The South American trade bloc Mercosur could seek trade deals with Canada, Australia and New Zealand this year, an Argentine official said Wednesday, as largest members Brazil and Argentina seek to open their economies. Mercosur, which also includes Uruguay and …
Weather extremes and air pollution from burning fossil fuels cost the United States $240 billion a year in the past decade, according to a report Wednesday that urged President Donald Trump to do more to combat climate change. This year …
Researchers say the likelihood of scorching summer temperatures in southern Europe is increasing because of man-made climate change. Hotter-than-usual temperatures in the Mediterranean region – including an August heatwave in Italy and the Balkans dubbed ‘Lucifer’ – resulted in higher …
Can children who have never been to school teach themselves basic reading, writing and math skills using only a tablet computer? The World Bank and XPrize are betting $15 million on the idea. “It’s a little bit out there, it’s …
According to U.S. government statistics, nearly 40 percent of all pregnancies around the world are unwanted or unplanned. And yet the means to prevent every unwanted pregnancy in the world exists, and has existed for more than 50 years. VOA’s …
Switzerland is the world’s most competitive economy for a ninth straight year, the Geneva-based World Economic Forum said on Wednesday. Since suffering a rare blip in 2008, when it was nudged into second place by the United States, the Swiss …
The United States and Mexico have agreed to renew and expand a far-reaching conservation agreement that governs how they manage the overused Colorado River, which supplies water to millions of people and farms in both nations. The agreement to …
Miami is a city that lives on air conditioning. When it fails, people can die. After Hurricane Irma knocked down power lines and disconnected the cooling system at a nursing home north of Miami this month, 11 residents perished when …
The Commerce Department slapped duties of nearly 220 percent on Canada’s Bombardier C Series aircraft Tuesday in a victory for Boeing that is likely to raise tensions between the United States and its allies Canada and Britain. Commerce ruled that …
It is not quite going back to the horse, even if the bicycle was the first contraption to replace beasts as a means of personal transport. This is a new two-wheeled animal, though, that millions of consumers in Beijing, Taipei, …
Despite concerns about low inflation in the United States, the head of the U.S. central bank says raising interest rates gradually would be the most appropriate policy stance for the Federal Reserve. “It would be imprudent to keep monetary policy …
Digital devices designed to monitor the wearer’s health in much greater detail than current models will need regulatory approval, and Apple, Fitbit and seven other companies will take part in a program to speed the approval process, the U.S. health …
Mexican officials are tallying up the economic losses of the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that caused widespread damage in the capital, as the number of buildings that may need to be pulled down or need major repairs rose to 500. …
The days of Twitter limiting messages to 140 characters, a signature of the social network since its launch in 2006, may be numbered. Twitter said on Tuesday that it would begin a test with a random sample of users allowing …
A coalition of businesses including Amazon, Google and General Motors has agreed to give $300 million to boost K-12 computer science programs across the U.S. Internet Association CEO Michael Beckerman announced Tuesday that the private-sector contribution will come in over …
The United States has imposed sanctions on eight North Korean banks and 26 bank executives amid escalating tensions with Pyongyang over its nuclear program. “This further advances our strategy to fully isolate North Korea in order to achieve our broader …
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen acknowledged Tuesday that the Fed is puzzled by the persistence of unusually low inflation and that it might have to adjust the timing of its interest rate policies accordingly. Speaking to a conference of economists, …
Netflix chief executive officer and Bowdoin College graduate Reed Hastings says he’s donating $5 million to the school to help traditionally under- represented students graduate. The “Thrive” program offers academic assistance for low-income students and first-generation students at the Brunswick-area …
The World Health Organization reports 844,000 people in northeast Nigeria have been reached with one dose of oral cholera vaccine in an effort to prevent the fatal disease from spreading. The latest figures show nearly 4,000 suspected cases, including 54 …
Hackers breached the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s computer system last year by taking advantage of companies that used authentic financial data when they were testing the agency’s corporate filing system, according to sources familiar with the matter. The Federal …
Equifax CEO Richard Smith announced his sudden retirement Tuesday following a massive data breach at the credit reporting company earlier this year. Smith and Equifax says they learned of the hack in late July but waited until September 7 to …
The United States has asked China not to implement its new cybersecurity law and is concerned it could damage global trade in services, a U.S. document published by the World Trade Organization showed on Tuesday. China ushered in a tough …
Mount Everest is indisputably the world’s highest peak. But precisely how tall is it and did the powerful 2015 earthquake in the high Himalayas shrink the giant mountain? Nepal is setting out on an ambitious two-year project to re-measure the …
Venezuela’s doctors, fed up with what they called the World Health Organization’s passive attitude toward the country’s deep medical crisis, protested at the agency’s Caracas office on Monday to demand more pressure on the government and additional assistance. Venezuela is …