LAS VEGAS – Apple Inc. is offering cybersecurity researchers up to $1 million to detect flaws in iPhones, the largest reward offered by a company to defend against hackers, at a time of rising concern about governments breaking into the mobile devices of dissidents, journalists and human rights advocates. Unlike other technology providers, Apple previously offered rewards only …
your ad hereRosie Ruiz, Boston Marathon Course-Cutter, Dies at 66
Rosie Ruiz, the Boston Marathon course-cutter who was stripped of her victory in the 1980 race and went on to become an enduring symbol of cheating in sports, has died. She was 66.Ruiz, who was also known as Rosie Vivas, died in Florida of cancer on July 8, according to …
your ad hereLand Use Key to Reducing — or Accelerating — Climate Change, Says UN
The way we use land could be the key to adapting to climate change — or the final nail in the planet’s coffin, according to a landmark climate assessment from the United Nations on Thursday.Human use directly impacts 70 percent of the ice-free land on Earth, and we’re degrading about …
your ad hereFirst Eurasian Lynx Born in Pyrenees in Almost a Century
BARCELONA, SPAIN – A Spanish nature conservation center says that the first baby lynx has been born in the Pyrenees in nearly a century. The Eurasian lynx is considered extinct in the Spanish and French Pyrenees, and the last time it was witnessed in these mountains was in the …
your ad hereBeatles Fans Come Together for 50th Anniversary of Abbey Road
Hundreds of Beatles fans came together outside London’s Abbey Road Studios on Thursday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band making one of the most iconic album covers of all time.Fans mobbed the pedestrian crossing exactly five decades on from the moment when Britain’s legendary Fab Four walked across …
your ad hereUN Climate Change Report: A Hungry Future That Can be Avoided
On the ground, climate change is hitting us where it counts: the stomach — not to mention the forests, plants and animals.A new United Nations scientific report examines how global warming and land interact in a vicious cycle. Human-caused climate change is dramatically degrading the land, while the way people …
your ad hereNordic Jazz in Washington Builds Cultural Bridges
The popular image of ambassadors as stuffy dignitaries in striped pants is giving way in Washington to a more upbeat vision, if the city’s Scandinavian envoys have anything to say about it.At a cheery event a little earlier this summer, jazz artists from Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland gathered …
your ad hereAfrica’s Second Breast Milk Bank in Nairobi Having an Impact
Medical experts in Kenya are banking on human breast milk to save the lives of newborn babies. Nairobi’s Pumwani Maternity Hospital has set up East Africa’s first breastmilk bank, the second in Africa, to provide donated milk to babies in need. As Sarah Kimani reports from Nairobi, the milk bank …
your ad hereAmerican Women and the Vote: National Archives Celebrates 19th Amendment’s Centennial
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted millions of American women the right to vote. The relentless struggle of suffragists, who advocated for women’s right to vote, is the focus of a new National Archives exhibit, as VOA’s Elizabeth Cherneff tells us …
your ad hereUganda Para-Badminton Players Strive for Paralympics Despite Limitations
Uganda’s Para-Badminton team is preparing for the World Championships in Basel, Switzerland, later this month. The team has the second-highest ranked player in Africa and aims to compete at the 2020 Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo, when Para-Badminton will make its debut. But as Halima Athumani reports from Kampala, limited …
your ad here32 Busted in Federal Drug Crackdown in San Francisco
The first step in a sweeping crackdown on crime ranging from drugs to sex trafficking in a notorious San Francisco neighborhood yielded 32 arrests of mostly Honduran nationals tied to two international operations that poured heroin and cocaine into the community, U.S. prosecutors announced Wednesday.It’s not uncommon to see people …
your ad hereMicrosoft Says It ‘Listens’ to Conversations Only With Permission
Microsoft said Wednesday its contractors listen to conversations to hone voice translation features offered by Skype and its digital assistant Cortana, but only when obtaining user permission.The US technology titan defended its voice data handling in response to a report at news website Vice indicating people overheard chats on personal …
your ad hereResearchers in Uganda Start 2-Year Ebola Vaccine Trial
Researchers in Uganda this week launched a trial for a new Ebola vaccine. Eight hundred health workers involved in the fight against the Ebola virus are receiving doses of the two-part vaccine. Halima Athumani reports from Mbarara in western Uganda. …
