In spite of many attempts to replace it with a more suitable material, asphalt concrete remains the best and cheapest material for paving roads. Vulnerable to heat, ice, ultraviolet light and mechanical stress, it has a relatively short lifespan and has to be repaired or replaced at regular intervals. Swiss engineers say they may have found a formula for asphalt with self-healing properties VOA’s George Putic reports. …
New Device and App Allows Patients to Conduct Self Checkups
A new device, developed by an Israeli start-up, could make routine visits to the doctor’s office a thing of the past. Faith Lapidus reports. …
Threatened Sea Turtles Make Massive Pilgrimage to Protected Mexican Beach
The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the IUCN. Threats come on land and sea. Thousands of turtles die every year in fishing nets, and their eggs are considered a delicacy. But on one protected beach in Mexico, the Olive Ridley turtles are swarming. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
US, Canada to Investigate Deaths of Endangered Whales
Marine authorities in the U.S. and Canada said Friday they will marshal resources to try to find out what’s behind a string of deaths of endangered North Atlantic right whales. The animals are among the rarest marine mammals in the world, with only about 500 still living. The countries will collaborate on a report that could help craft future regulations that protect the vulnerable whales, representatives said. Representatives of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Fisheries and Oceans Canada both said ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear have played roles in the deaths of the whales, and that other factors also could have played a role. The goal of the countries is to find out more about why 13 of the whales have been found dead this year and respond with solutions, said David Gouveia, protected species monitoring program branch chief for NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region. “The North Atlantic right whale is fragile, and one of NOAA and DFO’s most difficult conservation challenges,” Gouveia said. “Every factor impacting their ability to thrive is significant.” This year, 10 dead whales have been found off Canada’s coast and three off the coast of Massachusetts, prompting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to declare the deaths an “unusual mortality event” on Thursday and to launch an investigation. The agency said that designation triggers a “focused, expert investigation” into the cause of the deaths. The report will take months to assemble, and a budget for the investigation has not been developed, …
Бюджет-2018 з’явиться вчасно і буде більшим за теперішній – посадовці
Проект бюджету на 2018 рік має бути представлений 15 вересня, заявив міністр економічного розвитку і торгівлі України Степан Кубів, відповідаючи на запитання Радіо Свобода. «На даний момент бюджет погоджений із міністерствами в структурі балансу, проведена спільна нарада з участю президента України, прем’єр-міністра, голови Верховної Ради, представників фракцій для того, щоб представити бюджет вчасно – 15 вересня 2017 року», – сказав Кубів. Зупинилися на 10 пріоритетах, які є складовими реформ, зазначив міністр, не розкриваючи, які саме ці пріоритети. Бюджет-2018 буде більшим за теперішній, зазначила в коментарі Радіо Свобода перший заступник міністра фінансів Оксана Маркарова. «Наша економіка зростає, і доходи наші теж зростуть. Постійне зниження дефіциту – це напрямок, у якому ми працюємо. Плюс у нас є певні зобов’язання, які ми на себе взяли, в тому числі перед міжнародними партнерами за програмою Міжнародного валютного фонду. Тому в цьому році граничний дефіцит, який ми не маємо права перевищити, становить близько 3 відсотків, наступного року – 2,4%», – зауважила Маркарова. Бюджет-2017 за результатами першого півріччя був перевиконаний, а кошти перерозподілені на субсидії, безпеку та оборону, програму реімбурсації за медичним напрямком, кілька освітніх програм і ті напрямки, в яких спостерігалась критична потреба, пояснила заступник міністра фінансів. Раніше чільні українські посадовці звертали увагу, що бюджет на 2018 рік має передбачити фінансування низки реформ, які нині здійснює Україна. …
Hurricane Damage as Measured by Saffir-Simpson Scale
