Month: September 2017

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said at the end of a two-day visit to Algeria Monday that his country and the North African nation were working to achieve “equitable” oil prices. Maduro said his talks with Algeria’s second-ranking official, Council of the Nation President Abdelkader Bensalah, had a “good climate.” The Council of the Nation operates like a Senate. The Venezuelan leader apparently did not meet with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who rarely has been seen in public since he suffered a 2013 stroke. Algeria and Venezuela both are members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The countries have struggled with low oil prices hitting their economies. Maduro said he was visiting Algeria “to strengthen cooperation for the development of peace and economic prosperity,” according to Algeria’s official APS news agency. OPEC and 11 non-OPEC oil producers agreed last year to reduce production until March 2018 to boost prices. “We are continuing our efforts to obtain equitable oil prices for our industry,” APS quoted Maduro as saying. There was no elaboration. Maduro also discussed bilateral relations with Algeria, which like Venezuela is a non-aligned nation, and the possibility of establishing an air route between Algiers and Caracas. Bouteflika’s office had said in a statement that Maduro’s visit would look at “ways and means to consolidate” bilateral relations. It said talks were to address international issues of “common interest,” including the hydrocarbons market. The United States has escalated its pressure on Venezuela …

Scientists Say DNA Tests Show Viking Warrior Was Female

09/11/2017 sellheal

Scientists say DNA tests on a skeleton found in a lavish Viking warrior’s grave in Sweden show the remains are those of a woman in her 30s. While bone experts had long suspected the remains belong to a woman, the idea had previously been dismissed despite other accounts supporting the existence of female Viking warriors. Swedish researchers used new methods to analyze genetic material from the 1,000-year-old bones at a Viking-era site known as Birka, near Stockholm. Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson of Uppsala University said Monday the tests show “it is definitely a woman.” Hedenstierna-Jonson said the grave is particularly well-furnished, with a sword, shields, various other weapons and horses. Writing in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, the researchers say it’s the first confirmed remains of a high-ranking female Viking warrior. …

Apple May Test Bounds of iPhone Love with $1,000 Model

Apple is expected to sell its fanciest iPhone yet for $1,000, crossing into a new financial frontier that will test how much consumers are willing to pay for a device that’s become an indispensable part of modern life. The unveiling of a dramatically redesigned iPhone will likely be the marquee moment Tuesday when Apple hosts its first product event at its new spaceship-like headquarters in Cupertino, California. True to its secretive ways, Apple won’t confirm that it will be introducing a new iPhone, though a financial forecast issued last month telegraphed something significant is in the pipeline. In addition to several new features, a souped-up “anniversary” iPhone – coming a decade after Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs unveiled the first version – could also debut at an attention-getting $999 price tag, twice what the original iPhone cost. It would set a new price threshold for any smartphone intended to appeal to a mass market. What $1,000 bucks will buy Various leaks have indicated the new phone will feature a sharper display, a so-called OLED screen that will extend from edge to edge of the device, thus eliminating the exterior gap, or “bezel,” that currently surrounds most phone screens. It may also boast facial recognition technology for unlocking the phone and wireless charging. A better camera is a safe bet, too. All those features have been available on other smartphones that sold for less than $1,000, but Apple’s sense of design and marketing flair has …

Robot Gives New Meaning to ‘Hand Made’ Sculptures

09/11/2017 sellheal

Beautiful art and façades adorn buildings in many cities. Some are carved by hand, while others are manufactured. Now, a smart robot is creating large-scale art to transform public places. As we hear from VOA’s Deborah Block, the droid gives new meaning to hand-made art. …

Hurricane Irma Threatens Florida’s Bustling Tourism Industry

Hurricane Irma’s path of destruction up Florida’s Gulf Coast on Sunday threatens to disrupt a thriving state tourism industry worth more than $100 billion annually just months ahead of the busy winter travel season. Some of the state’s biggest attractions have announced temporary closures, including amusement park giants Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios, Legoland and Sea World, which all planned to close through Monday. About 20 cruise lines have Miami as a home port or a port of call, according to the PortMiami website, and many have had to move ships out of the area and revise schedules. Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean have canceled and revised several sailings as a result of the storm and have offered credits and waivers on trips where passengers are unable to travel. A Carnival spokesman said the situation in Florida on Sunday was still not clear enough to fully assess how widespread the effects will be. “We will know more in the hours ahead since the hurricane is active in Florida right now,” spokesman Roger Frizzell said. Irma made a second Florida landfall on Sunday on southwestern Marco Island as a Category 3 storm bringing winds of 115 miles per hour (185 kph) and life-threatening sea surge. Disney canceled the Monday sailing of one of its cruise ships and said it is assessing future sailings, which stop throughout the Caribbean and in the Bahamas. Florida is one of the world’s top tourism destinations. Last year nearly 113 million people visited …

