Retailers are turning to robots to perform essential tasks that employees are no longer able to do because of social distancing regulations. The robots are cutting costs and helping to reduce the spread of infections. But as VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo reports, some fear the growing use of automation threatens jobs just as unemployment soars.…
read moreColombia’s commerce regulator will be investigating whether Chinese-owned social media app TikTok complies with laws on the collection and treatment of children’s and adolescents’ personal data.The announcement Tuesday came four days after the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) said it would begin looking into how TikTok handles the data of its millions of young users.TikTok…
read moreAs governments and communities around the world respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, Google and other tech giants have been tracking the dramatic changes in the mobility of people as they cope with lockdown measures. Reporter Veronica Balderas Iglesias talked to residents in and around Washington, D.C., to find out where people are going these days,…
read moreA new comet that was discovered in April using data from an orbiting observatory may be visible to the naked eye in the coming weeks. The comet was first spotted by amateur astronomer Michael Mattiazzo, who used data gathered by an instrument onboard the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite. The…
read moreThe U.S. Democratic Party, fearful of the coronavirus pandemic, is moving closer to holding a virtual convention in August to nominate former Vice President Joe Biden as its presidential candidate in the November national election rather than stage a traditional jammed-to-the-rafters event.The Democratic National Committee’s rules and bylaws committee agreed on Tuesday to give convention…
read moreJoe Biden would have to do more than select a Latina running mate to win over Hispanics whose support could be crucial to winning the presidency, according to activists who are warning the presumptive Democratic nominee not to take their community for granted. Biden is viewed with skepticism among some Latinos for his ties to…
read moreUS lawmakers weighed the costs of reopening the American economy Tuesday, asking the nation’s top health experts if the country has the resources to battle the coronavirus while lifting stay at home restrictions. More than two months into stay-at -home orders, lawmakers are considering yet another massive aid package to address the economic and public health crises and…
read moreAs governments and communities around the world respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, Google and other tech giants have been tracking the dramatic changes in the mobility of people as they cope with lockdown measures. Reporter Veronica Balderas Iglesias talked to residents in and around Washington, D.C., to find out where people are going these days,…
read morePaul Manafort, U.S. President Donald Trump’s former 2016 campaign chairman who later was convicted of tax and bank fraud, was released from prison Wednesday to serve the remainder of his seven-and-a-half-year term in home confinement.The 71-year-old Manafort had served a little more than a year of his term and was not due to be released…
read moreUS lawmakers weighed the costs of reopening the American economy Tuesday, asking the nation’s top health experts if the country has the resources to battle the coronavirus while lifting stay at home restrictions. More than two months into stay-at -home orders, lawmakers are considering yet another massive aid package to address the economic and public health crises and…
read moreThere is another stunning development in the case of President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. The federal judge overseeing the case has put the Justice Department’s move to drop the criminal charges against Flynn on hold to give outside legal experts a chance to argue against the department’s decision. Judge Emmet Sullivan said late Tuesday that “friends of the court” will be able to file briefs and that he will set up a time to hear those arguments “at…
read moreSome American states are holding special elections and primaries during the pandemic. Worries about the possible health risks of standing in line to vote at polling places is making the vote by mail option more appealing to some voters. These are the requirements to vote by mail in the U.S. …
read moreClimate scientists expect above-normal temperatures over the next three months, despite the absence of an El Nino, a natural phenomenon that tends to boost global temperatures. In past years, record heat has occurred in El Nino years. But that is changing according to the global seasonal climate update from the World Meteorological Organization. The WMO said that April 2020, a non-El Nino period, is tied as the…
read moreDr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said Tuesday that the coronavirus death toll in the United States is “almost certainly higher” than the reported 80,000 figure and warned of serious consequences if cities and states reopen too quickly. He told a Senate panel investigating the U.S. response to the pandemic that unaccounted…
read moreAs South Korea grapples with a new spike in coronavirus infections thought to be linked to nightspots in Seoul, including several popular with gay men, it’s also seeing rising homophobia that’s making it difficult for sexual minorities to come forward for diagnostic tests. The first confirmed patient in the new coronavirus cluster was a 29-year-old…
read moreA leading gun control advocacy group has enlisted more than a dozen religious leaders to boost voter turnout this fall in support of candidates who support measures to prevent gun violence.Everytown for Gun Safety, which expects to spend $60 million on this year’s elections, is forging its interfaith effort amid ongoing concerns about shootings at…
read moreA bipartisan group of about 2,000 former Justice Department officials have signed a letter calling for U.S. Attorney General William Barr to resign because of his intervention in the case of President Donald Trump’s former national security advisor, Michael Flynn.Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) moved to drop charges against Flynn, who had pleaded…
read moreSince the COVID-19 pandemic first erupted in China this winter, hopes have lingered that the outbreak would die down with the change of seasons. “A lot of people think that goes away in April with the heat,” U.S. Stalls are shuttered at Hong Lim Hawker Centre in Singapore, May 10, 2020, amid the coronavirus outbreak.…
read moreIt is not only doctors who are exposed to the deadly coronavirus every day – there are all the non-medical employees at hospitals who face the same risks every day. Maia Kay reports on how they are coping with today’s harsh reality. …
read moreThe U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Tuesday on appeals of three lower court decisions involving subpoenas of President Donald Trump’s tax and financial records. Trump filed legal challenges to subpoenas issued last year by several House of Representatives committees and a New York district attorney. The subpoenas seek financial information from the accounting firm Mazars as well as Deutsche Bank and Capital…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s fundraising pace slowed slightly for the second straight month as the nation reeled from the coronavirus outbreak. The Republican National Committee and Trump’s reelection campaign announced Monday that they raised more than $61.7 million in April. It brings Trump’s total haul for the election cycle to over $742 million. That’s $288 million more…
read morePresidential politics move fast. What we’re watching heading into a new week on the 2020 campaign: Days to general election: 176The Narrative President Donald Trump’s reelection is facing growing headwinds less than six months before Election Day. Coronavirus has breached the White House walls. The U.S. unemployment rate is at a 90-year high. And the…
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