Dengue Outbreak in Bangladesh Sparks Alarm After 364 People Die This Year
Monsoon season can exacerbate the outbreak as infected people overwhelm hospitals ...
Chinese Surveillance Firm Selling Cameras With ‘Skin Color Analytics’
IPVM, a U.S.-based security and surveillance industry research group, says the Chinese surveillance equipment maker Dahua is selling cameras with what it calls a "skin color analytics" feature in Europe, raising human rights concerns. In a report released on July 31, IPVM said "the company…
US Suicides Hit All-Time High Last Year
About 49,500 people took their own lives last year in the U.S., the highest number ever, according to new government data posted Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which posted the numbers, has not yet calculated a suicide rate for the year, but…
Russia Launches Its First Moon Mission Since ’76
Russia launched its first mission to the moon in nearly 50 years on Friday, racing to land on the lunar south pole before a spacecraft from India gets there. The launch of the Luna-25 craft to the moon was Russia’s first since 1976, when it…
US Hospital Pharmacists Ration Drugs as Shortages Persist, Survey Shows
Nearly a third of U.S. hospital pharmacists say they were forced to ration, delay or cancel treatments as drug shortages in the United States approach an all-time high, according to a survey released Thursday. The shortages are especially critical for chemotherapy drugs used in…
Traditional Medicine Takes Center Stage at WHO Meeting in India
The World Health Organization says traditional medicine plays a pivotal role in the health and well-being of people and the planet and should be seen as complementary to modern medicine and be integrated into national health systems. Traditional healers have used their knowledge of plants…
Virgin Galactic Flies Its First Tourists to the Edge of Space
Virgin Galactic rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists Thursday, including a former British Olympian who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean. The space plane glided back to a runway landing at Spaceport America in…
Paris Plans Dramatic Transformation to Cope With Warming Temperatures
Paris' escape from record temperatures gripping parts of Europe this summer could be a short-term reprieve. A study finds the city could have the most heatwave-related deaths of any European capital by 2050 — when temperatures may soar to 50 C (122 F). For VOA,…
China to Require all Apps to Share Business Details in New Oversight Push
China will require all mobile app providers in the country to file business details with the government, its information ministry said, marking Beijing's latest effort to keep the industry on a tight leash. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said late on Tuesday…
US CDC Sees No Major Shift in COVID Variants
Currently spreading COVID-19 variants such as EG.5, or Eris, do not represent a major shift in COVID variants, and updated vaccines in September will offer protection, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. "Right now, what we're seeing with…
US Launches Contest to Use AI to Prevent Government System Hacks
The White House on Wednesday said it had launched a multimillion-dollar cyber contest to spur use of artificial intelligence to find and fix security flaws in U.S. government infrastructure, in the face of growing use of the technology by hackers for malicious purposes. "Cybersecurity…
US to Restrict High-Tech Investment in China
U.S. President Joe Biden is planning Wednesday to impose restrictions on U.S. investments in some high-tech industries in China. Biden’s expected executive order could again heighten tensions between the U.S., the world’s biggest economy, and No. 2 China after a period in which leaders of…
Indonesia’s Capital Named World’s Most Polluted City
Indonesia's capital Jakarta topped the list as the world's most polluted city on Wednesday, having consistently ranked among the 10 most polluted cities globally since May, according to data by Swiss air quality technology company IQAir. Jakarta, which has a population of over 10…
Health Conditions Deteriorate as More People Flee Sudan
U.N. agencies warn health conditions are deteriorating in Sudan and neighboring countries as growing numbers of people flee escalating fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Before the conflict erupted on April 15, 4.5 million Sudanese already were displaced — more…
Australian Study Warns of Air Conditioning Health Fears
Darwin, the capital city of Australia’s Northern Territory, can be brutally hot and humid. Many of its 150,000 residents seek refuge from the tropical elements in air-conditioned homes, offices and cars. But research from the Australian National University, the ANU, suggests that air-conditioning, which is…
Global Average Temperature Hits Record High in July
The World Meteorological Organization says the global average temperature for July 2023 is confirmed to be the highest on record for any month. “The month is estimated to have been around 1.5 degrees warmer than the average for 1850 to 1900s. So, the average of…
Zoom, Symbol of Remote Work Revolution, Wants Workers Back in Office Part-time
The company whose name became synonymous with remote work is joining the growing return-to-office trend. Zoom, the video conferencing pioneer, is asking employees who live within a 50-mile radius of its offices to work onsite two days a week, a company spokesperson confirmed in an…
US COVID-19 Hospitalizations Rising, but Not Like Before
Here we go again: COVID-19 hospital admissions have inched upward in the United States since early July in a small-scale echo of the three previous summers. With an updated vaccine still months away, this summer bump in new hospitalizations might be concerning, but the number…
Botswana Seeks Pharmacists From Abroad After Nurses Halt Dispensing Medications
Botswana is aiming to recruit at least 1,000 pharmacists, some from abroad, after nurses said they would no longer dispense medications. Nurses stopped filling prescriptions to patients last month, with the Botswana Nurse Union saying that doing so was outside their scope of work. The…
LogOn: Police Recruit AI to Analyze Police Body-Camera Footage
U.S. police reform advocates have long argued that police-worn body cameras will help reduce officers' excessive use of force and work to build public trust. But the millions of hours of footage that so-called "body cams" generate are difficult for police supervisors to monitor. As…
Amazon Nations Gather in Brazil to Save Rainforest
Leaders of eight South American nations that share the Amazon rainforest convene a two-day summit in Brazil Tuesday to reach a broad agreement on preserving the critical region. The meeting of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Belem, capital of the Amazon state of Para,…
Pope Warns Against Potential Dangers of Artificial Intelligence
Pope Francis on Tuesday called for a global reflection on the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI), noting the new technology's "disruptive possibilities and ambivalent effects." Francis, who is 86 and said in the past he does not know how to use a computer,…
European Scientists Make it Official: July Was Hottest Month on Record by Far
Now that July's sizzling numbers are all in, the European climate monitoring organization made it official: July 2023 was Earth's hottest month on record by a wide margin. July's global average temperature of 16.95 degrees Celsius (62.51 degrees Fahrenheit) was a third of a…
US Tech Groups Back TikTok in Challenge to Montana State Ban
Two to tech groups on Monday backed TikTok Inc in its lawsuit seeking block enforcement of a Montana state ban on use of the short video sharing app before it takes effect on January 1. NetChoice, a national trade association that includes major tech platforms,…
Analysts Say Use of Spyware During Conflict Is Chilling
The use of sophisticated spyware to hack into the devices of journalists and human rights defenders during a period of conflict in Armenia has alarmed analysts. A joint investigation by digital rights organizations, including Amnesty International, found evidence of the surveillance software on devices belonging…
Indigenous Groups Call for Bold Steps at Amazon Summit
Indigenous leaders from across South America called Monday for bold steps to protect the Amazon and their ancestral lands, ahead of a summit on saving the world's biggest rainforest. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will host fellow regional leaders Tuesday and Wednesday for…
Glacial Dam Outburst in Alaska’s Capital Destroys 2 Buildings
Raging waters that ate away at riverbanks, destroyed at least two buildings and undermined others were receding Monday in Alaska's capital city after a glacial dam outburst last weekend, authorities said. Levels along the Mendenhall River had started falling by Sunday, but the city said…
US Mom Blames Face Recognition Technology for Flawed Arrest
A mother is suing the city of Detroit, saying unreliable facial recognition technology led to her being falsely arrested for carjacking while she was eight months pregnant. Porcha Woodruff was getting her two children ready for school the morning of February 16 when a half-dozen…