The Librarian of Congress wants to upgrade its technology to make the eclectic mix of materials from books and photos to sheet music and baseball cards – available to people around the world. Carla Hayden became the new director of the world’s largest library five months ago, becoming the first woman and the first African-American to hold the job. VOA’s Deborah Block tells us more about the professional librarian and her plans to improve the prestigious national library in Washington, D.C. … From: MeNeedIt

U.S. companies led by tech firms Yahoo, Apple and Microsoft have criticized the Trump administration’s decision to revoke Obama administration guidance that allowed transgender public school students to use the bathroom of their choice. Their statements evoked the opposition expressed by many businesses last year when North Carolina passed a law forcing transgenders to use public restrooms matching their gender assigned at birth. The resulting boycotts have cost North Carolina more than $560 million in economic activity, according to the online magazine Facing South. Role for business Companies lacked the …

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has predicted that Zimbabwe will be the country hardest hit by the invasion of armyworms in southern Africa. Farmers are already taking serious losses. The Gokwe and Zhombe areas in Zimbabwe’s Midlands province are among the most affected by an invasion of the fall armyworms. Armyworms are a type of moth capable of destroying entire crops in a matter of weeks.  It is the first time the insect has hit southern Africa, and seven countries confirmed an outbreak of the fall armyworm, which …

The U.S. was declared measles-free 15 years ago, thanks to the development of a reliable vaccine against that virus, but many American doctors now are worried that could change, because so many parents are opposed to having their children inoculated against disease. VOA’s Carol Pearson has more. … From: MeNeedIt

Leprosy, despite its horrible reputation, is a very curable disease. But there are still more than 200,000 cases reported every year, most of them in India, Indonesia, Brazil, and parts of Africa. To fully understand the disease, doctors and archaeologists are examining the skeletons of people who had the disease hundreds of years ago. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. … From: MeNeedIt

Unmanned aerial vehicles, better known as drones, have become a staple of everyday life. As more take to the air, the issue of how to avoid collisions between drones and aircraft, and other drones, is becoming a serious problem. As VOA’s George Putic reports, scientists are working on solutions. … From: MeNeedIt

President Donald Trump on Thursday spoke favorably about a potentially export-boosting border adjustment tax being pushed by Republicans in the U.S. Congress, but did not specifically endorse it. Trump, who has lashed out at U.S. companies who have moved operations to countries like Mexico, has previously sent mixed signals on the proposal at the heart of a Republican plan to overhaul the tax code for the first time in more than 30 years. “It could lead to a lot more jobs in the United States,” Trump told Reuters in an …

A small study in 16 people with severe anorexia has found that implanting stimulation electrodes into the brains of patients could ease their anxiety and help them gain weight. Researchers found that in extreme cases of the eating disorder, the technique, known as deep brain stimulation (DBS), swiftly helped many of those studied reduce symptoms of either anxiety or depression, and improved their quality of life. A few months later, the improved psychological symptoms began to lead to changes in weight, the researchers said, with the average body mass index …

SpaceX made good on a 250-mile-high delivery at the International Space Station on Thursday, after fixing a navigation problem that held up the shipment a day.   Everything went smoothly the second time around as the station astronauts captured the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship as the two craft sailed over Australia. On Wednesday, a GPS system error prevented the capsule from coming too close.   The Dragon — loaded with 5,500 pounds of supplies — rocketed away Sunday from NASA’s historic moon pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Now leased by …

Activists are urging Unilever, a major investor in Myanmar, to speak out against the country’s treatment of its Rohingya minority, which the U.N. has said may be called “crimes against humanity.” More than 10,000 people have joined the Facebook group for the campaign, known by the #WeAreAllRohingyaNow, and hundreds have signed on. A letter sent this week to Unilever CEO Paul Polman asked the company to clarify its stance on the Rohingya. “Silence in the face of genocide, whilst doing business, is simply not an option,” said Britain-based campaign organizer …

Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis planned to open this year’s State of the City speech by thanking Caterpillar Inc. for its longtime commitment to the central Illinois town, declaring “We wouldn’t be Peoria without Caterpillar.” It’s been that way for decades in Peoria and in other company towns across the United States. A major employer provided generations of locals with jobs and gave the cities a central identity, while executives helped keep cultural institutions, Rotary clubs and higher-end housing markets healthy. Now many of those midsize communities are looking for a …

Before Donald Trump won the November election, many analysts were sharply critical of his economic proposals. Some predicted big declines in financial markets, hiring slowdowns and a heightened risk of recession. But just a little more than a month since Trump became the 45th U.S. president, U.S. stocks have enjoyed the longest winning streak in decades, hiring continues to beat expectations and consumer confidence is soaring. Were naysayers wrong? VOA spoke with an early critic of Trump’s economic plans, Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi, to ask him if the …

Before Donald Trump won the election, many analysts were sharply critical of his economic proposals. However, in Trump’s first month in office, U.S. stocks have hit a series of record highs and consumer confidence improved. Did analysts get it wrong? Economist Mark Zandi, an early critic of Trump’s economic plans, said it’s still too soon to tell. Mil Arcega reports. … From: MeNeedIt

An international team of astronomers, using an array of ground and space telescopes, has discovered an astonishing seven Earth-sized planets in a system just 40 light years away. Water, water everywhere The seven planets, according to a press release, “all have masses less than or similar to the Earth.” According to scientists, the temperatures on the planets “are low enough to make possible liquid water on the surfaces…” as the planets are in that perfect habitable or “goldilocks zone,” Michaël Gillon, of the STAR Institute at the University of Liège …

