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In the near future, farmers in Africa could boldly go where no farmers have gone before. Major manufacturers look to launch the industry into the 21st Century by tying tractors to cell phones. With a high-tech device, can follow a tractor’s movement and productivity. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi ploughs through this …

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NASA is preparing to send a new rover to Mars for a human exploration mission of the Red Planet. Voice of America reporter Verónica Villafañe saw the space vehicle up close and spoke with members of the mission.   …

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Huawei will build its first European manufacturing plant in France, its chairman said Thursday, as the Chinese telecom giant seeks to ease worldwide concerns stoked by U.S. charges that Beijing could use its equipment for spying. Liang Hua said Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecom equipment, would invest 200 million euros ($217 million) in the first phase of …

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More than 130 people have contracted the coronavirus in Italy, the majority in the north of the country. Italy, which has confirmed at least two coronavirus deaths, has the highest number of cases in Europe. With an emergency decree, the Italian government has adopted special powers to deal with the …

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 U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien said Sunday that he has not seen “any evidence” that Russia is doing anything to help President Donald Trump get re-elected, but acknowledged he has not sought out intelligence reports that allege Moscow is interfering in the 2020 election. Reports surfaced last week that …

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The World Health Organization is urgently appealing for $40 million to salvage its operation to bring the Ebola epidemic to an end in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.  The Ebola operation in eastern DR Congo’s conflict-ridden North Kivu and Ituri provinces is on financial life-support.  The World Health Organization reports …

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French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday promised to safeguard European farm subsidies, secure compensation for wine producers hit by U.S. tariffs and defend fishermen in talks with Britain, as France’s farming world faces an uncertain year.  Opening the annual Paris farm show, Macron said France would continue to oppose cuts …

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Concerns grew Saturday as the number of coronavirus cases outside China continued to grow. South Korea reported its largest single-day spike in confirmed infections since the outbreak began.  And Italy, which became the first European country Friday to report a death of a citizen because of the virus, said Saturday that a 77-year-old woman had also died near …

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The home of a key Togo opposition candidate was surrounded by security forces just hours after polls closed Saturday in elections widely expected to see President Faure Gnassingbe claim a fourth term in power.  Troops could be seen outside the house of Agbeyome Kodjo, considered an important challenger in the …

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Australia hopes visa changes will encourage foreign backpackers to join the mammoth bushfire recovery effort. The working vacationers would be allowed to stay longer under new rules if they help in disaster-hit areas. The scale of Australia’s recovery from the bushfire crisis is immense. Since July, almost 16 million hectares …

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Iran’s parliamentary elections Friday were marred by low voter turnout as hundreds of activists used social media to ask people to boycott the ballots in a sign of protest against the regime. Iranian authorities have reportedly barred hundreds of moderate candidates in favor of hardliners supported by the regime.  …

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U.S. President Donald Trump will visit India early next week to meet his counterpart, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both sides are already managing expectations by saying they will not be signing a big trade deal. Still, the visit will be full of pomp and circumstance, with Trump already touting the …

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The seven-day “reduction of violence” deal promised by the Taliban will begin on Friday night, a senior U.S. State Department official said, without specifying the exact time. That will start the countdown to the signing of a peace agreement between the Taliban and the United States at the end of …

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South Korea’s capital banned large protests and prohibited gatherings of a religious group that has been a hotbed for coronavirus infections, as the outbreak continued to spread across the country. One hundred people tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total number of South Korean infections to 204 as of …

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After nearly a dozen years moving through the U.S. visa system, Sai Kyaw’s brother and sister and their families were at the finish line: a final interview before they could leave Myanmar to join him in Massachusetts and work at his restaurant. Then a dramatic turn in U.S. immigration policy …

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The Nina and Pinta have arrived along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, sailing into a Biloxi harbor as spectators lined a pier, aiming their phones out to the horizon. Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic on the Nina on his three voyages of discovery to the New World beginning in 1492. The …

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Victoria Coates, a top official on the National Security Council, is being reassigned amid fallout over the identity of the author of the inside-the-White House tell-all book by “Anonymous.”      Coates, who serves as national security adviser for the Middle East and North Africa, will be joining the Department …

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The soon-to-be acting chief of the United States’ intelligence agencies says he won’t be on the job for long. In a tweet Thursday, U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell confirmed he is taking the post only on a temporary basis and that, “The President will announce the Nominee (not me) …

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Across parts of southern England and Wales, families were watching anxiously midweek to see if major rivers break their flood barriers. Heavy rain is forecast for counties that have already been flooded thanks to torrential downpours brought on by two by massive storms in quick succession. A four-day deluge could …

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German police say several people were shot to death in the city of Hanau on Wednesday evening. The dpa news agency reported that police said people were killed but it was not clear exactly what was behind the incident. It also was not immediately clear how many people were dead. …

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Canadian police said Wednesday that sudden whiteout conditions most likely triggered a massive pileup involving about 200 vehicles south of Montreal.  There were no immediate reports of deaths, but Quebec provincial police said about a dozen people were sent to hospitals with minor to serious injuries after the midday crash in La Prairie, Quebec.  …

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A group of more than 1,100 U.S. military veterans from all five branches have signed a statement lashing out at President Donald Trump for firing Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council. Vindman testified before a House committee during the Trump impeachment hearings in November. He expressed his …

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The Yazidi religious minority in Iraq is seeking to gain enough support in the Iraqi parliament for a draft law that provides support and rehabilitation for the community, particularly the female members who escaped Islamic State abduction. The Yazidi Female Survivors Law was referred to the Iraqi parliament by the …

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An international appeals court in the Netherlands has ordered Russia to pay $50 billion in compensation to shareholders of the former oil company, Yukos. It is the latest chapter in a long-running saga that came to define Russia’s political and business climate in the early years of Russian President Vladimir …

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U.N. rights chief Michelle Bachelet said Tuesday civilians are at “higher risk than ever” in Syria as forces backing the government carry out an offensive to take back territory in the northwestern part of the country. Speaking in Geneva, Bachelet called for all parties involved in the fighting to institute …

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