The Supreme Court said Monday it will consider reinstating the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, presenting President Joe Biden with an early test of his opposition to capital punishment.The justices agreed to hear an appeal filed by the Trump administration, which carried out executions of 13 federal inmates in its final six…
NASA Turns to College Students to Design New Suit Technology
Bradley University student Zach Bachmann didn’t grow up thinking he’d be an astronaut.“I’m short, blind and asthmatic, so I can’t really be an astronaut if I wished to,” he said.But a lifelong interest in video games and computers is putting him at the center of a nationwide effort to boost new space helmet technology for…
NASA Turns to College Students to Design New Suit Technology
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, is partnering with teams on college campuses across America to develop new spacesuit technology that will help astronauts returning to the moon, and those who will eventually reach Mars. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh visited one team in Peoria, Illinois, hoping to make a big contribution to the US…
New French Dictionary Celebrates a Language That is no Longer Just French
French language lovers could celebrate International Francophonie Day on Saturday with a new online interactive dictionary. Rolled out by the French government, it reflects not only the language’s evolution but also the reality that most of today’s speakers are not French.Did you receive a “pourriel” or “throw a camel” today? If you are wondering what…
CDC Changes School Guidance, Allowing Desks to Be Closer
Students can safely sit just 3 feet apart in the classroom as long as they wear masks but should be kept the usual 6 feet away from one another at sporting events, assemblies, lunch or chorus practice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday in relaxing its COVID-19 guidelines.The revised recommendations represent a…
Twitter Asks Users to Weigh in on Rules for World Leaders
Twitter on Friday began a survey of global users about platform rules for world leaders while consulting human rights and academic specialists on its next policy steps.The announcement comes after Twitter joined other social networks banning then-president Donald Trump for his comments seen as inciting the violent attack on the US Capitol in January.The ban…
Tokyo Olympics Ready to Announce Ban on Fans from Abroad
Tokyo organizers and the International Olympic Committee are poised to finally make it official that most fans from abroad will be prohibited from attending the postponed Olympics when they open in four months.The announcement is expected to come after “five-party” talks on Saturday with the IOC, local organizers, the Japanese government, the Tokyo metropolitan government…
Cost of Higher Ed ‘Bankrupting Students’
Cost of college tuition in the United States remains at an all-time high – even higher for international students. US politicians who are examining the future of higher education after COVID-19 say tackling the cost is essential to students and universities. Jesusemen Oni has more. …
Students Who Got Partial Loan Relief to See Full Discharge
Students who were defrauded by their colleges and received only partial relief from their federal loans could now see them fully canceled, the Biden administration announced Thursday, reversing a Trump administration policy.The change could lead to $1 billion in loans being canceled for 72,000 borrowers, all of whom attended for-profit schools, the Education Department said.”Borrowers…
Is It Time to Cancel Dr. Seuss Due to Racist Imagery?
More than 650-million copies of Dr. Seuss books have sold around the world since author Theodor Seuss Geisel published his first title in the 1930s. The prolific author of books like “The Cat in the Hat” is credited with helping millions of children learn to read. But this month, Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced it will…
Tokyo Olympics’ Creative Director Resigns Over Derogatory Remark
Tokyo Olympics creative head Hiroshi Sasaki said he had resigned after making a derogatory comment about a popular female Japanese entertainer, in the latest controversy over insensitive remarks toward women to hit games organizers.Sasaki, who was the head creative director for the opening and closing ceremonies at this year’s games, said he had told a…
Report: White Supremacist Propaganda Surged in 2020
White supremacist propaganda reached alarming levels across the U.S. in 2020, according to a new report that the Anti-Defamation League provided to The Associated Press.There were 5,125 cases of racist, anti-Semitic, anti-LGBTQ and other hateful messages spread through physical flyers, stickers, banners and posters, according to Wednesday’s report. That’s nearly double the 2,724 instances reported…
Mass Migration, COVID Return FGM to Shadows, Aid Group Says
Mass migration and the COVID-19 pandemic have contributed to the worldwide spread of female genital mutilation, or FGM, executed on girls from infancy to puberty, say aid organizations.Perpetrators cross borders to perform FGM in countries such as Chad, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan, where there is no legislation against the practice, according to…
Famed Metropolitan Opera Conductor James Levine Dies at 77
James Levine, one of the world’s most acclaimed conductors who served as music director for the Metropolitan Opera in New York for four decades before sexual abuse accusations ended his career, has died at age 77.Dr. Len Horovitz, his personal physician, said Levine died on March 9 in Palm Springs, California, of natural causes. The…
