A gauge of world equities was little changed after giving up early gains on Thursday, continuing a pattern seen for the past several sessions, while the euro eased after the European Central Bank formally ended its bond purchasing scheme. In the United States, the S&P and Nasdaq finished in the …
your ad hereVirgin Galactic Rocket Plane Soars to Edge of Space
A tourism spaceship soared to the edge of space Thursday, the first U.S. commercial flight to achieve the feat since the U.S. shuttle program ended in 2011. The Virgin Galactic rocket plane, developed by British billionaire Richard Branson, climbed more than 80 kilometers above Earth, which the company considers the …
your ad hereApple Deepens Austin Ties, Expands Operations East and West
Apple will build a $1 billion campus in Austin, Texas, break ground on smaller locations in Seattle, San Diego and Culver City, California, and over the next three years expand in Pittsburgh, New York and Colorado. The tech giant said Thursday that the new campus in Austin, less than a …
your ad hereNYC Taxi Drivers 2019 Calendar Celebrates Immigrants
With the New Year just weeks away, New York taxi drivers have prepared their own unique gift to the city, a 2019 calendar featuring themselves. According to statistics, around 90 percent of yellow cab drivers are immigrants, and the calendar, which is a comedic take on the traditional pin-up, draws …
your ad hereDogs Pose with Santa for Christmas Photos
The dogs were primped, pampered and posed like fashion models before their big moment in front of the camera. A pair of matching, elegant-looking pups decked out with black velvet and rhinestone collars looked like they should belong to the Kardashians. About 100 dogs got their pictures taken with Santa Claus …
your ad hereVirgin Galactic’s New Flight Test to Soar Closer to Edge of Space
Virgin Galactic is preparing for a new flight test Thursday that aims to fly higher and faster than before toward the edge of space. The U.S. company run by British tycoon Richard Branson is aiming to be the first to take tourists on brief trips into microgravity. Virgin Galactic’s fourth …
your ad hereWall Street Gains on Better Signs in US-China Trade Talks
Wall Street stocks finished higher on Wednesday due to improved hopes for the US-China trade talks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6 percent at 24,527.27. The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.5 percent to 2,651.07, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.0 percent to 7,098.31. Wall Street stocks have …
your ad hereOMG: California Regulators Consider Charge on Text Messaging
California regulators are considering a plan to charge a fee for text messaging on mobile phones to help support programs that make phone service accessible to the poor. The Mercury News reports Wednesday that the proposal is scheduled for a vote next month by the state Public Utilities Commission. The …
your ad here‘A Star Is Born’ Tops SAG Awards Nominations, Snubs Abound
“A Star Is Born” led nominations for the 25th Screen Actors Guild Awards with four nods including best ensemble on Wednesday, firmly establishing Bradley Cooper’s romantic revival as this year’s Academy Awards front runner. In nominations announced in West Hollywood, Calif., the actors guild — one of the most predictive …
your ad hereSports, Deaths Among 2018’s Top Google Searches
Sports, disaster and death were among the top searches on Google last year. Each December, the technology company releases it’s top trending searches of the year. Topics that drew the interest of Americans included the World Cup, Hurricane Florence and three people who died in 2018 — rapper Mac Miller, …
your ad hereIn Africa, Sickle Cell Patients Endure Pain, Discrimination
Africans who have the blood disorder sickle cell anemia met this week in the northern Cameroon town of Garoua to step up an awareness campaign. One hundred people with sickle cell from Cameroon and five other African countries sit and talk at the Garoua market square in northern Cameroon. …
your ad herePakistan Hosts Regional Meeting on Countering Afghan Opiates
Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran have pledged to increase cooperation and information-sharing for effectively combating the trafficking of Afghan opiates. War-shattered Afghanistan remains the world’s largest producer of opium, though the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime noted in its latest survey the opium cultivation decreased by 20 percent in 2018 due to …
your ad hereTwitter CEO Acknowledges Suffering of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims
