When Johnnie Yellock enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, he knew his job as a combat controller would frequently put him in harm’s way.   “We volunteered in a time of war, we knew exactly what we were up against,” he told VOA. “A lot of our job titles were putting us right on the battlefield. We were ready for that. I was prepared to die for my country.”   Although he was prepared, war has a way of changing the best-laid plans. Even Johnnie Yellock’s.     During a …

One by one, several Federal Reserve officials have signaled in recent days that the Fed is ready to resume raising interest rates as soon as this month. The question is whether the official who matters most — Chair Janet Yellen — will add her own voice to that impression. When Yellen speaks Friday in Chicago on the topic of the Fed’s economic outlook, investors will parse her words for any hint of how likely the central bank is to raise its key short-term rate after it next meets March 14-15. …

This is the Top Five Countdown! We’re raising the curtain on the five most popular songs in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart, for the week ending March 4, 2017. Break out the popcorn, movie fans, because we have a blockbuster debut for you. Number 5: The Chainsmokers Featuring Halsey “Closer” The action starts in fifth place, where the Chainsmokers and Halsey rebound two slots with “Closer.” This song is now a record-setter – it has spent 26 total weeks – six months – in the Top Five. That’s …

We are in the midst of a mobile tech revolution that promises to change the way we live, say industry experts at this week’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, where the ‘Internet of Things’ and superfast 5G technologies are all the rage. But even the most basic mobile technology is changing lives in some of the world’s most remote parts. The exhibit is a showcase of the latest technology — and a glimpse of what the future holds. And industry insiders at the MWC 2017 say  there is …

A genetic “mutational meltdown” helped push the woolly mammoth toward extinction, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, say they compared genetic material from mammoths when they were plentiful and material from when the population was in decline. What they found was “genome deterioration” that reflected the smaller population size. The findings are a warning to conservationists that keeping a small pool of endangered animals could result in inbreeding and genomic meltdown. “There is a long history of theoretical work about how genomes might change …

Nearly four decades after Elvis sang his last tune, his legacy got a $45 million boost with the Thursday opening of a major new attraction at his Graceland estate — an entertainment complex that Priscilla Presley says gives “the full gamut” of the King of rock ‘n’ roll. About 200 people streamed into “Elvis Presley’s Memphis” after the late singer’s wife cut a ribbon and allowed fans to see the $45 million complex for the first time. Resembling an outdoor mall, the 200,000-square-foot campus sits across the street from Graceland, …