The Saffir-Simpson scale of a hurricane’s intensity is used to estimate potential property damage and coastal flooding caused by storm surge. The scale is determined by wind speed. Storm surge is an abnormal rise of water above the normal tide, generated by a storm. Flooding from storm surge depends on many factors, such as the track, intensity, size, and forward speed of the storm and the characteristics of the coastline where it comes ashore or passes nearby. Category 1 Winds of 74-95 mph (120-150 kph). Storm surge of 4 to 5 feet (1 to 1.5 meters) above normal. Damage primarily to unanchored mobile homes, shrubbery and trees. Some damage to poorly constructed signs and piers. Extensive damage to power lines and poles likely will result in power outages that could last a few to several days. Category 2 Winds of 96-110 mph (155-175 kph). Storm surge 6 to 8 feet (1.8-2.4 meters) above normal. Some roof, door and window damage to buildings. Considerable damage to mobile homes, small watercraft, trees, poorly constructed signs and piers. Flooding of coastal and low-lying areas. Many shallowly rooted trees will be snapped or uprooted and block numerous roads. Near-total power loss is expected with outages that could last from several days to weeks. Category 3 Winds of 111-129 mph (180-210 kph). Storm surge 9 to 12 feet (3 to 4 meters) above normal. Some structural damage to small homes. Mobile homes destroyed and large trees blown down. Coastal flooding …
Yellen: Financial System Safer, But Adjustments May Be Needed
The head of the U.S. central bank says the financial system is safer now than it was before the recession, and urges Washington to make some adjustments in financial regulations, rather than trash them. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen says the recession of 2008 cost nine million American jobs and meant millions of people lost their homes. She says financial reform regulations were intended to make it less likely that big institutions would fail in the future and to provide an orderly way to resolve the debts of big financial companies that do fail without government bailouts. She says financial firms, particularly very large ones that could hurt the entire economy if they fail, are now required to keep larger reserves. That way if one loan goes bad, the firm is less likely to have to hastily sell off other assets at bad prices to cover the losses. Low reserve levels prompted a downward spiral when many fragile firms ran into trouble all at once, all of them trying to sell assets and no one willing to buy them. Yellen acknowledges that over-regulation could hamper the lending and risk-taking needed for economic growth, but she says some research shows the current level of regulation hurts lending, while other research shows it helps. In a Friday speech to a gathering of top economic officials from around the world at a resort in Wyoming, she said Fed officials are looking at ways to simplify regulations for small banks that would not cause …
US, South Korea Agree to Disagree on Trade
South Korea this week pushed back against the United States’ demand to renegotiate the free trade agreement (FTA) between the close allies. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the five-year-old Korea-U.S. (KORUS) FTA as a horrible deal that created a $27 billion U.S. trade deficit with South Korea last year, and has said his administration would either renegotiate or terminate it. Agree to disagree At Washington’s urging, an initial special session was held on Tuesday by video conference between South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong and his American counterpart, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer, to negotiate amendments to the trade pact. Afterwards the South Korea trade minister said the two sides disagreed on the need to amend the trade deal. “We have found that the two sides have different views on the effects of the U.S. and South Korea Free Trade Agreement, the reason behind the trade deficit, and necessity for an amendment to the U.S. and South Korea FTA,” said Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong. South Korean officials maintain the bilateral trade deficit is not the result of the FTA, but of the underperforming South Korean economy, where demand for imports have declined, contrasted with the more robust U.S. economy. “For the last 10 years, South Korea’s market economy was not good, so the U.S. did not get opportunities to sell its products (to South Korea). If South Korea’s economy gets better and the U.S. economy gets worse, we may face the opposite situation,” said Chung Sye-kyun, the …
S. Korea Pushes Back on US Call to Renegotiate Trade Pact
South Korea this week pushed back against the United States’ demand to renegotiate the free trade agreement (FTA) between the close allies. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the five-year-old Korea-U.S. (KORUS) FTA as a horrible deal that created a $27 billion U.S. trade deficit with South Korea last year, and has said his administration would either renegotiate or terminate it. Agree to disagree At Washington’s urging, an initial special session was held on Tuesday by video conference between South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong and his American counterpart, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer, to negotiate amendments to the trade pact. Afterwards the South Korea trade minister said the two sides disagreed on the need to amend the trade deal. “We have found that the two sides have different views on the effects of the U.S. and South Korea Free Trade Agreement, the reason behind the trade deficit, and necessity for an amendment to the U.S. and South Korea FTA,” said Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong. South Korean officials maintain the bilateral trade deficit is not the result of the FTA, but of the underperforming South Korean economy, where demand for imports have declined, contrasted with the more robust U.S. economy. “For the last 10 years, South Korea’s market economy was not good, so the U.S. did not get opportunities to sell its products (to South Korea). If South Korea’s economy gets better and the U.S. economy gets worse, we may face the opposite situation,” said Chung Sye-kyun, the …
