February 2025

Feb282025 by DmediaNo Comments

Southern Africa pushes for better energy access

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GABORONE, BOTSWANA — Southern Africa energy experts and political leaders pledged to improve access to energy at a summit in Botswana this week. The commitments come as most countries in the region still rely on coal, a major contributor to global warming. More than 500 participants…

Feb282025 by TechmanNo Comments

With $500B US investment, Apple pulling away from China, analysts say

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Apple announced this week it would spend $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years and create 20,000 jobs, signaling its pro-U.S. jobs and investment policy. U.S. President Donald Trump also announced he would double tariffs on China, where most Apple products are…

Feb282025 by DmediaNo Comments

Harsh flu season has health officials worried about brain complications in children

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WASHINGTON — This year's harsh flu season — the most intense in 15 years — has federal health officials trying to understand if it sparked an increase in a rare but life-threatening brain complication in children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 19,000 people…

Feb272025 by DmediaNo Comments

Modern-day moonshot blasts off from Earth

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A public-private partnership aims for a dark landing on the moon. Plus, a look at why Mars is red, and a phenomenon known as a planetary parade. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. ...

Feb272025 by DmediaNo Comments

Katy Perry, Gayle King to join Blue Origin spaceflight

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CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — Katy Perry and Gayle King are headed to space with Jeff Bezos’ fiancee, Lauren Sanchez, and three other women. Bezos’ rocket company, Blue Origin, announced the all-female celebrity crew on Thursday. Sanchez, a helicopter pilot and former TV journalist, picked the crew…

Feb272025 by DmediaNo Comments

Japan’s births fell to record low in 2024

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TOKYO — The number of babies born in Japan fell to a record low of 720,988 in 2024 for a ninth consecutive year of decline, the health ministry said on Thursday, underscoring the rapid aging and dwindling of the population. Births were down 5% on the…

Feb272025 by TechmanNo Comments

Private company’s craft rockets toward moon in latest rush of lunar landing attempts

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — A private company launched another lunar lander Wednesday, aiming to get closer to the moon's south pole this time with a drone that will hop into a black crater where the sun never shines. Intuitive Machines' lander, named Athena, caught a lift…

Feb262025 by DmediaNo Comments

What we know about Congo illness that has sickened 400, killed 50

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KINSHASA, CONGO — Unidentified illnesses in northwestern Congo have killed more than 50 people over the past five weeks, nearly half of them within hours after they felt sick. The outbreaks in two distant villages in Congo's Equateur province began on Jan. 21 and include 419…

Feb262025 by DmediaNo Comments

First measles death reported in West Texas outbreak that’s infected more than 120 people

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LUBBOCK, TEXAS — A person who was hospitalized with measles has died from measles in West Texas, the first death in an outbreak that began late last month. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center spokesperson Melissa Whitfield confirmed the death Wednesday. It wasn't clear the age…

Feb262025 by DmediaNo Comments

US will spend up to $1 billion to combat bird flu, USDA secretary says

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. will invest up to $1 billion to combat the spread of bird flu, including increasing imports of eggs, agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins said on Wednesday. A three-year bird flu outbreak in U.S. poultry has killed 166 million chickens since 2022, according to…

Feb262025 by DmediaNo Comments

Newly discovered asteroid will bypass Earth

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Earth is not in danger of being hit by an asteroid in the near future, NASA and the European Space Agency said Tuesday. The proclamations from the two agencies came after an asteroid dubbed 2024 YR4, discovered in December, had scientists speculating that it could…

Feb252025 by DmediaNo Comments

Unknown illness kills over 50 in part of Congo with hours between symptoms and death

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KINSHASA, DR Congo — An unknown illness has killed over 50 people in northwestern Congo, according to doctors on the ground and the World Health Organization on Monday. The interval between the onset of symptoms and death has been 48 hours in the majority of cases,…

Feb252025 by DmediaNo Comments

Talks to protect Earth’s biodiversity resume with money topping the agenda

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BOGOTA, Colombia — An annual United Nations conference on biodiversity that ran out of time last year will resume its work Tuesday in Rome with money at the top of the agenda. That is, how to spend what's been pledged so far — and how to…

Feb252025 by TechmanNo Comments

Musicians release silent album to protest UK’s AI copyright changes

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LONDON — More than 1,000 musicians including Kate Bush and Cat Stevens on Tuesday released a silent album to protest proposed changes to Britain's copyright laws which could allow tech firms to train artificial intelligence models using their work. Creative industries globally are grappling with the…

