Month: June 2019

Museums across the United States are striving to be more accessible to everyone. That includes touchable versions of photographs and paintings for people who may not be able to see them. At a recent expo by the American Alliance of Museums in New Orleans, new technology was used to help the visually impaired “see” art and pictures. VOA’s Deborah Block tells us more. ...

Concrete military walls and police security checkpoints are seen on every corner of Afghanistan’s capital city, Kabul.  The robust security presence signals a major effort to protect civilians and government officials from terrorist attacks.  But the very real threat of violence, like a suicide attack, doesn't stop Kabul residents from living and enjoying their daily lives.  VOA’s Ahmad Samir Rassoly gives us a unique view of a typical night in Kabul. ...

A seven-story building under construction collapsed in Cambodia's coastal city of Sihanoukville early Saturday, killing seven workers and injuring 21, authorities said.   Provincial authorities said in a statement that four Chinese nationals involved in the construction have been detained while an investigation into the collapse is carried out.   Rescue work at the site was underway to find out if any more workers were trapped in the rubble, said the city police chief, Maj. Thul Phorsda. Workers could be seen using saws to cut steel beams and excavators to move piles of rubble from the site.   The Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training said that 30 workers were at the site when the building tumbled around 4 a.m.  Police and provincial authorities said they were unsure how many…

U.N. Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet is urging the Venezuelan government to free hundreds of jailed dissidents who were arrested for participating in peaceful protests. Her request came at the end of a three-day visit Friday to Venezuela during which she met with President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido. Top UN Human Rights Chief Meets Venezuelan Opposition Leader GuaidoThe UN official is also scheduled to meet with President Maduro At a Caracas news conference before leaving the country, Bachelet called on the government "to release all those who are detained or deprived of their liberty for exercising their rights in a peaceful manner." Rights groups have been pressuring Bachelet to advocate on behalf of more than 700 people they say have been jailed for political reasons, a claim…

VOA congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson and VOA Persian's Katherine Ahn contributed to this report from Washington. WASHINGTON — Iran warned Saturday that it would react sharply to any perceived aggression against it. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told the semi-official Tasnim  news agency that Iran would not allow any of its borders to be violated.  He said "Iran will firmly confront any aggression or threat by America." Britain's Middle East minister travels to Tehran Sunday for talks with Iranian officials.  Britain's Foreign Office said Andrew Murrison will call for "urgent de-escalation in the region."  Murrison will also discuss Iran's threat to cease complying with the nuclear deal that the United States pulled out of last year.   Friday U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that the United States was "cocked…

Delays in obtaining passports are making some Zimbabweans think of "jumping the border" to look for jobs and a better life. People are still applying for the documents so they can travel legally, but the wait is long and hopes are growing dim.  A line formed Thursday evening near midnight outside Harare’s only passport office. The people covered themselves in blankets or plastic. It was chilly, being winter in this part of the world. Some started a fire to keep the cold at bay.  Applicants outside a Harare passport office use fire to keep cold at bay, June 21, 2019. (C. Mavhunga/VOA) By 4 a.m. Friday there were about 20 people in line, and they were already worried. Passport office authorities are accepting between five and 15 applicants a day.  The people in line were…

Senior political figures from Afghanistan, including several presidential candidates, will attend a rare, unofficial meeting in neighboring Pakistan Saturday where they will hold discussions on how to promote “peace and reconciliation” efforts in their war-ravaged country. The conference will be held in the tourist resort of Bhurban, about 70 kilometers from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Around 30 Afghans, mostly opposition leaders, have been invited, organizers said. They say that the meeting is being held in support of ongoing U.S.-led efforts to bring an end to the 17-year-old war with the Taliban. No representatives of the Taliban insurgency will attend the conference. It comes ahead of the June 27 official visit to Pakistan by President Ashraf Ghani, who is also seeking re-election in the September presidential vote in Afghanistan. Ghani’s election rivals,…

