New data show U.S. home sales advanced in February while job layoffs rose slightly last week. Thursday’s Commerce Department report showed home sales rose 6.1 percent to hit a seven-month high in February. If newly-constructed homes sold at last month’s pace for a full year, 592,000 would change hands. That …
The head of the U.S. central bank says new research strengthens the case for investing in early childhood education. In a Washington speech Thursday, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said evidence shows “growing up poor makes it harder to succeed as an adult.” A survey by Fed experts shows childhood …
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has technology capable of infecting “factory fresh” iPhones and has been bugging the devices since at least 2008, WikiLeaks claimed Thursday. In a statement released on its website, the whistleblowing organization said the technology developed by the CIA’s Embedded Development Branch (EDB) was designed to …
Neda Saiyyada was among a handful of women in India whose company gave her six months of maternity leave last year instead of the mandatory three months. The extended leave helped the young mother enormously. “When I was pregnant, my biggest worry was that I will not be able to …
Google Maps users will soon be able to broadcast their movements to friends and family — the latest test of how much privacy people are willing to sacrifice in an era of rampant sharing. The location-monitoring feature will begin rolling out Wednesday in an update to the Google Maps mobile …
Sears, once the monolith of American retail, says that there is “substantial doubt” that it will be able to keep its doors open. Company shares, which hit an all-time low last month, tumbled more than 12 percent Wednesday. Sears has been a member of the retail dead pool …
Farmers in the U.S. agricultural heartland who helped elect Donald Trump are now pushing his administration to avoid a trade dispute with Mexico, fearing retaliatory tariffs that could hit over $3 billion in U.S. exports. The value of exports at risk is based on a Reuters analysis of a tariff …
Oil prices dipped on Wednesday as rising crude stocks in the United States underscored an ongoing global fuel supply overhang despite an OPEC-led effort to cut output. Prices for front-month Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil, were at $50.79 per barrel at 0451 GMT, down 17 cents, or …
The cost for individual homes in the U.S. to “go solar” has dropped by more than 60 percent over the last decade. Those low costs helped convince more than a million Americans to install solar panels on their roofs. Now schools are beginning to get in on the benefits. One …
The cost for individual homes to go solar has dropped by more than 60 percent over the last decade. Those low costs helped convince more than a million private homes to install solar panels. Now schools are beginning to get in on the benefits. Erika Celeste reports from Fremont, Indiana. …
Brazil’s government plans to announce spending freezes of 30 billion to 35 billion reais ($9.7 billion to $11.3 billion) this week to help meet part of its 2017 budget deficit target, the Senate leader said on Tuesday. The rest of the shortfall will have to come from raised taxes and …
Google wants to make it easier for you to find answers and recommendations on smartphones without having to think about what to ask its search engine. Its new feature, called “shortcuts,” will appear as a row of icons below the Google search box. Where now you’d have to ponder and …
The enemy drone whined in the distance. The Interceptor, a drone-hunting machine from Silicon Valley startup Airspace Systems, slinked off its launch pad and dashed away in hot pursuit. The hunter twisted through the air to avoid trees, homed in on its target, fired a Kevlar net to capture it, …
Amid continuing economic turmoil, Venezuela skipped heating oil contributions to a Massachusetts-based nonprofit for a second consecutive winter, signaling that the popular program that began with fanfare after Hurricane Katrina may be kaput. The decision by Venezuela’s Citgo Petroleum Corp. to bow out of the program founded by Joseph P. …
Namibia’s president said Tuesday that the government is considering radical land expropriation to spur the transfer of property to the country’s black majority. Speaking at Namibia’s 27th independence celebrations, President Hage Geingob said the government should evoke part of the Constitution allowing for land expropriation with fair compensation since the …
Apple is cutting prices on two iPad models and introducing red iPhones, but the company held back on updating its higher-end iPad Pro tablets. A much-speculated 10.5-inch iPad Pro didn’t materialize, nor did new versions of existing sizes in the Pro lineup, which is aimed at businesses and creative professionals. …
Twitter suspended more than 376,000 accounts in the second half of 2016, most of which it said were promoting terrorism. Most of the accounts, 74 percent, were removed by proprietary software, the company said in its latest transparency report. The software reportedly determines a terrorism related account through how it …
A Singapore-based ride-hailing service launched a trial in Myanmar’s biggest city Tuesday, making it the first international company to operate there. “Grab,” a company that currently operates in six other countries in Southeast Asia, would rival a number of local ride-hailing services already operating in Yangon, but beats global giant …
The recent South By South West Festival is showcased the world’s latest technologies – some in development and others already on the market. VOA’s Arturo Martinez was there and brings us highlights from the Interactive Innovation Awards. …
The University of Southern California each year hosts the African Economic and Development Summit, bringing delegations of African business leaders, government officials and others to network with their counterparts in the U.S. But this year, the African summit has no Africans. All were denied visas. Michelle Quinn reports from Los Angeles. …
Cutting-edge technologies — from drones to data collected by taxi drivers — are becoming key weapons in the global battle to improve land rights and fight poverty, experts said Monday. Advances in earth observation, digital connectivity and computing power provide an array of information, from detailed topographical maps to transportation …
The World Bank reports Africa will receive the bulk of the $75 billion the International Development Association, or IDA, will spend to finance life-saving and life-changing operations over the next three years mainly in 30 of the world’s poorest, most fragile countries. The IDA is a part of the World …
There was bad news for the United Nations last week, as President Donald Trump announced he is seeking a 28 percent budget cut for diplomacy and foreign aid, which includes an unspecified reduction in funding to the United Nations and its agencies. VOA’s U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer reports that the …
China, the world’s third-largest bond market accounting for $9 trillion in debt instruments, has started the process of opening up to foreign investors. Two major investment banks, including Citigroup, have announced plans to join the fray and several others are expectantly watching the unfolding situation. It’s not a sudden desire …
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke up for free trade at a major technology fair on Sunday with jabs clearly pointed at an increasingly protectionist United States. Both called for a free trade deal to be reached quickly between Japan and the European Union, in …
A huge meteorite slammed into the southern African country of Namibia during prehistoric times. Now, pieces from that meteorite could be used as a natural catalyst to store energy from renewable sources. Scientists at a technology institute in Switzerland found that the meteorite’s composition is key to its effectiveness as …