism was acquiring Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait of Christ, “Salvator Mundi,” a painting that sold for $450.3 million. The latest twist in a saga over the painting came after a report in the Wall Street Journal …
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