Apple faces challenges in Chinese market against Huawei’s tri-fold phone
Taipei, Taiwan — The U.S.-China technology war is playing out in the smartphone market in China, where global rivals Apple and Huawei released new phones this week. Industry experts say Apple, which lacks home-field advantage, faces many challenges in defending its market share in the country.…
Tech billionaire pulls off first private spacewalk high above Earth
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — A tech billionaire performed the first private spacewalk hundreds of kilometers above Earth on Thursday, a high-risk endeavor reserved for professional astronauts — until now. Tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman teamed up with SpaceX to test the company's brand new spacesuits on his…
Botswana, US firm partner to conduct border pathogen monitoring
Gaborone, Botswana — Botswana and an American biotech firm, Ginkgo Bioworks, have partnered to conduct pathogen surveillance at the country’s entry points. Health officials say the proactive move is meant to safeguard public health as the world faces emerging disease threats. Botswana introduced mpox screening last…
AI not a US election gamechanger yet, officials say
Washington — When the U.S. announced the seizure of 32 internet domains tied to Russian efforts to ply American voters with disinformation ahead of November’s presidential election, prosecutors were quick to note the use of artificial intelligence, or AI. The Russian operation, known as Doppelganger, drove…
Soyuz craft heads to space station with 2 Russians, 1 American
MOSCOW — A Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russians and an American blasted off Wednesday for an express trip to the International Space Station. The space capsule atop a towering rocket set off at 1623 GMT from Russia's manned space launch facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, and was…
China takes lead in critical technology research after ‘switching places’ with US
SINGAPORE — An Australian think tank that tracks tech competitiveness says China is now the world leader in research on almost 90% of critical technologies. In a newly released report, the research group adds there is also a high risk of Beijing securing a monopoly on…
Google, Apple lose court fights against EU, owe billions in fines, taxes
LONDON — Google lost its last bid to overturn a European Union antitrust penalty, after the bloc's top court ruled against it Tuesday in a case that came with a whopping fine and helped jumpstart an era of intensifying scrutiny for Big Tech companies. The European…
Zimbabwe rolls out hefty fines for poor telecommunications services
Harare, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s government has introduced hefty fines of up to $5,000 for poor service in the country's telecommunications industry. In a statement Tuesday, Zimbabwe’s ICT Minister Tatenda Mavetera said the government will levy fines of between $200 and $5,000 per infringement for telecommunications companies…
First doses of mpox vaccine from US arrive in DR Congo
KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo said that 50,000 doses of mpox vaccine from the United States arrived in the country on Tuesday, a week after the first batch arrived from the European Union. Adults in Equateur, South Kivu…
Australia plans age limit to ban children from social media
SYDNEY — Australia will ban children from using social media with a minimum age limit as high as 16, the prime minister said Tuesday, vowing to get kids off their devices and "onto the footy fields." Federal legislation to keep children off social media will be…
Google faces new antitrust trial after ruling declaring search engine a monopoly
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — One month after a judge declared Google's search engine an illegal monopoly, the tech giant faces another antitrust lawsuit that threatens to break up the company, this time over its advertising technology. The Justice Department, joined by a coalition of states, and Google…
Apple embraces AI craze with newly unleashed iPhone 16 lineup
CUPERTINO, California — Apple on Monday charged into the artificial intelligence craze with a new iPhone lineup that marks the company's latest attempt to latch onto a technology trend and transform it into a cultural phenomenon. The four different iPhone 16 models will all come equipped…
Bomb blast hits Pakistan polio team amid national immunization drive
Islamabad — Authorities in northwestern Pakistan said Monday that a roadside bomb explosion injured at least 10 people, including anti-polio vaccinators and police personnel escorting them. The bombing in the South Waziristan district near the border with Afghanistan targeted a convoy carrying polio workers…
India isolates ‘suspected mpox case’
New Delhi — India reported Sunday that it had put a "suspected mpox case" into isolation, assuring that the world's most populous nation had "robust measures" in place, the health ministry said in a statement. There have been no confirmed cases of mpox in India, a…
China plans to allow wholly foreign-owned hospitals in some areas
Beijing — China said Sunday it would allow the establishment of wholly foreign-owned hospitals in nine areas of the country including the capital, as Beijing tries to attract more foreign investment to boost its flagging economy. In a document on the official website of China's commerce…
Drought forces Kenya’s Maasai, other cattle herders to consider fish, camels
KAJIADO, Kenya — The blood, milk and meat of cattle have long been staple foods for Maasai pastoralists in Kenya, perhaps the country's most recognizable community. But climate change is forcing the Maasai to contemplate a very different dish: fish. A recent yearslong drought in Kenya…
Pakistan hasn’t learned lessons from 2022 deadly floods, experts say
ISLAMABAD — Millions of people in Pakistan continue to live along the path of floodwaters, showing neither people nor the government have learned lessons from the 2022 devastating floods that killed 1,737 people, experts said Thursday, as an aid group said half of the 300 victims…
New polio strain threatens setback to eradication in Nigeria
ABUJA, NIGERIA — Nigeria’s difficult victory over polio faces a challenge as the poliovirus type 2 variant reemerges and the nation considers new measures to tackle the outbreak. Nigeria eradicated wild polio in 2020, but more than 50 cases of the poliovirus type 2 variant were…
Boeing’s beleaguered Starliner returns home without astronauts
WASHINGTON — Boeing's beleaguered Starliner made its long-awaited return to Earth on Saturday without the astronauts who rode it up to the International Space Station, after NASA ruled the trip back too risky. After years of delays, Starliner launched in June for what was meant to…
Some Zimbabweans worry about nation’s continued reliance on coal
Zimbabwe’s heavy reliance on coal-based energy is hurting the health of people in mining regions who continue to be exposed to dirty air from coal burning. Columbus Mavhunga visited the Hwange thermal power station — about 700 kilometers from Harare — and the surrounding area,…
Tribes celebrate removal of dam, revival of community along Klamath River
For more than a century, dams have blocked fish migration on California’s second-largest river. VOA’s Matt Dibble takes us to the removal of the last of four dams, a victory for Native Americans who depend on the river. ...
NASA astronauts stuck in space with nowhere to go … for now
A trip that should have lasted just over a week spirals into a roughly eight-month adventure. Plus, a pioneering teacher memorialized in bronze. And a robot proves its purpose by picking up pebbles. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. ...
Female genital mutilation continues to endanger girls, women in Somalia
Despite global efforts to stop the practice of female genital mutilation, the harmful tradition continues to affect the lives and health of millions of women and girls in Somalia. Reporter Najib Ahmed has this story from the capital, Mogadishu, narrated by Anthony LaBruto. (Camera and…