YouTube said Thursday it will disable user comments on a broad array of videos featuring children to thwart “predatory behavior” after revelations about a glitch exploited for sharing of child pornography. The Google-owned video sharing service announced further steps to crack down on inappropriate comments a week after an investigation showing how comments and connections…
read moreOnline crafts retailer Etsy Inc will go green by offsetting planet-warming carbon emissions from its shipping activities, the U.S. company said Wednesday, joining a host of companies making public moves to battle climate change. Etsy will buy clean energy certificates supporting tree conservation in the United States, wind and solar power in India and clean…
read moreU.S. senators of both parties endorsed President Donald Trump’s decision to cut short a summit with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un if no nuclear accord acceptable to the United States was on the table. “No deal is better than a bad deal,” West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin told reporters in Washington Thursday. …
read moreThe United States won a World Trade Organization ruling Thursday that China subsidized its wheat and rice producers too much in recent years. The WTO in Geneva agreed with the U.S. position that Beijing paid its farmers excessive amounts for growing wheat, Indica rice and Japonica rice from 2012 to 2015, but said the dispute…
read moreThailand’s legislature has passed a cybersecurity bill that would allow authorities access to people’s personal information without a court order. The Cybersecurity Act addresses computer hacking crimes, but activists fear it will allow the government sweeping access to people’s personal information. The National Legislative Assembly, which passed the bill in its final reading Thursday by…
read moreThe U.S. economy slowed in the final three months of last year to an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent, the slowest pace since the beginning of 2018, as various factors including the government shutdown took a toll on growth. Economists believe growth has slowed even more in the current quarter. The Commerce Department says…
read moreIn her more than two terms as a U.S. senator representing Minnesota, Amy Klobuchar has built a reputation as an effective champion for consumer safety, sponsoring bills that improve swimming pool safety, ban lead in children’s products and tackle the nation’s opioid crisis. “Consumers deserve products that have been tested and meet strong health and…
read moreMichael Cohen’s testimony is just the beginning. The House oversight hearing with President Donald Trump’s former attorney, coming in advance of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, heralds what Democrats in Congress view as the long days ahead providing checks and balances on the Oval Office. For some, the outcome may – or may not –…
read moreThe top U.S. trade official said Wednesday that a new trade agreement with China is not yet close to being completed. State Department correspondent Nike Ching reports from Washington on the latest in the talks and how U.S. concerns over high-tech issues remain a key point of friction. VOA Mandarin reporter Yihua Lee contributes. …
read moreCongressional Democrats on Wednesday criticized a plan to divert money from Defense Department projects to fund President Donald Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall under emergency powers. At a committee hearing that yielded a few new details about how Trump wants to move money between accounts without the approval of Congress, the Democratic chairwoman of the panel delivered a harsh rebuke to Pentagon…
read moreThe U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday passed the most significant gun control bill in years, expanding background checks to include gun shows and internet sales. The vote was 240 to 190, with Congressman Mike Thompson of California calling it a “new day” in Congress, with Democrats in control and making a “commitment to address the…
read moreMembers of a U.S. House Armed Services subcommittee on Wednesday heard testimony from five transgender members of the U.S. military, just over a month after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration can ban future transgender members of the military. The ruling made Jan. 22, 2019, said transgender men and women already…
read moreAs Walmart moves to phase out its familiar blue-vested “greeters” at 1,000 stores nationwide, disabled workers who fill many of those jobs say they’re being ill-treated by a chain that styles itself as community-minded and inclusive. Walmart told greeters around the country last week that their positions would be eliminated on April 26 in favor…
read moreWomen around the world are granted only three-quarters of the legal rights enjoyed by men, often preventing them from getting jobs or opening businesses, the World Bank said in study published Wednesday. “If women have equal opportunities to reach their full potential, the world would not only be fairer, it would be more prosperous as…
read moreThe fast-growing, Chinese-owned video sharing network TikTok agreed to pay a $5.7 million fine to U.S. authorities to settle charges that it illegally collected personal information from children, officials said Wednesday. The Federal Trade Commission said the penalty for the social network, which had been known as Musical.ly, was the largest ever in a children’s privacy…
read moreThe Federal Reserve will stop shrinking its $4 trillion balance sheet later this year, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday, ending a process that investors say works at cross-purposes with the Fed’s current pause on interest rate hikes. “We’ve worked out, I think, the framework of a plan that we hope to be able to announce soon that will light…
read moreSilicon Valley billionaire Elon Musk changed his Twitter display name to “Elon Tusk” in another late-night flurry of tweets on Wednesday, which also promised news from his electric carmaker Tesla Inc later this week. In a series of tweets to his 25 million followers following charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this…
read moreBoeing on Wednesday unveiled an unmanned, fighter-like jet developed in Australia and designed to fly alongside crewed aircraft in combat for a fraction of the cost. The U.S. manufacturer hopes to sell the multi-role aircraft, which is 38 feet long (11.6 meters) and has a 2,000 nautical mile (3,704-kilometer) range, to customers around the world,…
read moreFormer acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker agreed to meet with lawmakers to clarify his testimony, a congressional leader said on Tuesday, referring to an appearance where Whitaker was quizzed about whether President Donald Trump had sought to influence investigations. “I want to thank Mr. Whitaker for volunteering to meet with us to clarify his…
read moreBrazil’s Senate confirmed Roberto Campos Neto as central bank governor on Tuesday, after he stressed that controlling inflation and reining in public spending were critical to supporting economic growth. Much work must still be done to secure Brazil’s economic recovery, Campos Neto told the Senate’s economic committee at his confirmation hearing. He indicated there would…
read moreWhen it comes to dining out, the noisiness of a restaurant can ruin an otherwise good meal. But a crowdsourcing app is helping diners choose where to eat based on noise levels. Tina Trinh reports. …
read morePresident Donald Trump is threatening to veto two Democratic bills expanding federal background checks on gun purchases, saying they do not sufficiently protect gun owners’ Second Amendment rights. The House is expected to vote this week on separate bills requiring background checks for all sales and transfers of firearms and extending the background-check review from…
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