Some U.S.-based users of WeChat are suing President Donald Trump in a bid to block an executive order that they say would effectively bar access in the U.S. to the hugely popular Chinese messaging app.The complaint, filed Friday in San Francisco, is being brought by the nonprofit U.S. WeChat Users …
your ad hereTikTok says It’ll Sue Over Trump Crackdown
Video app TikTok said Saturday it will challenge in court a Trump administration crackdown on the popular Chinese-owned platform, which Washington accuses of being a national security threat.As tensions soar between the world’s two biggest economies, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 6 giving Americans 45 days …
your ad hereFacebook in India Embroiled in Political Hate Speech Controversy
Facebook’s India chief said Friday the social media giant denounces hate and bigotry in the wake of a controversy sparked by a media report alleging it failed to remove hate-speech posted by members linked to the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party over fears of damaging its business in the …
your ad hereEbola Spreading Rapidly in DR Congo’s Equateur Province
The World Health Organization is concerned by the rapid increase and spread of the deadly Ebola virus in remote, densely forested areas of Equateur province in the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.Health officials report 100 people in DRC have been infected with Ebola in fewer than 100 …
your ad hereWHO Head Hopes Pandemic Will End Within Two Years
The head of the World Health Organization says he hopes the coronavirus pandemic will end in less than two years – less time than it took to stop the 1918 Spanish flu. Speaking Friday at his regular briefing in Geneva, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it is easier for a …
your ad hereIn a First, 2 Hurricanes Could Hit Gulf of Mexico Next Week
The U.S. National Weather Service is predicting that two storm systems in and around the Caribbean Sea will strengthen and could both be hurricanes next week in the Gulf of Mexico.The National Hurricane Center reports Tropical Storm Laura formed early Friday just northeast of the Lesser Antilles, and by last …
your ad hereTrump Wants Supreme Court OK to Block Critics on His Personal Twitter
President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to allow him to block critics from his personal Twitter account. The administration said in a high-court filing Thursday that Trump’s @realdonaldtrump account with more than 85 million followers is his personal property and blocking people from it is akin to elected officials …
your ad hereUS Universities Roll Out COVID Spit Tests
A recently approved rapid saliva test for COVID-19 is already being used on college campuses across the United States. Also called spit tests, they produce results in less than 24 hours, cost about $10, and are less invasive than the standard swab that is placed deep into the nose.Faster, Easier COVID-19 …
your ad hereTelegram App Helps Drive Belarus Protests
Every day, like clockwork, to-do lists for those protesting against Belarus’ authoritarian leader appear in the popular Telegram messaging app. They lay out goals, give times and locations of rallies with business-like precision, and offer spirited encouragement. “Today will be one more important day in the fight for our freedom. Tectonic …
your ad hereFlorida Keys to Release Modified Mosquitoes to Fight Illness
Sometime next year, genetically modified mosquitoes will be released in the Florida Keys in an effort to combat persistent insect-borne diseases such as Dengue fever and the Zika virus.The plan approved this week by the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District calls for a pilot project in 2021 involving the striped-legged …
your ad herePeru to Host Clinical Trials for Coronavirus Vaccine
China’s Sinopharm Laboratory will begin human clinical trials for a possible vaccine against COVID-19 in Peru on Monday.Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra announced Thursday that 6,000 volunteers will participate in the trials.Vizcarra expects a second clinical trial, by the firm AstraZeneca in association with Oxford University, will begin by the end …
your ad hereEarth Gets Glancing Blow From Solar Flare
U.S. space weather forecasters say the Earth on Thursday received a glancing blow from a “coronal mass ejection” (CME) – effectively, a solar eruption – first detected on the surface of the sun four days ago. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the agency responsible for monitoring the …
your ad hereSpaceX Sends More Communications Satellites Into Space
The man-made mega constellation orbiting Earth grew again this week after another history-making commercial launch. Satellite images document a quarter century of melting ice on Earth, plus images of our home planet from space and of space from our home planet. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space.Produced by: Arash Arabasadi …
