The U.S. government has awarded a $1.6 billion contract to Novavax, Inc. to develop a coronavirus vaccine.The award to the Maryland-based company is the largest to date from the government’s “Operation Warp Speed” initiative to fast-track the development of vaccines and other treatments for COVID-19. Chief Executive Stanley Erck …
your ad hereDepp Takes Stand in Libel Trial, Claims Amber Heard Hit Him
Johnny Depp gave evidence in a London court on Tuesday, denying claims that he hit ex-wife Amber Heard and accusing her of assaulting him and depicting him as a “monster.” Depp sat in the witness box in a wood-paneled High Court courtroom on the first day of his libel case against …
your ad hereTikTok to Exit Hong Kong Market Over New National Security Law
TikTok, the popular short-form video app, says it will exit the Hong Kong market in response to the new national security law for the semi-autonomous city recently enacted by Beijing. A spokesman for the company issued a statement Tuesday saying it was ending operations in Hong Kong “in light of recent …
your ad hereFossils Reveal Dinosaur Forerunner Smaller Than a Cellphone
Meet Kongonaphon kely, a pocket-sized dinosaur forerunner that was smaller than your cellphone. The creature, which predated dinosaurs and flying pterosaurs, was just shy of 4 inches (10 centimeters) tall, according to a study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Some of these things would have been quite …
your ad hereFacebook, Others Block Requests on Hong Kong User Data
Social media platforms and messaging apps including Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Google and Twitter will deny law enforcement requests for user data in Hong Kong as they assess the effect of a new national security law enacted last week.Facebook and its messaging app WhatsApp said in separate statements Monday that they …
your ad hereProgress in AIDS/HIV Fight Uneven, UN Says
The United Nations says global HIV/AIDS targets for 2020 will not be met, and that some progress could be lost, in part because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has seriously impacted the HIV/AIDS response.“Our report shows that COVID is threatening to throw us even more off course,” Winnie Byanyima, executive …
your ad hereUS Drive-In Theaters Making a Comeback Amid COVID Pandemic
Hungry for a night out of the house, people are turning to the nostalgia of drive-in movie theaters as a safe entertainment option amid coronavirus social distancing orders.Today’s total of Empty Haar’s Drive-in lot and large movie screen. (Photo courtesy Haar’s Drive-In Theater)Pop-ups Traditional theaters like Haar’s are not the …
your ad hereFacebook Advertisers Boycott, Demand Changes
More than 600 companies say they won’t advertise on Facebook and its sister firm, Instagram, in July, as part of a campaign called Stop Hate for Profit. The goal? Force Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to address his firm’s negative effects on society, says Jim Steyer, chief executive and founder of Common Sense …
your ad hereCountry Rocker and Fiddler Charlie Daniels Dies at Age 83
Country music firebrand and fiddler Charlie Daniels, who had a hit with “Devil Went Down to Georgia,” has died at age 83. A statement from his publicist said the Country Music Hall of Famer died Monday at a hospital in Hermitage, Tennessee, after he had a stroke, doctors said. He …
your ad hereWill New American CEO Change TikTok’s Image in US?
