The decision by social media giants to police more content, along with banning U.S. President Donald Trump and some of his supporters from posting, is intensifying a debate in Europe over how to regulate platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.The hotly contested debate has mostly focused on whether governments should …
your ad hereMalawi Announces New Lockdown Measures as COVID Cases Surge
Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has introduced new lockdown measures to contain a jump in confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19. The restrictions include school closures, a night-time curfew, and no gatherings over 50 people. The measure comes five days after Chakwera declared a state of national disaster in response …
your ad hereWHO: Poor Countries Missing Out on Life Saving COVID-19 Vaccines
The director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warns the inequitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines between rich and poor countries will prolong the global pandemic. Tedros delivered this stark warning Monday at the opening of a week-long meeting of the WHO Executive Board. WHO chief Tedros called the …
your ad hereWHO Chief Warns About Inequity of Global COVID Vaccine Campaign
The head of the World Health Organization is calling for greater global equity in COVID-19 vaccinations, saying rich countries need to share vaccines with poor countries. Addressing a WHO executive board meeting in Geneva Monday, executive director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it is “not right that younger, healthier …
your ad herePhil Spector, Famed Music Producer and Convicted Murderer, Dies at 81
Phil Spector, the eccentric and revolutionary music producer who transformed rock music with his “Wall of Sound” method and who later was convicted of murder, has died. He was 81.California state prison officials said he died Saturday of natural causes at a hospital.Spector was convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson …
your ad hereCOVID Lockdown Turns Family Quartet Into Instagram Sensation
A family of four in Brooklyn, New York, has tried to make the most of their time together – and for some 300 days in a row they have been posting funny videos of their music rehearsals. Anna Nelson has the story of the Hochman family, narrated by Anna Rice. …
your ad hereVirtual ‘You’ Can Now Attend Meetings with Virtual ‘Them’
After almost a year of staring at each other’s living rooms or other spaces in virtual meetings due to the coronavirus pandemic, members of a Swiss startup have come up with a new idea: sending holographic emissaries to a virtual meeting space. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. …
your ad hereJordan Among First to Vaccinate UN-Registered Refugees it Hosts
Jordan has become one of the world’s first countries to start coronavirus vaccinations for United Nations-registered refugees, according to the U.N. refugee agency and the royal palace. As part of the kingdom’s national vaccination drive that began last week, anyone living there, including refugees and asylum seekers, is entitled to …
your ad herePhil Spector, Famed Music Producer and Murderer, Dies at 81
Phil Spector, the eccentric and revolutionary music producer who transformed rock music with his “Wall of Sound” method and who later was convicted of murder, has died. He was 81.California state prison officials said he died Saturday of natural causes at a hospital.Spector was convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson …
your ad hereLos Angeles First US County to Reach 1 Million COVID Cases
John Hopkins University reported early Sunday there are 94.5 million global COVID-19 cases. The United States leads the world in the number of cases with 23.7 million infections, followed by India with 10.5 million and Brazil with 8.4 million.Los Angeles County in California has become the first U.S. county to …
your ad hereChina Builds Hospital After Surge in ‘Harder to Handle’ Virus Cases
China on Saturday finished building a 1,500-room hospital for COVID-19 patients to fight a surge in infections the government said are harder to contain and that it blamed on infected people or goods from abroad.The hospital is one of six with a total of 6,500 rooms being built in Nangong, …
your ad hereDespite Planning, Australian Open Players Test Positive
The Australian Open will go ahead as planned, despite the discovery of three coronavirus cases that have put 47 players into quarantine for two weeks, the tennis tournament’s director, Craig Tiley, said Saturday.Australia’s international borders are closed, but there are exceptions.For the international tennis tournament, players and their coaches flew …
your ad hereElvis Presley’s Graceland Starting Live Virtual Tours
Elvis Presley’s Graceland is now offering live online tours for fans around the world, including those who can’t travel to the Tennessee tourist attraction during the coronavirus pandemic.Graceland said the two-hour guided tours will take virtual visitors into Presley’s former Memphis home, which has been turned into a museum, and …
your ad hereCampaign Aims to Convince Americans COVID Vaccine Safe
Two years ago, in January 2019, the World Health Organization said vaccine hesitancy was among the top 10 threats to global health. That was before COVID-19 spread around the globe. VOA’s Carol Pearson tells us how doctors are working to overcome that hesitancy. …
your ad hereBiden Names Geneticist for New Cabinet-level Post on Science
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden named pioneering geneticist Eric Lander as the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy on Friday, elevating the post to Cabinet-level status for first time.Lander, a Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who helped lead the Human Genome Project, will also serve in …
your ad hereWHO Calls on All Nations to Begin Vaccination Programs Within 100 Days
World Health Organization officials said Friday that they would like to see vaccination programs under way in every country in the world within the next 100 days, with frontline health workers and high-risk groups prioritized.Speaking at the agency’s regular briefing at its headquarters in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus …
your ad hereUS COVID Death Toll Rapidly Approaching 400k, Says Johns Hopkins
The numbers for the coronavirus pandemic continue upward, with more than 93 million global infections and nearly 2 million worldwide deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.The U.S. remains at the top of the list with the most cases and deaths. Johns Hopkins reports more than 23 …
your ad hereWarming Planet, EU’s Space Plans, and Wines Return to Earth
The European Space Agency previews a big 2021 starting with a new boss. Data show last year’s temperatures tied the hottest on record, and French wines return to Earth after a year aboard the International Space Station. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space. Producer: Arash Arabasadi. …
your ad hereYoung Poet Amanda Gorman to Read at Biden Inaugural
At age 22, poet Amanda Gorman, chosen to read at the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, already has a history of writing for official occasions. “I have kind of stumbled upon this genre. It’s been something I find a lot of emotional reward in, writing something I can make …
your ad hereBiden on COVID-19: ‘Crisis of Deep Human Suffering is in Plain Sight’
The numbers for the coronavirus pandemic continue upward, with more than 93 million global infections and nearly 2 million worldwide deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.The U.S. remains at the top of the list with the most cases and deaths. Johns Hopkins reports more than 23 …
your ad hereA Warming Planet, EU’s Space Plans, and Wines Return to Earth
The European Space Agency previews a big 2021 starting with a new boss. Data show last year’s temperatures tied the hottest on record, and French wines return to Earth after a year aboard the International Space Station. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space. Producer: Arash Arabasadi. …
your ad hereWHO Europe Chief: 95% of World’s Vaccines Being Administered in 10 Countries
The World Health Organization’s ((WHO)) European chief says 95% of the 23.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines that have been administered around the world so far have been given out in just 10 countries. At a Copenhagen news briefing Thursday, WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge voiced perhaps the health agency’s …
your ad hereEurope’s Populists Fearful of Social Media Restrictions
Europe’s populist leaders are outraged by the decision of U.S. social-media giants to block U.S. President Donald Trump from posting on their sites. They fear Facebook, Twitter and other major social media companies could start banning them, too. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki condemned the internet giants Tuesday. …
your ad hereCars, Phones and TVs Dazzle at Big US Tech Show, Despite Pandemic
More than 150,000 people from 154 countries are at the U.S. Consumer Electronics Show – all online – this week. Michelle Quinn reports. Contributors: Elizabeth Lee, Julie Taboh Video editor: Matt Dibble …
your ad hereLady Gaga to Sing Anthem, J-Lo to Perform at Inauguration
Lady Gaga will sing the national anthem at Joe Biden’s inauguration and Jennifer Lopez will give a musical performance on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol when Biden is sworn in as the nation’s 46th president next Wednesday. The announcement of their participation comes one day after word that …
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