Malicious software called “ransomware” has forced British hospitals to turn away patients and affected Spanish companies such as Telefonica as part of a global outbreak that has affected tens of thousands of computers. How does it work? WannaCry — also known as WanaCrypt0r 2.0, WannaCry and WCry — is a …
Most technology experts agree that self-driving cars will soon finish the testing phase and enter the commercial market, probably as taxis and delivery vehicles. But some of them wonder if the cars’ artificial brains will be able to cope with the human propensity to bend the traffic rules. VOA’s George …
A global cyber attack on Friday affected British hospitals, government agencies and companies in 99 countries, with Russia, Ukraine and Taiwan the top targets, security software maker Avast said. Hacking tools widely believed by researchers to have been developed by the U.S. National Security Agency that were leaked online last …
From the United States and Canada to small islands in Europe and the Caribbean, Chinese are spending billions on new passports and visas to move their families away from their homeland. China’s middle and upper classes are demanding better schools, cleaner air and a more secure life for their children. …
In a move that is likely to give a boost to China’s Belt and Road Forum, the United States has announced that it will participate in meetings on the initiative beginning this weekend in Beijing. The decision to attend is part of a 100-day plan and new deal between Washington …
U.S. consumers bought more cars and hardware, and stepped up online purchases in April, after two months of sluggish sales. Friday’s report from the Commerce Department says retail sales rose four-tenths of a percentage point in April, and sales were a bit better than first reported the previous month. The …
A handful of New Yorkers have gathered at New York University to practice conversing in Arabic. Their two conversation partners have joined via Skype, video images projected side-by-side on a TV monitor. The scene would be nothing out of the ordinary, save for the fact that the conversation partners, Ghayath …
In an interview with The Economist, President Donald Trump whiffed on a batch of economic facts. He got the Canada-U.S. trade balance wrong, misplaced the U.S. in the world ranks of tax burdens and claimed to have coined an economic phrase that’s been familiar to economists for some 80 years. …
A sweeping trade agreement, ranging from banking to beef, has been reached between Washington and Beijing, the U.S. Commerce Department announced on Thursday. “It was pretty much a Herculean accomplishment to get this done,” said U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. “This is more than has been done in the whole …
A Dutch entrepreneur has come up with an invention he says will allow him to start cleaning up a massive floating garbage patch in the Pacific two years ahead of schedule. “To catch the plastic, act like plastic,” Boyan Slat said Thursday in Utrecht. Slat’s Ocean Cleanup foundation plans to …
As farmers fret over President Donald Trump’s criticism of international trade agreements, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is trying to reassure them by creating a top post to oversee trade and foreign agricultural affairs. The new undersecretary position is a sign of Perdue’s efforts to promote the U.S. agricultural industry as …
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross sees the U.S. semiconductor industry as still dominant globally but said he is worried that it will be threatened by China’s planned investment binge to build up its own chipmaking industry. Ross told Reuters in an interview this week that his agency is considering a …
Bulgaria is seeking private investors to build a nuclear power plant on the Danube River, which was canceled five years ago, Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. Sofia canceled the Belene project in 2012 after failing to find foreign investors …
Television journalist Julia Kirienko was sheltering with Ukrainian soldiers and medics two miles (three kilometers) from the front when their cellphones began buzzing over the noise of the shelling. Everyone got the same text message at the same time. “Ukrainian soldiers,” it warned, “they’ll find your bodies when the snow …
In just a few years, well-mannered self-driving robotaxis will share the roads with reckless, law-breaking human drivers. The prospect is causing migraines for the people developing the robotaxis. A self-driving car would be programmed to drive at the speed limit. Humans routinely exceed it by 10 to 15 mph (16 …
Uber is launching its private ride-hailing service in the Myanmar commercial capital of Yangon on Thursday, aiming to tap into one of the world’s youngest and fastest-growing online markets. The launch follows Singapore-based GrabTaxi’s debut by about two months. Uber is one of the world’s largest on-demand transportation platforms. It …
Housing foreclosure activity in the United States dropped to the lowest level since 2005 last month, according to a business research group. ATTOM Data Solutions tracks default notices, auctions and bank repossessions across the nation and says the number of actions dropped 23 percent from a year ago. That means …
China is testing the ability for future astronauts to stay on the moon for extended periods, as Beijing accelerates its space program and looks to put people on the surface of the moon within the next two decades. The official Xinhua news agency said volunteers would live in a “simulated …
China’s President Xi Jinping initiated the ambitious Belt and Road development plan but it has become a world plan not tied to his presidency, the Commerce Ministry said Wednesday, days before Xi hosts a global forum on the initiative. The forum in Beijing next week will draw heads of state …
Electric carmaker Tesla has added another product to its lineup: Solar roof tiles. As of Wednesday, customers worldwide could order a solar roof on Tesla’s website. Installations will begin next month in the U.S., starting with California. Installations outside the U.S. will begin next year, the company said. The glass …
Earlier this year, engineers at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. who track rivals’ prices online got a rude surprise: the technology they were using to check Amazon.com several million times a day suddenly stopped working. Losing access to Amazon.com Inc.’s data was no small matter. Like most big retailers, Wal-Mart relies on …
New York University researchers have developed a system combining virtual reality with a pressure sensing mat they say could help people with vestibular dysfunction, which affects parts of the inner ear and brain and results in problems with balance, or those suffering from vertigo or dizziness as a result of …
In August, 2014, planners in the northeastern Chinese city of Hunchun argued in state media that it should be included in the “One Belt, One Road” project, Beijing’s vision laid out the previous year of a new Silk Road across Asia to Europe. In 2015, the official Xinhua news agency …
Mexico is embarking on a strategy to combat illegal pipeline thefts that includes going after those who purchase and deal in stolen fuel as well as the thieves, the country’s treasury secretary said Tuesday. Jose Antonio Meade said it’s a problem that costs Mexico somewhere between 15 billion and …
Four U.S. states filed a lawsuit Tuesday over President Donald Trump’s decision to restart the sale of coal leases on federal lands, saying the Obama-era block of the leasing program was reversed without studying what’s best for the environment and for taxpayers. The attorneys general of California, New Mexico, New …
Drone-maker AeroVironment Inc. unveiled a small four-rotor surveillance helicopter on Tuesday that can be carried in a small pouch and launched from the palm of a hand. The smaller size and simplicity of operation means it can used by ordinary soldiers, offering squads and other small military units the kind …