Public, private and federally funded media outlets say journalism faces many challenges, including fake news. To mark World Press Freedom day (May 3), the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs held a forum on the importance of U.S. international journalists, defending press freedom, and journalist safety. VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports. …
Bison once thundered across the North American plains by the millions. But they were hunted to near extinction in the 19th century for their hides. Today, their numbers are growing again, thanks in part to the important role they can play in land restoration. The 429-hectare Kankakee Sands Nature Reserve is a sea of tall dried grass, with bits of spring green filling in here and there, but it once was Beaver Lake, the largest body of water in Indiana. Pioneers drained it for farmland in the 19th century. While the Indiana chapter of the Nature Conservancy can’t bring back the lake, it can restore the prairie. And that’s where the bison come in. Doing what bison do This spring, a dozen or more fuzzy bison calves, notable for their orange hue and tiny stature, will gambol across the landscape. That’s good news, says Ted Anchor, the program manager …
Nearly 7,000 immigrants from India live in greater Kansas City, Kansas, in the middle of the U.S. and on the border between two red states. Temples, Indian grocery stores, and restaurants have been serving the community for decades. But now proposed changes to H1-B visa policies could leave many of the Indian-Americans in Kansas City and across the U.S. without jobs and, potentially, forced to return home. President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order aimed at making it harder for companies to hire skilled foreign workers under the H1-B visa program. Overwhelmingly, those workers have come from India. The U.S. government reports that in 2015, 71% of H1-B visa holders were Indian. “I may lose my opportunities and my career may be done,” said Akhil Kodaru, a project manager at the Sprint telecommunications company in Kansas City. Sprint, which largely hires H1-B visa holders through contracting companies, has had …
May Day is marked by marches in support of workers’ rights all around the world. In Washington, D.C., immigrants and allies rallied, not only in support of workers’ rights but to stand against President Donald Trump’s tough stances on immigration. VOA’s Aline Barros traveled to the rally in a van hired by a local business. …
Does Russia have a “mystery weapon” capable of threatening the entire U.S. Navy? Russian media have claimed that the Russian military has developed technology capable of neutralizing an adversary’s aircraft, ships and missiles within a 5,000-kilometer radius. The claim, first reported by Vesti News on April 14, said a Russian warplane had successfully tested the electronic jamming device on a U.S. warship, the destroyer Donald Cook in the Black Sea. The report, which used a mock-up simulation to demonstrate the exercise, also quoted anonymous Russian sources claiming the technology could wipe out the entire U.S. Navy. While the USS Donald Cook really was approached by a Russian jet in the Black Sea in 2014, U.S. officials say the details of the encounter were not accurately presented in the Vesti report and that most of the facts presented there are fabricated. American analysts suggest Russian officials may have made up the …
A privacy group sued the New York Police Department on Tuesday to demand the release of documents related to its use of facial-recognition technology, which rights groups have criticized as discriminatory and lacking in proper oversight. The lawsuit is the latest attempt to compel U.S. law enforcement agencies to disclose more about how they rely on searchable facial-recognition databases in criminal investigations. NYPD has previously produced one document in response to a January 2016 freedom of information request, despite evidence it has frequently used an advanced face-recognition system for more than five years, according to the Center for Privacy & Technology at Georgetown University law school, which filed the suit in New York state court. “The department’s claim that it cannot find any records about its use of the technology is deeply troubling,” said David Vladeck, the privacy group’s faculty director. He added that an absence of responsive documents, such …
President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the U.S. ambassador to China said on Tuesday he would do everything possible to address what he called China’s “unfair and illegal” sales of underpriced steel in the world market. “I want to do everything I can to make sure that we stop the unfair and illegal activities that we’ve seen from China in the steel industry,” the nominee, Iowa’s Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, said at his U.S. Senate confirmation hearing. …
U.S. President Donald Trump, after failing to win congressional approval for many of his spending and policy priorities for the next five months, said Tuesday the government “needs a good ‘shutdown’ in September” when lawmakers will be debating the 2018 funding plan. In a tweet, Trump blamed the result of his first fight over federal spending on lawmaking rules in the Senate, where Republicans hold a 52-48 majority. But most major legislation requires a 60-vote super majority in the 100-member chamber for approval, effectively requiring Republican and Democratic lawmakers to reach compromises. Trump said the reason that Republicans could not prevail on all of his priorities in the trillion-dollar budget plan that pays for government spending through September 30 “is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there!” The president said his party “either needs to elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules …
On a sunny afternoon in May 2016, members of Virginia’s Pamunkey Indian Tribe gathered for a formal photograph celebrating a milestone after three decades of effort: Official recognition by the U.S. government. When the English arrived in Virginia in the 1600s, the Pamunkey were one of the most powerful tribes of the Powhatan federation led by Chief Wahunsenacawh Powhatan – remembered today as the father of the Pocahontas. His domains stretched across nearly 10,000 square kilometers; today, the Pamunkey reservation has shrunk to 485 hectares where some 80 members still live. The remaining 200 are scattered across Virginia and beyond. Gaining federal recognition was a Herculean task, said Pamunkey Chief Robert Grey. “We see recognition as access to certain government programs that could help us stand on our own two feet as a sovereign nation. It’s just the fact that the government acknowledges us and that we actually got …
Bette Midler, Cate Blanchett and Sally Field received best actress nominations in Broadway’s Tony Awards on Tuesday, while “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” scored a leading 12 nominations including the top prize, best musical. Close behind was the hit revival of “Hello, Dolly!” which took 10 nominations, including one for actor David Hyde Pierce. “Dear Evan Hansen,” “Groundhog Day The Musical” and “Come From Away” received best musical nominations as well. Best play nominees included “Oslo,” “Sweat,” “Indecent,” and “A Doll’s House, Part 2,” which won nominations for stars Laurie Metcalf and Chris Cooper. The Tony Awards will be presented on June 11 at Manhattan’s Radio City Music Hall in a ceremony headlined by film and stage star Kevin Spacey. …
Russian President Vladimir Putin denied Tuesday that Russia interfered in last year’s U.S. presidential election, saying such allegations are “simply rumors” that are being leveraged for political reasons in the United States. Putin’s denial came at a joint news conference in Sochi, Russia, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after the two leaders met amid increasingly strained relations over the war in Syria, and Russia’s annexation of the Crimea region in neighboring Ukraine. Putin’s remarks are at odds with findings from U.S. intelligence agencies that have reported Russia was responsible for the hacking of Democratic Party email accounts, which were intended to benefit Republican Donald Trump and harm his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. In response to a reporter’s question, Merkel said she was not fearful about the threat of Russian interference during this year’s German elections and would respond to inaccurate information with facts. “I am not an anxious person. I …
India-based technology company Infosys said Tuesday it will create 10,000 jobs in the United States, growing its American footprint at a time when it has become a political target in the U.S. Infosys has been a big user of H1-B visas in the U.S., a program under which overseas firms, most often technology companies, move foreign workers to the United States after the overseas businesses declare they cannot find enough qualified U.S. workers. Critics of the visa program say the foreign firms have cost U.S. workers their jobs, however, because the foreign companies usually pay the temporary workers less than they would have had to pay American employees to do the same job. As part of his “America First” pledge, President Donald Trump recently ordered government agencies to review the visa program. Trump said he wants to bring in the “best and brightest” foreign workers and reform immigration laws as …
Singer Janet Jackson has announced she is going back on tour later this year, returning to the stage in the United States and Canada after taking time off to give birth to her first child. In a video message to fans, the pop star also referred to media reports that she had split from her Qatari businessman husband Wissam al-Mana, saying: “Yes I separated from my husband, we are in court and the rest is in God’s hands.” Jackson, 50, last year said she was postponing her “Unbreakable” music tour due to a “sudden change” in the couple’s plans to start a family. She gave birth to son Eissa in January. “I’m continuing my tour as I promised, I’m so excited,” the singer said in the video posted on her Twitter feed, thanking fans for their patience and support. “I decided to change the name of the tour, ‘State of …
A new study has found engaging in a simple meditation exercise for 10 minutes a day can reduce symptoms in people with anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders are marked by repetitive, anxious, often baseless thoughts and fears about the future. Canadian researchers say one in four people will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. The worrying can become obsessive and prevent anxious individuals from focusing on work and other important activities. But engaging in a simple daily meditation exercise for 10 minutes, according to researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario Canada, may help people keep their minds from wandering, improving their performance on tasks. The participants in a study conducted by Mengran Xu and colleagues engaged in something called mindful meditation. Mindfulness is commonly defined as paying attention on purpose and staying in the present moment without judgment. Xu is a clinical psychologist …
An HIV activist in Uganda has come up with a novel approach to encourage young people to protect themselves against the disease. She calls it “pill power.” Halima Athumani has the story for VOA from Kampala. …
Generating solar energy is pretty easy. Storing it is the challenge. Now a research team from Sweden is working on an innovative way to fix this frustrating problem. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
People who drink sugary sodas are more likely to die of a heart attack, develop diabetes, and contract gout. And health researchers say avoiding soda is a simple way to reduce the rates of obesity. That’s why some new technology that could mimic the taste of sugary drinks without the sugar could be a big deal. As Kevin Enochs reports, the technology is being developed in Singapore. …
