The first-ever deaf woman leader of a U.S. university for deaf students is touring Africa, hoping to learn and to teach institutions here how to provide for hearing-impaired students. In South Africa, an estimated one-fifth of the disabled population is hard of hearing. Anita Powell shares a portion of her interview with Gallaudet University President Roberta Cordano. … From: MeNeedIt
Samsung is investing $380 million in South Carolina to manufacture home appliances, creating an estimated 950 jobs over the next three years. State and company officials said Wednesday that Samsung is locating in the former Caterpillar plant in Newberry. Production is expected to start early next year. The company says “premium home appliances” made in Newberry will include washing machines. An event was to be held later Wednesday to celebrate the announcement. Samsung Electronics America CEO Tim Baxter says the investment represents the South Korean company’s commitment …
A cyber-attack Tuesday that hit companies across the world is similar to a ransomware attack last month that targeted hospitals in Britain, although the most recent hack was potentially “more sophisticated,” according to the European police agency. Europol director Rob Wainwright called the hack “another serious ransomware attack.” He said it bore resemblances to the previous “WannaCry” hack, but also showed indications of a “more sophisticated attack capability intended to exploit a range of vulnerabilities.” The WannaCry hack sent a wave of crippling ransomware to hospitals across Britain in May, …
Summertime is festival time across the United States, and the nation’s capital is no exception. Thousands of DC area residents recently flocked to the 37th Annual Washington Folk Festival at Maryland’s Glen Echo Park. The two-day event welcomed people of all ages with traditional music, dancing and crafts from local artists representing cultures from many parts of the world. Amber Wihshi has more. Faith Lapidus narrates. … From: MeNeedIt
When we’re buying groceries by weight, being a few grams off may not be a big deal. But we do expect the store scales to be calibrated to show the exact measure. The situation becomes more complicated when we want to know the exact measure of something weighing a hundred tons or more. VOA’s George Putic visited a lab that calibrates large-force instruments. … From: MeNeedIt
President Donald Trump on Thursday will lay out his plan for reducing regulations to boost already-abundant U.S. production of oil, natural gas and coal and export it around the world, creating American jobs and helping allies. Trump will deliver an address on his administration’s new mantra of “energy dominance” at the Energy Department, officials told reporters. They declined to give details on how he would tweak existing regulations that have not stopped a surge in exports. “We’ve gone from the age of scarcity now to the age of abundance when …
Each spring and summer, a Vermont bog yields a rare spectacle — hundreds of wild orchids in bloom, drawing visitors from around the country. The bulbous pink and white showy lady’s slippers (Cypripedium reginae) are on full display among the ferns, bushes and chirping birds at Eshqua Bog in Hartland. This particular orchid, considered rare in Vermont and a number of other states and different from the more common pink lady’s slipper, thrives in Eshqua, because of the wet, sunny conditions, with soils containing peat and lime. …
Opera has been popping up recently at the most unlikely New York places: a revamped garage, a dive bar, a basketball court and even an old aircraft carrier. It’s part of a festival with an in-your-face goal – to bring this once grandiose art form to ordinary places where people hang out. The New York Opera Fest 2017 that ends in late June has drawn casual, but curious, spectators, some of whom may never have gone to an expensive production in a plush theater. On Saturday, composer Darius Milhaud’s “The …
The global economy has picked up and prospects for the next few months are the best in a long time. But the recovery is maturing and faces risks from populist rejection of free trade and from high debt that could burden consumers and companies as interest rates rise. Those were key takeaways from a review of the global economy released Sunday by the Bank for International Settlements, an international organization for central banks based in Basel, Switzerland. The report said that “the global economy’s performance has improved …
Governments around the world are using surveillance software that taps into individual smartphones, taking screenshots, reading email and tracking users’ movements, according to security experts and civil liberties groups. The rise of so-called spyware comes as electronic communications have become more encrypted, frustrating law enforcement and governments’ surveillance efforts. Over the past several years, private companies have begun selling advanced software that first appears as a text message with a link. When a person clicks on the link, the phone becomes infected. A third party can then read emails, take …
Chief lieutenants in the Koch brothers’ political network lashed out at the Senate Republican health care bill on Saturday, becoming a powerful outside critic as GOP leaders try to rally support for their plan among rank-and-file Republicans. “This Senate bill needs to get better,” said Tim Phillips, who leads Americans for Prosperity, the Koch network’s political arm. “It has to get better.” Phillips called the Senate’s plans for Medicaid “a slight nip and tuck” over President Barack Obama’s health care law, a modest change he described as “immoral.” The comments …
A North Korean Taekwondo demonstration team visiting South Korea could present a way forward to reduce tensions by using sports to reestablish a channel of dialogue and cooperation. South Korean President Moon Jae-in was on hand for the opening of the World Taekwondo Championship being held in Muju, South Korea where he welcomed the first inter-Korean taekwondo exchange in a decade. “I believe in power of sports which has been creating peace. I am pleased that the first sports exchange cooperation between two Koreas of this new government has …
