Qatar’s currency came under pressure on Tuesday as Gulf Arab commercial banks started holding off on business with Qatari banks because of a diplomatic rift in the region. Banking sources said some banks from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates …
Cities are pushing back on the possibility of losing millions of dollars in U.S. anti-terrorism grants under President Donald Trump’s spending plan — the third straight White House that has moved to cut the funding. The proposed budget would cut …
A Chinese city is using big data provided by a phone company to track the movement of its migrant worker population, expanding the many ways China is using big data to not just enhance performance but also track the daily …
To celebrate the June 5 World Environment Day, diplomats from more than a dozen foreign embassies and international organizations Monday joined the U.S. State Department to plant underwater seagrass in the Potomac River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. …
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg submitted a statement to the United Nations on Monday that over 1,000 U.S. governors, mayors, businesses, universities and others will continue to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement abandoned by President …
The remote South Pacific island of Henderson hit the headlines recently not for its pristine natural beauty, but for the 38 million tons of accumulated plastic and other debris that ocean currents had landed on its shores. The uninhabited island …
A smartphone app lets citizen scientists help professional scientists track changes in the natural world as urbanization, habitat loss, invasive species and climate change shake up ecosystems worldwide. More than 100,000 users on all seven continents are snapping pictures of …
The Trump administration is considering letting companies use seismic air guns to look for oil and gas deposits below the Atlantic Ocean, outraging environmentalists and coastal towns and resorts. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says it has gotten …
Religious hospitals don’t have to comply with federal laws protecting pension plans, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled Monday in a case that affects retirement benefits for roughly a million workers nationwide. The justices sided with three church-affiliated nonprofit hospital systems …
Apple nodded to several up-and-coming technology trends, unveiling a new “smart” home speaker and device features touching on virtual reality, online privacy and a form of artificial intelligence called machine learning. The “HomePod” speaker unveiled Monday is similar to …
The U.S. government is investigating complaints that air bag control computers in some Jeep Liberty SUVs can fail, preventing the air bag system from operating properly in a crash. The probe covers about 105,000 of the vehicles from the 2012 …
On the border of China and Kazakhstan, an international free trade zone has become a showpiece of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road initiative to boost global trade and commerce by improving infrastructure and connectivity. Chinese state media …
India’s heaviest, newly-developed rocket hurtled into space Monday evening carrying a communication satellite of more than three tons from Sriharikota in eastern India. It marks another milestone in the country’s ambitious space program and brings India a step closer to …
The productivity of American workers was flat in the first three months of this year, while labor costs rose at the fastest pace since the second quarter of last year. Productivity growth was zero in the January-March quarter after rising …
More than a billion people around the world rely on food from the ocean as their primary source of protein. But as the planet’s oceans become more polluted, they are changing and all kinds of marine life are being impacted. …
If you’re being treated for cancer, speak up about any side effects. A study that had patients use home computers to report symptoms like nausea and fatigue surprisingly improved survival – by almost half a year, longer than many new …
Facebook said it wanted to make its social media platform a “hostile environment” for terrorists in a statement issued after attackers killed seven people in London and prompted Prime Minister Theresa May to demand action from internet firms. Three attackers …
The Trump administration is considering possible sanctions on Venezuela’s vital energy sector, including state oil company PDVSA, senior White House officials said, in what would be a major escalation of U.S. efforts to pressure the country’s embattled leftist government amid …
The restaurant business can cause serious heartburn. It’s a mixed salad of bureaucracy, money, and paperwork that keeps some chefs from ever selling that first plate of food. But there may be hope as “restaurant incubators” offer chefs an alternative …
Diversification is a growing trend in some sectors of the agriculture industry. Some winemakers in the northwestern state of Oregon are branching out into marijuana as a new business venture. Faith Lapidus reports. …
The applications for 3-D printing keep coming. We’ve reported on 3-D printers being used in everything from robotics to games to baking. But now comes a sweet way to turn melted chocolate into works of art. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
The applications for 3-D printing keep coming. We’ve reported on 3-D printers being used in everything from robotics to games to baking. But now comes a sweet way to turn melted chocolate into works of art. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
SpaceX launched its first recycled cargo ship to the International Space Station on Saturday, another milestone in its bid to drive down flight costs. After a two-day delay caused by thunderstorms, the unmanned Falcon rocket blasted off carrying a Dragon …
Rick Perry twice ran for president and appeared as a contestant on TV’s Dancing with the Stars. But since becoming President Donald Trump’s energy secretary, Perry has kept a low profile and rarely has been seen publicly around Washington. Comedian …