A Kenyan music producer is taking his work to remote villages to record up-and-coming artists on location to offer something new and different for Kenya’s competitive music industry.  Juma Majanga caught up with producer Presta George in Awendo, Kenya, and filed this report.Camera: Jim Makhulo, Producer: Henry Hernandez …

From: BoorSee

Germany’s health minister, Jens Spahn, Thursday stressed the need for Germany to stock up on COVID-19 vaccine for possible repeat shots next year, and said the nation should do so with or without the rest of the European Union.Spahn made the remarks during a Berlin virtual news briefing on the countries COVID-19 vaccination program and […]

From: BoorSee

Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi says member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will respond in a “meaningful manner” to the deadly Islamist insurgency in northern Mozambique. Masisi made the comments Wednesday after meeting with Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa.  Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi told reporters late Wednesday he talked to his South African counterpart Cyril […]

From: BoorSee

Fear of physical violence and legal risks are a daily part of the job for Cambodia’s journalists, a new report says.The Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association – also known as CamboJa – found 35 cases of harassment against 72 journalists in 2020. Imprisonment and violence were the most common press freedom violations documented by the rights organization, […]

From: BoorSee

New U.S. unemployment compensation claims jumped again last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, as the recovery from the economic damage caused by the coronavirus remains tenuous.The government said 719,000 workers filed for benefits last week, up 61,000 from the revised figure of the previous week. The week-ago figure of 658,000 was the smallest total […]

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For many parents one good thing about grown kids moving out is the opportunity to focus on personal hobbies.  VOA’s Maria Iman-Santoso tells of one woman whose hobby benefits others. Dhania Iman narrates the story.Camera: Maria Iman-Santoso  Producer:  Jon Spier  …

From: BoorSee

VOA traces the beginnings of the conflict that grew into a humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. In early November 2020, the federal government of Ethiopia — led by Nobel Peace Prize-winning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed — launched a military campaign to regain control of the contested region from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front fighters. […]

From: BoorSee

A court in the U.S. state of Minnesota proceeds Thursday with the trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer charged in the death of George Floyd last year that sparked widespread protests against police brutality and systemic racism last year.Jurors on Wednesday saw about 20 minutes of police body camera video that spanned the time […]

From: BoorSee

A child was among four people killed Wednesday in a shooting at a Southern California office building that left a fifth victim and the gunman critically wounded, police said.The violence in the city of Orange southeast of Los Angeles was the nation’s third mass shooting in just over two weeks.When police arrived at the two-story […]

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Seven of Hong Kong’s prominent pro-democracy activists were found guilty Thursday of organizing and participating in an unlawful assembly during the 2019 anti-government demonstrations.The activists include media tycoon Jimmy Lai, the founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Day, and 82-year-old barrister Martin Lee, one of the founders of the opposition Democratic Party.  Also convicted Thursday […]

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Two women and three children drowned when a boat carrying dozens of Europe-bound migrants capsized off Libya, a U.N. official said Wednesday. It was the latest shipwreck involving migrants seeking a better life in Europe.Safa Msehli, spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, said the incident took place late Tuesday. A fishing boat and Libya’s […]

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Uganda resumed rugby league games in March, but much of the excitement was on the sidelines, where the unique snack of boiled cow hoof, known as kigere, has a popular following.  From Kampala, Halima Athumani  has more. Camera: Francis Mukasa …

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The Philippine government said Wednesday that more than 250 Chinese vessels it believes are operated by militia have been spotted near six Manila-claimed islands and reefs in the disputed South China Sea and demanded that China immediately remove them.The gathering of the Chinese-flagged vessels, along with four Chinese navy ships at a Chinese-occupied manmade island […]

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A team of nine South African students and young professionals won a Cape Town competition to create a zero-carbon home, just ahead of Earth Day on April 22.Experts say the house design, which incorporates solar power, passive cooling, rainwater harvesting and a food garden, could help reduce the nation’s carbon footprint.The first My Clean Green Home — a local building […]

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The famous pink cherry blossoms of Kyoto reached full bloom this year on March 26, the earliest date in the 12 centuries since records began, according to a Japanese university.The earlier flowering indicates climate change, said Yasuyuki Aono, a professor of environmental science at Osaka Prefectural University, who has compiled a database of records of […]

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A Chinese law firm linked to the defense of one of 12 pro-democracy activists who allegedly attempted to flee Hong Kong for Taiwan has been ordered to disband, a development that reflects tightening constraints on rights lawyers in China. Human rights lawyer Ren Quanniu, who represented one of the so-called Hong Kong 12, confirmed to VOA […]

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a phone call with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday, affirmed Washington’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity “in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression,” the State Department said in a statement.   Ukraine and Russia have been at loggerheads since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and […]

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President Joe Biden’s plan announced Wednesday to plow $2 trillion into an eight-year overhaul of U.S. infrastructure was met with only limited carping from many voices normally critical of government spending. Meanwhile, economists expressed broad agreement that the plan, as proposed, would power long-run economic growth.It is certainly possible that pumping that much money into […]

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Judges at International Criminal Court in The Hague have upheld the acquittal of former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and youth minister Charles Ble Goude, paving the way for both to return home.  The two had been accused of instigating postelection violence, and observers said there were concerns that their return could again destabilize Ivory Coast, […]

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At a time of growing concern about right-wing extremism in the United States, a new survey paints a troubling portrait of Jewish Americans’ experiences with anti-Semitism.The survey, released Wednesday by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a prominent Jewish civil rights group based in the U.S., said 63% of American Jews had experienced or witnessed anti-Semitism over […]

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The U.N. Special Envoy for Myanmar warned Wednesday that “a bloodbath is imminent” and there is an increasing “possibility of civil war” in the country if civilian rule is not restored. “I appeal to this council to consider all available tools to take collective action and do what is right, what the people of Myanmar deserve, […]

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A man suspected of assaulting an Asian woman in New York has been arrested after surveillance video of the attack drew condemnation. Police said Brandon Elliot, 38, is the man in the video assaulting the woman in midtown Manhattan on Monday. They said Elliot was living at a hotel that doubles as a homeless shelter […]

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