The Trump administration is turning back a U.S. public school program promoted by former first lady Michelle Obama that required healthier lunches for children. “If kids aren’t eating the food and it’s ending up in the trash, they aren’t getting any nutrition … undermining the intent of the program,” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Monday. He made his announcement at an elementary school cafeteria in Leesburg, Virginia, near Washington, before a tray of chicken nuggets, fruit and salad. Perdue said he appreciates what Michelle Obama wanted to do — giving children lunches with more whole grains and less fat and salt. But he said his department wants to adjust the program to make the healthier food more appetizing. Chocolate milk back on menu For starters, schools can now serve chocolate or strawberry flavored milk with 1 percent fat instead of nonfat milk. Under the 2012 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, schools …
The microbes in your gut may have a say in what you want for dinner, according to new research. The findings only apply to fruit flies at the moment. But they add to the evidence that microbes influence the behavior of the creatures they inhabit, from flies to people. Fruit flies are a good place to begin to study how microbes affect complex behaviors like food choices, according to neuroscientist Carlos Ribeiro at the Champalimaud Foundation, because while the human gut contains hundreds of different kinds of microbes, flies have just five. Craving killer In the new study in the journal PLOS Biology, Ribeiro and his colleagues raised flies in a sterile environment and fed them a carefully controlled diet. When the flies were deprived of protein, they sought out yeast. “Yeast is the steak of the flies,” Ribeiro said. But when these sterile, protein-starved flies were inoculated with two …
The Pentagon estimates that the number of sexual assaults in the military last year were the lowest since the military began surveying service members about a decade ago. The numbers, released Monday in a Defense Department report, show sexual assault estimates down from about 20,300 sexual assaults in 2014 to about 14,900 in 2016. However, officials cautioned the battle to end sexual assault in the military is “far from over.” “We do not confuse progress with success,” Elise Van Winkle, the acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness, said. “There is no acceptable number of sexual assaults.” ’Encouraging signs’ While sexual assaults decreased, officials say reports of sexual assaults in the military increased slightly last year, with the number of victims reporting their assaults rising from about 1 in 4 to about 1 in 3. “We see this as encouraging signs that many of our efforts are working as intended,” …
A group of Hispanic workers is suing a Michigan industrial plant that fired them for taking part in the Day Without Immigrants protest in February. The Detroit Free Press newspaper reports the workers have taken their case to the National Labor Relations Board in Washington. Their lawyer, Tony Paris, tells the newspaper the company discriminated against them because they are Hispanic immigrants who took part in a political protest. Paris says EZ Industrial Solutions questioned about 20 workers about whether they planned to take part in the nationwide protest. The plant allegedly threatened to suspend any worker for one week if he marched. Paris says instead of a weeklong layoff, the workers were fired and the company threatened to report them to immigration authorities. One of the affected employees says those who work at EZ have an “informal schedule.” She says they stayed home for as much as three days …
In the face of international outrage, U.S. President Donald Trump’s spokesman says the decision to invite authoritarian Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and other East Asian leaders to the White House is part of a strategy to isolate North Korea. “It is an opportunity to work with countries in that region who can help play a role in diplomatically and economically isolating North Korea,” said White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Monday. “And, frankly, the national interests of the United States, the safety of our people and the safety of people in the region are the number one priorities of the president.” In telephone conversations over the weekend, Trump invited the leaders of Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines to visit. But it was the invitation to the firebrand Duterte that touched off shock waves on Capitol Hill and infuriated the global human rights community. Invitation questioned “President Trump weakens American values …
Chanting “Yes, We Can” in Spanish and English, hundreds of people marched to the White House in observance of May Day. The march and rally, combined with a general strike, are intended to champion workers’ rights like other May Day demonstrations around the world. But this protest had the added impetus of protesting anti-immigrant policies of President Donald Trump by highlighting the role immigrants play in the U.S. economy. About 150 businesses in the D.C. area closed, most of them restaurants and legal offices. Other businesses offered a paid day for employees who wanted to demonstrate. El Rancho Migueleno in Arlington was one business that remained open, but paid employees who wanted to protest. Owner Oscar Amaya also hired a van to take 12 of his workers to Dupont Circle, the staging area for the march. Amaya, who came from El Salvador in 1990, told VOA in Spanish that he …
Fifty-six years ago today, Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro banned multiparty elections and declared Cuba a socialist nation. Addressing hundreds of thousands of Cubans at a May Day parade (read his speech in English here), Castro openly identified himself as a Marxist-Leninist, setting off a decades-long Cold War with the United States. “If Mr Kennedy does not like socialism, we do not like imperialism,” Castro said, referring to then-president John F. Kennedy. “We do not like capitalism.” The May Day proclamation came just one month after the failed U.S.-sponsored invasion of the island by Cuban exiles, the so-called Bay of Pigs operation. The invasion force of 1,300 men landed at Bahia de Cochinos, but was quickly crushed. The days that followed saw thousands of anti-Castro rebels confined in makeshift prisons; hundreds were later executed. Castro came to power in 1959 after leading a successful revolt against dictator Fulgencio Batista …