A deadly heat wave that has claimed at least six lives in parts of the American Southwest continues. While temperatures cooled off Friday in Los Angeles, residents are bracing for a long, hot summer. Planes were grounded for a time in Phoenix earlier this week, as temperatures in parts of the U.S. Southwest soared to 45 degrees Celsius and higher, from Tucson, Arizona, to Palm Springs, California. Cooling stations, community centers People have tried their best to stay cool, using community cooling stations in parks and community centers throughout the …
A deadly heat wave continues in parts of the American Southwest. In Los Angeles, temperatures cooled off Friday, but residents are bracing for a long, hot summer.VOA’s Mike O’Sullivan reports. … From: MeNeedIt
The Zika virus made headlines last year because it caused microcephaly in many babies whose mothers were pregnant while they had the virus. Microcephaly keeps the brain from developing normally in children but is relatively harmless to adults. That got cancer researchers thinking about the possibility the virus could be used to attack cancer cells in the brain. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. … From: MeNeedIt
A new study by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says that safe burial practices may have helped prevent the transmission of thousands of cases of Ebola during the epidemic in West Africa between 2013 and 2016. More than 11,300 people died from Ebola in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea before the epidemic was stopped in those countries in 2016. Ebola is highly contagious and spread by direct contact with blood or other bodily fluids. Symptoms include a sudden fever, aching muscles, diarrhea and vomiting. Red …
On a recent summer night, the sun was still shining as people prepared to run a 5K race for charity. But they hadn’t had a drop to drink or eat since before dawn. Ariadne Budianto reports. … From: MeNeedIt
One of the challenges to designing prosthetics, or exoskeletons for the disabled, is that everyone is different. Technology designed to help a person walk or get around doesn’t work very well when it is built to be one-size-fits-all. But scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have figured out a quick, easy way to make each prosthetic different. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. … From: MeNeedIt
There’s good news for pesto lovers. The airport in Genoa, Italy, home of the famous sauce, is allowing passengers to take pesto with them on flights, providing they make a small donation of less than a dollar to the Flying Angels charity, which helps provide money for sick children to be flown overseas for treatment. Travelers giving donations will get a special sticker to put on their jar of pesto. Since June 1, when the program started, some 500 jars of the basil, cheese, pine nut and olive oil sauce …
The benefits of a Mediterranean diet are widely chronicled, but new research shows extra-virgin olive oil, a key part of the diet, may protect “against cognitive decline.” Specifically, researchers at Temple University in Philadelphia say extra-virgin olive oil “protects memory and learning ability and reduces the formation of amyloid-beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain – classic markers of Alzheimer’s disease.” Researcher say olive oil reduced inflammation and triggers a process called autophagy, which helps broken down cells to flush intracellular debris and toxins. This includes amyloid plaques and tau …
Federal officials say Russian cyber-operatives targeted voting systems in 21 U.S. states last year and had varying degrees of success in penetrating them. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports, that testimony before House and Senate panels Wednesday revealed significant tensions between state election officials and federal agencies whose cooperation is deemed essential to safeguard future elections. … From: MeNeedIt
Cookie sales may take a back seat to fighting identity theft and other computer crime now that Girl Scouts as young as 5 are to be offered the chance to earn their first-ever cyber security badges. Armed with a needle and thread, U.S. Girl Scouts who master the required skills can attach to their uniform’s sash the first of 18 cyber security badges that will be rolled out in September 2018, Girl Scouts of the USA said in a press release. The education program, which aims to reach as many …
Military conflicts and growing threats around the world continue to underpin demand for weapons, but industry and government leaders from the United States, Europe, Russia and the Middle East say they don’t see a huge near-term spike in arms orders. Executives report being busier than ever at this year’s Paris Airshow, the oldest and biggest aerospace expo in the world, which featured aerial acrobatics by Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 fighter jet. But they caution that foreign arms sales take years to complete, and NATO governments must get through lengthy budget …
Intel said Wednesday it would become a major sponsor of the International Olympic Committee, making the computer chipmaker the latest technology company to put marketing dollars behind the global sporting event. The new deal, which goes until 2024, comes a week after longtime Olympics sponsor McDonald’s Corp bowed out of its sponsorship deal three years early, citing a change in the company’s priorities as it tries to hold down costs. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but IOC sources have previously told Reuters that major sponsors pay about …
Australia says it will move classified government information from a private data center in Sydney after a Chinese consortium bought a major stake in the company. The move comes despite assurances from the company, Global Switch, that its files are secure. Global Switch owns two secure data facilities in downtown Sydney, and stores classified Australian government defense and intelligence files. Its ownership changed in December when its UK-based parent company accepted a $3 billion bid from Chinese investors for a 49 percent stake in the Sydney-based firm. Among the investors …
The Refugee Food Festival is taking place in 13 European cities, marking World Refugee Day on June 20. For two weeks, restaurants are being taken over by refugee chefs from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and others. Marthe van der Wolf reports for VOA from Brussels. … From: MeNeedIt