Post-Brexit Customs Checks Could Cost Traders $5B a Year

The introduction of post-Brexit customs checks could cost traders more than 4 billion pounds ($5.28 billion) a year, according to a think tank report released on Monday. The British government has said it plans to leave the European Union’s customs union when it leaves the bloc, and it wants to negotiate a new relationship that will ensure trade is as free of friction as possible. In its report ‘Implementing Brexit: Customs’, the Institute for Government said the government needed to offer as much certainty as possible to business and help them plan for changes to customs. Around 180,000 traders now operate only within the EU and face making customs declarations for the first time after Brexit. The government estimates an extra 200 million declarations a year will be made. Those declarations cost 20 to 45 pounds each, the IfG said, putting the total additional cost at 4 billion to 9 billion pounds. “The scale and cost of change for many traders could be significant. Government must engage with them in detail about changes, understanding their requirements and giving them as much time to adapt as possible,” the report said. The government has proposed two options for the future customs relationship. One is a system using technology to make the process as smooth as possible; the second a new customs partnership removing the need for a customs border. It wants a transition period after Britain leaves in March 2019 to allow time to adapt. However, the EU says negotiating the customs …

Brazil Businessman Turns Himself into Police in Graft Probe

09/10/2017 selleco

The former chairman of the world’s largest meatpacker, whose testimony implicated Brazil’s president in corruption, turned himself in to police Sunday after the country’s Supreme Court ordered his arrest. Joesley Batista has avoided prosecution under a plea bargain deal in which he described how meatpacking giant JBS had bribed dozens of politicians, including President Michel Temer. Earlier this year, Temer was charged with corruption for allegedly orchestrating a scheme in which he would get payouts totaling millions of dollars for helping JBS resolve a business issue. Temer denies wrongdoing, and Congress voted in August that he would not stand trial on the charge while in office. But Brazil’s sprawling probe into the massive trade in bribes and kickbacks for favors between companies and politicians, known as Operation Car Wash, continues to churn out new allegations on almost a daily basis. Just this week the country’s chief prosecutor, Rodrigo Janot, filed charges against three former presidents and several other powerful politicians, accusing them of forming criminal organizations to pilfer from public coffers, and authorities detained a former Cabinet minister and close ally of Temer after $16 million in cash was found in an apartment linked to him. Janot also has said he plans to file more charges against Temer. To do so, he’ll need to act in the coming days since his terms ends on Sept. 18. But the specter that Batista and others withheld information could cast a pall over the Car Wash investigation, …

WHO: Over 500 Dead as Congo Cholera Epidemic Spreads

More than 500 people have died so far in a cholera epidemic that is sweeping the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. Outbreaks of the water-borne disease occur regularly in Congo, mainly due to poor sanitation and a lack of access to clean drinking water. But this year’s epidemic, which has already hit at least 10 urban areas including the capital Kinshasa, is particularly worrying as it comes as about 1.4 million people have been displaced by violence in the central Kasai region. The WHO said at least 528 people had died and the epidemic had spread to 20 of Congo’s 26 provinces. “The risk of spread remains very high towards the Grand Kasai region, where degraded sanitary and security conditions further increase vulnerability in the face of the epidemic,” the WHO said in a statement. So far, health officials have recorded more than 24,000 suspected cases of the disease across the vast nation this year, averaging more than 1,500 new cases per week since the end of July. The WHO sent a team of experts including epidemiologists and public health specialists to Congo this month in an effort to contain the disease’s spread. …

WHO: Media Should Not Sensationalize Suicide

The World Health Organization reports about 800,000 people commit suicide every year. To mark this year’s World Suicide Prevention Day (September 10), WHO is stressing the important role the media can play in stopping people from taking their own lives. Worldwide, every 40 seconds, someone commits suicide. The World Health Organization reports for every suicide, 20 others, mainly young people, attempt to take their own lives. WHO says suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15 to 29 year olds. It finds most suicides, more than 78 percent, occur in low-and middle-income countries and risk factors include mental disorders, particularly depression and anxiety resulting from alcohol use. WHO cites growing evidence that the media can play a significant role in preventing suicide by reporting responsibly on these tragedies. Scientist in WHO’s department of mental health and substance abuse, Alexandra Fleischmann tells VOA people are often reluctant to talk about suicide because of the stigma attached. She says journalists can help to overcome this taboo by encouraging people to seek help and to speak openly about their distress. “It is also important to stress that the encouragement to work with the media and not just to talk about the don’ts. Don’t put it in the headlines,” she said. “Don’t put the picture of the person who died. Don’t sensationalize it. Don’t glamorize it.” WHO warns irresponsible reporting of this sort often can trigger copycat suicides or increase the risk. The UN health agency reports the most common methods of …

