Facebook on Wednesday pledged to invest at least $1 billion to support journalism over the next three years as the social media giant defended its handling of a dispute with Australia over payments to media organizations.Nick Clegg, head of global affairs, said in a statement that the company was willing …
your ad hereRocker Springsteen Fined $500 for Drinking at Beach; Drunk Driving Charge Dropped
Bruce Springsteen was fined $500 Wednesday after the rock ‘n’ roll legend pleaded guilty to a charge of consuming alcohol at a federally run New Jersey beach in November, and prosecutors dropped drunk driving and reckless driving charges. Springsteen, 71, who has made his home state of New Jersey …
your ad hereMars Rover’s Giant Parachute Carried Secret Message
The huge parachute used by NASA’s Perseverance rover to land on Mars contained a secret message, thanks to a puzzle lover on the spacecraft team. Systems engineer Ian Clark used a binary code to spell out “Dare Mighty Things” in the orange and white strips of the 70-foot (21-meter) …
your ad hereOne-Shot Vaccine Protects Against COVID, US Government Says
The U.S. government has determined that a one-shot COVID-19 vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson is safe and offers partial protection against the disease.In an analysis released Wednesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the vaccine was about 66% effective during global trials in preventing moderate to severe cases …
your ad hereDemand Heats up for Solar Energy Panels in South Africa
Solar energy is a natural fit for sun-drenched Southern Africa, its proponents say. The only problem: Not enough panels to meet soaring demand. VOA’s Anita Powell looks at one company spinning sunshine into energy. Camera: Zaheer Cassim …
your ad hereChina’s Tianwen-1 Spacecraft Enters Mars ‘Parking Orbit’
China’s state media reported Wednesday the country’s Tianwen-1 spacecraft has entered a temporary “parking orbit’ around the planet Mars, where it will stay for about three months before attempting to land a rover on the surface.China National Space Administration (CNSA) said the spacecraft executed a maneuver to adjust its orbit …
your ad hereTiger Woods Awake and Responsive After Crash, Police Investigating Cause
Police on Wednesday sought to determine what caused Tiger Woods to swerve off a Southern California road in his sport utility vehicle, colliding with a tree and rolling down a hillside in a crash that left the golf great seriously injured. Woods, 45, was pried from the wreckage by …
your ad hereHunger in Central America Skyrockets, UN Agency Says
The number of people going hungry in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua has nearly quadrupled in the last two years, the United Nations said on Tuesday, as Central America has been battered by an economic crisis. New data released by the U.N.’s World Food Program showed nearly 8 million people …
your ad hereGolf Star Tiger Woods Injured in Car Crash
Golfer Tiger Woods suffered injuries in a single-car crash early Tuesday in California. Esha Sarai has more.Produced by: Esha Sarai …
your ad hereBeat Poet, Publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti Dies at 101
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the poet, publisher, bookseller and activist who helped launch the Beat movement in the 1950s and embody its curious and rebellious spirit well into the 21st century, has died at age 101. Ferlinghetti, a San Francisco institution, died Monday at his home, his son Lorenzo Ferlinghetti said. A month …
your ad hereFacebook’s Oversight Board Has Received Appeal From ‘User’ in Trump Ban Case
Facebook Inc.’s oversight board has received a “user statement” for the case it is deciding about whether the social media company was right to indefinitely suspend former President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, a board spokeswoman confirmed on Tuesday. Facebook handed the case to its independent board in January after …
your ad hereWorld Leaders Lead Discussion on Global COVID-19 Recovery
The European Union and the World Health Organization teamed with the international advocacy organization Global Citizen on Tuesday to host a virtual panel discussion on global recovery of the COVID-19 pandemic.The webcast included leaders from the United States and the African Union, as well as actors and musicians seeking to solicit …
your ad hereGolfer Tiger Woods Involved in Serious Car Crash
Professional golfer Tiger Woods was involved in a serious car accident Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The car reportedly rolled over near Ranchos Palos Verdes, California, and Woods had to be extracted from the wreckage with the “jaws of life,” a powerful tool used to pry open …
your ad hereUS Envoy Urges Nations to Look at Security Implications of Climate Change
