Year: 2021

Cities around the world are installing new technology that connects to the personal devices of pedestrians, drivers, and riders on public transportation. Some cities are using these systems to make transportation easier for people with disabilities, such as those who are blind. For VOA, Jason Strother has the story from Busan, South Korea. ...

Cities around the world are installing new technology that connects to the personal devices of pedestrians, drivers, and riders on public transportation. Some cities are using these systems to make transportation easier for people with disabilities, such as those who are blind. For VOA, Jason Strother has the story from Busan, South Korea. ...

South Korea’s second largest city is using new, inclusive technology to bring down barriers to mobility for people who are blind.Park Hyoung-bae glides his long, white cane along a strip of raised yellow blocks that form a trail through an underground metro station. The tactile paving leads blind commuters from the street all the way to the train platform.But Park, who is walking arm in arm with his mother, says the tiles still don’t make him feel comfortable enough to travel far from his home on his own.Information boards, maps and other signage direct travelers to exits, restrooms and other station amenities, but all of these visual indicators are inaccessible for the 32-year-old.Without help from a family member or a hired guide, he explains Busan’s metro system can be overwhelming.“I’ve…

JBS Foods, the world’s largest meat supplier, has been forced to shut down operations in Australia and North America Monday, as the company has been a target of a cyberattack over the weekend, according to officials at its headquarters in Brazil. Authorities said they are working to resolve the impact. A U.S. subsidiary, JBS USA, issued a statement following the attack saying they are taking “immediate action, suspending all affected systems, notifying authorities, and activating the company’s global network of IT [Information Technology] professionals and third-party experts,” to address the issue, Reuters reported. Some transactions with customer and suppliers might be delayed due to the cyberattack, the company statement added.  There is no evidence, so far, that the personal data of customers and suppliers or employees had been compromised, the statement said. The company’s backup IT system was not hit by what the company said was an “organized cybersecurity attack.” The largest global meatpacker has operations…

Cities around the world are installing new technology that connects to the personal devices of pedestrians, drivers, and riders on public transportation. Some cities are using these systems to make transportation easier for people with disabilities, such as those who are blind. For VOA, Jason Strother has the story from Busan, South Korea. ...

JBS Foods, the world’s largest meat supplier, has been forced to shut down operations in Australia and North America Monday, as the company has been a target of a cyberattack over the weekend, according to officials at its headquarters in Brazil. Authorities said they are working to resolve the impact. A U.S. subsidiary, JBS USA, issued a statement following the attack saying they are taking “immediate action, suspending all affected systems, notifying authorities, and activating the company’s global network of IT [Information Technology] professionals and third-party experts,” to address the issue, Reuters reported. Some transactions with customer and suppliers might be delayed due to the cyberattack, the company statement added.  There is no evidence, so far, that the personal data of customers and suppliers or employees had been compromised, the statement said. The company’s backup IT system was not hit by what the company said was an “organized cybersecurity attack.” The largest global meatpacker has operations…

New clean energy technologies like solar power and electric vehicles are expected to remake the global energy industry. Trillions of dollars used to drill and ship oil and gas will instead be spent finding and processing the specialized minerals used to make high-tech gear including advanced electric generators and powerful, compact batteries.Energy analysts say this will challenge the United States, which will likely need to import vastly more minerals like cobalt, lithium and aluminum, at the same time that China has increased its control over the supply of some key resources.People cool off in the beach near the mining pipeline "Puerto Coloso" of the "Escondida" cooper mine in Antofagasta, Chile, Feb. 16, 2017.A VOA examination of U.S. government data shows how China has become the main supplier for some of…