NEW YORK — U.S. oil production rose 260,000 barrels per day month-over-month to a record 13.46 million bpd in October as demand surged to the highest levels since the pandemic, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed on Tuesday. U.S. oil output has grown rapidly this year as drilling operations …
your ad hereHow to catch the Quadrantids, first meteor shower of 2025
WASHINGTON — When the Quadrantid meteor shower peaks Friday, it will be the year’s first chance to see fireballs in the sky. A waning crescent moon means good visibility under clear and dark conditions. Most meteor showers are named for the constellations where they appear to originate from in the night …
your ad hereNo ‘Santa Claus rally’ for global stocks as equities slide
new york — Global stock markets mostly fell Monday in jittery holiday trading ahead of a potentially tumultuous 2025 that will see Donald Trump return to the White House. Wall Street’s three main indices slumped to end the day, adding to losses Friday that ended Wall Street’s usual holiday-period “Santa Claus …
your ad hereInfluential people who died in 2024
It was a life that took him from peanut farming to the presidency. While former President Jimmy Carter ‘s time in the White House lasted only one term, the decades afterward were defined by humanitarian work that affected people all around the world. Founding the Carter Center with his wife, …
your ad hereFour UK Post Office scandal victims recognized in honors list
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — King Charles III announced awards for actors Stephen Fry and Carey Mulligan, as well as victims of Britain’s Post Office scandal in the country’s traditional New Year Honours on Tuesday. London Mayor Sadiq Khan joined U.K. television icon and writer Fry, 67, and former England football manager …
your ad hereLosing your kids to doom scrolling? Greece is building government app for that
ATHENS, GREECE — Greece announced plans on Monday to enhance parental oversight of mobile devices in 2025 through a government-operated app that will help get digital age verification and browsing controls. Dimitris Papastergiou, the minister of digital governance, said the Kids Wallet app, due to launch in March, was aimed at …
your ad hereUS Treasury: Chinese hackers remotely accessed workstations, documents
WASHINGTON — Chinese hackers remotely accessed several U.S. Treasury Department workstations and unclassified documents after compromising a third-party software service provider, the agency said Monday. The department did not provide details on how many workstations had been accessed or what sort of documents the hackers may have obtained, but it said …
your ad hereFive years on, WHO urges China to share COVID origins data
Geneva — The World Health Organization on Monday implored China to share data and access to help understand how COVID-19 began, five years on from the start of the pandemic that upended the planet. COVID-19 killed millions of people, shredded economies and crippled health systems. “We continue to call on China …
your ad hereIndia rocket launches space docking mission
NEW DELHI — India launched a rocket Monday carrying two small spacecraft to test docking in space, a critical step for the country’s dreams of a space station and a manned moon mission. The mission is “vital for India’s future space ambitions,” Jitendra Singh, the country’s science and technology minister, said …
your ad hereArgentine judge charges 5 people over death of former One Direction star Liam Payne
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA — An Argentine judge confirmed charges against five people in connection with the death of Liam Payne, a former member of musical group One Direction, and ordered preventive prison for two of them for having supplied him with drugs. A judicial officer confirmed Monday the judge’s decision and …
your ad hereRecord-breaking heat likely to continue in 2025, accelerating climate change
The World Meteorological Organization warns this year’s record-breaking heat is likely to continue in 2025, further accelerating climate change and leading to catastrophic consequences if urgent action is not taken to stem the “human activities” behind this looming disaster. According to the United Nations weather agency, 2024 is set to …
your ad hereLinda Lavin, Tony-winning Broadway actress who starred in sitcom ‘Alice,’ dies at 87
NEW YORK — Linda Lavin, a Tony Award-winning stage actress who became a working class icon as a paper-hat wearing waitress on the TV sitcom “Alice,” has died. She was 87. Lavin died in Los Angeles on Sunday of complications from recently discovered lung cancer, her representative, Bill Veloric, told The …
your ad hereNetanyahu ‘in good condition’ after prostate surgery, says hospital
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu successfully underwent prostate removal surgery on Sunday and is in good condition, according to the hospital treating him. The surgery took place while Israel remains at war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, more than 14 months after an unprecedented attack by …