your ad hereBrazilians Worry Fire Season Will Bring Even More Forest Destruction
Environmentalists are increasingly alarmed at the growing pace of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. With the fire season under way, Brazil’s rainforests face the threat of even more destruction. The number of trees destroyed has accelerated since Jair Bolsonaro became president in 2019. Facing criticism, the Brazilian leader is defending his policy on rainforests and countering critics by enacting what …
your ad hereWHO Begins Discussions on Russia Vaccine
The World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Europe office said it has begun discussions with Russia regarding the COVID-19 vaccine that the nation approved last week without the advanced trials normally required to prove a vaccine works.In a virtual news conference from the organization’s Copenhagen office, the WHO Europe’s senior emergency official …
your ad hereMed Students Lose Empathy After Second Year, Study Finds
While medical school students gain key healing skills as their education progresses, one important quality seems to wane: empathy.According to a study from FILE – Medical students hug during a demonstration, June 5, 2020, in Salt Lake City, Utah.DOs are fully licensed physicians who practice in all areas of medicine, …
your ad hereKanye Campaign Workers in Wyoming Got Too Close To Polls, Official Says
Rapper and music producer Kanye West’s campaign ran into trouble Tuesday on his first day of trying to get on the presidential ballot in his home state of Wyoming. People gathering signatures on behalf of West and another presidential candidate got too close to polling locations during the state’s primary, …
your ad hereApple is 1st US Company to Be Valued at $2 Trillion
Apple is the first U.S. company to boast a market value of $2 trillion, just two years after it became the first to reach $1 trillion. Apple shares have gained nearly 60% this year as the company overcame the shutdown of factories in China that produce the iPhone and …
your ad hereFires Ravage Brazil’s Pantanal, World’s Largest Wetland
Firefighters in Brazil say strong winds and hot dry weather are making it difficult to battle thousands of blazes burning in the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland. Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said it spotted more than 3,100 fires in the first two weeks of August — five times …
your ad hereUSAGM Funds Two Internet Freedom Projects
The U.S. Agency for Global Media announced Tuesday that it is moving forward with funding two internet firewall circumvention projects despite an ongoing legal battle over the agency’s broader internet freedom strategy. The awardees — Psiphon and ACI — write software that help people gain access to websites and information blocked …
your ad hereMauritius Arrests Captain of Japanese Ship Responsible for Oil Spill
Police on Mauritius have arrested the captain of the Japanese carrier that ran aground off the coast last month, spilling 1,000 metric tonnes of oil and causing possible irreparable damage to coral reefs.Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar, the Indian captain of the MV Wakashio, was charged Tuesday with “endangering safe navigation.” He …
your ad here10 More Eggs Harvested from Last 2 Female Northern White Rhinos
Scientists in Kenya have harvested 10 eggs from the last two remaining northern white rhinos in the race to keep the species from total extinction.The two females – Najin and Fatuwill who are mother and daughter – live at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Because neither one would be able to carry …
your ad hereScorching Temperatures in Death Valley May Be Third Hottest on Earth
The World Meteorological Organization says temperatures of 54.4 degrees (Celsius) reported Sunday at Furnace Creek, Death Valley in the U.S. state of California, may be the third hottest on Earth.The U.N. weather agency is assembling an international team of atmospheric scientists to verify the temperatures reported in Death Valley are …
your ad hereApple Music Launching Shows With Snoop Dogg, Shania Twain
Apple Music is launching several new radio shows hosted by A-list musical acts, including Snoop Dogg, Shania Twain and Carrie Underwood. The streaming service announced that it will debut two new radio stations Tuesday: Apple Music Hits, focused on popular songs of the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s, as well as …
your ad hereWHO Chief Warns of ‘Vaccine Nationalism’
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) director-general Tuesday issued another warning against “vaccine nationalism,” — countries putting their own interests ahead of others in trying to secure supplies of a possible vaccine. At the agency’s regular briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Nationalism exacerbated the pandemic and contributed …
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