The cast of characters for the 149th Kentucky Derby was rewritten in the days before the race. What didn’t change: Forte is the early 3-1 favorite on Saturday in a seemingly wide-open field of 19 horses. Four horses were scratched — Practical Move, Lord Miles, Continuar and Skinner — and …
your ad hereUS Director Damien Chazelle to Head Venice Film Festival Jury
U.S. director Damien Chazelle, best known for the Oscar-winning La La Land, will lead the jury of the upcoming Venice Film Festival, organizers announced Friday. The 80th edition of the prestigious festival will take place from Aug. 30-Sept. 9 on the swanky, beach-lined Lido island. “For 10 days each year …
your ad hereHong Kong Police Seize Statue in ‘Incitement to Subversion’ Probe
Hong Kong police seized an exhibit Friday in connection with what they said was an attempt to incite subversion, with media reporting it was a statue commemorating Beijing’s Tiananmen Square crackdown on democracy protesters in 1989. Media reported the exhibit was the “Pillar of Shame,” an 8-meter-tall statue depicting dozens …
your ad hereWHO Declares End to COVID-19 as Global Health Emergency
The World Health Organization has declared the COVID-19 pandemic to be over as a global health emergency. “However, that does not mean COVID-19 is over as a global health threat,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said Friday. ‘This virus is here to stay. It is killing, and it is …
your ad hereWHO Downgrades COVID Pandemic, Says It’s No Longer Emergency
The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions of people worldwide. The announcement, made more than three years after WHO declared the coronavirus an international …
your ad hereCould AI Pen ‘Casablanca’? Screenwriters Take Aim at ChatGPT
When Greg Brockman, the president and co-founder of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, was recently extolling the capabilities of artificial intelligence, he turned to “Game of Thrones.” Imagine, he said, if you could use AI to rewrite the ending of that not-so-popular finale. Maybe even put yourself into the show. “That is …
your ad hereWhite House Mulls AI Oversight, Protections with Industry Leaders
White House Mulls AI Oversight, Protections with Industry Leaders …
your ad hereHate Passwords? You’re in Luck — Google Is Sidelining Them
Good news for all the password-haters out there: Google has taken a big step toward making them an afterthought by adding “passkeys” as a more straightforward and secure way to log into its services. Here’s what you need to know: What are passkeys? Passkeys offer a safer alternative to …
your ad hereConservation Groups Sue US Government to Ground SpaceX Operations
Environmental groups sue the U.S. government over SpaceX’s launch license. Plus, a pair of spacewalks outside the International Space Station, and a glimpse at the destruction that scientists say awaits our home planet. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. …
your ad hereEl Nino Expected to Raise Global Temperatures
Global temperatures are likely to reach new highs this year with the predicted onset of El Nino, a natural occurring phenomenon typically associated with the warming of the planet. “The development of an El Nino will most likely lead to a new spike in global heating and increase the chance …
your ad hereWHO Experts Weigh Whether World Ready to End COVID Emergency
A panel of global health experts will meet Thursday to decide if COVID-19 is still an emergency under the World Health Organization’s rules, a status that helps maintain international focus on the pandemic. The WHO first gave COVID its highest level of alert on Jan. 30, 2020, and the panel …
your ad hereCOVID-Related Learning Loss in US Mirrors Global Trend
Providing further proof that U.S. children suffered significant learning loss when schools were closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Assessment Governing Board released a report Wednesday that showed test scores measuring achievement in U.S. history and civics fell significantly between 2018 and 2022. The tests, part of the National …
your ad hereAs Sales Decline, Adidas Faces Pressure to Find Yeezy Fix
Adidas is set to update investors Friday about the unsold Yeezy shoes that have put the German sportswear giant in a predicament since it cut ties with Kanye West over his antisemitic comments late last year. Executives are expected to tackle the issue when the company reports first-quarter results Friday …
your ad hereAfter Decades of Attempts, US Approves 1st Vaccine for RSV