U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry urged the U.N. Security Council Tuesday to start treating the climate crisis like the “urgent security threat” that it is.“The climate threat is so massive, so multifaceted, that it is impossible to disentangle it from other challenges that the Security Council faces,” Kerry told a virtual …
your ad hereGrowing Digital Economy Offers New Opportunities – and Challenges
The latest International Labor Organization FILE – Travelers request an Uber ride at Los Angeles International Airport’s LAX-it pick up terminal, Aug. 20, 2020.However, there are a number of downsides to this new form of work. For example, Ryder notes workers sometimes have to pay a commission or a fee …
your ad herePfizer and Moderna Promise Major Boosts in Vaccine Supply
After a disappointingly slow start, drug company executives told Congress Tuesday that they have ironed out startup problems and expect to deliver enough vaccines to immunize 300 million people in the United States by the end of July. Moderna and Pfizer officials told the House Energy and Commerce Committee …
your ad hereGuinea Receives Ebola Vaccine, Neighbors Prepare
West African countries are taking steps to prevent a regional outbreak of Ebola after the deadly virus killed at least five people in Guinea. As Guinea launched an Ebola vaccination drive Tuesday, after an outbreak in the West African nation’s southern Nzérékoré region, its neighbors were also preparing. The last Ebola outbreak in …
your ad hereMalian Linguists Translate Bambara Language into Braille
Malian linguists and braille experts have translated the most widely spoken African language in Mali, Bambara, to braille for the country’s blind. Bambara is spoken and understood by about 15 million Malians, even more than the colonial language, French, making it an important step for blind people. Annie Risemberg profiles a teacher …
your ad hereNigeria Rape Reporting App Helps Survivors Avoid Stigma
Nigeria’s reported rapes tripled during COVID-19 pandemic to a few thousand, but the U.N. Children’s fund says one in four girls have been victims of sexual violence – meaning countless thousands of rapes are going unreported due to stigma. A Nigerian programmer has created an application for rape survivors to …
your ad hereIn Important Step for Blind People, Malian Linguists Translate Bambara into Braille
Linguists and Braille experts in Mali have translated the country’s most widely spoken African language, Bambara, into Braille for the country’s blind. Bambara is spoken and understood by about 15 million Malians, even more than the colonial French, making it an important step for blind people. Moussa Keita has been at …
your ad hereFacebook to Lift Block on Australian News Content after Agreement with Canberra
The Australian government says Facebook has agreed to allow Australians to resume viewing or sharing news content after the two sides reached an agreement over a proposal to make the digital giants pay domestic news outlets for their content. The two sides announced the deal Tuesday just hours before the Australian …
your ad hereEbola Expert Calls for Vigilance Amid Outbreaks
With the Ebola virus flaring in the Democratic Republic of Congo and a new outbreak in Guinea, Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum is worried.“This is a great concern for us, especially since the COVID and Ebola crises are occurring” simultaneously, said Muyembe, who manages DRC’s National Institute of Biomedical Research and …
your ad hereNASA Releases Mars Landing Video: ‘Stuff of Our Dreams’
NASA on Monday released the first high-quality video of a spacecraft landing on Mars, a three-minute trailer showing the enormous orange and white parachute hurtling open and the red dust kicking up as rocket engines lowered the rover to the surface. The quality was so good — and the images so …
your ad hereNASA Supply Ship Arrives at ISS
A NASA unmanned resupply ship docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday carrying more than 3,600 kilograms of research equipment and supplies to the orbiting laboratory. The spacecraft, built by aerospace company Northrop Grumman, was bolted into place on the Earth-facing port of the ISS shortly after arrival. Along …
your ad hereBritain Outlines Lockdown Exit as Vaccines Show ‘Spectacular’ Results
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced plans Monday to begin easing coronavirus lockdown measures. As Henry Ridgwell reports from London, Johnson credited Britain’s rapid vaccination program for allowing the country to begin reopening — amid growing scientific evidence that the vaccines will help to bring the global pandemic under control. Camera: …
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