Category: Technology

The United States on Monday granted another 90 days for companies to cease doing business with China's telecoms giant Huawei, saying this would allow service providers to continue to serve rural areas. President Donald Trump in May effectively barred Huawei from American communications networks after Washington found the company had violated US sanctions on Iran and attempted to block a subsequent investigation. The extension, renewing one issued in August, "will allow carriers to continue to service customers in some of the most remote areas of the United States who would otherwise be left in the dark," US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement. "The department will continue to rigorously monitor sensitive technology exports to ensure that our innovations are not harnessed by those who would threaten our national…

The Ukrainian journalist Oleg Sentsov, who was jailed in Russia for reporting on the country’s illegal annexation of Crimea, and murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi were among those honored at the recent Magnitsky Awards ceremony in London. The awards pay tribute to those who risk their lives to stand up for human rights. Henry Ridgwell reports from the ceremony ...

New research has found that U.S. agriculture uses child workers without proper training and care for their safety. The report published last week in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine says 33 children are injured every day while working on U.S. farms, and more child workers die in agriculture than in any other industry. VOA's Zlatica Hoke reports rights groups blame loopholes in U.S. laws for failing to protect child workers in agriculture ...

British photographer Terry O’Neill, whose images captured London’s Swinging ’60s and who created iconic portraits of Elton John, Brigitte Bardot and Winston Churchill, has died at age 81. O’Neill died Saturday at his home in London following a long battle with cancer, according to Iconic Images, the agency that represented O’Neill. “Terry was a class act, quick witted and filled with charm,” the agency said in a statement posted to its website. “Anyone who was lucky enough to know or work with him can attest to his generosity and modesty. As one of the most iconic photographers of the last 60 years, his legendary pictures will forever remain imprinted in our memories as well as in our hearts and minds.” Born in London in 1938, O’Neill was working as a…

Fighting reportedly intensified between Turkish-backed Syrian fighters and U.S.-backed Kurdish forces Sunday over a major highway and a strategic town in northeastern Syria. Local news reported that Turkish military and allied Syrian militias continued shelling positions belonging to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in a bid to control the town of Tal Tamr and the nearby M4 highway. In an effort to prevent Turkish-backed forces from advancing into the town, the SDF has reportedly reached a cease-fire deal with Russia, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sunday. The deal, according to the war monitor, would allow Russian and Syrian government troops to be deployed near the Christian-majority Tal Tamr and parts of the M4 highway, locally known as the "International Road." “Our sources on the ground have confirmed…

Iran’s supreme leader Sunday backed the government’s decision to raise gasoline prices and called angry protesters who have been setting fire to public property over the hike “thugs,” signaling a potential crackdown on the demonstrations. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s comments came as authorities apparently shut down the internet across Iran to smother the protests in about two dozen cities and towns over the rise of government-set prices by 50% as of Friday. Since the hike, demonstrators have abandoned their cars along major highways and joined mass protests in the capital, Tehran, and elsewhere. Some protests turned violent, with demonstrators setting fires and there was also gunfire. It remains to be seen how many people have been injured, killed or arrested. Authorities on Saturday said only one person was killed, though other…

Sri Lanka’s former wartime defense chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa was set to become president after his main rival conceded defeat Sunday in an election that came months after bombings by Islamist militants threw the country into turmoil. Rajapaksa oversaw the military defeat of Tamil separatists under his brother and then president Mahinda Rajapaksa 10 years ago. He has promised strong leadership to secure the island of 22 million people, the majority of whom are Sinhalese Buddhists. Rajapaksa, 70, would be the latest nationalist leader swept to power across the world, tapping into the anger and fears of majority communities. He and his brothers, who are expected to get key positions, are also seen as closer to China, which has invested billions of dollars building ports, expressways and power stations. But these…

