Moonlight may hamper views of Orionid meteor shower, debris of Halley’s comet
washington — The Orionids — one of two annual meteor showers from Halley’s comet — peak early Monday. A bright waning moon may make them difficult to spot. The Orionid meteor shower can be unpredictable. It shines like a fireworks…
Residents on Kenya’s coast use app to track migratory birds
The Tana River delta on the Kenyan coast includes a vast range of habitats and a remarkably productive ecosystem, says UNESCO. It is also home to many bird species, including some that are nearly threatened. Residents are helping local conservation…
US sanctions Chinese entities for building, shipping Russian Garpiya drones used in Ukraine
washington — The United States on Thursday announced fresh sanctions targeting Chinese and Russian entities for their role in designing, building and shipping attack drones that have resulted in mass casualties in Ukraine. The sanctions target two Chinese entities, Xiamen…
European Central Bank cuts main interest rate a quarter-point to 3.25% as inflation fades
The European Central Bank, which sets interest rates for the 20 countries that use the euro currency, cut borrowing costs once again on Thursday after figures showed inflation across the bloc falling to its lowest level in more than three…
Deepfakes featuring deceased terrorists spread radical propaganda
In a year with over 60 national elections worldwide, concerns are high that individuals and entities are using deepfake images and recordings to contribute to the flood of election misinformation. VOA’s Rio Tuasikal reports on some potentially dangerous videos made…
Lebanon: Cholera fears for communities uprooted by war
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that a response plan had been activated to strengthen surveillance, contact tracing and water sampling. The case was confirmed in Akkar, the country’s northernmost governorate. Speaking in Geneva late Wednesday, Tedros…
Lebanon: Drone brought down by UNIFIL ship as cross-border fire intensifies
Following standard protocol, electronic countermeasures were used to bring down the so far unidentified uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV), according to UN spokesperson Farhan Haq at the regular press briefing in New York. UNIFIL has launched an investigation into the incident….
Over 1.8 million in Gaza face extreme hunger
Figures from the global IPC food security initiative show that 133,000 people – or 6 per cent of the enclave’s population – are already experiencing Phase 5 or “catastrophic” food insecurity. It’s feared this number could rise to around 345,000…
US prosecutors see rising threat of AI-generated child sex abuse imagery
U.S. federal prosecutors are stepping up their pursuit of suspects who use artificial intelligence tools to manipulate or create child sex abuse images, as law enforcement fears the technology could spur a flood of illicit material. The U.S. Justice Department…
Watchdog: ‘Serious questions’ over Meta’s handling of anti-immigrant posts
Meta’s independent content watchdog said Thursday there were “serious questions” about how the social media giant deals with anti-immigrant content, particularly in Europe. The Oversight Board, established by Meta in 2020 and sometimes called its “supreme court,” launched a probe…