Vietnamese Consumers Resist China as Officials Try to Get Along
When Ha Tran of Ho Chi Minh City shops for food, clothes or electronics, she avoids merchandise she can tell comes from Vietnam’s giant neighbor, China. It might not work, she said, and China is no friend of Vietnam anyway. “China exports many low-quality products to Vietnam, but we know they don’t export products to other countries around the world (that are) that bad, so we try to avoid the products that are made in China,” said Ha, 24, a design company worker in the Vietnamese financial hub city. Vietnamese prefer to buy stuff from Japan or the West. “We’ve tried (Chinese goods) many times in the past but it turns out like they get broken very easily.” Political ties between Vietnam and China are another “factor” discouraging purchases, she said. Ha is hardly a shopping renegade. Consumers around Vietnam typically shun “Made-in-China” purchases to protest what they see as poor-quality goods from a country that already has a record of disputes with their country. The two sides dispute, for example, a tract of territory in the South China Sea east of Vietnam. Competing claims sparked naval battles 1974 and 1988. The two also fought a land border war in the 1970s. Vietnamese feel China has an unfair upper hand in the maritime dispute by using its larger military to control the contested Paracel Islands. Consumers make up a growing force in Vietnam, as the Boston Consulting Group forecasts more than a third of the country’s nearly 93 million …
Samsung Leader Jay Y. Lee Given 5-Year Jail Sentence for Bribery
The billionaire head of South Korea’s Samsung Group, Jay Y. Lee, was jailed for five years for bribery on Friday after a six-month trial over a scandal that brought down the president. Lee had paid bribes in anticipation of favors from then president Park Geun-hye, according to a landmark ruling by a Seoul court, which also found him guilty of hiding assets abroad, embezzlement and perjury. Lee, the 49-year-old heir to one of the world’s biggest corporate empires, has been held since February on charges that he bribed Park to help secure control of a conglomerate that owns Samsung Electronics, the world’s leading smartphone and chip maker, and has interests ranging from drugs and home appliances to insurance and hotels. Lee denied wrongdoing. One of his lawyers, Song Wu-cheol, said Lee would appeal the lower court ruling. “The entire verdict is unacceptable,” Song said, adding that he was confident his client’s innocence would be affirmed by a higher court. Under South Korean law, sentences of more than three years can not be suspended. The five year-sentence is one of the longest prison terms given to a South Korean business leader. The Seoul Central District Court said Samsung’s financial support of entities backed by Park’s close friend, Choi Soon-sil, constituted bribery, including 7.2 billion won ($6.4 million) in sponsoring the equestrian career of Choi’s daughter. In return for the contributions, prosecutors say, Samsung sought government support for a controversial 2015 merger of two of its affiliates, which helped Lee tighten his …
Growing Mini Organs May Save Lives
After decades of a one-therapy-fits-all approach to fighting deadly diseases such as cancer or cystic fibrosis, physicians and researchers around the world are increasingly turning to a new tactic called personalized medicine. Practices are tailored to individual patients because different people’s response to the same drug may be different. And instead of testing various drugs on patients, researchers are now testing them on mini copies of their organs. VOA’s George Putic has more. …
Decree Opening Brazil’s Amazon to Mining Criticized
Environmentalists are condemning a decree by Brazilian President Michel Temer allowing mining in the heart of the Amazon. The measure strips protection from a national reserve between the northern states of Para and Amapa and clears the way for the private mining sector to explore the forest. The gold-rich area is larger than the Netherlands, measuring roughly 18,000 square miles (47,000 square kilometers). It is also home to numerous indigenous tribes. The Brazilian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature says Wednesday’s decree will create conflicts between miners, indigenous peoples and conservationists working in the area. The government says indigenous groups will be protected and the mining will attract foreign investors and create jobs. …
