Office workers often complain that the building is either too hot or too cold. Now, engineers and architects are working on creating “sentient buildings” that can cater to the personal needs and well being of each employee in the hopes of increasing productivity. VOA’S Elizabeth Lee has this report from Los Angeles. …
read moreChina’s state-run Xinhua News has debuted what it called the world’s first artificial intelligence (AI) anchor. But the novelty has generated more dislikes than likes online among Chinese netizens, with many calling the new virtual host “a news-reading device without a soul.” Analysts say the latest creation has showcased China’s short-term progress in voice recognition,…
read moreNew web and phone apps in India are helping women stay safe in public spaces by making it easier for them to report harassment and get help, developers say. Women are increasingly turning to technology to stay safe in public spaces, which in turn helps the police to map “harassment prone” spots — from dimly…
read moreRepublican Rep. Kevin McCarthy easily won an internal party election Wednesday to take over the shrunken House GOP caucus, handing the seven-term Californian a familiar role of building the party back to a majority as well as protecting President Donald Trump’s agenda. With current speaker Paul Ryan retiring and the House majority gone, the race…
read moreA U.S. congressional commission said Wednesday that China appears to have relaxed enforcement of sanctions on North Korea and called on the Treasury Department to provide a report on Chinese compliance within 180 days. In its annual report, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said the Treasury report should include a classified list of…
read moreSafety is the biggest concern for women using public and private transport in five of the world’s biggest commuter cities, according to a global poll released Thursday as improving city access for women becomes a major focus globally. A Thomson Reuters Foundation survey of 1,000 women in London, New York, Mexico City, Tokyo and Cairo found…
read morePresident Donald Trump on Wednesday announced his support for the first major rewrite of the nation’s criminal justice sentencing laws in a generation, but it remains to be seen whether the proposal can pass Congress. Trump said the bill “will make our communities safer and give former inmates a second chance at life after they…
read moreThe U.S. Census Bureau’s top scientist on Wednesday insisted the bureau can get a full count of American residents during the 2020 census, despite the Trump administration’s addition of a question on citizenship. The agency’s chief scientist, John Abowd, made the comments in testimony in federal court in New York, where a group of U.S.…
read moreThe United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed on a deal that will give London’s vast financial center only a basic level of access to the bloc’s markets after Brexit. The agreement will be based on the EU’s existing system of financial market access known as equivalence — a watered-down relationship that officials in…
read moreThe Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday launched the agency’s first high-band 5G spectrum auction as it works to clear space for next-generation faster networks. Bidding began Wednesday on spectrum in the 28 GHz band and will be followed by bidding for spectrum in the 24 GHz band. The FCC is making 1.55 gigahertz of spectrum available and the auctions will…
read moreThe online sale of sex slaves is going strong despite new U.S. laws to clamp down on the crime, data analysts said Wednesday, urging a wider use of technology to fight human trafficking. In April, the United States passed legislation aimed at making it easier to prosecute social media platforms and websites that facilitate sex…
read moreWhen Meghan Markle wore a pair of “slave-free” jeans on a royal tour of Australia last month, she sparked a sales stampede and shone a spotlight on the growing number of companies aiming to meet public demand for products untainted by modern-day slavery. Australia-based Outland Denim employs dozens of survivors of human trafficking and modern…
read moreTwo U.S. senators, defying opposition from top Republicans, vowed on Wednesday to push for action on a bipartisan measure that would protect a federal investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election. Republican Senator Jeff Flake and Democratic Senator Chris Coons said they would take to the Senate floor at around 4:15 p.m. EST,…
read moreU.S. vote counting is still going on, eight days after national congressional elections, with Democrats opposed to President Donald Trump gaining new ground with the latest results. The day after the November 6 election, Trump said at the White House, “It was a big day yesterday. The Republican Party defied history to expand our Senate…
read moreThe U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday defended the legality of President Donald Trump’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general, which bypassed the usual line of succession at the agency. In a 20-page internal legal opinion, the agency’s Office of Legal Counsel said Trump could “depart from the succession order” and name Whitaker instead…
read moreBritain’s Theresa May scrambled Wednesday to sell to her Cabinet a draft Brexit divorce agreement British negotiators concluded after months of wrangling with their European Union counterparts. But the 500-page draft remains a source of deep dispute within Britain’s ruling Conservative party and also in the country’s parliament, which will have the final say on…
read moreRobots with rigid metal frames are being used to help the paralyzed walk and have applications that could one day grant military fighters extra power on the battlefield. The problem is that they’re uncomfortable and heavy. But researchers at Harvard University are working on lighter, flexible devices that move easily and don’t weigh much. VOA’s…
read moreSeveral hundred private cargo planes in the United States deliver millions of packages per year. The FedEx superhub in Memphis Tennessee works around the clock to get parcels delivered to customers and hopefully – on time. VOA’s Lesia Bakalets traveled to Memphis to learn what part of day is the busiest for the FedEx team…
read moreFor the second straight year, President Donald Trump will not be attending the Kennedy Center Honors celebrating cultural achievement. Neither Trump nor first lady Melania Trump will be at the Dec. 2 event, Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s director of communications, said Tuesday. Grisham also told The Associated Press it was “not likely”…
read moreNigeria’s Main One Cable took responsibility Tuesday for a glitch that temporarily caused some Google global traffic to be misrouted through China, saying it accidentally caused the problem during a network upgrade. The issue surfaced Monday afternoon as internet monitoring firms ThousandEyes and BGPmon said some traffic to Alphabet’s Google had been routed through China and Russia, raising concerns that the communications had been intentionally…
read moreThe European Union’s highest court has ruled that the taste of a food cannot be protected by copyright. The European Court of Justice said Tuesday “the taste of a food product cannot be identified with precision of objectivity,” thus making it ineligible “for copyright protection.” Dutch cheese maker Levola had argued that a rival company…
read moreFlying to Paris on Friday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, U.S. President Donald Trump sent out a tweet that may have been business as usual at the White House but sent shivers down the spines of some of this country’s intelligence and security officials: Less than an hour later, he tweeted again: More such tweets would soon…
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