Dozens of European citizens of Somali origin who joined the Islamic State terror group in Syria and Iraq want to go to Somalia due to European countries' reluctance to take them back. Through their parents, the so-called Islamic State brides and their children have urged the Somali government to take them in. VOA Somali service's Investigative Dossier program has obtained the list of 23 women and 34 children who are now being held at al-Hol camp in northern Syria. The relatives say the IS brides have expressed “regret” and accept they made a “mistake” in leaving Europe to travel to Syria. Some of the women have lost their European citizenship. Nasra Abdullahi Abukar is one of them. She left London’s Lewisham Borough on June 3, 2014 and travelled to Syria.…

Each morning, Daybreak Africa looks at the latest developments on the continent, starting with headline news and providing in-depth interviews, reports from VOA correspondents, sports news as well as listener comments. ...

Online data is at risk. Hackers are getting smarter and companies across the globe are facing a shortage of trained professionals who can help protect their data. To fill this gap, the U.S. government is beefing up its efforts to recruit the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. VOA’s Sahar Majid has more. ...

The giant e-commerce technology company, Amazon, has announced that it expects to start delivering orders to shoppers' homes by drones in the coming months. The details are still in the works, but the innovation could change the way we get packages. VOA's Kevin Enochs reports. ...

Fourteen Russia-backed YouTube channels spreading disinformation have been generating billions of views and millions of dollars in advertising revenue, according to researchers, and had not been labeled as state-sponsored, contrary to the world's most popular streaming service's policy. The channels, including news outlets NTV and Russia-24, carried false reports ranging from a U.S. politician covering up a human organ harvesting ring to the economic collapse of Scandinavian countries. Despite such content, viewers have flocked to the channels and U.S. and European companies have bought ads that run alongside them. The previously unpublished research by Omelas, a Washington-based firm that tracks online extremism for defense contractors, provides the most comprehensive view yet of the Russian government's success in attracting viewers and generating revenue from propaganda on YouTube, which has 2 billion…

Facebook has stopped letting its apps come pre-installed on smartphones sold by Huawei in order to comply with U.S. restrictions, dealing a fresh blow to the Chinese tech giant. The social network said Friday that it has suspended providing software for Huawei to put on its devices while it reviews recently introduced U.S. sanctions. Owners of existing Huawei smartphones that already have Facebook apps can continue using them and downloading updates. It's not clear if buyers of new Huawei devices will be able to install Facebook's apps on their own. Facebook's move is the latest fallout in the escalating U.S.-China tech feud. The Commerce Department last month effectively barred U.S. companies from selling their technology to Huawei and other Chinese firms without government approval. ...

Google on Thursday released new details about its video game streaming service Stadia, which will be available in 14 countries starting in November. For the launch, Google will sell its "founders edition bundle" hardware pack for $129, with a monthly subscription price of $9.99. In Europe, the price will be 129 euros and 9.99 euros per month. The new gaming platform aims for a Netflix-style subscription that enables players to access games on any device, powered by the internet cloud. This could disrupt the huge gaming industry by allowing users to avoid consoles and game software on disc or download. Subscribers will have access to free games and will be able to purchase some blockbuster titles as well. The first free title will be the shooter game Destiny 2 from…

Wearing a white blouse and her dark hair hanging loose, Ai-Da looks like any artist at work as she studies her subject and puts pencil to paper. But the beeping from her bionic arm gives her away - Ai-Da is a robot. Described as "the world's first ultra-realistic AI humanoid robot artist," Ai-Da opens her first solo exhibition of eight drawings, 20 paintings, four sculptures and two video works next week, bringing "a new voice" to the art world, her British inventor and gallery owner Aidan Meller says. "The technological voice is the important one to focus on because it affects everybody," he told Reuters at a preview. "We've got a very clear message we want to explore: the uses and abuses of A.I. today, because this next decade is…