Meta removes fake accounts in Moldova ahead of presidential election
STOCKHOLM — Meta Platforms said on Friday that it had removed a network of group accounts targeting Russian speakers in Moldova ahead of the country's October 20 election, for violation of the company's policy on fake accounts. Authorities in Moldova, an ex-Soviet state lying between Romania and Ukraine, said they had blocked dozens of Telegram channels and chat bots linked to a drive to pay voters to cast "no" ballots in a referendum on European Union membership held alongside the presidential election. Pro-European President Maia Sandu is seeking a second term in the election and called the referendum on joining the 27-member bloc as the cornerstone of her policies. The fake Meta accounts posted criticism of Sandu, pro-EU politicians and close ties between Moldova and Romania, and supported pro-Russia parties in…
Despite tariffs, China drives toward dominating EV market all over world
washington — As China pursues tit-for-tat actions against the European Union in response to tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, Beijing's drive for global dominance in the automotive sector continues unabated. Over the past year, companies such as EV giant BYD and others have made inroads in markets from Southeast Asia to Latin America and Africa, even as they face tariffs of up to 100% in Canada and the United States, and up to 45% in the European Union. Chinese EV companies have announced plans to invest millions to build new factories in Thailand and Brazil, and they have opened showrooms in Zambia, Kenya and South Africa. And while most Chinese EV makers say they will continue to sell cars in Europe and not boost prices to offset the tariffs, analysts say…
US lawmakers seek answers from telecoms on Chinese hacking report
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers asked AT&T, Verizon Communications, and Lumen Technologies on Friday to answer questions after a report that Chinese hackers accessed the networks of U.S. broadband providers. The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday hackers obtained information from systems the federal government uses for court-authorized wiretapping, and said the three companies were among the telecoms whose networks were breached. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican, and the top Democrat on the committee Representative Frank Pallone along with Representatives Bob Latta and Doris Matsui asked the three companies to answer questions. They are seeking a briefing and detailed answers by next Friday. "There is a growing concern regarding the cybersecurity vulnerabilities embedded in U.S. telecommunications networks," the lawmakers said. They are asking…
Smithsonian and NASA present exhibit that explores ever-changing Earth
This month, [October 8] the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History opened "NASA’s Earth Information Center" an exhibition that gives visitors a firsthand look at the forces shaping our planet. Andrei Dziarkach has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Artem Kohan ...
Prayer camps in Nigeria attract ‘miracle seekers’
The power of simple prayer to heal illness is not clear, according to scientists, and is difficult to study. Whatever your faith, when you’re sick, you should seek treatment from a doctor. But in Nigeria, some people choose spiritual healers and miracle cures over orthodox medicine and hospitals. That creates some dangerous situations. Timothy Obiezu reports from Abuja. ...
A rare comet brightens the night skies in October
NEW YORK — Prepare to spot a rare, bright comet. The space rock is slinging toward Earth from the outer reaches of the solar system and will make its closest pass Saturday. It should be visible through the end of October, clear skies permitting. Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas should be bright enough to see with the naked eye, but binoculars and telescopes will give a better view. "It'll be this fuzzy circle with a long tail stretching away from it," said Sally Brummel, planetarium manager at the Bell Museum in Minnesota. What is a comet? Comets are frozen leftovers from the solar system's formation billions of years ago. They heat up as they swing toward the sun, releasing their characteristic streaming tails. In 2023, a green comet that last visited Earth 50,000 years…
One in 8 girls and women raped or sexually assaulted before age 18, UNICEF says
UNITED NATIONS — More than 370 million girls and women alive today, or one in every eight worldwide, experienced rape or sexual assault before the age of 18, the United Nations children's agency said Wednesday. The number rises to 650 million, or one in five, when taking into account "non-contact" forms of sexual violence, such as online or verbal abuse, UNICEF reported, in what it called the first global survey of the problem. The report said that while girls and women were worst affected, 240 million to 310 million boys and men, or around 1 in 11, have experienced rape or sexual assault during childhood. "The scale of this human rights violation is overwhelming, and it's been hard to fully grasp because of stigma, challenges in measurement, and limited investment in…
Colombia’s Caribbean islands on front line of war on climate change
As representatives of the signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity prepare to meet in Cali, Colombia, this month, residents of some Colombian islands in the Caribbean are calling for action because rising seas are threatening their homes, families, and way of life. Austin Landis traveled to Santa Cruz del Islote to hear their story. Camera: Jorge Calle. ...