The United States approved the first vaccine for RSV on Wednesday, shots to protect older adults against a respiratory virus that’s most notorious for attacking babies but endangers their grandparents, too. The Food and Drug Administration decision makes GSK’s shot, called Arexvy, the first of several potential vaccines in the …
your ad hereTaliban Singsongs Thrive in Music-Less Afghanistan
The recording studios at Afghanistan national radio and television where generations of male and female musicians and singers produced songs and melodies have gone silent for nearly two years. The country’s Islamist Taliban regime does not air music on the national broadcasting network because their extreme interpretation of Islam considers …
your ad hereBrazil Forest Bill Aims to Unlock Carbon Credit Market
Companies with Brazilian forest concessions would be allowed to generate carbon credits under a bill passed by its Congress this week that marks a first step in regulating the country’s voluntary carbon market. Private firms have shown little interest in a government program that leases publicly owned forests for sustainable …
your ad hereStar Gobbles Up Planet in One Big Bite
For the first time, scientists have caught a star in the act of swallowing a planet — not just a nibble or bite, but one big gulp. Astronomers on Wednesday reported their observations of what appeared to be a gas giant around the size of Jupiter or bigger being eaten …
your ad hereFountain Pens Continue to Draw Writers
The fountain pen is a writing instrument declared obsolete numerous times by technological innovations — the ballpoint pen, the typewriter, the computer keyboard, and now by rendering our voices into text on mobile phones. But the 19th-century invention is still evolving, thanks in part to an American mechanical engineer. VOA’s …
your ad hereEarly Results Show Experimental Drug Slows Alzheimer’s, Says Maker
Eli Lilly and Co. said Wednesday its experimental Alzheimer’s drug appeared to slow worsening of the mind-robbing disease in a large study. In the 18-month trial, people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s who received infusions of donanemab showed 35% less decline in thinking skills compared with those given a …
your ad here258 Million Needed Urgent Food Aid in 2022: UN
Some 258 million people needed emergency food aid last year because of conflict, economic shocks and climate disasters, a U.N. report said Wednesday, a sharp rise from 193 million the previous year. “More than a quarter of a billion people are now facing acute levels of hunger, and some are …
your ad hereWriters Strike Looks to be a Long Fight, as Hollywood Braces
Hollywood writers picketing to preserve pay and job security outside major studios and streamers braced for a long fight at the outbreak of a strike that immediately forced late-night shows into hiatus, put other productions on pause and had the entire industry slowing its roll. The first Hollywood strike in …
your ad here‘Godfather of AI’ Quits Google to Warn of the Technology’s Dangers
A computer scientist often dubbed “the godfather of artificial intelligence” has quit his job at Google to speak out about the dangers of the technology, U.S. media reported Monday. Geoffrey Hinton, who created a foundation technology for AI systems, told The New York Times that advancements made in the field …
your ad hereUS Announces Massive Crackdown on Darknet Fentanyl Trafficking
In a massive global crackdown on fentanyl trafficking on the darknet, U.S. and international law enforcement agencies have arrested nearly 300 suspects and seized a large cache of drugs, cash, virtual currency and weapons, officials announced on Tuesday. The law enforcement action dubbed Operation SpecTor spanned three continents and involved …
your ad hereLoneliness Poses Risks as Deadly as Smoking, US Surgeon General Says
Widespread loneliness in the U.S. poses health risks as deadly as smoking a dozen cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually, the U.S. surgeon general said Tuesday in declaring the latest public health epidemic. About half of U.S. adults say they’ve experienced loneliness, Dr. Vivek Murthy said …
your ad hereUS Film and Television Writers Begin Strike
The union that represents U.S. film and television writers sent their members on strike Tuesday after failing to reach an agreement with studios and production companies over a new labor contract. The Writers Guild of America announced late Monday that their 11,500 members would put down their pens and turn …
your ad here