Social media platform Twitter on Monday unveiled its plan for handling deepfake videos and other manipulated media, and called for feedback from the public.In the run-up to the U.S. presidential election in November 2020, social platforms have been under pressure to tackle the threat of manipulated media, including deepfakes, which use artificial intelligence to create…
read moreCondoleezza Rice, a secretary of state under Republican President George W. Bush, said on Monday reports of an unofficial U.S. policy being carried out in Ukraine were “deeply troubling.”Rice was critical of President Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential run but has been more restrained since the Republican took office.State Department officials have testified in…
read moreFor weeks, as Democratic critics of U.S. President Donald Trump have called for his impeachment, the U.S. leader has repeatedly described his July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as “perfect.”Though it is a violation of U.S. campaign finance law to seek foreign government help in a U.S. election, Trump had asked Zelenskiy to investigate…
read moreStargazers witnessed a rare celestial event on Monday, as Mercury passed directly across the face of the sun.Mercury, the solar system’s smallest planet and closest to the sun, won’t make the next such transit until 2032.The tiny planet traveled directly between Earth and the sun on Monday, creating a perfect alignment.The best views of the…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump renewed his attacks Monday against the impeachment investigation, two days ahead of public hearings targeting him for allegedly abusing his office to help himself politically.Before observing the annual Veterans Day tribute to the U.S. military at a New York ceremony, Trump claimed on Twitter, without offering any evidence, that Congressman Adam…
read moreAs the first sitting U.S. president to attend New York City’s Veterans Day parade and lay a wreath at the Eternal Light Memorial, Donald Trump paid tribute to warriors in attendance dating back to World War II.“We pledge to always honor our veterans,” said Trump on Monday morning at the open of the 100th annual…
read moreEcologists are urging creative solutions to clean up plastic waste choking waterways and threatening ecosystems across the globe. The United Nations Children’s Fund partnered with a Colombian company to turn piles of plastic into the building blocks of education in Africa. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi takes us to school. …
read moreTwitter said it would make it easier to report misleading information about the voting process in Britain’s Dec. 12 election, less than a month after its global ban on political advertising comes into force.The microblogging site is a vital tool for candidates, political parties and journalists to break news and fuel debate, but it has…
read moreA Mexican immigrant fighting President Donald Trump’s attempt to end a program shielding young immigrants from deportation says he is nervous about the case finally being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Martin Batalla Vidal is a lead plaintiff in one of the cases to preserve the Obama-era program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,…
read moreA blanket of smog has once again enshrouded India’s capital after a weekend of clearer air and better weather. The morning air quality index Monday at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi was 497.AQI between 301 and 500 is considered “hazardous” for all population groups. It is not measured past 500.Air quality is considered good when…
read moreDemocratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg says if elected he’d like to name a woman to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs for the first time as 2020 hopefuls take aim at President Donald Trump’s record on stemming military suicide and helping female vets.On Veterans Day, several candidates rolled out proposals to meet the needs of…
read moreEcologists are urging creative solutions to clean up plastic waste choking waterways and threatening ecosystems across the globe. The United Nations Children’s Fund partnered with a Colombian company to turn piles of plastic into the building blocks of education in Africa. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi takes us to school. …
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump launched a new attack Sunday on this week’s impeachment hearings that target him, calling them “disgraceful” and complaining that Democrats are blocking witnesses that Republicans want to question.He said “corrupt politician” Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee leading the impeachment effort, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi want White…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s former U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley , alleges in her upcoming memoir that two administration officials who were ultimately pushed out by Trump once tried to get her to join them in opposing some of his policies.In “With All Due Respect,” Haley said then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and then-White House chief of…
read moreThe House of Representatives Intelligence Committee moves to public hearings this week in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. Democrats say the president abused power by withholding military aid to Ukraine in exchange for dirt on a political foe. Republicans contend Trump has done nothing to be impeached. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports …
read moreArtificial intelligence or AI, is broadly defined as the technology that allows machines to do tasks that only humans have done in the past. However, as that technology continues to advance there is a growing conversation about ensuring that machines aren’t just making decisions, but making ethical decisions. …
read moreHe was once called a Lost Boy but today, his official title is Councilor-Elect.Chol Majok won the 3rd District Common Council seat in Syracuse, New York, this week, becoming the first former refugee in city history to do so, according to Onondaga County’s Board of Elections.“One of the things that I am certain about is…
read moreHouse Democrats will launch a new phase in the impeachment investigation of U.S. President Donald Trump next week with a round of public testimony from former administration officials. Those witnesses will provide a detailed picture of Trump’s alleged invitation of foreign interference into the 2020 presidential election. Newly released transcripts from the closed door testimony…
read moreFacebook says it is deleting the name of the person who has been identified in conservative circles as the whistleblower who triggered a congressional impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s actions.The company said Friday that mention of the potential whistleblower’s name violates Facebook’s “coordinating harm policy,” which prohibits material that could identify a “witness, informant,…
read moreU.S. health officials say they have found the likely cause of a mysterious illness in people who smoke e-cigarettes, describing the findings as a “breakthrough.”Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that a compound known as vitamin E acetate is a “very strong culprit” in the search for the cause…
read moreMichael Bloomberg plans to skip early voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire if he launches a presidential bid and instead focus his efforts on the crush of states that vote on Super Tuesday and beyond. It’s a strategy that acknowledges the limitations of entering the race at this late stage and the opportunities afforded…
read moreIvanka Trump on Friday echoed her father’s view that the House impeachment investigation is an attempt to overturn the 2016 election. But, in an interview with The Associated Press, she parted ways with President Donald Trump by calling the identity of the impeachment whistleblower not particularly relevant.” The Republican president and some of his…
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