Scientists from several U.S. and Chinese universities say new findings about microbes and their interaction with other species show that Darwin’s theory of evolution needs an update. Their contention is based on discoveries that all plants and animals, including humans, …
Month: June 2017
Nationwide strikes left commuters and tourists stranded across Italy on Friday, as transport unions called for better job conditions for workers and protested against privatization. Underground and overground trains, airplanes and buses were cancelled in a series of strikes over …
Greek stocks rallied to two-year highs Friday after the government struck a deal with European creditors that means the country won’t face another brush with bankruptcy anytime soon. However, for austerity-weary Greeks, the deal does little to lift the pall …
In the never-ending battle against cancer, scientists are incessantly refining their tools and developing new methods. Some of the most important advances have been made in treating breast cancer, with the five-year survivability rate now at 90 percent VOA’s George …
From the president of Mozambique to the US Secretary of Commerce, greater US economic engagement in Africa is the dominant theme at this year’s business summit organized by the Corporate Council on Africa. VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo was there and …
U.S. authorities moved on Thursday to seize a Picasso painting given to American movie star Leonardo DiCaprio and the rights to two Hollywood comedies, as they filed complaints to recover about $540 million they say was stolen from the 1Malaysia …
The White House lacks a unified plan to increase the government’s borrowing cap as a likely September deadline is drawing near, said Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget. A failure by Congress to raise the debt …
American tourists strolling the ample squares and narrow streets of colonial Havana may not know it, but from novelist Ernest Hemingway’s famed Floridita bar to Sloppy Joe’s eatery, they are probably patronizing businesses owned by Cuba’s military. It is that …
Scientists have identified three mutations that, if they occurred at the same time in nature, could turn a strain of bird flu now circulating in China into a potential pandemic virus that could spread among people. The flu strain, known …
Like many online video games, the one developed by scientists at the University of Exeter challenges players to quickly find hidden objects, but with a twist. They’re not looking for gold or swords or magical mirrors in an imaginary universe, …
Foreign fishing in Indonesian waters has long been a concern for the government, for which it has recently taken a literally explosive approach: blowing up illicit fishing boats. But the country’s wildly popular Minister of Marine Affairs lobbied the United …
Teen vaping, which has been skyrocketing, fell dramatically last year in the United States. A government survey released Thursday suggests the number of high school and middle school students using electronic cigarettes fell to 2.2 million last year, from …
Among the people socializing in a tavern in Alexandra township in Johannesburg is Karabo Sathekge, who asked that VOA not give her real name. She is a slight, attractive 19-year-old in a veil of an orange dress, defying the winter …
The electronic bleeps and squawks of “Tetris,” “Donkey Kong” and other generation-shaping games that you may never have thought of as musical are increasingly likely to be playing at a philharmonic concert hall near you. From the “ping … ping” …
Facebook has revealed it is using artificial intelligence in its ongoing fight to prevent terrorist propaganda from being disseminated on its platform. “We want to find terrorist content immediately, before people in our community have seen it,” read the message …
New data show the U.S. job market becoming a bit stronger, while credit card costs are increasing for American consumers. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department says the number of newly-laid off workers signing up for assistance fell 8,000 last …
The U.S. Senate voted 98-2 Thursday to approve sweeping sanctions against Russia and make it harder for President Donald Trump to ease punitive measures against Moscow. “We have no time to waste,” said Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona. “The …
President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered more money and a bigger role for private companies in designing apprenticeship programs meant to fill some of the 6 million open jobs in the U.S. Trump signed an executive order to roughly …
Photosynthetic bacteria and light may offer hope to heart disease patients, a new study suggests. Researchers at Stanford University say that after injecting the bacteria into the hearts of rats with cardiac disease and using light to start photosynthesis, they …
A U.N. humanitarian aid adviser for Syria says trucks are being prepared to ship polio vaccine into Islamic State group-held areas of Deir Ezzor governorate following confirmation of a “very dangerous” outbreak of the virus. Jan Egeland made the …
A new report by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) finds child poverty and hunger are widespread in 41 of the world’s richest countries. The report says one in five children in rich countries lives in poverty, while one in eight …
Thailand’s industrial development faces fresh calls for greater local community participation in addressing the challenges of environmental pollution, especially as reports point to an escalation in the production of hazardous industrial pollution. Industrialization has been a core of Thailand’s economic …
The U.S. central bank raised its benchmark interest rate Wednesday amid concerns about sluggish growth, a slowdown in consumer spending and low inflation. But the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve says the one-quarter of 1 percent increase in the …