Qatar Farm Makes Compost Soil to Grow Crops

Agrico, an agricultural company in the Middle East country of Qatar, is creating fertile soil through composting. The reason: Most crops can’t be grown in the Qatari desert, but with this specially-blended compost, vegetables are being cultivated in greenhouses. VOA’s Deborah Block tells us about it. …

[mayoung] Landfill’s Nature Revival WEB

Landfills are probably the oldest type of waste disposal – dumping trash in a midden or pit. But when a landfill is filled up, what can a community do with the site? A 30-year project to reclaim what was once the largest landfill in the world demonstrates the possibilities. Faith Lapidus reports. …

DACA Repeal Could Cost US Businesses, Economy Billions

The White House’s decision this week to repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), carries enormous repercussions for the nearly 800,000 beneficiaries: The undocumented young people who were brought to the United States as children. But the cost, which is difficult to quantify for a workforce faced with the real possibility of losing their job and forced to leave the country, is evident to employers, who largely view both the moral and economic implications of ending the program as intertwined. “Losing [the economic contributions of DACA recipients] is a direct cost,” said Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of Partnership for New York City, which represents the city’s business leadership. She said the state’s DACA workforce contributes several billion dollars a year to the local economy. WATCH: DACA Repeal to Cost U.S. Businesses, Economy Billions “It’s also a signal to the rest of the world that somehow America is no longer a place that is embracing talent and hard work and the energy of immigrants,” Wylde told VOA. “That message has a ripple effect in terms of hurting recruitment efforts by our major companies, because they need talent — multilingual talent — from all over the world.” Employers bear the brunt To date, more than 400 U.S. entrepreneur and business leaders have signed an open letter that calls on U.S. President Donald Trump and Congress to preserve DACA and provide a permanent solution that ensures recipients’ ability to continue working legally in the country without risk of deportation. “Our economy …

DACA Repeal to Cost U.S. Businesses, Economy Billions

The White House’s decision to repeal DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, carries enormous repercussions for the nearly 800,000 beneficiaries who arrived in the U.S. as children. Over the next two years, more than 700,000 employed recipients will find themselves without a job. And for their employers, laying off a qualified workforce carries not only moral implications, but billions in lost revenue and an overall reduction in U.S. economic growth. VOA’s Ramon Taylor reports. …

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma Could Shave Up to 1 Percent From US GDP in 3rd Quarter

Two back-to-back storms will have a significant impact on U.S. growth and productivity, according to economists tracking the impact of Hurricanes Harvey in Texas, and Irma — expected to make landfall in Florida this weekend. Despite the potential catastrophic loss in lives and capital, economists who spoke with VOA say the damage to the U.S. economy is likely to be short-lived. Mil Arcega has more. …

China’s Economy Growing Faster Than Expected

China’s producer price inflation accelerated more than expected to a four-month high in August, fueled by strong gains in raw materials prices and pointing to strong, sustained growth for both factory profits and the economy. The producer price index (PPI) rose 6.3 percent in August from a year earlier, from 5.5 percent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said Saturday. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the August producer price inflation rate would edge up to 5.6 percent, its first pickup in six months. Strong industrial profits China’s industrial firms have been posting their strongest profits in years thanks to a government-led construction boom that has fueled demand and prices for everything from cement to steel. The country’s strong appetite for resources such as iron ore has helped fuel a reflationary pulse in the manufacturing sector worldwide. But analysts continue to maintain that factory-gate prices will lose steam eventually as the government continues to clamp down on riskier types of financing, which is slowly pushing consumer and corporate borrowing costs higher. China’s commodities futures markets have rallied hard this year and continued to surge through in August. Strong restocking demand and government pledges to shut inefficient and highly polluting mines and plants have underscored concerns over tight supply heading into winter. Steel industry expands Activity in China’s steel industry expanded in August at the fastest pace since April 2016, reflecting high levels of production and low inventory. With the industrial sector in high gear, China’s economy grew by a …

Equifax Faces Lawsuits, Investigations After Major Data Breach