Organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Wednesday unveiled a cherry-blossom shaped torch for the Games as the city prepares for the famed flower season to begin in coming days. The top part of the torch is shaped in the traditional emblem of the sakura, or cherry blossom using the …
your ad hereTrump Linking Huawei, China Trade Roils Justice Department
President Donald Trump shocked some last month when he suggested that the criminal charges against Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, might be used as leverage in his administration’s ongoing trade talks with China. “We’re going to be discussing all of that during the course of the next couple of weeks,” Trump told reporters …
your ad hereVenezuelans Find Ways to Cope with Inflation and Hunger
Francibel Contreras brings her three malnourished children to a soup kitchen in the dangerous hillside Caracas slum of Petare where they scoop in spoonfuls of rice and scrambled eggs in what could be their only meal of the day. Part of the tragedy of daily life in socialist Venezuela …
your ad hereRobotics Company Creates an All Purpose Robot ‘Platform’
A robotics company hopes to bring a robot into every home and business, using a proprietary robotic platform—that can be programmed and tweaked for a wide variety of users and uses. Deana Mitchell takes a look at one of the world’s most customizable robots. It’s called Misty. …
your ad hereTrump Accuses Twitter, Facebook, Google of Siding with ‘Radical Left Democrats’
U.S. President Donald Trump has accused social media outlets, including Facebook, Google and Twitter, of being biased, and suggested that the situation needs scrutiny. In answer to a reporter at the White House Tuesday, Trump said digital platforms tend to suppress Republican and conservative views. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports. …
your ad hereIn End of 20th Century Fox, a New Era Dawns for Hollywood
The Fox Studio backlot, first built in 1926 on a Culver City ranch in Los Angeles, was enormous. Before much of it was sold off in the 1960s, it was four times the size of its current, and still huge, 53 acres. Shirley Temple’s bungalow still sits on the …
your ad hereNASA’s Plan to Scoop Up Dirt from Asteroid Hits Snag
NASA’s plan to scoop up dirt and gravel from an asteroid has hit a snag, but scientists say they can overcome it. The asteroid Bennu was thought to have wide, open areas suitable for the task. But a recently arrived spacecraft revealed the asteroid is covered with boulders and there …
your ad hereGoodbye Console? Google Launches Game-streaming Platform
Google on Tuesday unveiled a video-game streaming platform called Stadia, positioning itself to take on the traditional video-game business. The platform will store a game-playing session in the cloud and lets players jump across devices operating on Google’s Chrome browser and Chrome OS, such as Pixel phones and Chromebooks. Google …
your ad hereJordan Peele Dares Everyone to Look at Horrors of ‘Us’
Jordan Peele’s sweet spot as a filmmaker are the “pit in your stomach” moments. That thing that happens when you realize the woman stirring the tea isn’t just there for conversation. When you notice that the help is a little off. Or, as in his new film Us, when you …
your ad hereWHO Panel Calls for Registry of All Human Gene-Editing Research
It would be irresponsible for any scientist to conduct human gene-editing studies in people, and a central registry of research plans should be set up to ensure transparency, World Health Organization experts said Tuesday. After its first two-day meeting in Geneva, the WHO panel of gene-editing experts — which was …
your ad hereChinese Supplements Supplier Sentenced for Fraud
A Chinese national has been sentenced to 18 months in a U.S. prison in connection with a scheme to sell mislabeled dietary supplements to U.S. companies. Xu Jia Bao, an executive with Shanghai Waseta International Trade Co., was also sentenced to one year of probation for selling synthetic stimulant ingredients …
your ad hereHigh-Stakes Boeing Inquiry Hinges on Ethiopia Black Box Secrets
The investigation into the final minutes of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 turned on Tuesday to the secrets in the cockpit voice recorder as Boeing and a shaken global aviation industry hung on the outcome. The voices of Captain Yared Getachew and First Officer Ahmednur Mohammed could reveal what led to …
your ad hereWarner Bros.’ Chief Tsujihara Steps Down Following Scandal
Warner Bros. chief Kevin Tsujihara, one of the highest ranking Hollywood executives to be felled by sexual misconduct allegations, stepped down from the studio Monday following claims that he promised roles to an actress with whom he was having an affair. WarnerMedia chief executive John Stankey announced Tsujihara’s exit as …