Stonehenge: Australia’s Forgotten Farmers
Stonehenge is dry and has been for too long — seven years too long. You can taste the dust well before you cross the cattle grids that cut the only road into town. More than 1,700 kilometers (1,056 miles) northwest of Sydney, Australia’s Stonehenge could not be more different from its famous namesake, the World Heritage prehistoric monument of Stonehenge in England. Stonehenge in England averages 10 days a month of rainfall and a maximum temperature of 22 degrees Celsius (72 Fahrenheit). The town in Australia averages 325 sunny days a year and summer temperature of about 45C (113F), and forget regular rain. How the town got its name is a mystery. “In the mid-1800s, dingo [wild dog] trappers built a stone fortress which they used as a shelter, but no one is really sure,” said resident Judy Baldry as she drove along a dusty road on the outskirts of town. Another possibility is the stony landscape, with rocks ranging in size from marbles to boulders scattered across the plains as far as the eye can see. The stones lure tourists to an area known as “The Address Book” on the outskirts of town, where people create their names or love messages using stones, such as “Jim loves Kerry” and “Dan 4 Jan.” Praying for rain Stonehenge’s remaining 23 residents say they are struggling to survive one of the longest droughts in memory. “Certainly, this is the worst drought I’ve seen in the last 28 years because of its longevity. …
Egyptian Students Produce Fuel From Discarded Car Tires
A group of Egyptian students have built a machine they say can produce fuel from worn-out vehicle tires. The device heats the tires until they reach evaporation point. The vapor then enters a condenser. The result is a product “very similar in properties to pure diesel, and the carbon or black coal is just left inside the container,” said Mohamed Saeed Ali, one of 12 students who worked on the machine as a graduation project. The students are searching for investors for their project. “Instead of polluting the environment, we recycle them [the tires] properly in an eco-friendly manner,” Saeed said. Egypt raised fuel prices by up to 50 percent in June as a condition of a $12 billion International Monetary Fund program the country signed last year. …
Arctic Melting Is Speeding Up
The oceans are rising faster and faster, threatening coastal cities around the world. The quickening pace is due, in part, to changes happening in the Arctic that scientists are just beginning to understand. From Greenland, VOA’s Steve Baragona reports on how warming temperatures are driving more warming. …
Washington Budget Bickering Could Hurt US Credit Rating Again
Experts at credit rating agencies are watching Washington’s political squabbling over budgets and spending closely, and they might make another cut in the U.S. credit rating if the Republican-controlled White House, Senate and House cannot reach an agreement. President Donald Trump has promised to build a massive wall along the southern U.S. border in a bid to stop illegal immigration. Trump has said he will press Congress hard to fund the controversial measure, even if it stalls action on other budget issues and forces the government to shut down. Some of Trump’s fellow Republicans who ran on promises to limit or cut government spending are reluctant to fund the measure, and most rival Democrats oppose the wall. U.S. law provides for a “debt ceiling,” meaning the Treasury cannot borrow more money unless Congress agrees to raise the limit. That limit was reached months ago, and the federal government will apparently run out of cash by the end of September or early October if nothing changes. The political situation is made more complex by the fast-approaching end of the budget year and the need for Congress to agree on next year’s spending priorities. Congress and presidents have bickered over budgets in the past, and in 2011 a debt ceiling impasse prompted the Standard & Poor’s agency to make the first downgrade of the U.S. credit rating. The Fitch agency Wednesday said failure to raise the debt ceiling in a timely manner would prompt a review of the nation’s credit rating. Fitch …
Ebola Survivors Found to Suffer Multiple After-effects