The United States and South Korea announced Sunday they will postpone upcoming military drills in an effort to bolster a stalled peace push with North Korea, even as Washington denied the move amounted to another concession to Pyongyang. The drills, known as the Combined Flying Training Event, would have simulated air combat scenarios and involved an undisclosed number of warplanes from the United States and South Korea. In deference to Pyongyang, the exercises had already been reduced in scale and scope from previous years, but North Korea still objected to them regardless. Effort to enable peace U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the U.S. and South Korean militaries would remain at a high state of readiness despite the move, and he denied that the decision to postpone the drills was…

A new report by leading health and safety agencies finds millions of sanitation workers in developing countries are forced to work under horrific conditions that put their health and lives at risk. Sanitation workers everywhere occupy the lowest rung of society and are stigmatized and marginalized because they do the dirty work that other people do not want to do.   The report's authors - the International Labor Organization, the World Health Organization, the World Bank and WaterAid – say they hope to raise awareness on the plight of sanitation workers and the dehumanizing conditions under which they are forced to work. For example, the report says that many sanitation workers aren’t given the safety training or equipment needed to protect them when handling effluent or fecal sludge. World Health…

Authorities in Haiti said late Friday they are investigating allegations that a group of male inmates raped 10 women in a makeshift jail in the northern city of Gonaives. Prosecutor Serard Gazius told The Associated Press that more than 50 men broke out of their cells last week and overpowered police officers guarding the inmates, adding that an unknown number of them are suspected of raping 10 of 12 women being held in the same facility but in separate cells. He said the male and female inmates were being held in a former United Nations facility because the original prison was destroyed years ago and a new one hasn’t been built. Gazius said the women were scared and have yet to identify the suspects, adding that they have received medical…

It's looking like an anti-robocall bill will be sent to President Donald Trump this year, helping tackle an infuriating problem in the U.S. House and Senate leaders said Friday they've reached an agreement in principle on merging their two bills against robocalls. The House bill had gone further than the Senate one. Details about what's in the final bill are still to come, but legislators say it will require phone companies to verify that phone numbers are real, and to block calls for free. It will also give government agencies more ability to go after scammers. It's the latest effort in a crackdown, building on steps by state attorneys general and the Federal Communications Commission as well as the phone companies. Phone companies have been rolling out verification tools after…

Tunisia took a step forward Friday in forming a new government following rollercoaster October elections, with the moderate Islamist Ennahda party proposing a prime minister from its own ranks to lead it.  Former junior agriculture minister, Habib Jemli, 60, will now have two months to form a government. If he fails to do so, newly elected President Kais Saied can tap another candidate. Still, it remains uncertain whether any future government emerging from a politically fractured parliament — along with an untested president — can tackle the country’s massive economic and employment challenges. With Tunisia considered the Arab Spring’s first and so far only relative success story, this latest twist in its bumpy post-revolutionary path is being closely watched abroad. Some analysts hail last month’s elections — where disaffected voters…

Taiwan and the United States have sent their first joint trade delegation to one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies as tiny, often impoverished countries keep turning instead to China, a source of aid for the developing world but a perceived threat to both delegation organizers.   In the first week of November, the delegation visited Saint Lucia, one of just 15 nations that recognize Taiwan diplomatically instead of China. They assessed ways offshore businesses could help the Caribbean country with infrastructure, trade and investment, the government-run Central News Agency in Taipei said.   “The way to consolidate diplomatic relationships is multi-dimensional,” Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou said. “It should be an effort across different domains, and investment is one of them. We hope that it will help. We do hope…

United Airlines is removing the grounded Boeing 737 Max from its schedule until March 4, two months longer than previously planned.                     The change follows similar moves by American and Southwest, and reflects further delays in Boeing's work to fix the plane after two deadly crashes.                     United said Friday that without the planes, it will cancel 56 flights a day in January, February and early March, down from 93 a day this month.                     United has 14 Max jets. All Max planes have been grounded since March, after crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people.                     Boeing is fixing flight-control software and computers that played a role in the crashes. Boeing expects regulators to approve changes in pilot-training in January, clearing the way for…