your ad hereAP Source: Justice Dept. Probing Development of Boeing Jets
U.S. prosecutors are looking into the development of Boeing’s 737 Max jets, a person briefed on the matter revealed Monday, the same day French aviation investigators concluded there were “clear similarities” in the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Max 8 last week and a Lion Air jet in October. …
your ad hereIn Thai Election, New ‘War Room’ Polices Social Media
In Thailand’s election “war room,” authorities scroll through thousands of social media posts, looking for violations of laws restricting political parties’ campaigning on social media that activists say are among the most prohibitive in the world. The monitors are on the look-out for posts that “spread lies, slander candidates, or …
your ad hereClimate Protest the Latest Youth Action for Social Change
In every generation, young people have led movements for social change. Some were successful, others were not. The latest student movement to make headlines began last year, as students skipped classes on Fridays to pressure world leaders to take action on climate. Their coordinated global protest this past Friday was …
your ad hereEncroaching Humans are Changing Chimpanzee Culture
Chimpanzees are second only to humans as the most complex and diverse of the large primates. But a new report from a large group of scientists including the Wildlife Conservation Society, say that humans are threatening the culture of our closest cousins. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
your ad hereTech Consortium Flags More Than 800 Versions of New Zealand Attack Video
A consortium of global technology firms has shared on its collective database the digital fingerprints of more than 800 versions of the video of New Zealand’s mass shootings that killed 50 people, it said on Monday. While it was not the first internet broadcast of a violent crime, the livestream …
your ad hereKyodo: Japan Olympic Committee Chief Takeda to Resign
Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) chief Tsunekazu Takeda, who is expected to announce plans to step down on Tuesday, is also set to resign as a member of the International Olympics Committee, Kyodo News reported. French prosecutors questioned Takeda in Paris and placed him under formal investigation in December for suspected …
your ad hereS. Korea Alert System Warns ‘Smartphone Zombies’ of Traffic
A city in South Korea, which has the world’s highest smartphone penetration rate, has installed flickering lights and laser beams at a road crossing to warn “smartphone zombies” to look up and drivers to slow down, in the hope of preventing accidents. The designers of the system were prompted by …
your ad hereTens of Thousands Converge on California ‘Poppy Apocalypse’
Like Dorothy in the “Wizard of Oz,” the Southern California city of Lake Elsinore is being overwhelmed by the power of the poppies. About 150,000 people over the weekend flocked to see this year’s rain-fed flaming orange patches of poppies lighting up the hillsides near the city of about …
your ad herePoor People’s Right to Water Cut Off By Thirsty Exports, Unequal Supply
Yogita has to fetch water up to six times a day – sometimes going out in the middle of the night – from a hand pump about half a kilometer from her house in India’s Madhya Pradesh state, leaving her baby son with a neighbor. In the summer, her husband …
your ad hereHomeless Nigerian Child Refugee Wins New York Chess Championship
When you think of a chess champion, you generally picture a serious gentleman in a suit and tie, stroking his beard while he stares at the board, contemplating his next move. New York’s newest champ defies all those categories — he’s an 8-year-old smiling Nigerian refugee who lives in a …
your ad hereBrazilian Court Suspends Operations at 2 More Vale Dams
A Brazilian court has ordered Vale SA, the world’s largest iron ore miner, to suspend operations at two more dams, demanding that it prove the structures are stable. The court decision dated Friday is the latest in a series of orders forcing Vale to halt operations at various dams that …
your ad hereFacebook Says Service Hindered by Lack of Local News
Facebook’s effort to establish a service that provides its users with local news and information is being hindered by the lack of outlets where the company’s technicians can find original reporting. The service, launched last year, is currently available in some 400 cities in the United States. But the social …
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