Kevin Mayer, a former executive at Disney, recently started his new role as TikTok’s new CEO. He must prove to American lawmakers, regulators and consumers that they can trust the Chinese-owned app with their data, which analysts say won’t be easy. VOA’s Adrianna Zhang has more. Camera: Yiyi Yang …
your ad hereCzech Volunteers Develop Functioning Lung Ventilator іn Days
Tomas Kapler knew nothing about ventilators — he’s an online business consultant, not an engineer or a medical technician. But when he saw that shortages of the vital machines had imperiled critically ill COVID-19 patients in northern Italy, he was moved to action.”It was a disturbing feeling for me that …
your ad hereNow Online, South Africa’s ‘Theater of the Struggle’ Hopes Message Resonates Worldwide
South Africa’s Market Theater is one of several African cultural institutions that has recently gone entirely online because of coronavirus restrictions that prevent large gatherings. But for this small institution often known as the “Theater of the Struggle” for its flouting of apartheid-era laws, obstacles are nothing new. Now, they …
your ad hereOscar-Winning Italian Composer Ennio Morricone, 91, Dies
Oscar-winning Italian composer Ennio Morricone died in a Roman clinic Monday morning, where he was being treated for a fractured femur due to a fall. He was 91 years old. A great musician, composer and conductor, Morricone was well-known as the author of the most famous and beautiful soundtracks of Italian and world cinema. He composed the music for more than 400 films, including now-classic Sergio Leone’s “The Good, …
your ad hereLatino, Black Neighborhoods Struggle With COVID Test Disparities
A Latino cook whose co-worker got COVID-19 waited in his truck for a free swab at a rare testing event in a low-income neighborhood in Phoenix. A Hispanic tile installer queued up after two weeks of self-isolation while his father battled the coronavirus in intensive care. He didn’t know his …
your ad hereBritain Says to Put Nearly $2 Billion Into Arts to Help Survival
Britain will invest nearly $2 billion in cultural institutions and the arts to help a sector that has been crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday. Theaters, opera houses and ballet companies have been left without a live audience for months. Though …
your ad hereCosby Invokes Systemic Racism As he Fights #MeToo Conviction
In a nearly empty Philadelphia courtroom in July 2015, a lawyer for Bill Cosby implored a federal judge to keep the comedian’s testimony in an old sexual battery lawsuit under wraps. It was sensitive. Embarrassing. Private. U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno had another word for it. The conduct Cosby detailed in his …
your ad hereTrump, Biden Fight for Primacy on Social Media Platforms
On an average day, President Donald Trump sends about 14 posts to the 28 million Facebook followers of his campaign account. His Democratic rival, Joe Biden, delivers about half that many posts to an audience of just 2 million.The numbers are similarly skewed in other spheres of the social media …
your ad hereDivers in Mexico Discover Ancient Mining Operation
The practice of mining precious metals and stones from the Earth dates as far back as recorded human history. The prized possessions of previous eras give clues to a culture’s technological advancement. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports on a mineral-mining operation recently discovered in underwater caves in Mexico. …
your ad hereBritain Poised to Ban Huawei
The British government is set to end the participation of Chinese telecom giant Huawei in the building of Britain’s 5G phone network — a policy about-turn that will further deteriorate London’s strained relations with Beijing, but will please Washington, according to British media reports. The major policy change follows a fresh …
your ad hereKanye West Wants the Oval Office
Kanye West announced on Twitter on Saturday that he intends to run for president of the United States this year.“We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States,” the entertainer posted on …
your ad hereColumbus Statue Decapitated in Waterbury Amid Protests
A statue of Christopher Columbus in Waterbury has been decapitated amid protests over racial injustice and the legacy of the 15th-century navigator.Columbus Statue Vndalized: ‘Stop Celebrating Genocide’A statue of Christopher Columbus in Rhode Island has been vandalized on the US holiday named for himThe Republican-American reports that photos shot Saturday …
your ad hereRedskins to Have ‘Thorough Review’ of Name Amid Race Debate
The Washington Redskins began a “thorough review” of their nickname Friday, a significant step toward moving on from what experts and advocates call a “dictionary-defined racial slur.”Even though owner Dan Snyder had shown no willingness to change the name since buying the team in 1999, the recent national conversation on …
your ad hereAdvertisers Boycott Facebook, Demand Changes
Companies such as Coca-Cola, Adidas, Ford and Lego are boycotting Facebook this month, pulling ads that appear on the social network in the United States. Some advertisers are part of an organized boycott demanding the company do more to crack down on hate speech, conspiracies and misinformation on its site …
your ad hereBotswana Investigates Mystery Deaths of At Least 275 Elephants
Botswana is investigating a growing number of unexplained deaths of elephants, having confirmed 275 had died, up from 154 two weeks ago, the government said Thursday. The dead elephants were first spotted months ago in the Okavango Panhandle region, and the authorities say they have since been trying to discover the …
your ad hereSouth Africa Theater Puts on a Show for the World With Online Season
South Africa’s Market Theater is one of several African cultural institutions that has recently gone entirely online because of coronavirus restrictions that prevent large gatherings. But for this small institution often known as the “Theater of the Struggle” for its flouting of apartheid-era laws, obstacles are nothing new. Now, the …
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