Rights groups and the U.S. Embassy on Thursday called for the Cambodian government to drop the charges against two former Radio Free Asia reporters who were arrested in 2017 and released on bail a year ago. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, center, greets his government officers during the country's 66th Independence Day from France, at the Independence Monument in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019. The calls came to mark the second anniversary of the Nov. 14, 2017, arrest of former Radio Free Asia journalists Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin as part of Prime Minister Hun Sen's crackdown on the media, civil society groups and the political opposition before the 2018 elections. The two faced espionage charges, and on Oct. 3, when Phnom Penh Municipal Court Judge Im Vannak had been…

Amazon.com Inc. will protest the Pentagon's decision to award a $10 billion cloud computing contract to Microsoft Corp., The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing a statement.    Amazon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.    A challenge to the Defense Department's award announced last month was widely expected by legal experts, analysts and consultants, especially after President Donald Trump publicly derided Amazon's bid for the high-stakes contract.    Trump had said in August that Amazon's bid for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure Cloud (JEDI) contract was under review by his administration after complaints from other companies.    Amazon was considered a favorite for the contract, part of a broader digital modernization process of the Pentagon, before Microsoft emerged as the surprise winner.  ...

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' office announced that a special envoy would be sent to Bolivia to support a "peaceful resolution" to its current crisis after military leaders called on the Bolivian president to resign over election irregularities.  Former U.N. special envoy to Colombia Jean Arnault will act as the U.N. envoy to Bolivia to engage with "all Bolivian actors," and attempt to support peaceful elections in the country. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres, announced that "the secretary-general remains deeply concerned about developments in Bolivia. He reiterates his appeal to all Bolivians to refrain from violence and exercise utmost restraint." FILE - Jean Arnault, then the the U.N. secretary-general's special representative for Colombia, speaks in Funza, Colombia, Sept. 22, 2017. Former President Evo Morales served as president of the South American…

U.S. President Donald Trump became the third president in modern U.S. history to face open impeachment hearings Wednesday. Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives called two key State Department witnesses to begin making the case that Trump abused the power of his office by allegedly pressing Ukraine for information that would help him in the 2020 election.  VOA's Congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson has more on the first day of hearings and Republican response from Capitol Hill.   ...

Fresh protests erupted Wednesday in Bolivia just hours after opposition Sen. Jeanine Áñez was sworn in as interim president. The United States recognized Áñez as Bolivia's temporary president. The country's longtime leader, Evo Morales, said he was removed by a coup and that he would continue to fight. He spoke from Mexico where he was granted asylum. The leftist leader resigned  Sunday after weeks of protests over a disputed presidential election result. VOA's Zlatica Hoke reports Morales still has supporters in his country, especially among indigenous Bolivians. ...

U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met at the White House Wednesday but did not reach resolutions on major irritants to bilateral relations including Turkey's recent incursion into northern Syria and its purchase of Russian military hardware. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report.   ...

North Korea's supreme decision-making body has lashed out at planned U.S.-South Korean military drills and warned that the United States will face a "bigger threat and harsh suffering" if it ignores North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's end-of-year deadline to salvage nuclear talks. The North's State Affairs Commission said Wednesday that the drills would violate agreements between Kim and President Donald Trump on improving bilateral relations and compel North Korea to raise its war readiness. Kim is chairman of the commission, which he established in 2016 following years of efforts to consolidate his power and centralize governance. The statement is North Korea's latest expression of displeasure over the military drills and slow pace of nuclear negotiations with Washington. The talks have stalled over disagreements on disarmament steps and sanctions relief.…

Spanish police said Wednesday they have been unable to locate a Venezuelan former spymaster wanted by the United States for extradition on charges of drug trafficking. Police told The Associated Press that its officers have been unable to find Maj. Gen. Hugo Carvajal. News website El Español reported on Friday that a Spanish court had reversed an earlier ruling throwing out the U.S. arrest warrant and that it had ordered authorities to proceed with the extradition request. A spokesman for the National Court said Wednesday that no decision on the case has been made public at this time. Carvajal’s lawyer, Maria Dolores de Arguelles, said her client couldn’t be considered a fugitive because the defense has not been officially notified of the court ruling granting the extradition, and no court…