your ad hereEgyptian Artist Paints Murals on Houses to Celebrate Haj
Eid Al Salwaawi, 69, paints murals of the rituals of the haj pilgrimage on the walls of a house in Cairo’s Sayeda Zainab neighbourhood.Sometimes he volunteers to paint scenes that celebrate the haj and religious stories and lessons, other times he is paid.Every year, Muslims travel from around the world …
your ad hereJumping Like a Lemur, Flying Like a Dragonfly – Robots That Mimic Animal Movements May Be On Their Way
In a laboratory in California, engineers are working on pushing the boundaries of how robots move, imitating the ways some animals jump, fly or crawl. Michelle Quinn met Salto, a one-legged jumping robot to see the future of robots. …
your ad hereCustom-Made Braces Help Animals Walk Again
Derrick Campana became a man on a mission to make animals his life’s work after the first time he was asked to create a prosthetic for a dog who didn’t have one of his front legs. At that time he was only building artificial limbs for humans. About 15 years ago, …
your ad hereBoom in Overdose-reversing Drug Tied to Fewer Drug Deaths
Prescriptions of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone are soaring, and experts say that could be a reason overdose deaths have stopped rising for the first time in nearly three decades.The number of naloxone prescriptions dispensed by U.S. retail pharmacies doubled from 2017 to last year, rising from 271,000 to 557,000, health …
your ad hereRocket Lab Plans Reusable Booster for Satellite Launches
Small-satellite launch firm Rocket Lab announced on Tuesday a plan to recover the core booster of its Electron rocket using a helicopter, a bold cost-saving concept that, if successful, would make it the second company after Elon Musk’s SpaceX to reuse an orbital-class rocket booster.”Electron is going reusable,” Rocket Lab …
your ad hereDisney to Bundle Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ at Popular Netflix Price
Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday said it would offer a $13-per-month bundle of its three streaming services starting in November, a move to attract audiences who have embraced digital services such as Netflix.Disney’s bundle includes family-friendly digital offering Disney+, sports service ESPN+, and Hulu, which will cater to adults, for …
your ad hereNBA, Twitch Announce Deal for Digital Rights to USA Basketball
The National Basketball Association on Tuesday said that Amazon.com’s Twitch would be its exclusive digital partner for streaming USA Basketball games globally through 2020.Twitch — best known as a platform for video game players to interact and stream their own competitions — will also exclusively stream up to 76 boys …
your ad hereHeat Headache for 2020 Planners as Tokyo Swelters Year Before Games
Soaring temperatures in Japan have killed at least 57 people since late July, authorities said on Tuesday, highlighting the health threat to athletes and fans that Olympics organizers must tackle before next year’s Tokyo games.Temperatures have been stuck above 31 Celsius (88 Fahrenheit) in and around Tokyo since July 24, …
your ad hereDirector Wants Thai Seafood Slavery Film to Act as Warning in Cambodia
The maker of a new film about a Cambodian boy enslaved on a Thai fishing trawler said on Tuesday he wants to use it to raise awareness and stop people from falling victim to traffickers.”Buoyancy” director Rodd Rathjen is planning a series of screenings in remote Cambodian villages of the …
your ad hereEbola Outbreak in East Congo’s Main City Tests Flexibility of Response
Deo Bakulu has been washing his hands every chance he gets since Ebola reached eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s main city of Goma last month.But the washing station set up by local authorities near his home is only open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., from Monday through Saturday, and …
your ad hereLouisiana Launching Medical Marijuana After Years of Waiting
A Marine veteran struggling with PTSD and a woman fighting cancer became some of the first people to purchase medical marijuana in Louisiana on Tuesday, as the state became the first in the Deep South to dispense therapeutic cannabis, four years after state lawmakers agreed to give patients access to …
your ad hereChina Plans to Use New Tech Like AI To ‘Win Wars’ Amid US Concerns
China’s military says it is focused on harnessing new technologies to “fight and win wars” in the future and is competing with the United States in boosting the regional influence of its People Liberation Army.A new government “white paper” highlights how new technologies like artificial intelligence and cloud computing are …
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