The Church of England has launched a study into an existential question: do its investments in big-tech giants contradict the Christian faith?The Church’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG) will determine whether some of the new technologies undermine “the very idea of God”, a spokesman for the Church told AFP on …
your ad hereHuge Christmas Display Lights Up Washington’s Baseball Stadium
A huge Christmas display is lighting up the Washington Nationals baseball stadium in the nation’s capital. Some two and a half million Christmas lights, a 30 meter high artificial Christmas tree, and an ice skating trail have turned the stadium into a glowing winter wonderland. Visitors can also go through …
your ad here‘Bull’s-Eye’ Landing in New Mexico for Boeing’s Starliner Astronaut Capsule
Boeing Co’s Starliner astronaut spacecraft landed in the New Mexico desert on Sunday, the company said, after faulty software forced officials to cut short an unmanned mission aimed at taking it to the International Space Station.The landing at 7:58 a.m. ET (1258 GMT) in the White Sands desert capped a …
your ad hereNotre Dame Fire Wakes the World up to Dangers of Lead Dust
It took a blaze that nearly destroyed Paris’ most famous cathedral to reveal a gap in global safety regulations for lead, a toxic building material found across many historic cities.After the Notre Dame fire in April spewed dozens of tons of toxic lead-dust into the atmosphere in just a few …
your ad hereSkywalker Saga of ‘Star Wars’ a Lifelong Journey for Fans
Moviegoers in the U.S. and much of the world can now see “Star Wars, Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker.” The final installment of the “Skywalker Saga” ends a story that spawned the most successful movie franchise of all time, with more than $9 billion in global box office receipts …
your ad hereStar Wars Reporter’s Notebook
Star Wars Reporter’s Notebook …
your ad hereQueen Elizabeth Mixes Puddings, and Sends Message of Continuity
At the end of a difficult year, Queen Elizabeth has posed for photographs with her son Prince Charles, grandson Prince William and great-grandson Prince George in an apparent message about the continuity of the British royal family.Buckingham Palace released photographs on Saturday of the Queen and the three immediate members …
your ad hereFacebook Says Group Used Computer-generated Faces to Push Pro-Trump Message
Facebook Inc has taken down a well-financed campaign that used dozens of artificially generated faces to spread pro-Trump and anti-Chinese government messages, the company and outside researchers said on Friday.Researchers from New York-based Graphika and the Digitial Forensics Research Lab, an arm of the Washington-based Atlantic Council, said it was …
your ad hereUS Agency, GM Discuss Deployment of Self-Driving Cars
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is holding talks with General Motors Co. on the automaker’s petition to deploy a limited number of self-driving vehicles on American roads without steering wheels or other human controls, the head of the agency said Friday. Acting NHTSA Administrator James Owens said his agency aims to decide soon on GM’s January …
your ad hereJunior Johnson, ‘Last American Hero,’ Dies at 88
Robert Glenn “Junior” Johnson, the moonshine runner turned NASCAR driver described as “The Last American Hero” by author Tom Wolfe in a 1965 article for Esquire, died Friday. He was 88.NASCAR announced the death of Johnson, the winner of 50 races as a driver and 132 as an owner. He …
your ad hereTwitter Removes 5,929 Saudi Accounts it Deems State-Backed
Twitter says it has removed nearly 6,000 accounts it has deemed tied to a state-backed information operation in Saudi Arabia.Twitter says the accounts violated its “platform manipulation policies” and targeted discussions related to Saudi Arabia and advancing its geopolitical interests.The 5,929 accounts removed are part of a larger group of …
your ad hereBoeing Starliner Capsule Goes Off Course, Won’t Dock at Space Station
Boeing’s new Starliner capsule went off course after launch Friday and won’t dock with the International Space Station during its first test flight. It was supposed to be a crucial dress rehearsal for next year’s inaugural launch with astronauts.The blastoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, went flawlessly as the Atlas V rocket …
your ad hereEthiopia Launches First Satellite
Ethiopia has launched its first satellite.The satellite was launched into space Friday from at a space station in China. Ethiopian and Chinese officials and scientists, however, watched a live broadcast of the Ethiopian Remote Sensing Satellite launch at the Entoto Observatory and Research Center, north of the East African country’s capital, …
