Facebook says it will use artificial intelligence to help find profiles of people who have died so their friends and family members won’t get, for instance, painful reminders about their birthdays. The social network said Tuesday that it is also adding a “tributes” section to accounts that have been memorialized, that is, designated as…
read moreU.S. federal agents have smashed a worldwide medical care scheme that defrauded U.S. taxpayers of more than $1 billion. The Justice Department said Tuesday 24 people have been charged, including doctors, telemarketers and the heads of companies that provide back, wrist and knee braces. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate medical professionals and executives…
read morePresident Donald Trump will issue two executive orders in the heart of the Texas energy hub on Wednesday seeking to speed gas, coal and oil projects delayed by coastal states as he looks to build support ahead of next year’s election. Trump’s orders will direct his Environmental Protection Agency to change a part of the…
read moreVirgin Galactic’s first test passenger received her commercial astronaut wings from the U.S. aviation regulator on Tuesday after flying on the company’s rocket plane to evaluate the customer experience in February. Virgin Galactic’s chief astronaut instructor, Beth Moses, who is a former NASA engineer, became the first woman to fly to space on a commercial…
read moreRob Garver contributed to this report The top Senate Democrat says President Donald Trump’s picks to fill two vacant seats on the Federal Reserve Board are unqualified for the job. Trump has nominated former pizza chain boss Herman Cain and conservative economic commentator Stephen Moore for the Fed — posts that need Senate confirmation. Both are strong…
read morePresident Donald Trump is wholly mispresenting the immigration detention policy he introduced that forced migrant children from their parents at the border. “President Obama had child separation,” Trump said Tuesday. “I’m the one that stopped it.” In fact, he stopped — or at least suspended — family separations that spiked as a result…
read moreRepublican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham flatly rejected on Tuesday President Donald Trump’s request to slash the budget for the U.S. State Department by more than 23 percent. That proposal “ain’t happening,” Graham, chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the State Department, declared at the opening of the hearing with Secretary of State Mike…
read moreThe European Commission says Facebook has changed the fine print in its terms of service to clearly explain that it makes money by selling access to users’ data. The social media giant modified its terms after discussions with the commission and consumer protection authorities. European Union Consumer Commissioner Vera Jourova said Tuesday, “Now users…
read moreIt’s minus eight degrees Celsius on a late winter morning in western Massachusetts. But electrician Ed Martell is on the job, helping build an 8,000-panel solar farm outside the town of Wales, 110 kilometers southwest of Boston. Martell says solar installations have been going nonstop for the past several years. “I thought it was going…
read moreClimate change is among the most politically divisive issues in Washington. Some Democrats are backing a Green New Deal to transform the entire energy system in a decade. Republicans say these proposals would wreck the economy. While the federal government is at a stalemate, some states are taking action. VOA’s Steve Baragona went to Massachusetts,…
read morePresident Donald Trump is gearing up for an even tougher hard line immigration policy, after abruptly dismissing his Homeland Security Secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen Sunday. U.S. officials say the immigration crisis has worsened in recent weeks, and Trump is reportedly considering reinstating the hugely unpopular policy of separating migrant children from their families. White House Correspondent…
read moreU.S. Attorney General William Barr goes before a House appropriations subcommittee Tuesday where he is expected to face some questions about special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. The Mueller report is not the purpose of the meeting, and in a prepared statement released ahead of…
read moreChinese Premier Li Keqiang and EU institution leaders meet in Brussels on Tuesday for an annual EU-China summit set to be overshadowed by differences over trade and investment. After years of offering free access to its markets, the European Union has said it is losing patience with Beijing over the pace of liberalizing reforms. It…
read moreVOA News Center writer Ken Bredemeier contributed to this report from Washington. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who oversaw several contentious Trump administration immigration and border policies, will leave her post this week, opening up one of the most high-profile and influential positions in the president’s Cabinet. The move appears to be part…
read moreMomentum is gaining in Washington for a privacy law that could sharply rein in the ability of the largest technology companies to collect and distribute people’s personal data. A national law, the first of its kind in the U.S., could allow people to see or prohibit the use of their data. Companies would need permission…
read moreFord workers in Russia have started work-to-rule action over plans to close a plant. Mikhail Sergeyev, head of a trade union which represents around a third of the St. Petersburg plant’s 900-strong workforce, has told The Associated Press on Monday the work-to-rule will continue until Ford negotiates, and it’s already causing disruption. Sergeyev…
read morePinterest, among the gaggle of tech companies hoping to go public this year, set a conservative price range Monday for its initial public offering. It hopes to raise as much as $1.5 billion in its initial offering of shares. The digital scrapbooking site said in a regulatory filing that it will put about 75 million…
read moreVermont Sen. Bernie Sanders plans to hold rallies in battleground states this weekend, starting Friday night in the liberal stronghold of Madison, Wisconsin. Sanders announced Monday that he will also hold rallies on Saturday at a community college in Warren, Michigan, and in Pittsburgh on Sunday. His campaign says additional stops in Indiana and Ohio…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s decision to fill two vacant positions on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve with political supporters has experts concerned about the impact such a move would have on the credibility of the central bank as an independent, data-driven policymaking body, both domestically and around the world. Last month, Trump said…
read moreAs the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) heads into its eighth decade amidst doubts in some quarters of its contemporary relevance, the Czech Republic’s Foreign Minister tells VOA that there’s “huge consensus” among political parties in his country in support of NATO membership and of America’s leadership within the alliance. “Our membership is very important,…
read moreSeems like just about no one can pronounce his name. But more and more people want to know about him. Four months ago, Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was a flat line on the political landscape outside of, well, Indiana. But after announcing a presidential exploratory committee in mid-January, he’s everywhere:…
read moreAmerican Airlines is extending by over a month its cancellations of about 90 daily flights as the troubled 737 Max plane remains grounded by regulators. American said Sunday it is extending the cancellations through June 5 from the earlier timeframe of April 24. The airline acknowledged in a statement that the prolonged cancellations could bring…
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