Wimbledon tennis tournament replaces line judges with AI in break with tradition
LONDON — That long-held Wimbledon tradition of line judges dressed in elegant uniforms is no more. The All England Club announced Wednesday that artificial intelligence will be used to make the "out" and "fault" calls at the championships from 2025. Wimbledon organizers said the decision to adopt live electronic line calling was made following extensive testing at the 2024 tournament and "builds on the existing ball-tracking and line-calling technology that has been in place for many years." "We consider the technology to be sufficiently robust and the time is right to take this important step in seeking maximum accuracy in our officiating," said Sally Bolton, chief executive of the All England Club. "For the players, it will offer them the same conditions they have played under at a number of other…
Baker, Hassabis, Jumper win 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
STOCKHOLM — Scientists David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the award-giving body said on Wednesday, for their work on the structure of proteins. The prize, widely regarded as among the most prestigious in the scientific world, is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and is worth $1.1 million. "One of the discoveries being recognized this year concerns the construction of spectacular proteins. The other is about fulfilling a 50-year-old dream: predicting protein structures from their amino acid sequences," the academy said in a statement. Half the prize was awarded to Baker "for computational protein design" while the other half was shared by Hassabis and Jumper "for protein structure prediction," the academy said. The third award to be handed out every year,…
Cholera cases, deaths surge more than 200% in Nigeria
Abuja, Nigeria — Cholera is surging in Nigeria, health officials said this week, with the number of cases and deaths increasing by more than 200% this year. The Nigerian Center for Disease Control said in this week's epidemiological report that the country has recorded nearly 11,000 cases of cholera this year — a 220% increase compared with the same point in 2023. The report said fatalities over the same periods have increased from 106 to 359 — a rise of 239%. The state of Lagos accounted for 43% of the nation's cases, while Kano, Katsina, Jigawa and Borno also recorded significant numbers. Last month, the worst flooding in 30 years ravaged conflict-ridden Borno state, worsening an already dire humanitarian situation there. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced and moved to…
US states sue TikTok, saying it harms young users
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON — TikTok faces new lawsuits filed by 13 U.S. states and the District of Columbia on Tuesday, accusing the popular social media platform of harming and failing to protect young people. The lawsuits, filed separately in New York, California, the District of Columbia and 11 other states, expand Chinese-owned TikTok's legal fight with U.S. regulators and seek new financial penalties against the company. Washington is located in the District of Columbia. The states accuse TikTok of using intentionally addictive software designed to keep children watching as long and often as possible and misrepresenting its content moderation effectiveness. "TikTok cultivates social media addiction to boost corporate profits," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. "TikTok intentionally targets children because they know kids do not yet have the defenses…
Pioneers in artificial intelligence win the Nobel Prize in physics
STOCKHOLM — Two pioneers of artificial intelligence — John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton — won the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for helping create the building blocks of machine learning that is revolutionizing the way we work and live but also creates new threats to humanity, one of the winners said. Hinton, who is known as the "godfather of artificial intelligence," is a citizen of Canada and Britain who works at the University of Toronto. Hopfield is an American working at Princeton. "This year's two Nobel Laureates in physics have used tools from physics to develop methods that are the foundation of today's powerful machine learning," the Nobel committee said in a press release. Ellen Moons, a member of the Nobel committee at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, said the…
Don’t expect human life expectancy to grow much more, researcher says
new york — Humanity is hitting the upper limit of life expectancy, according to a new study. Advances in medical technology and genetic research — not to mention larger numbers of people making it to age 100 — are not translating into marked jumps in lifespan overall, according to researchers who found shrinking longevity increases in countries with the longest-living populations. "We have to recognize there's a limit" and perhaps reassess assumptions about when people should retire and how much money they'll need to live out their lives, said S. Jay Olshansky, a University of Illinois-Chicago researcher who was lead author of the study published Monday by the journal Nature Aging. Mark Hayward, a University of Texas researcher not involved in the study, called it "a valuable addition to the mortality…
World water resources decreasing as global rivers dry up
GENEVA — Billions of people are facing a future of water scarcity as global rivers dry up, glaciers melt, and intense heat and other extreme weather events caused by climate change create critical changes in water availability around the world, according to the State of Global Water Resources report issued Monday by the World Meteorological Organization. “Water is the canary in the coal mine of climate change,” said Celeste Saulo, WMO secretary-general. “Water is the basis of life on this planet, but it can also be a force of destruction.” She told journalists at a briefing in Geneva that “water is becoming increasingly unpredictable, what we call an erratic hydrological cycle, leading to extreme rainfall, sudden floods, and severe droughts.” “Climate change is one of the causes of these extreme behaviors,”…
Nobel Prize in medicine honors American duo for their discovery of microRNA
STOCKHOLM — The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was awarded Monday to Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA, tiny pieces of genetic material that alter how genes work at the cellular level and could lead to new ways of treating cancer. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, which awarded the prize, said the duo's discovery is "proving to be fundamentally important" in understanding how organisms develop and function. MicroRNA have opened up scientists' approaches to treating diseases like cancer by helping to regulate how genes work at the cellular level, according to Dr. Claire Fletcher, a lecturer in molecular oncology at Imperial College London. Fletcher said microRNA provide genetic instructions to tell cells to make new proteins and that there were two main areas…
Spacecraft headed to harmless asteroid slammed by NASA in previous save-the-Earth test
