Category: Technology

This year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, was smaller this year because of COVID, but, as usual, the event drew companies that are dreaming big. Mariia Prus was among the journalists covering CES-2022, which ended Jan. 8, and has this report narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Mariia Prus ...

Chinese technology and expertise is making it possible for Venezuela and Cuba to exercise suffocating control over digital communications in the two countries, according to insider accounts and several international investigations.  Venezuela and Cuba do more to block internet access than any other governments in Latin America, according to the U.S.-based advocacy group Freedom House, which has documented what it describes as "digital authoritarianism" in the region since 2018.  “Whoever believes that privacy exists in Venezuela through email communications, Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram is wrong. All these tools” are totally subject to government intervention, said Anthony Daquin, former adviser on computer security matters to the Ministry of Justice of Venezuela.  Daquin participated between 2002 and 2008 in delegations sent by former President Hugo Chávez to China to learn how…

Ukraine was hit by a massive cyberattack warning its citizens to "be afraid and expect the worst", and Russia, which has massed more than 100,000 troops on its neighbor's frontier, released TV pictures on Friday of more forces deploying in a drill. The developments came after no breakthrough was reached at meetings between Russia and Western states, which fear Moscow could launch a new attack on a country it invaded in 2014. "The drumbeat of war is sounding loud," said a senior U.S. Diplomat. Russia denies plans to attack Ukraine but says it could take unspecified military action unless demands are met, including a promise by the NATO alliance never to admit Kyiv. Russia said troops in its far east would practice deploying to far-away military sites for exercises as…

A SpaceX rocket launch Thursday carried three small South African-made satellites that will help with policing South African waters against illegal fishing operations. Produced at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, the satellites could also be used to help other African countries to protect their coastal waters. SpaceX’s billionaire boss Elon Musk has given three nano satellites produced in his birth country, South Africa, a ride into space. The company’s Falcon rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in the U.S. state of Florida with 105 spacecraft on board. All three South African satellites deployed successfully. This mission, known as Transporter 3, is part of SpaceX’s rideshare program which in two previous outings has put over 220 small satellites into orbit. The three South African nano satellites on this trip were designed at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s Africa Space Innovation Centre. The institution’s deputy vice chancellor for research, technology and innovation Professor David Phaho…

Cyberthreats and the growing space race are emerging risks to the global economy, adding to existing challenges posed by climate change and the coronavirus pandemic, the World Economic Forum said in a report Tuesday.   The Global Risks Report is usually released ahead of the annual elite winter gathering of CEOs and world leaders in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, but the event has been postponed for a second year in a row because of COVID-19. The World Economic Forum still plans some virtual sessions next week.  Here's a rundown of the report, which is based on a survey of about 1,000 experts and leaders:   World outlook  As 2022 begins, the pandemic and its economic and societal impacts still pose a "critical threat" to the world, the report said. Big…

U.S. cybersecurity officials are still sounding an alarm about the so-called Log4j software vulnerability more than a month after it was first discovered, warning some criminals and nation state adversaries may be waiting to make use of their newfound access to critical systems. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said Monday that the vulnerability, also known as Log4shell, has been subject to widespread exploitation by criminals over the past several weeks, but that more serious and damaging attacking could still be in the works. “We do expect Log4Shell to be used in intrusions well into the future,” CISA Director Jen Easterly told reporters during a phone briefing, adding, “at this time we have not seen the use of Log4shell resulting in significant intrusions.” “This may be the case…

Six months ago, pilot Hana Khan saw her picture on an app that appeared to be auctioning scores of Muslim women in India. The app was quickly taken down, no one was charged, and the issue shelved - until a similar app popped up on New Year's Day. Khan was not on the new app called Bulli Bai - a slur for Muslim women - that was hawking activists, journalists, an actor, politicians and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai as maids. Amid growing outrage, the app was taken down, and four suspects arrested this week.   The fake auctions that were shared widely on social media are just the latest examples of how technology is being used - often with ease, speed and little expense - to put women at risk…

President Joe Biden touted an agreement Tuesday between wireless carriers and U.S. regulators to allow the deployment of 5G wireless technology in two weeks. AT&T and Verizon said Monday they would delay activating the new service for two weeks following a request by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He cited airline industry concerns that the technology’s rollout could interfere with sensitive electronic systems on aircraft and disrupt thousands of daily flights. The telecommunications giants’ announcement came one day after they maintained they would not postpone the introduction of the service. But they agreed to the delay amid pressure from the White House and aviation unions, and concerns expressed by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Biden said in a statement Tuesday the "agreement ensures that there will be no disruptions to air…

Rangers protecting threatened wildlife in Cambodia are using artificial intelligence to predict poachers’ next moves. Matt Dibble reports. ...