your ad hereVirginia Biochemist Camille Schrier is Crowned Miss America
Organizers wanted to make it clear the 99th Miss America competition isn’t your grandmother’s beauty pageant, and their winner did just that on Thursday.Virginia biochemist Camille Schrier won the crown just minutes after wowing the crowd with science. Dressed in a lab coat, she gave a colorful chemistry demonstration of …
your ad hereSenate Passes Anti-robocalls Bill, Sending it to Trump
The Senate approved a bill Thursday to crack down on robocalls, sending to President Donald Trump a measure meant to combat a persistent and costly problem for Americans.The bill, which Trump is expected to sign, would stiffen enforcement and require that phone companies offer free consumer tools to identify and …
your ad hereCanada Health Minister Proposes Bans on Vaping Product Advertising
Canada’s minister of health, Patty Hajdu, on Thursday proposed banning promotion and advertising of vaping products in public spaces, convenience stores and online, in an effort to curb youth use of e-cigarettes.Hajdu also announced new mandatory health warnings on vaping product packaging.The proposed regulations come amid growing fears surrounding vaping’s …
your ad hereThe Film Dark Waters Rings the Alarm on Chemical Hazards
The legal thriller “Dark Waters” by filmmaker Todd Haynes, follows corporate defense attorney Rob Billot as he investigates over a 20-year period the causes of widespread illness and death of cattle and people in a farm community of West Virginia. In the movie, health problems emerge after the chemical company …
your ad hereFederal Study Finds Race, Gender Affect Face-Scanning Tech
A study by a U.S. agency has found that facial recognition technology often performs unevenly based on a person’s race, gender or age.But the nuanced report published Thursday is unlikely to allay the concerns of critics who worry about bias in face-scanning applications that are increasingly being adopted by law …
your ad hereWHO: Insecurity, Poor Access Delay End of DR Congo Ebola Outbreak
The World Health Organization says insecurity and lack of access in conflict-ridden parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo remain major threats to ending the Ebola outbreak there.The latest reports put the number of confirmed cases at 3,354, including 2,218 deaths.Health officials are concerned progress made against the Ebola outbreak …
your ad herePrivate Sector Joins Clean Energy Drive for Africa’s Refugees
Countries and companies attending a refugee forum in Geneva this week pledged to boost support for refugees’ access to clean energy, among other goals. Findings show renewables offer multiple benefits, including reducing some of the root causes of displacement. For VOA, Lisa Bryant reports on what this means for Africa, …
your ad hereRules on Clean Shipping Fuel Start Next Year, But Who Will Enforce Them?
Sweeping new fuel rules aiming to cut pollution belching from ships and save lives are now just a couple of weeks away, but with no central policing agency and several countries still not signed up to them, compliance is a major concern. From January 2020, ships must use fuel with …
your ad hereFilm ‘Dark Waters’ Rings Alarm on Chemical Hazards
The legal thriller “Dark Waters” by filmmaker Todd Haynes follows corporate defense attorney Rob Billot as he investigates over a 20-year period the causes of widespread illness and death of people and cattle in a farm community of West Virginia. In the movie, health problems emerge after the chemical company …
your ad hereWHO Reports Smoking on the Decline Among Men for First Time
The World Health Organization projects that, for the first time, the number of men smoking around the world is dropping, indicating measures to end the global tobacco epidemic are paying off.WHO officials called it a major shift in the fight against tobacco, which every year kills more than eight million …
your ad hereDengue Fever Strikes Thousands in Conflict-Torn Yemen
Yemenis are facing a new battle: Dengue Fever, a potentially fatal illness that spreads in the unsanitary conditions and decimated infrastructure of their conflict-torn country. The World Health Organization says nearly 59,500 suspected cases, including 219 deaths, were recorded in the first 11 months of 2019. VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports …
your ad hereWHO Moves Step Closer to Cheaper Breast Cancer Treatment
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Wednesday that it had for the first time approved a “biosimilar” medicine — one derived from living sources rather than chemicals — to make breast cancer treatment affordable to women globally.The trastuzumab drug has shown “high efficacy” in curing early-stage breast cancer and in …
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