British antitrust regulators on Wednesday blocked Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard, thwarting the biggest tech deal in history over worries that it would stifle competition for popular titles like Call of Duty in the fast-growing cloud gaming market. The Competition and Markets Authority said in …
your ad herePope Allows Women to Vote at Upcoming Bishops’ Meeting
Pope Francis has decided to give women the right to vote at an upcoming meeting of bishops, an historic reform that reflects his hopes to give women greater decision-making responsibilities and laypeople more say in the life of the Catholic Church. Francis approved changes to the norms governing the Synod …
your ad hereStudy Details Differences Between Deep Interiors of Mars and Earth
Mars is Earth’s next-door neighbor in the solar system — two rocky worlds with differences down to their very core, literally. A new study based on seismic data obtained by NASA’s robotic InSight lander is offering a fuller understanding of the Martian deep interior and fresh details about dissimilarities between …
your ad hereTokyo Company Loses Contact With Moon Lander
A Japanese company tried to land its own spacecraft on the moon early Wednesday, but its fate was unknown as flight controllers lost contact with it moments before the planned touchdown. Flight controllers peered at their screens in Tokyo, expressionless, as the minutes went by with still no word from …
your ad hereHarry Belafonte, Activist and Entertainer, Dies at 96
Harry Belafonte, the civil rights and entertainment giant who began as a groundbreaking actor and singer and became an activist, humanitarian and conscience of the world, has died. He was 96. Belafonte died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his New York home, his wife Pamela by his side, said …
your ad hereMoon Shot: Japan Firm to Attempt Historic Lunar Landing
A Japanese space start-up will attempt Tuesday to become the first private company to put a lander on the Moon. If all goes to plan, ispace’s Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander will start its descent towards the lunar surface at around 15:40 GMT. It will slow its orbit some 100 kilometers …
your ad hereSpaceX Wins Approval to Add Fifth U.S. Rocket Launch Site
The U.S. Space Force said on Monday that Elon Musk’s SpaceX was granted approval to lease a second rocket launch complex at a military base in California, setting the space company up for its fifth launch site in the United States. Under the lease, SpaceX will launch its workhorse Falcon …
your ad hereUAE Spacecraft Takes Close-up Photos of Mars’ Little Moon
A spacecraft around Mars has sent back the most detailed photos yet of the red planet’s little moon. The United Arab Emirates’ Amal spacecraft flew within 100 kilometers (62 miles) of Deimos last month, and the close-up shots were released Monday. Amal — Arabic for Hope — got a two-for-one …
your ad hereSevere Solar Storm Creates Dazzling Auroras Farther South
An intense solar storm has the northern lights gracing the skies farther south than usual. A blast of superhot material from the sun late last week hurled scorching gases known as plasma toward Earth at about 3 million kph, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday. Earth felt the …
your ad hereTrial Begins into Whether Ed Sheeran Stole Marvin Gaye Classic
Jury selection began Monday in a trial to determine whether British pop star Ed Sheeran plagiarized American music legend Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” in his 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud.” The plaintiffs are the heirs of Ed Townsend, a musician and producer who co-wrote Gaye’s 1973 soul classic. …
your ad hereScientists Develop Mobile Printer for mRNA Vaccine Patches
Scientists said Monday they have developed the first mobile printer that can produce thumbnail-sized patches able to deliver mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, hoping the tabletop device will help immunize people in remote regions. While many hurdles remain and the 3D printer is likely years away from becoming available, experts hailed the …
your ad hereTwitter Changes Stoke Russian, Chinese Propaganda Surge
Twitter accounts operated by authoritarian governments in Russia, China and Iran are benefiting from recent changes at the social media company, researchers said Monday, making it easier for them to attract new followers and broadcast propaganda and disinformation to a larger audience. The platform is no longer labeling state-controlled media …
your ad hereEuropean Summit Seeks to Boost Wind Energy Production
Nine European countries held a summit on Monday aimed at scaling up wind power generation in the North Sea, spurred by the fallout from the war in Ukraine and the push for renewables. “We’ve seen over the past months what the impact is if you are too dependent on outsiders …
