Taiwan is offering visa waivers and setting up overseas investment offices across a swathe of countries to its south, the latest moves to deepen a rebalancing of economic relations away from political foe China. Officials in Taipei hope to foster …
Month: October 2017
The United States is in the middle of an unprecedented opioid overdose epidemic. The abuse of prescription opioids along with the illicit use of heroin killed nearly 60-thousand people last year. Every day 91 Americans die from prescription opioid related …
Electric cars are steadily gaining ground in the global auto market, but it’s a slow process. Along with their high price, one of the main reasons for the consumers’ reluctance is the scarcity of infrastructure needed for charging the cars’ …
The bumper sticker on the back of Scott Wilson’s car reads, “This is what the end of gasoline looks like.” And what does that car look like? A sleek, sci-fi experimental vehicle? A $100,000 Tesla luxury car? Nope. It’s just …
The sloping vineyards of New York’s Finger Lakes region known for producing golden-hued rieslings and chardonnays also are offering a splash of orange wine. The color comes not from citrus fruit, but by fermenting white wine grapes with their …
Electric cars have been a futuristic promise for decades. And electric vehicles finally appear poised to enter the mainstream. Major carmakers, from Volvo to General Motors, are proclaiming the future is electric. VOA’s Steve Baragona has a look at how …
The FBI hasn’t been able to retrieve data from more than half of the mobile devices it tried to access in less than a year, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Sunday, turning up the heat on a debate between technology …
A bakery in a low-income area of Johannesburg slashed prices of its popular bread, with unexpected results. What started as a way to help feed the community became a recipe for success as the bakery has a lot more business …
The World Health Organization rescinded Sunday its appointment of Zimbabwe’s longtime President Robert Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador. “I have listened carefully to all who have expressed their concerns, and heard the different issues that they have raised. I have …
Despite laws banning child marriage, rights groups in Pakistan say the problem continues, partly because of a desire to follow tradition, and partly because of poverty. No matter the reason, development experts say early marriage hurts the education and health …
Autistic children often have social difficulties. They tend to linger on the edges of social groups at school and have fewer friendships than those without the condition. But that can change, if their classmates understand them and give them a …
President Donald Trump is considering nominating Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell and Stanford University economist John Taylor for the central bank’s top two jobs, in an apparent bid to reassure markets and appease conservatives hungry for change. Under that scenario, …
The Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation warned in a report distributed by email late on Friday that the nuclear, energy, aviation, water and critical manufacturing industries have been targeted along with government entities in attacks dating …
Turkey’s banking regulator urged the public on Saturday to ignore rumors about financial institutions, in an apparent dismissal of a report that some Turkish banks face billions of dollars of U.S. fines over alleged violations of Iran sanctions. “It has …
Georgia Rep. Betty Price says her comments on people with HIV that ignited a national firestorm were “taken completely out of context.” Price, the wife of former U.S. Health Secretary Tom Price, was in a legislative committee meeting Tuesday when …
Hong Kong’s last remaining stock market floor traders are taking their final orders as the exchange prepares to shut its trading hall. The bourse’s operator, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing, says it will close the trading hall by the end …
Parents of small children have long been hearing about the perils of “screen time.” And with more screens, and new technologies such as Amazon’s Echo speaker, the message is getting louder. And while plenty of parents are feeling guilty about …
A California judge on Friday threw out a $417 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit by a woman who claimed she developed ovarian cancer after using its talc-based products like Johnson’s Baby Powder for feminine hygiene. The …
Running 1,300 kilometers over the world’s highest mountain pass, the “Friendship,” or Karakoram, Highway is evidence of China’s willingness to spend big as a contributor to global development. Costing tens of billions of dollars, the road links western China with …
Environmental pollution, from filthy air to contaminated water, kills at least 9 million people a year, according to a new study published by the medical journal The Lancet. Two entrepreneurs from Georgia have invented a wearable filter they say can …
The Group of Seven industrialized nations threw their support behind a new technology industry alliance aimed at detecting and blunting online propaganda, saying Friday it had a “major role” to play in combating extremism on the internet. G-7 interior ministers …
President Salva Kiir opened South Sudan’s first-ever kidney hospital Thursday in Juba, calling it a breakthrough for the country’s medical care. The facility — a welcome positive sign in conflict-torn South Sudan — is to provide free services to all …
A mass transit strike in the Philippines this week risks more disruptive collective action unless drivers and the government settle differences over costly upgrades to an aging yet iconic vehicle fleet, analysts say. Thousands of drivers and operators of “jeepneys” …
A malaria outbreak has killed at least four people at a refugee camp in northwestern Kenya, according to local residents and health officials. Hundreds of people have come down with the infectious disease at the Kalobeyei refugee complex in Kenya’s …