It's a chaotic time for the Consumer Electronics Show 2022, the world's largest technology event. Last-minute COVID-19-related cancellations have wreaked havoc on the organizers' plans to host exhibitors and welcome visitors in person in Las Vegas and online. But as VOA’s JulieTaboh reports, the show will go on. ...

Twitter on Sunday banned the personal account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for multiple violations of its COVID-19 misinformation policy, according to a statement from the company.  The Georgia Republican's account was permanently suspended under the “strike” system Twitter launched in March, which uses artificial intelligence to identify posts about the coronavirus that are misleading enough to cause harm to people. Two or three strikes earn a 12-hour account lock; four strikes prompt a weeklong suspension, and five or more strikes can get someone permanently removed from Twitter.  In a statement on the messaging app Telegram, Greene blasted Twitter's move as un-American. She wrote that her account was suspended after tweeting statistics from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, a government database which includes unverified raw data.  “Twitter is an…

Looking west from Hazel Mountain, Brad Kreps can see forested hills stretching to the Tennessee border and beyond, but it is the flat, denuded area in front of him he finds exciting. Surface coal mining ended on this site several years ago. But with a clean-up underway, it is now being prepared for a new chapter in the region's longstanding role as a major energy producer - this time from a renewable source: the sun. While using former mining land to generate solar energy has long been discussed, this and five related sites are among the first projects to move forward in the coalfields of the central Appalachian Mountains, as well as nationally.   Backers say the projects could help make waste land productive and boost economic fortunes in the…

U.S. authorities have asked telecom operators AT&T and Verizon to delay for up to two weeks their already postponed rollout of 5G networks amid uncertainty about interference with vital flight safety equipment. The U.S. rollout of the high-speed mobile broadband technology had been set for December 5, but was delayed to January 5 after aerospace giants Airbus and Boeing raised concerns about potential interference with the devices used by planes to measure altitude. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, Steve Dickson, asked for the latest delay in a letter sent Friday to AT&T and Verizon, two of the country's biggest telecom operators. The U.S. letter asked the companies to "continue to pause introducing commercial C-Band service" — the frequency range used for 5G…

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday asked AT&T and Verizon Communications to delay the planned Jan. 5 introduction of new 5G wireless service over aviation safety concerns. In a letter Friday seen by Reuters, Buttigieg and FAA Administrator Steve Dickson asked AT&T Chief Executive John Stankey and Verizon Chief Executive Hans Vestberg for a delay of no more than two weeks as part of a "proposal as a near-term solution for advancing the co-existence of 5G deployment in the C-Band and safe flight operations." The aviation industry and FAA have raised concerns about potential interference of 5G with sensitive aircraft electronics like radio altimeters that could disrupt flights. "We ask that your companies continue to pause introducing commercial C-Band service…

This year's Consumer Electronics Show will end a day earlier than planned, the organizer of the global technology and gadget show said, after companies including Amazon and General Motors dropped out of attending the Las Vegas event in person because of omicron concerns.  "The step was taken as an additional safety measure to the current health protocols that have been put in place for CES," event organizer Consumer Technology Association said on Friday, announcing the event will now end on January 7.  The spread of the omicron variant has led to a sharp jump in COVID-19 infections across the world, making many reconsider their travel plans and leading to thousands of flight cancellations.  The number of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. has doubled in eight days to a record…

Iran has used a satellite launch rocket to send three research devices into space, a Defense Ministry spokesman said on Thursday, as indirect U.S.-Iran talks take place in Austria to try to salvage a 2015 nuclear deal.  He did not clarify whether the devices had reached orbit.  Iran, which has one of the biggest missile programs in the Middle East, has suffered several failed satellite launches in the past few years due to technical issues.  Spokesman Ahmad Hosseini said the Simorgh satellite carrier rocket, whose name translates as "Phoenix", had launched the three research devices at an altitude of 470 kilometers (290 miles). He did not give further details.  "The intended research objectives of this launch were achieved," Hosseini said, in comments broadcast on state television. "This was done as…

For U.S. social media companies, the violent mob storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6 last year spurred action. They shut down then-President Donald Trump’s accounts. One year later, are Facebook, Twitter and YouTube any better prepared to face similar situations in the U.S. or in other countries? Michelle Quinn reports. Camera: Deana Mitchell Produced by: Matt Dibble ...

2021 was a historic year for all-things space ... from the success of private spaceflight companies to robots exploring Mars in a road trip for the ages. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi beams us through the Year in Space. ...

The White Fox restaurant in Mosul, Iraq, isn’t known for its comfortable atmosphere or its great food and drinks. It’s known for its servers. VOA’s Kawa Omar filed this report, narrated by Rikar Hussein. Producer and camera: Kawa Omar. ...