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A spacecraft blasted off Monday to investigate the scene of a cosmic crash. The European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft rocketed away on a two-year journey to the small, harmless asteroid rammed by NASA two years ago in a dress rehearsal for the day a killer space rock threatens Earth. Launched by SpaceX from Cape Canaveral, it's the second part of a planetary defense test that could one day help save the planet. The 2022 crash by NASA's Dart spacecraft shortened Dimorphos' orbit around its bigger companion, demonstrating that if a dangerous rock was headed our way, there's a chance it could be knocked off course with enough advance notice. Scientists are eager to examine the impact's aftermath up close to know exactly how effective Dart was and…
US Supreme Court rebuffs Biden administration on emergency abortions in Texas
Washington — The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a bid by President Joe Biden's administration to enforce in Texas federal guidance requiring hospitals to perform abortions if needed to stabilize a patient's emergency medical condition. The justices turned away the Justice Department's appeal of a lower court's decision that halted enforcement of the guidance in Texas, where a Republican-backed near-total ban on abortion is in effect, and against members of two anti-abortion medical associations. The Biden administration issued the guidance in July 2022 to protect access to abortion after the Supreme Court's conservative majority the previous month overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had legalized abortion nationwide. The guidance reminded healthcare providers across the country of their obligations under a 1986 federal…
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US aviation authority OKs SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle for Monday flight
Washington — SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket can return to flight for a mission planned for Monday to launch the European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft from Florida, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said Sunday. Elon Musk's company, which has engaged in a public quarrel with the FAA in recent weeks, said Sunday it is planning the liftoff for 10:52 a.m. ET (1452 GMT) from Cape Canaveral. "The SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle is authorized to return to flight only for the planned Hera mission scheduled to launch on Oct. 7 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida," the FAA said Sunday. The agency said it has "determined that the absence of a second stage reentry for this mission adequately mitigates the primary risk to the public in the event of a…
Rwanda begins Marburg vaccinations to curb deadly outbreak
KIGALI — Rwanda said Sunday it had begun administering vaccine doses against the Marburg virus to try to combat an outbreak of the Ebola-like disease in the east African country, where it has so far killed 12 people. "The vaccination is starting today immediately," Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana said at a news conference in the capital Kigali. He said the vaccinations would focus on those "most at risk, most exposed health care workers working in treatment centers, in the hospitals, in ICU, in emergency, but also [in] the close contacts of the confirmed cases." The country has already received shipments of the vaccines including from the Sabin Vaccine Institute. Rwanda's first outbreak of the viral hemorrhagic fever was detected in late September, with 46 cases and 12 deaths reported since then.…
Congo starts mpox vaccinations in effort to slow outbreaks
GOMA, Congo — Congolese authorities on Saturday began vaccinations against mpox, nearly two months after the disease outbreak that spread from Congo to several African countries and beyond was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization. The 265,000 doses donated to Congo by the European Union and the United States were rolled out in the eastern city of Goma in North Kivu province, where hospitals and health workers have been overstretched, struggling to contain the new and possibly more infectious strain of mpox. Congo, with about 30,000 suspected mpox cases and 859 deaths, accounts for more than 80% of all the cases and 99% of all the deaths reported in Africa this year. All the Central African nation's 26 provinces have recorded mpox cases. Although most mpox infections and…
Magnitude 5.7 earthquake strikes near capital of New Zealand
wellington, new zealand — A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck near New Zealand's capital city of Wellington, government seismic monitor GeoNet said on Sunday, but initial reports indicated there were no injuries or significant damage. The quake hit at 5:08 a.m. on Sunday (1608 GMT on Saturday) striking 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) west of Wellington at a focal depth of 30 km (19 miles). GeoNet said more than 37,000 people had reported feeling the shake, some as far north as Auckland in the North Island. GeoNet said there was no tsunami warning as a result of the quake. A spokesperson for Fire and Emergency New Zealand said the service had not received any calls for assistance. Government-owned Radio New Zealand said there were no reports of significant damage or reports of injury. …
Sex workers find themselves at center of Congo’s mpox outbreak
KAMITUGA, Congo — It's been four months since Sifa Kunguja recovered from mpox, but as a sex worker, she said, she's still struggling to regain clients, with fear and stigma driving away people who've heard she had the virus. "It's risky work," Kunguja, 40, said from her small home in eastern Congo. "But if I don't work, I won't have money for my children." Sex workers are among those hardest-hit by the mpox outbreak in Kamituga, where some 40,000 of them are estimated to reside — many single mothers driven by poverty to this mineral-rich commercial hub where gold miners comprise the majority of the clientele. Doctors estimate 80% of cases here have been contracted sexually, though the virus also spreads through other kinds of skin-to-skin contact. Sex workers say the…
A week after Helene hit, thousands still without water struggle to find enough
ASHEVILLE, North Carolina — Nearly a week after Hurricane Helene brought devastation to western North Carolina, a shiny stainless steel tanker truck in downtown Asheville attracted residents carrying 19-liter containers, milk jugs and buckets to fill with what has become a desperately scare resource — drinking water. Flooding tore through the city's water system, destroying so much infrastructure that officials said repairs could take weeks. To make do, Anna Ramsey arrived Wednesday with her two children, who each left carrying plastic bags filled with 7.6 liters of water. "We have no water. We have no power. But I think it's also been humbling," Ramsey said. Helene's path through the Southeast left a trail of power outages so large the darkness was visible from space. Tens of trillions of liters of rain…