Russia's Embassy to Washington says it has lodged a formal diplomatic protest after Israel extradited a Russian national to the United States, where he is suspected of stealing more than $20 million from U.S. consumers through credit card fraud. In a Wednesday Facebook statement, the embassy also accused Washington of "hunting" Russian citizens across the world. The statement said that Russia had formally sent an official note to the U.S. State Department, demanding Aleksei Burkov's rights be respected. The U.S. Justice Department says Burkov was "charged with wire fraud, access device fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, computer intrusions, identity theft, and money laundering" in the Eastern Court in Virginia on November 12. "According to court documents, Burkov allegedly ran a website called "Cardplanet" that sold payment card numbers…

Mark Sanford, a former governor of South Carolina, abandoned his longshot bid on Tuesday to challenge President Donald Trump for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination. Sanford, 59, announced he was dropping out of the race at an event in New Hampshire, which holds the first Republican presidential primary, his hometown newspaper, The Post and Courier, reported. Sanford's bid to challenge the sitting president for the Republican nomination failed to gain much traction since he threw his name into the ring two months ago. His departure from the race leaves two other Republicans waging longshot bids to win the Republican nomination -- former Massachusetts governor William Weld and former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh. Sanford was governor of South Carolina from 2003 to 2011, and served two separate stints in the House…

Clashes between protesters and riot police continued well into Tuesday night at a prominent Hong Kong university, extending one of the more violent stretches in the five months of demonstrations. Police fired rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and students responded by throwing bricks and gasoline bombs. Clashes continued until police eventually used a water cannon truck and then began a retreat. The weekday clashes — thus far unusual for the Hong Kong protests which have largely occurred on weekends — followed a day of chaos as protesters erected barricades on roads and subway tracks. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam called the protesters who threw Tuesday's rush hour commute into chaos "extremely selfish." Dozens of passengers aboard a commuter…

Jordan’s King Abdullah visits one of two small parcels of land which, until recently, was leased to Israel as part of the neighbors’ 1994 peace agreement. Jordan's decision not to renew the lease was made at a time of brewing tensions between the peace partners. Jordanians blame Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for antagonizing the relationship, with action against Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque and the detention of Jordanian citizens, among others.   During Monday’s visit to Baqura, a 81-hectare enclave along the Jordan River in Jordan’s north, King Abdullah tweeted that "Jordan's sovereignty over its territory is above all other considerations." Jordan announced last year that it would not renew its peace treaty annexes with Israel on Baqura and al-Ghamr that gave Israeli farmers free access to the Jordan's sovereign land.…

Guinea President Alpha Conde announced on Monday that he was replacing his security minister following deadly protests against suspected efforts by Conde to extend his mandate. Conde, 81, is due to step down next year when his second and final five-year term expires, but he has refused to rule out running again and asked his government in September to look into drafting a new constitution. Conde's opponents fear a new constitution could be used as a reset button on his presidency, allowing Conde to run again like other African leaders who have amended or changed constitutions in recent years to stay in power. Protests in Conakry, the capital, and the bauxite-mining north against such a move have resulted in at least 13 deaths over the past month. The presidential statement…

Iraqi officials expressed "deep regret" on Monday at the death of protesters during weeks of unrest but defended Baghdad's handling of the situation. Nearly 300 people have been killed in Iraq since the protests against political corruption, unemployment and poor public services began on Oct. 1. At a U.N. review of member states' human rights records in Geneva, diplomats from several countries accused the Iraqi government of using excessive force. Justice Minister Farooq Amin Othman acknowledged there had been "individual violations" by members of the law enforcement agencies but said they were being investigated. "...We would like to express our deep regret for the number of people killed," he told international diplomats gathered at what the U.N calls the Universal Periodic Review. "Our constitution guarantees peaceful assembly and the objective…