Italy’s stock market fell sharply Friday after the new populist, euroskeptic government announced a sharp public spending increase that will push the budget deficit to 2.4 percent of gross domestic product next year, risking a collision with the European Union. The benchmark FTSE MIB dropped 2.2 percent early Friday, hours …
your ad hereIn One Virginia City, Beer is the Answer
An Bui and his siblings emigrated to the United States from Vietnam in the late 1980s. Several years later, his parents followed them to Richmond, Virginia. VOA’s Hung Lai visited the family’s restaurant, which helped make their adopted city one of the nation’s ultimate destinations for beer lovers. …
your ad herePuerto Rico Struggling, Still Open for Tourists, Governor Says
Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello flew to New York this week on a mission: convince potential tourists that the hurricane-ravaged island was ready for their return. But Puerto Rico’s recovery from last year’s Hurricane Maria has been a “mixed bag,” Rossello told Reuters on Thursday, acknowledging that the bankrupt U.S. territory, while improving, was far from …
your ad hereNew Orleans Publicly Unveiling Slave Market Tour App
The city of New Orleans has unveiled a smartphone app tour of sites involved in the slave trade during the 18th and 19th centuries, including the pre-Civil War years during which the city was the nation’s largest slave market. The project, officially launched on Thursday, is affiliated with New Orleans’ …
your ad hereUS Regulators Sue Tesla’s Musk for Fraud, Seek to Bar Him as Officer
U.S. securities regulators on Thursday accused Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk of fraud and sought to ban him as an officer of a public company, saying he made a series of “false and misleading” tweets about potentially taking the electric car company private last month. Musk, 47, is one of the highest-profile tech …
your ad hereDeputy UN Chief: Fight Against TB Drastically Underfunded
Tuberculosis is a vicious epidemic that is drastically underfunded. That was the takeaway message from the first high-level meeting focused on the infectious disease at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Amina Mohammad, U.N. deputy secretary-general, said the disease is fueled by poverty, inequality, migration and conflict, and that …
your ad hereArt for Everyone
Earlier this year, two artists in Leesburg, Virginia, founded an art space where they could work and teach other art lovers as well. Part retail business, part studio, Clay and Metal Loft helps aspiring local artists gain the skills and confidence needed to start their own business. But, as Faiza …
your ad hereReport: Disappearing Wetlands Put Planet Life at Risk
A new report warns that wetlands are disappearing three times faster than the world’s forests, with serious consequences for all life on earth. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is a global treaty ratified in 1971 by 170 countries to protect wetlands, which are ecosystems inundated by water, such as swamps, …
your ad hereIndonesia’s National Gallery Hosts Art of Refugees, Highlighting Migrant Plight
The National Gallery of Indonesia is usually associated with such artists as Raden Saleh, Affandi and other icons of the nation’s artistic history. This month it plays host to the works of asylum seekers and refugees in an exhibition entitled Berdiam/Bertandang, which means Stay/Visit. With about 13,800 people identified as …
your ad hereBan on Kenyan Lesbian Film Lifted for One Week
After a months-long ban because of its lesbian love theme, the Kenyan film “Rafiki,” which means “friend” in Swahili, premiered for the first time in Nairobi following a Kenyan high court decision to allow the screening of the controversial film. VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo reports. …
your ad hereBlind Kurdish Musician Experiences Life in US Through His Music
The late reggae legend Bob Marley once sang: “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” For a young Kurdish immigrant living in San Diego, Marley’s observation rings true. Blind since birth, the young musician says music washes away his pain. VOA’s Lukman Ahmad visited …
your ad hereLife in America’s Northernmost Observatory: Tracking Climate Change, Learning Inupiaq
An observatory in Barrow, Alaska, the most northerly astronomical outpost in the U.S., has become a key scientific instrument in studying climate change. Established in 1973, the Barrow Observatory is staffed year-round by two researchers who measure and track changes in air quality and weather, while also acclimating with local …
your ad hereUS, Japan Working Toward Free-trade Agreement
