Baghdad, Iraq — Iraq has banned eight local commercial banks from engaging in U.S. dollar transactions, taking action to reduce fraud, money laundering and other illegal uses of U.S. currency days after a visit by a top U.S. Treasury official. The banks are banned from accessing the Iraqi central bank’s daily …
your ad hereDeepfake Scam Video Cost Company $26 Million, Hong Kong Police Says
Hong Kong — Scammers tricked a multinational firm out of some $26 million by impersonating senior executives using deepfake technology, Hong Kong police said Sunday, in one of the first cases of its kind in the city. Law enforcement agencies are scrambling to keep up with generative artificial intelligence, which experts …
your ad hereRohingya Refugees File Petition Against Facebook in Indian Court
China Launches Rocket as Commercial Missions Pick Up Pace
BEIJING — A small but powerful Chinese rocket capable of carrying payloads at competitive costs delivered nine satellites into orbit Saturday, Chinese state media reported, in what is gearing up to be another busy year for Chinese commercial launches. The Jielong-3, or Smart Dragon-3, blasted off from a floating barge off …
your ad hereBeheading Video Gone from YouTube, But Questions Remain
NEW YORK — A graphic video from a Pennsylvania man accused of beheading his father that circulated for hours on YouTube has put a spotlight yet again on gaps in social media companies’ ability to prevent horrific postings from spreading across the web. Police said Wednesday that they charged Justin Mohn, …
your ad hereIMF Predicts China Economy Slowing Over Next Four Years
washington — The International Monetary Fund says China’s economic decline is likely to continue over the next four years as the world’s second largest economy deals with a range of challenges from a rapidly aging population, higher unemployment and a property crisis. In a report released on Friday, the global financial …
your ad hereReport: Global Carmaker Supply Chains Exposed to Xinjiang Forced Labor
Taipei, Taiwan — A new report finds that some global carmakers are applying weaker human rights and responsible-sourcing standards to their joint ventures in China due to pressure from the Chinese government. The lax standards increase the risk of exposing supply chains to forced labor from China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region, where …
your ad hereUS Employers Added Surprisingly Robust 353,000 Jobs In January
WASHINGTON — The nation’s employers delivered a stunning burst of hiring to begin 2024, adding 353,000 jobs in January in the latest sign of the economy’s continuing ability to shrug off the highest interest rates in two decades. Friday’s government report showed that last month’s job gain — far above what …
your ad hereLunar Night Puts Japan’s Lander Back to Sleep
TOKYO — After a brief awakening, Japan’s Moon lander is out of action again but will resume its mission if it survives the two-week lunar night, the space agency said Thursday. The unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down last month at a wonky angle that left its solar …
your ad hereHistory of AI
From counting machines to neural networks, the development of artificial intelligence has paralleled emerging brain science. Writer, Matt Dibble; graphic designer, Kateryna Stepchenko; motion designer, Valeryia Rusak; narrator, Hayde Fitzpatrick. …
your ad hereRemote Washington State Town Becomes Hub for EV Battery Production
The Biden administration’s push for clean energy solutions has turned a rural Washington state town into a hub for electric vehicle battery production. VOA’s Natasha Mozgovaya reports from Moses Lake. …
your ad hereExplorer May Have Found Wreckage of Amelia Earhart’s Plane in Pacific
African Small Businesses Turn to AI to Improve E-commerce
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development ranks Africa as the region with the lowest amount of e-commerce investment. UNCTAD says e-commerce is currently accessible to very few urban areas. An AI solution, however, aims to solve the problem. Senanu Tord reports from Accra, Ghana. …
your ad hereNeuralink Implants Brain Chip in First Human, Musk Says
Science Sleuths Are Using Technology to Find Fakery, Plagiarism in Published Research
Iran Launches 3 Satellites Into Space
JERUSALEM — Iran said Sunday it successfully launched three satellites into space, the latest for a program that the West says improves Tehran’s ballistic missiles. The state-run IRNA news agency said the launch also saw the successful use of Iran’s Simorgh rocket, which has had multiple failures in the past. The …
your ad hereUS to Announce Billions in Subsidies for Advanced Chips, WSJ Reports
George Carlin Estate Sues Over Fake Comedy Special Purportedly Generated by AI
LOS ANGELES — The estate of George Carlin has filed a lawsuit against the media company behind a fake hour-long comedy special that purportedly uses artificial intelligence to recreate the late standup comic’s style and material. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday asks that a judge …
your ad hereUS Agencies Warn of Security Risks from Chinese Drones
Chinese-made drones dominate the global market and are used widely by government agencies inside the United States. As Matt Dibble reports, US cybersecurity watchdogs warn that using those drones come with risks. …
your ad hereCentral Asia Seen as Key to Breaking China’s Rare Earth Monopoly
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials hoping to break China’s near monopoly on the production of rare earth elements needed for many cutting-edge technologies should engage the governments of Central Asia to develop high concentrations of REEs found in the region, says a new report. The study by the U.S.-based International Tax and …
your ad hereFirst Turkish Astronaut Arrives at International Space Station
Turkey makes space history. Plus, the 20th anniversary of twin rovers on Mars, and a flood of news for future missions to the Red Planet. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. …
your ad here‘Moon Sniper’ Nailed the Landing, Japan’s Space Agency Says
TOKYO — Japan’s “Moon Sniper” craft landed around 55 meters from its target, the country’s space agency said Thursday as it released the first images from the mission. The unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), dubbed the “Moon Sniper” for its pin-point technology, had the goal of touching down within …
your ad hereEU Tools Up to Protect Key Tech From China
BRUSSELS — The European Union on Wednesday unveiled plans to strengthen the bloc’s economic security, including measures to protect sensitive technology from falling into the hands of geopolitical rivals such as China. Brussels has bolstered its armory of trade restrictions to tackle what it deems to be risks to European economic …
your ad hereNew Electric Bikes Accelerate Clean Transport in Africa
With the growing concern over greenhouse gas emissions that are blamed for climate change, a Kenyan-Dutch company is introducing electric bikes in sub-Saharan Africa for deliveries in urban areas to help reduce emissions. The transport sector plays a crucial role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the effects of …
your ad hereGreen Energy Expected to Cover Growth in Demand for Electricity
Paris — Power generated from low-emissions sources, such as wind, solar and nuclear, will be adequate to meet growth in global demand for the next three years, the International Energy Agency said, adding that emissions from the power sector are on the decline. Following record growth, electricity generation from low-emissions sources …
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