"White-knuckle" -- That's how Rusty Whitman describes the month ahead, after the launch of the historic James Webb Space Telescope, now tentatively set for Saturday.  From a secure control room in Baltimore, Maryland, Whitman and his colleagues will hold their breath as Webb comes online. But that's just the beginning.  For the first six months after Webb's launch, Whitman and the team at the Space Telescope Science Institute will monitor the observatory around the clock, making tiny adjustments to ensure it is perfectly calibrated for astronomers across the world to explore the universe. The most crucial moments will come at the beginning of the mission: the telescope must be placed on a precise trajectory, while at the same time unfurling its massive mirror and even larger sun-shade -- a perilous…

U.S. chipmaker Intel is facing criticism in China after it apologized Thursday for a letter the firm sent to suppliers asking them "to ensure that its supply chain does not use any labor or source goods or services from the Xinjiang region." On Thursday, Intel posted a Chinese-language message on its WeChat and Weibo accounts apologizing for "trouble caused to our respected Chinese customers, partners and the public. Intel is committed to becoming a trusted technology partner and accelerating joint development with China." Intel's apology came as U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which bans the import of goods produced by Uyghur slave labor. Under the measure, a company is prohibited from importing from China's Xinjiang region unless it can prove that its supply chains…

Polish Senator Krzysztof Brejza's mobile phone was hacked with sophisticated spyware nearly three dozen times in 2019 when he was running the opposition's campaign against the right-wing populist government in parliamentary elections, an internet watchdog found. Text messages stolen from Brejza's phone — then doctored in a smear campaign — were aired by state-controlled TV in the heat of that race, which the ruling party narrowly won. With the hacking revelation, Brejza now questions whether the election was fair.  It's the third finding by the University of Toronto's nonprofit Citizen Lab that a Polish opposition figure was hacked with Pegasus spyware from the Israeli hacking tools firm NSO Group. Brejza's phone was digitally broken into 33 times from April 26, 2019, to October 23, 2019, said Citizen Lab researchers, who…

Under pressure from U.S. auto safety regulators, Tesla has agreed to stop allowing video games to be played on center touch screens while its vehicles are moving.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the company will send out a software update over the Internet so the function called "Passenger Play" will be locked and won't work while vehicles are in motion.  The move comes one day after the agency announced it would open a formal investigation into distracted driving concerns about Tesla's video games, some of which could be played while cars are being driven.  An agency spokeswoman says in a statement Thursday that the change came after regulators discussed concerns about the system with Tesla. The statement says NHTSA regularly talks about infotainment screens with all automakers. A…

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has declined an effort by Apple Inc. to skip a shareholder proposal asking the iPhone maker to provide greater transparency in its efforts to keep forced labor out of its supply chain.  A group of shareholders earlier this year asked Apple's board to prepare a report on how the company protects workers in its supply chain from forced labor. The request for information covered the extent to which Apple has identified suppliers and sub-suppliers that are a risk for forced labor, and how many suppliers Apple has taken action against.  In a letter from the SEC reviewed by Reuters on Wednesday, regulators denied Apple's move to block the proposal, saying that "it does not appear that the essential objectives of the proposal have been…

New York’s largest convention center hosts about 175 events each year that draw hundreds of thousands of people to the city. To help offset the environmental impact, the owners have installed an urban farm and solar farm...on the building’s roof. Tina Trinh reports. ...

In the months since President Joe Biden warned Russia's Vladimir Putin that he needed to crack down on ransomware gangs in his country, there hasn't been a massive attack like the one last May that resulted in gasoline shortages. But that's small comfort to Ken Trzaska. Trzaska is president of Lewis & Clark Community College, a small Illinois school that canceled classes for days after a ransomware attack last month that knocked critical computer systems offline. "That first day," Trzaska said, "I think all of us were probably up 20-plus hours, just moving through the process, trying to get our arms around what happened." Even if the United States isn't currently enduring large-scale, front-page ransomware attacks on par with ones earlier this year that targeted the global meat supply or…

After internal Facebook documents were shared widely with news organizations, the question remains whether and how Facebook will change. Michelle Quinn reports. ...

China and Russia have begun collaborating on technology to rival the United States' GPS and European Galileo satellite navigation systems, as the two countries pursue closer military and strategic ties. Earlier this year, China agreed to host ground monitoring stations for Russia’s GLONASS positioning system on its soil, which improves global range and accuracy but can pose a security risk. In turn, Russia agreed to host ground stations for China’s BeiDou system. The reciprocal agreement indicates a growing level of trust and cooperation between Moscow and Beijing, says analyst Alexander Gabuev, senior fellow and chair of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center. “Russia’s schism with the West and deepening confrontation and competition between China and the U.S. as two superpowers is definitely contributing to rapprochement…