U.S. home resales surged to a nearly 10 year high in January. Wednesday’s report from the National Association of Realtors says existing home sales jumped 3.3 percent to an annual rate of 5.69 million homes. The report says sales are being hampered by the smaller-than-usual number of homes available for sale.  The real estate industry group also says sales were up 3.8 percent from the same period a year ago.   Sales growth was stronger than many experts predicted, perhaps because they thought rising prices and interest rates might cool …

There is some good news for cat lovers. Turns out those reports that people who grew up with cats have a higher risk of mental illness are not true. Writing in the journal Psychological Medicine, researchers from University College London say a common parasite associated with cats, Toxoplasma Gondii, which is associated with mental health issues, does not cause mental issues in people who grew up around cats. Lead author Dr. Francesca Solmi said, “The message for cat owners is clear: there is no evidence that cats pose a risk …

A navigation error forced SpaceX to delay its shipment to the International Space Station on Wednesday, following an otherwise flawless flight from NASA’s historic moon pad.   SpaceX’s supply ship, the Dragon, was less than a mile from the orbiting outpost when a problem cropped up in the GPS system. The approach was aborted, and the Dragon backed away. NASA said neither the station nor its six-person crew was in any danger.   Just a few hours earlier, Russia successfully launched a cargo ship from Kazakhstan, its first since a …

The playwright who inspired the Oscar-nominated movie “Moonlight” has won a prize from PEN America, the literary and human rights organization.   Tarell Alvin McCraney received an award for best mid-career playwright, PEN announced Wednesday. McCraney’s “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue” is the basis for the acclaimed movie drama, which is up for eight nominations at Sunday night’s Academy Awards. McCraney is also known for his acclaimed “The Brother/Sister” trilogy.   Suzan-Lori Parks, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for her play “Topdog/Underdog,” received a PEN award for “Master American …

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde on Tuesday that he expects the IMF to provide “frank and candid” analysis of exchange rate policies, a Treasury spokesperson said. In a phone call with Lagarde, the spokesperson said, Mnuchin also “noted the importance that the administration places on boosting economic growth and jobs in the United States, and looked forward to robust IMF economic policy advice on its member countries and tackling global imbalances.” The conversation on U.S. priorities occurred as officials from the Group …

Autonomous automobiles aren’t taking over American highways yet, but automation is becoming a bigger part of the driving experience. A mobile phone app called Shell allows drivers to pay for a fill-up of gasoline from their in-car touchscreens. No debit or credit cards are involved, so the process will work for drivers who forgot their wallets. The downside? The app will take care of the payment, but somebody — in most states, the driver — still has to get out and manually insert the fuel pump nozzle into the car’s …

Suicide attempts among teens, particularly those who are gay, lesbian and bisexual, declined in states that legalized same-sex marriage, according to a new study. Writing in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, researchers from Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health say their study showed that in states that legalized same-sex marriage before the U.S. Supreme Court followed suit saw declines in attempted suicide. Specifically, the researchers analyzed data from 1999 to 2015 and found a 7 percent reduction in suicide attempts of high school-aged youngsters in 32 states that had already …

Croatian police have filed disorderly conduct charges against two people who allegedly used a racial slur to insult Hollywood actor Jamie Foxx in a restaurant. Police said they acted after receiving reports Sunday of “particularly arrogant and rude” insults made against restaurant guests, including “one of the guests on racial grounds.” The police statement did not name Foxx as the target, but the actor briefly posted comments about the incident on his Instagram profile before deleting them. Foxx mentioned an offensive racial term among the examples of the vulgar language …

Nelba Marquez-Greene believes the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, which killed her 6-year-old daughter, could have been avoided if more had been done years earlier to address the social isolation and mental health problems of the shooter, Adam Lanza. To help other vulnerable youths, Marquez-Greene, a family therapist, is working with a Connecticut school system on a program to help students connect with one another. “I want people to remember that Adam, the person who did this, was also once 6 and in a first-grade classroom, and that if we …

From marijuana-laced candy to body lotion infused with marijuana, this controversial plant is becoming a big business in the United States as more states make it mainstream.  Marijuana, also known as cannabis, is now legal in 28 U.S. states for either medical or recreational use. Of those states, four of them legalized recreational marijuana last November, including California. At a dispensary in Los Angeles, the experience for customers is more similar to a trip to the winery or high-end retail store.  There are cannabis plants on well-lit display and available …

Sofia Imber, who turned a garage into the Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art and became one of Venezuela’s most influential women journalists, died Monday in the capital. She was 92. The former director of what was once among Latin America’s most important art galleries succumbed to complications due to old age, her biographer, Diego Arroyo Gil, told The Associated Press. Imber’s television program Buenos Dias, which she hosted with her second husband from 1969 to 1993, was a landmark of Venezuelan journalism and politics. She became famous for her cutting …

The Vatican and Rome’s Jewish Museum have announced an unprecedented event  — a joint exhibit focusing on the menorah, the candelabra that is the ancient symbol of Judaism. The exhibit will open May 15 and run through July 23, and will be simultaneously held in St. Peter’s Square and in the museum in Rome’s main synagogue. The displays will include pieces of artwork and other exhibits from around the world, centering on the importance of the menorah in both Jewish and Christian history and culture. Officials say the highlight will …