VATICAN CITY — The Vatican on Friday overhauled its process for evaluating alleged visions of the Virgin Mary, weeping statues and other seemingly supernatural phenomena that have marked church history, putting the brakes on making definitive declarations unless the event is obviously fabricated. The Vatican’s doctrine office revised norms first issued …
your ad hereEnglish fishing village told to boil water after a parasite outbreak
LONDON — A scenic fishing village in southwestern England was under instructions to boil its tap water for a third day on Friday after a parasite sickened more than 45 people in the latest example of Britain’s troubled water system. Around 16,000 homes and businesses in the Brixham area of Devon …
your ad hereUS bike shops boomed early in pandemic, now facing bumpy ride
Former OpenAI leader: Safety has ‘taken a backseat to shiny products’ at the company
Heatwave shatters Southeast Asia records in April
The effects of recent extreme weather in Southeast Asian countries are far-reaching, from school closures to drought and health advisories. While climate change is part of the problem, this year it was made worse by the cyclical weather pattern called El Nino. VOA’s Chris Casquejo explains. …
your ad hereAnnual rich list says Paul McCartney is Britain’s 1st billionaire musician
LONDON — Paul McCartney is a billionaire Beatle. According to figures released Friday, the former member of the Fab Four is the first British musician to be worth 1 billion pounds ($1.27 billion). The annual Sunday Times Rich List calculated that the wealth of the 81-year-old musician and his wife, Nancy Shevell, …
your ad hereWorld No. 1 PGA golfer arrested outside event
Australian researchers say enzyme could help lower lower CO2
SYDNEY — Australian scientists say they have discovered how an enzyme “hidden in nature’s blueprint” could help develop climate-resilient crops able to remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. An Australian study, by researchers from Australian National University and the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, focuses on a type …
your ad hereScholar called ‘Putin’s brain’ attacked on Chinese internet
Washington — Aleksander Dugin, a Russian nationalist ideologue and strong supporter of President Vladimir Putin, has been bombarded with attacks on Chinese social media, where netizens criticized and mocked his Russian expansionist views that had once included the dismembering of China. Two years after Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine, pro-Russia …
your ad hereUS arrests American and Ukrainian in North Korea-linked IT infiltration scheme
WASHINGTON — U.S. prosecutors on Thursday announced the arrests of an American woman and a Ukrainian man they say helped North Korea-linked IT workers posing as Americans to obtain remote-work jobs at hundreds of U.S. companies. The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) said the elaborate scheme, aimed at generating revenue for …
your ad hereProtesters disrupt Google conference over Israel AI contract
Protesters disrupted Google’s annual conference this week over the tech giant’s deal providing artificial intelligence and other services to the Israeli government. Matt Dibble reports from Mountain View, California. Camera: Matt Dibble. …
your ad hereKenya conference showcases technology to help people with disabilities
In Africa, about 15% of the population faces disability challenges despite advancements in technology. Limited infrastructure and high cost of assistive tech create barriers to digital access, leading to exclusion. A conference in Nairobi this week aims to help change that. Mohammed Yusuf reports. …
your ad hereUS reveals proposal to loosen restrictions on marijuana
Webb telescope uncovers merger of two massive black holes from early universe
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — The Webb Space Telescope has discovered the earliest known merger of black holes. These two gigantic black holes and their galaxies consolidated just 740 million years after the universe-forming Big Bang. It’s the most distant detection ever made of merging black holes, scientists reported Thursday. One black …
your ad hereChina property shares jump on report of government plans to buy homes
HONG KONG — Shares of Chinese property developers rallied on Thursday after a report that China was considering a plan for local governments across the country to buy millions of unsold homes from distressed companies to ease a protracted property crisis. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index closed up 4.9% …
your ad hereTake a stroll through the US president’s backyard
General public gets to visit White House grounds in spring and fall …
your ad hereTSMC says no damage to its Arizona facilities after incident
TAIPAI, TAIWAN — Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC said Thursday there was no damage to its facilities after an incident at its Arizona factory construction site where a waste disposal truck driver was transported to a hospital. Firefighters responded to a reported explosion Wednesday afternoon at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company plant in …
your ad hereUS working to get trapped American doctors out of Gaza, White House says
Fewer US overdose deaths reported last year, but experts still cautious
NEW YORK — The number of fatal overdoses in the U.S. fell last year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data posted Wednesday. Agency officials noted that the data is provisional and could change after more analysis, and that they still expect a drop when the final counts are …
your ad hereBeijing vows retaliation against Biden’s hikes of tariffs on Chinese imports
Many master’s degrees aren’t worth the investment, research shows
Old Hollywood glamour sizzles at National Portrait Gallery exhibit
He captured the most famous faces in 1930s and early ’40s cinema — Garbo, Crawford, Bogart and Gable. Now the work of George Hurrell, one of Hollywood’s greatest portrait photographers, is on display at Washington’s National Portrait Gallery. For VOA News, Cristina Caicedo Smit has the story. Videographer: Hakim Shammo; …
your ad hereShrinking Caspian Sea worries environmental activists
YouTube agrees to remove videos of banned Hong Kong protest song
Miniature poodle Sage fetches top prize at Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
NEW YORK — A sprightly miniature poodle named Sage was crowned “Best in Show” on Tuesday at the 148th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, winning the grand prize in the most prestigious competition among pure-bred canines in the United States. Sage, the finalist representing 21 breeds classified as non-sporting dogs, …
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