In 2017, China’s Xi Jinping rose to become the country’s most powerful leader in decades. And as he shoulders more responsibility, analysts say the government in Beijing is likely to take more risks in 2018 at home and overseas, even as it deals with economic challenges at home, a nuclear …
your ad hereScientists Experience Mars on Earth in Utah
For those interested in experiencing life on the Red Planet, the time has come. There are four operating stations in the world where the environment on Mars is replicated: in the U.S., Australia, Iceland and the Arctic. VOA’s Alex Yanevskyy was given exclusive access to the research station in the …
your ad hereBike Sharing Business Brings Competition from China
Silicon Valley has long inspired Chinese business and tech ventures. But now that a Chinese dockless bike share company has landed in the Valley, is the tide turning? VOA’s Calla Yu has more. …
your ad hereSelf-repairing Glass Could End Cracked Cellphones
There is an entire industry of add-ons that are designed to keep your cellphone screen from cracking. And yet broken screens are the main reason cellphones fail. But one Japanese researcher may have solved the problem. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
your ad hereKhmer Rouge Survivors Create ‘Bangsokol’ to Offer Hope, Warning
Quietly, Bonna Neang Weinstein wept. Her husband, Howard Weinstein, sitting next to her, held her hand, comforting her. “It reminded me of everything and myself,” she said of a December 15 performance of “Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia” at the Next Wave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). …
your ad hereGuinea-Bissau Writers Want to Help Country Turn a New Page
The Guinea-Bissau Writers Association gathers dozens of people from different backgrounds who share the same goal: to improve the literature of a small West African country with one of the world’s lowest literacy rates. The authors and poets trickle in one by one, to the meeting of minds taking place …
your ad hereAmid Political Tensions, Visiting Barcelona Bests Real Madrid
Spectators at the home stadium of Real Madrid saw its team’s hopes to keep La Liga title fade away Saturday as Barcelona rolled to a 3-0 El Clasico victory, opening a 14-point lead over the current champions. Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Aleix Vidal each scored, while Real Madrid’s Cristiano …
your ad hereWriters Seek to Form National Identity Through Literature for Guinea-Bissau
The Guinea-Bissau Writers Association gathers dozens of people from different backgrounds who share the same goal: to improve the literature of a small West African country with one of the world’s lowest literacy rates. …
your ad hereUS Holiday Travel Numbers Up
Americans are traveling in record numbers this season, according to the American Automobile Association’s (AAA) annual estimate, which forecasts more than 107 million will travel by road, rail or air between now and the start of 2018. Despite higher gas prices, travel volume is expected to be 3.1 percent higher …
your ad here‘Doctor Who’ Gets a New Star
For millions of Britons, a traditional Christmas Day includes turkey, Brussels sprouts, Christmas pudding, and a special seasonal episode of “Doctor Who.” The global success of the venerable sci-fi series means that fans around the world will also tune in Monday to watch Peter Capaldi’s final adventure as the space-hopping …
your ad hereBitcoin’s Roller-coaster Ride May Get Wilder
What’s a bitcoin worth? Lately nobody knows for sure, but after a wild ride Friday, it’s worth a good deal less than it was Thursday. After losses over the last few days, the digital currency fell as much as 30 percent overnight in Asia, and the action became so frenzied …
your ad hereRocket’s Arc Across California Sky Stops Traffic
A reused SpaceX rocket carried 10 satellites into orbit from California on Friday, leaving behind a trail of mystery and wonder as it soared into space. The Falcon 9 booster lifted off from coastal Vandenberg Air Force Base, carrying the latest batch of satellites for Iridium Communications. The launch in …
your ad hereTribe Will Move From Shrinking Island to Louisiana Farm
Louisiana officials have chosen a sugar cane farm as the next home for residents of a tiny, shrinking island, a move funded with a 2016 federal grant awarded to help relocate communities fleeing the effects of climate change. Dozens of Isle de Jean Charles residents are to be relocated about …