Patients who survive infection with the Ebola virus often continue to face numerous health problems. New research finds 80 percent of Ebola survivors suffer disabilities one year after being discharged from the hospital. Approximately 11,000 people died in the Ebola outbreak that hit West Africa from 2014 to 2016; tens of thousands more who were infected survived. Of those survivors, many battled vision problems and headaches that lasted for months. Researchers at the University of Liverpool and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine are studying what’s called post-Ebola syndrome. One of the senior authors of the study, Dr. Janet Scott, says researchers are unsure why survivors experience such disabilities. “I’m not sure we’ve quite gotten to the bottom of it yet,” Scott said. “The idea that you go through something as horrific as Ebola and just walk away from that unscathed was always a bit of a vain hope. So, it could be the inflammatory response. It could be damage to the muscles, and it could be the persistence of virus in some cases. It could be all of those things.” Scott says problems found in Ebola survivors’ eyes may provide clues to what is happening elsewhere in the body. “They show some quite distinct scarring patterns,” she said. “There’s definitely scar tissue there. We can see it in the eyes. We can’t see it in the rest of the body, but I’m sure it’s in the rest of the body because the patients are coming in with this huge …
US Space Company Makes History With Client from China
Imagine a post office for space. That is the job of U.S. space company NanoRacks. Just down the street from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, NanoRacks is one of many companies benefitting from the U.S. space program’s support for a broader range of commercial interests. “There has been a shift in federal funding into more of this commercial space transportation program,” said David Alexander, director of the Rice Space Institute and professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University in Houston. “What that has allowed these companies to do is essentially have an anchor client, an anchor customer and then build up their manifest and build up their client base and think of lots of new ways of accessing space for many different purposes,” Alexander added. Watch: US Space Company Makes History with Client from China The space business For a price, NanoRacks can help almost anyone, anywhere send an experiment or small satellite to the International Space Station in orbit around the Earth. The company made history this summer with a client from China. “We’re all about democratizing access to space. It’s really important to me that we involve as many nations as possible,” NanoRacks Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Manber said. The company has helped deliver space experiments and satellites of customers from 30 countries, including academic institutions in Eastern Europe, Peru and Vietnam. The Beijing Institute of Technology, one of NanoRacks’ latest customers, became the first from China to have an experiment brought onboard the International Space …
Bollywood Movie Highlights India’s Challenge in Ending Open Defecation
India’s glitzy Bollywood movies and toilets have little in common, but they came together in a recent film that turns the spotlight on one of the most unglamorous challenges the country is tackling — open defecation. Starring a top hero, Akshay Kumar, Toilet, a Love Story is the tale of a bicycle shop owner’s struggle to build a toilet for his wife, who abandons him because she refuses to go into the fields like other women in the village. It is inspired by the true story of a woman in central India who walked out on her husband because there was no toilet in the house. The theme has resonance in a country where half the 1.3 billion people defecate in the open, exposing them, particularly women and children, to diseases. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is racing to build millions of toilets to meet its pledge to end open defecation by 2019. But as it turns out, the problem is not just about access to latrines, but changing behavior in a society where many people consider this a healthy practice. Resistance to latrines “People associate it with Ayurveda (a traditional system of medicine and health), you get a morning walk, you get fresh air, all kinds of reasoning which they come up with,” said Nikhil Srivastav, research director at the Research Institute for Compassionate Economics in New Delhi. Campaigners point out that statistics on the latrines constructed in thousands of villages are meaningless because barely half are being used. The …
Community Groups, Scientists Work to Stem Tree Loss