Homecoming Queen at Center of Alleged Voter Fraud in Florida
After a long political season in the United States, where “voter fraud” was often the cry above a noisy campaign, a case has emerged in Florida involving the alleged illegal election of a high school homecoming queen. Homecoming queens are the stars of the show at the end of football season in October or November,…
Japanese Court Says Official Ban on Same-Sex Marriage Unconstitutional
A Japanese district court ruled Wednesday that a ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The historic ruling by the Sapporo District Court was in response to a lawsuit filed by six plaintiffs, including two male couples and one female couple, who demanded more than $9,100 each (1 million yen), in damages from the Japanese…
Amid COVID-19 Chaos, Fewer US Students Pursue University
A recent survey of American high school students shows less enthusiasm for college as the only path to a good job.The decline in interest was attributed to a year of school closures because of the COVID-19 pandemic, contentious political contests, racial incidents that highlighted divisions in American society, and the high price tag of higher…
South by Southwest Goes Virtual with More International Visitors
South by Southwest, the annual event in Austin, Texas, that brings together technology, music, politics and Hollywood, is happening digitally this year after being canceled last year due to COVID-19. Michelle Quinn reports.Producer: Matt Dibble …
Britain’s Prince Philip Leaves Hospital After Treatment
Britain’s Prince Philip left a London hospital on Tuesday after being treated for an infection and undergoing a heart procedure. Philip, 99, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, had been hospitalized since being admitted to the private King Edward VII’s Hospital in London on Feb. 16, where he was treated for an infection. He…
Lessons in Finance Could Reduce Student Debt
Millions of student loan borrowers owe a collective $1.7 trillion in debt, but many commit to loans without knowing what they are signing up for, research shows. Students lacking education in personal finance are more likely to underestimate future student loan payments, wrote Nikolaos Artavanis of Virginia Polytechnic University, and Soumya Karra of the University of Massachusetts.Nearly 40% of borrowers who said they lacked understanding of how loans…
‘Mank’ Leads Academy Awards Nominations With 10 Nods
David Fincher’s “Mank” led FILE – Chloe Zhao poses for a portrait to promote her film “Nomadland” during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, Jan. 22, 2018.The other directing nominees were Lee Isaac Chung for “Minari,” Fincher for “Mank” and Thomas Vinterberg for “Another Round.”For performers, it’s the most diverse slate of nominees…
New Music App Organizes Virtual Competitions – With Real Prizes!
A virtual music competition with real prizes — this is the concept of a new music platform called Djooky. Both amateur and professional songwriters and musicians from around the world are invited to participate for free. Mariia Prus has the story. Camera: Kostiantyn Golubchyk …
Vatican Excludes Gay Union Blessing as God ‘Can’t Bless Sin’
The Vatican decreed Monday that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions since God “cannot bless sin.”The Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response Monday to a question about whether Catholic clergy can bless gay unions.The answer, contained in a two-page explanation published in seven languages and…
Beyonce, Taylor Swift Make Grammys History
Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish won the top prizes at the Grammy Awards on Sunday in a ceremony that also saw Beyonce become the most awarded female artist in Grammy history. Swift’s surprise lockdown record “Folklore” was named album of the year and Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted” won record of the year. Sunday’s win made Swift, 31, the first woman to take home album of the…
Beyoncé Set to Make Grammy History; Styles, Eilish Perform
Queen Bey is closer to sitting on her Grammys throne: The singer won her 26th Grammy on Sunday, almost matching, and on track to surpass, Alison Krauss’ record of 27 wins.Beyoncé, this year’s leading contender with nine nominations, won two honors during the pre-ceremony including best rap performance for “Savage” with Megan Thee Stallion and…
Macedonian Artist Makes Breathtaking Model Replicas of Ships
Dame Zaturoski from Struga, North Macedonia, is a lawyer by training, but his true passion is making models of boats and ships. Reporter Miki Trajkovski went to North Macedonia to see his latest creation and filed this story narrated by Anna Rice. …
Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and Beyonce Battle for Grammys Top Prizes
Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Dua Lipa lead the charge at the reinvented Grammy Awards on Sunday, where the music industry hopes to put a year-long pandemic behind it.But an unusually diverse line-up of contenders for the top prize – album of the year – mean it could be anyone’s night.”The nominations were so surprising –…
Boxing Great Marvelous Marvin Hagler Dies at 66
Marvelous Marvin Hagler stopped Thomas Hearns in a fight that lasted less than eight minutes yet was so epic that it still lives in boxing lore. Two years later he was so disgusted after losing a decision to Sugar Ray Leonard — stolen, he claimed, by the judges — that he never fought again.One of…