Facebook on Wednesday made its biggest move to date to compete in the television market by expanding its video offerings with programming ranging from professional women’s basketball to a safari…
more ...Hard-pedaling Soft Power, China Helps Launch $13B Belt and Road Rail Project in Malaysia
China and Malaysia broke ground on Wednesday on a $13 billion rail project linking peninsular Malaysia’s east and west, the largest such project in the country and a major part…
more ...Venezuela Exchange Rate Fluctuation Sparks Price Surge
The extreme volatility of Venezuela’s exchange rate has the crisis-hit country’s shop owners hurriedly marking up their merchandise and consumers balking at the higher price tags. Just last week, the…
more ...US Oil Industry Pushes Back on Sanctions Against Venezuela
The Trump administration’s decision on Wednesday to slap sanctions on eight members of Venezuela’s all-powerful constitutional assembly brings to 30 the number of government loyalists targeted for human rights abuses…
more ...Observers: China’s New Base in Djibouti to Aid Economic Expansion in Africa
China’s new military and logistical base in Djibouti has put other foreign powers on edge, but observers believe China’s strategy in the region is more about economic growth than military…
more ...Jordan Issues New Work Permits to Syrian Refugees
– Jordan on Wednesday became the first Arab country to issue Syrian refugees with a new type of work permit that opens up the growing construction sector, the U.N. labor…
more ...Spray Can Stunt Prompts Twitter to Act on Hateful Tweets
An artist tired of seeing hateful tweets ignored by Twitter has managed to get the social network to remove or hide some of them — by spray-painting the offending posts…
more ...Author of Google Diversity Memo Files Labor Complaint After Firing
A former Google software engineer, who wrote an internal memo criticizing the company’s diversity policies, has filed a labor complaint, saying he was wrongfully fired. In a statement emailed to…
more ...In Croatia, Harvesting Salt the Centuries-old Way
Dozens of glistening pools in a small village on Croatia’s Adriatic coast stand testament to its annual salt harvests from seawater, which use a method largely unchanged for centuries. The…
more ...Fired Google Memo Writer Draws Scorn, Cheers and a Job Offer
The male Google engineer fired for circulating a memo decrying the company’s diversity hiring program became the center of a heated debate on sexism, drawing scorn, cheers and even a…
more ...Artist Targets Twitter With Offline Hate Tweets
A German-Israeli artist who accuses Twitter of failing to delete hate speech tweets has taken matters into his own hands – by stenciling the offending messages on the road in…
more ...Google Engineer Fired Over Memo Casting Doubt on Need for Gender Diversity
U.S. technology giant Google has fired a male engineer who wrote a memo questioning the need for gender diversity programs in the industry. In a 3,000 page internal memo titled…
more ...Tesla Seeks $1.5B Junk Bond Issue to Fund Model 3 Production
Tesla said on Monday it would raise about $1.5 billion through its first-ever offering of junk bonds as the U.S. luxury electric carmaker seeks fresh sources of cash to ramp…
more ...China’s Ethnic Yi Struggle Against Poverty
For Jisi Lazuo, the torch festival in her village in southwest China should be a celebration involving colorful ethnic clothes and eating freshly slaughtered pig. Instead, it’s a time of…
more ...Keystone XL Pipeline Fate in Balance as Nebraska Opens Hearings
Nebraska regulators opened a final hearing on TransCanada Corp’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline on Monday, a week-long proceeding that marks the last big hurdle for the long-delayed project after President…
more ...Balkan Trade War Brews Over Huge Croatian Import Fee Rise
The Balkans have become embroiled in a trade war over agricultural health checks after Croatia raised import fees on some farm products by around 220 percent, triggering countermeasures by Serbia…
more ...Interior Department Scraps Obama-era Rule on Coal Royalties
The Interior Department on Monday scrapped an Obama-era rule on coal royalties that mining companies had criticized as burdensome and costly. The Trump administration put the royalty valuation rule on…
more ...Pentagon: Military Can Destroy Drones Over Domestic US Bases
The Pentagon has given more than 130 U.S. military bases across the United States the green light to shoot down private and commercial drones that could endanger aviation safety or…
more ...Google Exec Denounces Employee’s Views on Female Workers
Silicon Valley’s efforts to promote workforce diversity haven’t yielded many results — unless you count a backlash at Google, where a male engineer blamed biological differences for the paucity of…
more ...RIA: Moscow to Cut Dependence on US Payment Systems
Russia will speed up work on reducing dependency on U.S. payment systems and the dollar as a settling currency, RIA news agency cited Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying…
more ...Britain Denies Agreeing to Pay Multi-billion EU Exit Bill
The British government denied Monday that it has agreed on the amount of its European Union exit bill, after a report emerged that it plans offer the bloc 36 billion…
more ...Trump Company Applies for Casino Trademark in Macau
A Trump Organization company has applied for four new trademarks in the Asian gambling hub of Macau, including one for casinos, public records show. The new applications highlight the ethical…
more ...Tackling Social Injustice With Video Games
At the recent Games for Change festival in New York City, the video games on display were a far cry from Mario Brothers and Call of Duty. Instead, game developers…
more ...New Video Games Tackle Social Injustice Issues
You’re in Nepal. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake has just struck your village and you must rescue the survivors. This is “After Days,” a video game based on the real-life…
more ...Hong Kong ‘Smart’ Ring Aims to Help Visually Impaired
A voice in your ear at the touch of a hand? The Orii ring allows people to take phone calls, handle text messages and interact with a phone’s digital assistant,…
more ...LED Smart Shoes Turn Feet into Glowing Displays
There are smart phones, smart light bulbs, and now smart shoes. A Japanese engineer has created LED footwear that become glowing computer displays. And even though there are other shoes…
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