On a recent morning, a handful of young people unloaded potted saplings to plant along the curbside in a program that brings greenery to Los Angeles neighborhoods. The LA Conservation Corps is working to restore trees lost to disease, drought and the kind of construction that leaves little space for nature. Trees are essential to a community, says Alex Villalta, an urban forestry inspector with the conservation corps. The group, which was founded in 1986 by former U.S. Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor, offers young people job training in projects that help to restore and beautify the city. Trees provide improved air quality, Villalta said. “We have better storm water management” and trees make neighborhoods livable, he added. Trees being lost The greenery remains in some local cities, such as Pasadena, but many other communities in the Los Angeles basin are tree deserts. The community of Baldwin Park lost more than half its trees on single-family lots in just nine years because of redevelopment and other factors. In 2007, Los Angeles launched a plan to plant 1 million trees, but it has been a challenge for this green army of young people, according to a study published in April by researchers at the University of Southern California in the journal Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. Scientists found a reduction in green cover in 20 communities in the Los Angeles basin from 2000 to 2009, says urban ecologist Travis Longcore, co-author of the study. He says urban trees flourished here through much of …
Trump’s NAFTA Termination Comment Falls Flat in Arizona
President Donald Trump’s comments at a Phoenix rally that he will probably end up terminating the North American Free Trade Agreement brought cheers from the crowd but groans from the state’s top business group. Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Glenn Hamer posted a video calling any termination a “terrible mistake” within hours of Trump’s remarks Tuesday night. Hamer is in Mexico on a trade mission with a bipartisan delegation of about two dozen state lawmakers. “It would be a mistake that the administration would feel each and every day,” Hamer said. “And why would that be? The administration has set a noble goal of 3 percent growth. You can’t get there if your start unraveling trade agreements. “You need good tax policy, you need good regulatory policy and you need good trade policy,” he said. Trump hints NAFTA is done Trump said at the campaign-style rally that he believes Mexico and Canada are coming out ahead on the 23-year-old trade agreement. Renegotiations began in recent weeks. “Personally, I don’t think we can make a deal, because we have been so badly taken advantage of,” Trump said. “I think we’ll end up probably terminating NAFTA at some point, OK? Probably.” Modernizing agreement Republican Sens. Jeff Flake and John McCain have called for modernizing an agreement they say has brought huge benefits for Arizonans. Flake has put on a full court press in recent months, launched an effort in May to highlight what he calls the …
SpaceX Unveils Sleek, White Spacesuit for Astronaut Travel
SpaceX has unveiled a sleek white spacesuit for astronauts on its crewed flights coming up next year. Chief executive Elon Musk made the big reveal via Instagram on Wednesday. He says it’s not him in the new suit, rather a SpaceX engineer. SpaceX is developing a crew version of its Dragon cargo capsule for NASA astronauts. Boeing is also working to get U.S. astronauts flying again from home soil. Boeing is going blue for spacesuits for its Starliner capsules. U.S. astronauts last rocketed away from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2011. They’ve since been riding Russian rockets to get to the International Space Station. Musk says the new SpaceX suit has been tested on Earth — and works. He says it was incredibly hard to balance aesthetics and function. …
Study: Few Nations See Beyond Hunger in Fighting Malnutrition
Food alone cannot solve the world’s malnutrition crises but only three countries are looking beyond hunger to the other major driver, according to a global study released Thursday. Water, sanitation and hygiene, usually treated by governments and NGOs as a separate policy area from food and nutrition, make up the second leading cause of stunted growth in children, after underweight births, said the report. But only Cambodia, Niger, and Zimbabwe among the 10 countries covered by the report are linking their response to malnutrition and water by bringing together the responsible agencies, according to charity WaterAid. “Improving child health is a long-term issue. It’s not as simple as giving food and that improves malnutrition — right?” Dan Jones of WaterAid told Reuters. Jones said governments that treat food and water separately cannot prevent malnutrition. Instead, they must tackle the poor sanitation that causes malnutrition, via infection and disease. In 2016, 155 million children younger than five were stunted due to a lack of nutrition, according to the United Nations World Health Organization. Diseases caused by dirty water and lack of sanitation such as gut infections, intestinal worms, and diarrhea prevent young bodies from absorbing the nutrients needed for growth, according to WaterAid, which produced the report with charities Action Against Hunger and SHARE. Jones said malnutrition can leave children with invisible cognitive, emotional and physical damage. Yet the effects are clear, and span all areas of development, from economic growth to schooling, said Jones. “If they have clean water … …