The world’s largest collection of ocean garbage floating in the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Hawaii and California, is now bigger than France, Germany and Spain combined. The sprawling patch of detritus, known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, contains nearly …
Month: March 2018
Daylight-powered microbe-killing masks and suits may someday help protect health workers from deadly germs like Ebola, according to new research. Scientists have developed membranes that produce a tiny bit of disinfecting hydrogen peroxide when exposed to light. They could find …
U.S. President Donald Trump signed a document Thursday setting the stage for an estimated $60 billion in new tariffs on Chinese imports that could quickly lead to a trade war with Beijing. The U.S. leader targeted China’s alleged years-long theft …
An Israeli zoo says an endangered primate known as a golden lion tamarin has been born in captivity. The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo says the monkey was born two weeks ago to mom Bilbi and dad Zohar. The yet unnamed monkey …
U.S. President Donald Trump often tweets from his iPhone about pressuring China to address its $375 billion trade surplus with the United States. But a closer look at the Apple smartphone reveals how the headline figure is distorted. The big …
Two experts say video of a deadly crash involving a self-driving Uber vehicle shows the sport utility vehicle’s laser and radar sensors should have spotted a pedestrian, and computers should have braked to avoid the crash. Authorities investigating the crash …
Al-Zaatari is one of hundreds of camps where people forced from their homelands by armed conflicts and civil wars go, hoping that one day they will go back home. Opened in 2012, near Jordan’s border with Syria, the 5.2-square-kilometer settlement …
Toy company executive Isaac Larian says he and other investors have pledged a total of $200 million in financing and hope to raise four times that amount in crowdfunding in order to bid for up to 400 of the Toys …
A little more than 40 hours after leaving Moscow’s Yaroslavsky station, the Vorkuta Express pulled into its terminus after a 2,000-kilometer journey through the taiga forests and tundra of Russia’s far north. The city lies 150 kilometers inside the Arctic …
About 150 kilometers inside the Arctic Circle lies the Russian city of Vorkuta, a mining outpost that is rapidly being reclaimed by the elements. Many residents abandoned the city after the fall of the Soviet Union, but 70,000 people remain, …
Spring has arrived in the United States, and that means the start of the busy festival season. Large crowds are expected to gather at fairs, festivals and outdoor concerts around the country. Given the recent spate of mass shootings and …
Facebook is coming under intense criticism following reports that information from 50 million users was gathered by a voter data firm. Lawmakers are demanding answers, and Facebook stock has lost about $35 billion in its value. Michelle Quinn reports on …
A British tech company is using donated human heart tissue to replicate the “beating” action of heart muscle to aid preclinical testing of new drugs. Faith Lapidus reports. …
Silicon Valley is less than 3% black, with an even smaller numbers of Africans. The race gap is actually much larger than the gender gap, and it’s growing. Join us for a live screening of “Beyond the Unicorn,” a VOA …
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected at any time to fire a salvo directly at China in what could escalate into a full-scale trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Trade actions against China, partly in response to the …
U.S. congressional leaders appeared Wednesday to have reached a deal on a $1.3 trillion spending bill as a budget deadline loomed. The bipartisan bill, which would keep the government funded until the end of September, has President Donald Trump’s support, …
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has released a statement about the social network’s part in an illegal data collection scandal. “We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can’t then we don’t deserve to serve you,” Zuckerberg said …
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a rare television interview Wednesday that Facebook clearly made a mistake in its part in an illegal data collection scandal. “This was a major breach of trust. I am really sorry this happened. We …
The U.S. and the European Union are set to engage in a new round of talks to resolve trade disputes, including those over U.S.-proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. “We have agreed to launch immediately a process of discussion …
Top officials of the U.S. central bank raised the key interest rate slightly Wednesday, amid strong job gains and moderate economic growth. The rate is one-quarter of a percentage point higher, putting it in a range between 1.5 and 1.75 …
Guinea worm disease in South Sudan has been brought to a halt, says the country’s health minister. Dr. Riek Gai Kok made the announcement Wednesday at the Carter Center headquarters in the southern U.S. state of Georgia, noting zero cases …
The largest lease sale in American history in the offshore Gulf of Mexico yielded $124.76 million in winning bids Wednesday, a modest response to the Trump administration’s effort to pump up investment in the region. The Interior Department had offered …
Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab plans to open a data center in Switzerland to address Western government concerns that Russia exploits its anti-virus software to spy on customers, according to internal documents seen by Reuters. Kaspersky is setting up the center in …