your ad here‘Sonic 3’ and ‘Mufasa’ battle for No. 1 at holiday box office
Two family films dominated the holiday box office this week, with “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” winning the three-day weekend over “Mufasa” by a blue hair. Paramount’s Sonic movie earned $38 million, while “Mufasa” brought in $37.1 million from theaters in the U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates Sunday. On …
your ad hereAI technology helps level playing field for students with disabilities
For Makenzie Gilkison, spelling is such a struggle that a word like rhinoceros might come out as “rineanswsaurs” or sarcastic as “srkastik.” The 14-year-old from suburban Indianapolis can sound out words, but her dyslexia makes the process so draining that she often struggles with comprehension. “I just assumed I was …
your ad hereMexican prison board game brings together people from all walks of life
MEXICO CITY — On a Sunday afternoon in Mexico City’s Roma neighborhood, Rosa María Espinosa joins nearly 80 men under a park pavilion to play poleana, a board game requiring mental dexterity that was born in the city’s prisons nearly a century ago. Espinosa blows smoke rings with her cigarette and …
your ad hereAbortions more common in US, as women turn to pills, travel
Abortion has become more common despite bans or deep restrictions in most Republican-controlled states, and the legal and political fights over its future are not over yet. It’s now been two and a half years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door for states …
your ad hereOlivia Hussey, star of the 1968 film ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ dies at 73
LONDON — Olivia Hussey, the actor who starred as a teenage Juliet in the 1968 film “Romeo and Juliet,” has died, her family said on social media Saturday. She was 73. Hussey died on Friday, “peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones,” a statement posted to her Instagram account said. …
your ad hereDrought, fire, deforestation ravaged Amazon rainforest in 2024
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA — 2024 was a brutal year for the Amazon rainforest, with rampant wildfires and extreme drought ravaging large parts of a biome that’s a critical counterweight to climate change. A warming climate fed drought that in turn fed the worst year for fires since 2005. And those fires contributed …
your ad hereTrump sides with Musk in H-1B visa debate, saying he supports program
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA — President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday sided with key supporter and billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk in a public dispute over the use of the H-1B visa, saying he fully backs the program for foreign tech workers opposed by some of his supporters. Trump’s remarks followed a …
your ad hereUkrainian soldiers find rest, restoration at Carpathian mountain retreat
As Russia’s war against Ukraine enters its third year, centers focused on soldiers’ rehabilitation and mental health are appearing across Ukraine. An active serviceman started one such place in his native village in the Carpathian Mountains. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story. Videographer and video editor: Yuriy Dankevych …
your ad hereTrump energy plans complicated by tariffs, global competition
A different approach to energy is at the center of President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to bring down the cost of living for Americans. But as VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, Trump’s plans could be complicated by a complex global interdependence on oil and gas supplies. …
your ad hereUS agency says decongestant in many cold medicines doesn’t work. So what does?
WASHINGTON — Changes are coming to the cold and cough aisle of your local pharmacy: U.S. officials are moving to phase out the leading decongestant found in hundreds of over-the-counter medicines, concluding that it doesn’t actually relieve nasal congestion. Phenylephrine is used in popular versions of Sudafed, Dayquil and other medications, …
your ad hereInternet is rife with fake reviews – will AI make it worse?
The emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools that allow people to efficiently produce novel and detailed online reviews with almost no work has put merchants, service providers and consumers in uncharted territory, watchdog groups and researchers say. Phony reviews have long plagued many popular consumer websites, such as Amazon and …
your ad hereCDC says bird flu virus likely mutated within a US patient
A genetic analysis suggests the bird flu virus mutated inside a Louisiana patient who contracted the nation’s first severe case of the illness, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week. Scientists believe the mutations may allow the virus to better bind to receptors in the upper …
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