your ad hereBell Ringers Collect Money for the Needy at Christmas
The sounds of the holidays have a familiar ring in cities across the United States, and in cities in South Korea, Japan, Chile and many European countries. In November and December, bell ringers stand next to Red Kettles belonging to the Protestant Salvation Army organization. VOA’s Deborah Block takes us …
your ad hereIndonesian Health Officials Launch Diphtheria Vaccination Campaign
In the face of a diphtheria outbreak in parts of Indonesia, authorities have embarked on an immunization drive to slow the advance of the dangerous respiratory disease. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. Faith Lapidus narrates. …
your ad hereSpain’s Christmas Lottery Awards $2.8 Billion
Mention “the fat one” in the United States in December, and someone might think you were referring cheekily to Santa Claus. But say it in Spain, and it’s a reference to the world’s richest lottery prize. Spanish schoolchildren drew this year’s numbers for the Spanish Christmas Lottery on Friday, for …
your ad hereNASA Astronaut, 1st to Fly Untethered in Space, Dies at 80
NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless, the first person to fly freely and untethered in space, has died. He was 80. He was famously photographed in 1984 flying with a hefty spacewalker’s jetpack, alone in the cosmic blackness above a blue Earth. He traveled more than 300 feet away from the space …
your ad hereResearchers Date Parts of Jesus’ Tomb to Time of Constantine
Over the next month, Christians of all kinds will celebrate the birth of Jesus. The world has been wondering about the reality of his existence, his life, death, and the question of his divinity for thousands of years. But the place considered to be his tomb has been dated to …
your ad hereUS Jury Convicts Two at FIFA Trial
A U.S. jury has convicted two former soccer officials from South America on charges of corruption, the first trial verdicts in a U.S. investigation into world soccer’s governing body, FIFA. The federal jury in New York deliberated for a week before Friday’s verdict and will continue deliberations next week for a …
your ad hereHomegrown African Climate Model Predicts Future Rains — and Risks
One big problem confronts Africa as it tries to predict how its weather patterns will shift in the face of climate change: Almost all the climate models for the continent were created in the United States or Europe. Now South African climate researcher Francois Engelbrecht has changed that by developing …
your ad hereLawsuit: Apple Slowed iPhones, Forcing Owners to Buy New Ones
IPhone owners from several states sued Apple Inc. for not disclosing sooner that it issued software updates deliberately slowing older-model phones so aging batteries lasted longer, saying Apple’s silence led them to wrongly conclude that their only option was to buy newer, pricier iPhones. The allegations were in a lawsuit …
your ad hereNestle Warned It Lacks Rights to California Spring Water
Nestle, which sells Arrowhead bottled water, may have to stop taking millions of gallons of water from Southern California’s San Bernardino National Forest because state regulators concluded it lacks valid permits. The State Water Resources Control Board notified the company on Wednesday that an investigation concluded it doesn’t have …
your ad hereWhat Makes a Christmas Movie Classic?
Every year around the holidays, there is a spike in the viewership of Christmas movie classics. According to the American Film Institute, Frank Capra’s 1947 heartwarming drama It’s A Wonderful Life tops the list of all-time Christmas favorites. The story centers on George Bailey, a generous man driven to bankruptcy. …
your ad hereHard-line Islamist Group in Indonesia to Boycott Facebook
Indonesia’s foremost hard-line Islamist group, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), has announced a Christmas Day boycott of Facebook and the Whatsapp instant messaging service, as well as a live protest at Facebook’s Indonesia office in the near future. They say Facebook — like other major social media outlets such as …
your ad hereChristmas Movies Classics – What Makes a Classic?
Every year around the holidays there is a spike in the viewership of Christmas movie classics. According to the American Film Institute, Frank Capra’s 1947 heartwarming drama It’s A Wonderful Life tops the list of all time Christmas favorites. VOA’s Penelope Poulou spoke with Todd Hitchcock, Associate Director of the …
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