Feb242025 by TechmanNo Comments

Apple to build 23,200-square meter facility in Texas

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U.S. tech giant Apple has announced plans to create some 20,000 jobs and invest $500 billion over the next four years in the United States. Apple says it will expand teams and facilities in nine states across the country and that it aims to open…

Feb242025 by TechmanNo Comments

Australia fines Telegram for delay in answering child abuse, terror questions

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Sydney — Australia's online safety regulator fined messaging platform Telegram about $640,000 on Monday for its delay in answering questions about measures the app took to prevent the spread of child abuse and violent extremist material. The eSafety Commission in March 2024 sought responses from social…

Feb232025 by TechmanNo Comments

Rich in cash, Japan automaker Toyota builds city to test futuristic mobility

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SUSONO — Woven City near Mount Fuji is where Japanese automaker Toyota plans to test everyday living with robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous zero-emissions transportation. Daisuke Toyoda, an executive in charge of the project from the automaker's founding family, stressed it's not "a smart city." "We're…

Feb232025 by DmediaNo Comments

Philippine village battles dengue by offering bounties for mosquitos — dead or alive

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MANILA, PHILIPPINES — A village in the densely populated Philippine capital region launched a battle against dengue Wednesday by offering a token bounty to residents for captured mosquitos — dead or alive. The unusual strategy adopted by the Addition Hills village in Mandaluyong City reflects growing…

Feb222025 by DmediaNo Comments

Cholera kills 58, sickens 1,300 over 3 days in Sudanese city

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CAIRO — A cholera outbreak in a southern Sudanese city killed nearly 60 people and sickened about 1,300 others over the last three days, health authorities said Saturday. The outbreak in the southern city of Kosti was blamed mainly on contaminated drinking water after the city’s…

Feb222025 by DmediaNo Comments

New polio vaccination drive begins in Gaza

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JABALIA, GAZA STRIP — A third mass polio vaccination campaign began in Gaza on Saturday, AFP journalists reported, with the aim of delivering the first dose to nearly 600,000 children across the Palestinian territory. Scores of children under the age of 10 received the dose at…

Feb212025 by DmediaNo Comments

Nearly 100 cases of measles reported in Texas, New Mexico

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The measles outbreak in rural West Texas has grown to 90 cases across seven counties, the state health department posted online Friday, and 16 people are hospitalized. In neighboring eastern New Mexico, the measles case count is up to nine, though state public health officials…

Feb212025 by DmediaNo Comments

Global glacier melt is accelerating, scientists say

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PARIS — Ice loss from the world's glaciers has accelerated over the past decade, scientists said on Wednesday, warning that melting may be faster than previously expected in the coming years and drive sea levels higher. The world's glaciers, which are important climate regulators and hold…

Feb202025 by TechmanNo Comments

VOA Mandarin: How will China help developing countries promote AI?

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After China’s DeepSeek gained global recognition, some argue that the U.S.-China rivalry in AI may be upended. In addition, the Chinese Communist Party is actively offering to help developing countries strengthen their AI capacity building. Observers said that China is selling its AI software to…

Feb202025 by DmediaNo Comments

Why an asteroid is unlikely to hit Earth in 2032

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An asteroid heading toward Earth will likely miss its chance to wipe out the planet. Plus, a possible new source of fuel for future flight. And the northern lights as only seen from above. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. ...

Feb202025 by TechmanNo Comments

EU approves $960 million in German aid for Infineon chips plant

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BRUSSELS — The European Commission said Thursday it had approved 920 million-euro of German state aid, or $960 million, to Infineon Technologies for the construction of a new semiconductor manufacturing plant in Dresden. The measure will allow Infineon to complete the MEGAFAB-DD project, which will be…

Feb192025 by TechmanNo Comments

VOA Mandarin: Chinese netizens prefer DeepSeek to Musk’s Grok 3

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WASHINGTON — Chinese social media users are not impressed by the newly released AI model Grok 3 by Elon Musk's xAI, retaining their preference and support for DeepSeek, the free China-made AI model that rivals leading Western competitors while costing significantly less to train. Click here…

Feb192025 by TechmanNo Comments

Does AI detect breast cancer better than doctors can?

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A recent study found doctors were able to detect breast cancer more often when they used artificial intelligence to help read mammogram results. As VOA’s Dora Mekouar reports, AI helped boost the breast cancer detection rate by more than 17%. ...

Feb192025 by TechmanNo Comments

Solar refrigerators in Kenya reduce food waste

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NAIROBI, KENYA — Milk and egg vendor Caroline Mukundi has lost a lot of her stock in her years of selling fresh food at a Nairobi market. Mukundi said she had no way to keep food fresh, and the cost of refrigerating was out of reach.…