Twitter chief executive officer Jack Dorsey is under fire for failing to address the humanitarian crisis involving the Rohingya Muslims during his recent meditation retreat in Myanmar. Dorsey published a thread on his Twitter page Sunday praising Myanmar’s people as “full of joy,” and heaping equal praise on the nation’s …
your ad hereUN Chief Returns as Climate Talks Teeter Closer to Collapse
The United Nations secretary-general flew back to global climate talks in Poland Wednesday to appeal to countries to reach an agreement, as some observers feared the meeting might end without a deal. U.N. chief Antonio Guterres opened the talks last week, telling leaders to take the threat of global warming …
your ad hereSustainable Tree Farming Means Better Lives for Kenyan Farmers
Wood consumption — including logging and the production of charcoal — is a leading cause of forest degradation in Africa. In some of Kenya’s coastal regions, recurring droughts have made the problem even worse. Now, farmers in those regions are planting trees, putting their once-barren land to use in a venture …
your ad hereMalaysian Ex-PM Slapped with New Charge Over 1MDB Scandal
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was charged Wednesday with tampering with the final audit report into a defunct state investment fund, adding to a long list of corruption allegations against him since his ouster in May elections. Najib was charged along with Arul Kanda Kandasamy, the former head of …
your ad hereAvianca Brasil Airline Declares Bankruptcy
Cash-strapped Avianca Brasil, the country’s fourth-largest airline, on Tuesday sought bankruptcy protection from creditors but reassured passengers that flights will continue. “Due to resistance from the lessors (of their aircraft) to reaching a friendly settlement, we have filed seeking protection from creditors, to protect clients and passengers,” a company statement …
your ad hereIn the Age of Social Media are GIFs the New Short Films?
If short films are shorter than feature films and commercials are shorter than both, what’s shorter than everything? GIFs. At 18 seconds or less, these micro-films are getting their time in the spotlight. Tina Trinh reports. …
your ad hereCats Watch Humans for Behavioral Clues
Anyone who has cats knows they are smart. But anyone who knows cats knows they can also seem a bit aloof, at least until dinnertime. But do not let them fool you, turns out your cat is watching you closely, and taking behavioral cues from their humans. VOA’s Kevin Enochs …
your ad hereExperts: Millions Invested But Gold Mining ‘Under-Exploited’ in W. Africa
Mining companies have invested at least $5 billion towards gold exploration in West Africa in the last decade but significant reserves are under-exploited, mineral industry experts said on Tuesday. Delegates at the Ecomof mining and petroleum forum in the Ivory Coast commercial capital Abidjan were told that more must be …
your ad hereYalitza Aparicio: An Indigenous Mexican Woman Captivates Hollywood
Yalitza Aparicio had just gone along with her sister to the casting call for Alfonso Cuaron’s new film. She had no intention of trying out herself. But destiny put her in front of the camera and that was how the Mexican woman of indigenous origins, who had just graduated as …
your ad hereBeauty Meets Despair in Racial Injustice Movie ‘Beale Street’
Some films about race in America are angry, many are passionate, or terrifying or heartbreaking, and a few are funny. If Beale Street Could Talk, opening in U.S. theaters in major cities Friday, is marked by a quiet beauty and dignity, despite the despair that runs through it. Based on …
your ad here‘Scary’ Warming at Poles Showing Up at Weird Times, Places
Scientists are seeing surprising melting in Earth’s polar regions at times they don’t expect, like winter, and in places they don’t expect, like eastern Antarctica. New studies and reports issued this week at a major Earth sciences conference paint one of the bleakest pictures yet of dramatic warming in the …
your ad hereGolding’s ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Performance Leads to More Roles
Even though Henry Golding garnered instant fame from starring in the smash hit Crazy Rich Asians, the British-Malaysian actor isn’t sure if he’ll ever eclipse his meteoric success in the box-office hit. “I don’t know how I’m going to top this year. It’s all downhill from here,” he told The Associated …
your ad hereUS Intelligence Official: China’s Hacking Against US on the Rise
A senior U.S. intelligence official said on Tuesday that Chinese cyber activity in the United States had risen in recent months, targeting critical infrastructure in what may be attempts to lay the groundwork for future disruptive attacks. “You worry they are prepositioning against critical infrastructure and trying to be able …
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