Competition between the U.S. and China in artificial intelligence has expanded into a race to design and implement comprehensive AI regulations. The efforts to come up with rules to ensure AI’s trustworthiness, safety and transparency come at a time when governments around the world are exploring the impact of the …
your ad hereUS Targeting China, Artificial Intelligence Threats
U.S. homeland security officials are launching what they describe as two urgent initiatives to combat growing threats from China and expanding dangers from ever more capable, and potentially malicious, artificial intelligence. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Friday that his department was starting a “90-day sprint” to confront more frequent …
your ad hereSouth African Artist’s Play Puts African Role in WWI Center Stage
A man paces a 50-meter stage doing breathing exercises. Crew members chatter while putting together final touches to the set, as a pianist rehearses. Acclaimed South African artist William Kentridge’s play “The Head & The Load” is almost ready for its much-awaited African debut. “Being able to show it at …
your ad hereUN’s Weather Agency: 2022 Was Nasty, Deadly, Costly and Hot
Looking back at 2022’s weather with months of analysis, the World Meteorological Organization said last year really was as bad as it seemed when people were muddling through it. And about as bad as it gets — until more warming kicks in. Killer floods, droughts and heat waves hit around …
your ad hereMinneapolis Mayor Signs Law Allowing Islamic Call Five Times a Day
Muslims in Minneapolis can now hear their call to prayer broadcast five times a day from mosques around the city, thanks to a new law. From Minneapolis, Mohamud Mascadde has the story, narrated by Salem Solomon. …
your ad hereTwitter Drops Government-Funded Media Labels
Twitter has removed labels describing global media organizations as government-funded or state-affiliated, a move that comes after the Elon Musk-owned platform started stripping blue verification checkmarks from accounts that don’t pay a monthly fee. Among those no longer labeled was National Public Radio in the U.S., which announced last week …
your ad hereSupreme Court Set To Decide on Abortion Pill Access
The Supreme Court is facing a self-imposed Friday night deadline to decide whether women’s access to a widely used abortion pill will stay unchanged or be restricted while a legal challenge to its Food and Drug Administration approval goes on. The justices are weighing arguments that allowing restrictions contained in …
your ad hereTikTok CEO Tries to Ease Critics’ Security Concerns
The CEO of TikTok tried to calm critics’ fears about the security of his company’s app during an appearance Thursday. Shou Chew was asked at a TED2023 Possibility conference if he could guarantee Beijing would not use the TikTok app, owned by the Chinese tech company ByteDance, to interfere in future …
your ad hereGood, Bad of Artificial Intelligence Discussed at TED Conference
While artificial intelligence, or AI, is not new, the speed at which the technology is developing and its implications for societies are, for many, a cause for wonder and alarm. ChatGPT recently garnered headlines for doing things like writing term papers for university students. Tom Graham and his company, Metaphysic.ai, …
your ad hereBiden Announces More Funds to Fight Climate Change
President Joe Biden announced plans Thursday to increase U.S. funding to help developing countries fight climate change and curb deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. During a virtual meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, Biden urged his counterparts to be ambitious in setting goals to reduce emissions …
your ad hereTwitter Begins Removing Blue Checks From Users Who Don’t Pay
This time it’s for real. Many of Twitter’s high-profile users are losing the blue check marks that helped verify their identities and distinguish them from impostors on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform. After several false starts, Twitter began making good on its promise Thursday to remove the blue checks …
your ad hereK-Pop Star Moon Bin Found Dead at Home
Moon Bin, a singer from South Korean boy band Astro, was found dead at his home in Seoul, his management agency said Thursday. The 25-year-old was reportedly found by his manager who went to the singer’s home Wednesday evening because he wasn’t responding to contacts. Police are investigating his death …
your ad hereMaiden Voyage of SpaceX’s Starship Meets Fiery End
SpaceX’s giant week meets a fiery end. But company officials still say the launch of Starship was a success. Plus, the European Space Agency sets sail for Jupiter’s icy moons. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. …
your ad hereScientists, Regulators Race to Eliminate ‘Forever Chemicals’
The U.S. government and state legislators are ramping up efforts to limit the use of toxic chemicals known as PFAS (pronounced pee-fas) in everyday products and to regulate levels in drinking water. But as VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias found out, scientists are going a step further by exploring ways to …
your ad hereSpaceX Giant Rocket Explodes Minutes After Launch from Texas
SpaceX’s giant new rocket blasted off on its first test flight Thursday but exploded minutes after rising from the launch pad and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. Elon Musk’s company was aiming to send the nearly 400-foot (120-meter) Starship rocket on a round-the-world trip from the southern tip of …
your ad hereThe British Physicist Making Women Scientists Visible Online
By day, Jessica Wade spends her time in a laboratory at Imperial College London surrounded by spectrometers, oscilloscopes — and men. At night, she writes biographies on Wikipedia about women researchers like her who don’t have an online presence. “We can’t just do the shouting about how we need more …
your ad here67 Million Children Missed Vaccines During Pandemic, UNICEF Says
At least 67 million children partially or fully missed routine vaccines globally between 2019 and 2021 because of lockdowns and health care disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations said Wednesday. “More than a decade of hard-earned gains in routine childhood immunization have been eroded,” read a new …
your ad hereExtra COVID-19 Booster Available for Some High-Risk Americans
Older Americans and people with weak immune systems can get an extra COVID-19 booster dose this spring. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday signed off on a more flexible booster schedule for people who remain at the highest risk from COVID-19 — giving them the choice of …
your ad hereUS Supreme Court Poised to Rule on Abortion Pill Restrictions
The Supreme Court is deciding whether women will face restrictions in getting a drug used in the most common method of abortion in the United States, while a lawsuit continues. The justices are expected to issue an order on Wednesday in a fast-moving case from Texas in which abortion opponents …
your ad hereAmerican Plastic Surgeons Based in Lviv Help Injured Ukrainians
A group of American plastic surgeons has been working in Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s invasion, helping wounded soldiers and civilians recover from war injuries. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story. Camera: Yuriy Dankevych …
your ad herePanama’s Geisha Coffee Fetches $100 a Cup
People worldwide have long been paying more for a premium cup of coffee. But what about a cost of over $100 for a cup? From Panama City, Panama, Oscar Sulbarán has the story, narrated by Cristina Caicedo Smit. …
your ad hereVirtual Reality Supplementing Conventional Medical Treatments
Virtual medicine, or medical extended reality, uses virtual reality headsets and imaging software to supplement conventional medical treatments. Practitioners from around the world shared best practices at a recent conference in Los Angeles. Mike O’Sullivan reports. …
your ad hereNative American Artist’s Work Stolen, Copied Around the World
Like most Facebook users, I am targeted by advertisements relating to my interests, particularly Native American. So, when an ad popped up recently advertising a “Navajo Tufa Cast Corn Stalk Design Bracelet” cast from 55 grams of sterling silver, it got my attention, especially because its price was an implausible …
your ad hereNigerian Agency Says Malaria Vaccine Could Protect Millions
Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, announced a provisional approval of the R21 vaccine during a media briefing on Monday. The regulatory agency’s consent came days after Ghana approved the vaccine. NAFDAC said the vaccine is 70 to 80 percent efficient in preventing the mosquito-borne …
your ad hereMozambique Asks for Additional Cholera Vaccine After Cyclone Freddy
Mozambique has asked the World Health Organization to supply an additional 2 million doses of a cholera vaccine as the country struggles to control a spreading outbreak. The head of the Department of National Health Surveillance at the Ministry of Health, Domingos Guihole, told VOA that the government awaits the …
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