your ad hereWriter, Adviser, Poet, Bot: How ChatGPT Could Transform Politics
The AI bot ChatGPT has passed exams, written poetry, and deployed in newsrooms, and now politicians are seeking it out — but experts are warning against rapid uptake of a tool also famous for fabricating “facts.” The chatbot, released last November by U.S. firm OpenAI, has quickly moved center stage …
your ad here‘Dancing With the Stars’ Judge Len Goodman Dies at 78
Len Goodman, the urbane, long-serving judge on “Dancing with the Stars” and “Strictly Come Dancing,” has died, his agent said Monday. He was 78. Agent Jackie Gill said Goodman “passed away peacefully,” without giving a cause. A former dancer and British champion, Goodman was a judge on “Strictly Come Dancing” …
your ad hereThis Is World Vaccine Week
April 24 – April 30, is World Immunization Week. The theme of this year’s observance is “The Big Catch-Up.” The idea is for everyone, especially children, to catch up on the vaccinations they might have missed during the COVID outbreak. The ultimate goal of World Immunization Week, according the World …
your ad hereAir Pollution Kills 1,200 Children a Year, Says EU Agency
Air pollution still causes more than 1,200 premature deaths a year in under 18’s across Europe and increases the risk of chronic disease later in life, the EU environmental agency said Monday. Despite recent improvements, “the level of key air pollutants in many European countries remain stubbornly above World Health …
your ad here‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Is No. 1 for Third Week
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” continued to rack up coins at the box office, leading ticket sales for the third straight weekend, as the animation hit neared $1 billion after just 18 days in theaters. The weekend’s top new release, the horror reboot “Evil Dead Rise” debuted solidly, launching with …
your ad hereIn US, Dying Patients Protest Looming Telehealth Crackdown
At age 93, struggling with the effects of a stroke, heart failure and recurrent cancer, Teri Sheridan was ready to end her life using New Jersey’s law that allows medically assisted suicide — but she was bedbound, too sick to travel. So last Nov. 17, surrounded by three of her …
your ad hereUS Transplant Surgeon Heads to Ukraine to Save Lives
An organ transplant surgeon from New York is planning a third trip to Ukraine, where he has been working with doctors to help patients caught up in Russia’s war on Ukraine. The surgeon, Dr. Robert Montgomery, is also working to raise money to buy medical equipment for a hospital in Lviv. Iryna Solomko has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. VOA footage by Pavlo Terekhov. …
your ad hereUS Invests in Alternative Solar Tech, More Solar for Renters
The Biden administration announced more than $80 million in funding Thursday in a push to produce more solar panels in the U.S., make solar energy available to more people, and pursue superior alternatives to the ubiquitous sparkly panels made with silicon. The initiative, spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Energy …
your ad hereDame Edna Creator Barry Humphries Dies in Sydney at 89
Tony Award-winning comedian Barry Humphries, internationally renowned for his garish stage persona Dame Edna Everage, a condescending and imperfectly-veiled snob whose evolving character has delighted audiences over seven decades, has died. He was 89. His death in a Sydney, Australia, hospital, where he spent several days with complications following hip …
your ad hereCalling Beer Champagne Leaves French Producers Frothing
The guardians of Champagne will let no one take the name of the bubbly beverage in vain, not even a U.S. beer behemoth. For years, Miller High Life has used the “Champagne of Beers” slogan. This week, that appropriation became impossible to swallow. At the request of the trade body …
your ad hereDid the AI-Generated Drake Song Breach Copyright?
A viral AI-generated song imitating Drake and The Weeknd was pulled from streaming services this week, but did it breach copyright as claimed by record label Universal? Created by someone called @ghostwriter, Heart On My Sleeve racked up millions of listens before Universal Music Group asked for its removal from …
your ad hereUS Supreme Court Upholds Abortion Pill Access for Now
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday preserved access to the abortion drug mifepristone while a lawsuit challenging the use of the drug plays out in lower courts. The high court issued a brief on Friday evening granting emergency requests from the Biden administration and the drug’s manufacturer, Danco Laboratories, to …
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