The United States and Japan have agreed to begin negotiations on a bilateral free-trade agreement, reducing the prospect that Washington might impose tariffs against another trading partner. “We’ve agreed today to start trade negotiations between the United States and Japan,” U.S. President Donald Trump said at a summit with Japanese …
your ad hereUber to Pay $148M for Hiding Data Breach
The ride-hailing service Uber has agreed to pay $148 million to settle claims that it concealed a massive data breach that exposed personal information of drivers and customers. In November 2016, Uber learned that hackers had accessed personal data of about 600,000 Uber drivers, including their driver’s license numbers. Hackers …
your ad hereCDC Official: 80,000 Died of Flu Last Winter in US
An estimated 80,000 Americans died of flu and its complications last winter, the disease’s highest death toll in at least four decades. The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, revealed the total in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press. Flu experts knew it …
your ad hereExperimental Malaria Vaccines Target Liver Cells
After decades of disappointment in efforts to develop a malaria vaccine, researchers are starting to see promise in a new approach. While most vaccines trigger the body’s defenses to produce antibodies against a disease-causing germ, the new approach recruits an entirely different branch of the immune system. If it works, …
your ad hereUS Lawmakers Urged to Enact Personal Data Protections, But With Care
U.S. communications and social media titans are urging lawmakers to craft strong, uniform protections for Americans’ personal data without squashing innovation. The Senate Commerce Committee heard testimony Wednesday from Apple, Amazon.com, Google, Twitter, and AT&T executives at a time when data breaches are commonplace, many Americans are mystified or unaware …
your ad hereSeasonal ‘Plague’ Hits College Freshman
Sometimes, all the hand sanitizer in the world cannot prevent the inevitable. College freshmen across the country are being introduced to a whole new world of pathogens and other infections at this time of year. It starts with just one or two people in a dorm hall, said Dr. David …
your ad hereReport: Ford CEO Warns Tariffs Cut $1 Billion in Profit
Ford chief Jim Hackett on Wednesday ramped up his warnings about the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, saying his company was seeing profits slashed by $1 billion. Hackett said the global automaker could face more damage if the trade confrontations were not resolved quickly. “The metals tariffs took about …
your ad hereSomalia to Get First Direct World Bank Grants in Decades
Somalia’s finance minister says World Bank grants to the government are a sign the country has “trustable leadership” again after decades of chaos and corruption. The World Bank said Tuesday it will provide $80 million in grants to Somalia’s federal government, the bank’s first direct grants to a Somali central …
your ad hereFed Lifts Rates for Third Time in ’18; One More Expected
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised a key interest rate for the third time this year in response to a strong U.S. economy and signaled that it expected to maintain a pace of gradual rate hikes. The Fed lifted its short-term rate — a benchmark for many consumer and business …
your ad hereStealth Drug Targets Superbug Through Trojan Horse
The Trojan Horse allowed the ancient Greek army to enter the city of Troy and defeat it. A similar strategy could help doctors destroy superbugs that are resistant to current antibiotics. The decreasing effectiveness of antibiotics is among the most critical challenges facing medicine today, as drug-resistant bacteria resist almost …
your ad hereWorld Economy Remains on Shaky Ground
The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development warns the world economy remains fragile, one decade after the collapse of the U.S. financial titan Lehman Brothers triggered a global economic crisis. In its report Trade and Development Report 2018: Power, Platforms and the Free Trade Delusion, UNCTAD says the world economy …
your ad hereUniversity of Minnesota Awarding Honorary Degree to Prince
The University of Minnesota will award the late rock star Prince an honorary degree to recognize his influence on music and his role in shaping his hometown of Minneapolis. University President Eric Kaler and Regent Darrin Rosha will present the school’s highest honor, the Doctorate of Humane Letters, to …
your ad hereWill Smith Marks 50th Birthday with Leap Near Grand Canyon
Like a scene out of a high-octane action movie that he would star in, Will Smith celebrated his 50th birthday Tuesday by successfully bungee jumping from a helicopter near the Grand Canyon. Cameras, which captured the stunt for a livestream on YouTube, showed the actor hooked to a harness …
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