Inexpensive first-person view – or radio controlled – drones have become a powerful weapon in Ukraine’s war against Russian invaders. As the country presses the West for more military aid, many Ukrainian civilians are stepping in to help by making homemade attack drones. Lesia Bakalets has the story from Kyiv. …
your ad hereBiden administration imposes first-ever national drinking water limits on toxic PFAS
Activists urge Nigeria to refuse Shell’s oil selloff plans
London — Environmental and human rights activists are calling on the Nigerian government to withhold approval of plans by the London-based oil giant Shell to sell off its operations in the Niger Delta, unless the oil giant does more to tackle pollution in the region caused by the industry. For decades, …
your ad hereChina’s credit rating outlook downgraded
Peter Higgs, physicist who proposed the existence of the ‘God particle,’ dies at 94
LONDON — Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs, who proposed the existence of the so-called “God particle” that helped explain how matter formed after the Big Bang, has died at age 94, the University of Edinburgh said Tuesday. The university, where Higgs was emeritus professor, said he died Monday following a short …
your ad hereKim Wall grantee to report on climate change, marginalized groups
WASHINGTON — Audrey Gray was at a national task force in New Orleans when a colorful zine caught the climate journalist’s eye. Produced by Imagine Water Works, the zine — A Queer/Trans Guide to Storms — took the form of “love notes” to the southeast Louisiana LGBTQ+ community, alongside practical storm …
your ad hereTaliban’s plans to curtail access to Facebook in Afghanistan alarm critics
Cameroonian school teaches manufacture of plant-based meat
A government-run school in Cameroon’s capital is teaching students how to manufacture plant-based meat, an innovation which the school’s director hopes will contribute to the fight against climate change. Anne Nzouankeu has more from Yaoundé in this report narrated by Moki Edwin Kindzeka. …
your ad hereVatican’s top diplomat visits Vietnam, looks to normalize relations
HANOI, Vietnam — The Vatican’s top diplomat began a six-day visit to Vietnam on Tuesday as a part of efforts to normalize relations with the communist nation. Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s foreign minister, met his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son and expressed the Vatican’s “gratitude” for the progress that has …
your ad hereCruelty for clicks: Cambodia is investigating YouTubers’ abuse of monkeys at the Angkor UNESCO site
SIEM REAP, Cambodia — A baby monkey struggles and squirms as it tries to escape the man holding it by the neck over a concrete cistern, repeatedly dousing it with water. In another video clip, a person plays with the genitals of a juvenile male macaque sitting on a limestone block …
your ad hereContent creation holds appeal for laid-off workers seeking flexibility
Broken record: March is 10th straight month to be hottest on record, scientists say
WASHINGTON — For the 10th consecutive month, Earth in March set a new monthly record for global heat — with both air temperatures and the world’s oceans hitting an all-time high for the month, the European Union climate agency Copernicus said. March 2024 averaged 14.14 degrees Celsius (57.9 degrees Fahrenheit), exceeding …
your ad hereWith $6.6B to Arizona hub, Biden touts big steps in US chipmaking
President Joe Biden on Monday announced a $6.6 billion grant to Taiwan’s top chip manufacturer for semiconductor manufacturing in Arizona, which includes a third facility that will bring the tech giant’s investment in the state to $65 billion. VOA’s White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington, with reporter Levi …
your ad hereMassive crowds watch total solar eclipse over US
Millions of people in the United States from Texas to Maine looked to the sky to witness a rare total solar eclipse. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh attended a viewing event hosted by NASA and Purdue University at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and has more. …
your ad hereTesla settles case over fatal Autopilot crash of Apple engineer
Elon Musk accused of ‘disinformation campaign’ by Brazilian Supreme Court
Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry, R&B singer of 1956 hit ‘Ain’t Got No Home,’ dies
new orleans — Clarence “Frogman” Henry, who was one of New Orleans’ best known old-time R&B singers and scored a hit at age 19 with “Ain’t Got No Home,” has died. He was 87. Henry died Sunday night, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation said on social media. It didn’t …
your ad hereAnti-polio gains threatened by returning migrants, 200,000 unvaccinated children in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD — The World Health Organization said Monday that the recent return of about 600,000 undocumented migrants from Pakistan to Afghanistan and an estimated 200,000 unvaccinated children in southern Afghan regions are a threat to regional gains against polio. In its latest assessment of the disease’s international spread, WHO said that …
your ad hereExperts fear Cambodian cybercrime law could aid crackdown
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA — The Cambodian government is pushing ahead with a cybercrime law experts say could be wielded to further curtail freedom of speech amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent. The cybercrime draft is the third controversial internet law authorities have pursued in the past year as the government, led …
your ad hereBiden administration announces $6.6 billion to ensure leading-edge microchips are built in US
WILMINGTON, Del. — The Biden administration pledged on Monday to provide up to $6.6 billion so that a Taiwanese semiconductor giant can expand the facilities it is already building in Arizona and better ensure that the most-advanced microchips are produced domestically for the first time. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the …
your ad hereHuge crowds await a total solar eclipse in North America
MESQUITE, Texas — Millions of spectators along a narrow corridor stretching from Mexico to the U.S. to Canada eagerly awaited Monday’s celestial sensation — a total eclipse of the sun — even as forecasters called for clouds. The best weather was expected at the tail end of the eclipse in Vermont …
your ad hereMass bleaching detected on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef
SYDNEY — Vast areas of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the world’s biggest coral system, have been affected by mass coral bleaching caused by a marine heatwave. Surveys have shown major bleaching is occurring along the 2,300-kilometer ecosystem. Bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef was detected weeks ago, but recent aerial surveillance …
your ad hereDespite Google Earth, people still buy globes. What’s the appeal?
London — Find a globe in your local library or classroom and try this: Close the eyes, spin it and drop a finger randomly on its curved, glossy surface. You’re likely to pinpoint a spot in the water, which covers 71% of the planet. Maybe you’ll alight on a place you’ve …
your ad here‘Godzilla x Kong’ maintains box-office dominion in second weekend
New York — “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” easily swatted away a pair of challengers to hold on to the top spot at the box office for the second week in a row, according to studio estimates Sunday. After its above-expectations $80 million launch last weekend, the MonsterVerse mashup brought …
your ad hereWest Virginia University student union says fight against program cuts not over
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Sophomore Christian Adams expected he would be studying Chinese when he enrolled at West Virginia University, with a dream of working in labor or immigration law. He didn’t foresee switching his major to politics, a change he made after West Virginia’s flagship university in September cut its world …
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