During the U.S. presidential election, all eyes will be on the seven so-called battleground states that are expected to determine the outcome of the 2024 contest. While some battleground states have shifted politically over the years, the Western swing state of Nevada has reliably voted right down the middle. Camera: Miguel Amaya …
Leave a commentWASHINGTON — There is new evidence China, Iran and Russia are aggressively expanding their efforts to influence American voters to potentially sway the result of the upcoming U.S. elections. Two threat intelligence reports Wednesday, one from software giant Microsoft and the other from the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, detail growing activity by cyber actors linked to each country — all aiming to impact U.S. public perceptions with less than two weeks before voters go to the polls. The biggest change, according to Microsoft, comes from Chinese-linked actors known to researchers as Spamouflage or Taizi Flood. “Chinese influence operations have recently takenmore
Leave a commentVIPPEROD, Denmark — European scientists have developed an artificial intelligence algorithm capable of interpreting pig sounds, aiming to create a tool that can help farmers improve animal welfare. The algorithm could potentially alert farmers to negative emotions in pigs, thereby improving their well-being, according to Elodie Mandel-Briefer, a behavioral biologist at University of Copenhagen who is co-leading the study. The scientists, from universities in Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, France, Norway and the Czech Republic, used thousands of recorded pig sounds in different scenarios, including play, isolation and competition for food, to find that grunts, oinks, and squeals reveal positive or negative emotions.more
Leave a commentChinese officials recently released a 25-year space exploration plan that details five major scientific themes and 17 priority areas for scientific breakthroughs with one goal: to make China a world leader in space by 2050 and a key competitor with the U.S. in space, for decades to come. Last week, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the China National Space Administration, and the China Manned Space Agency jointly released a space exploration plan for 2024 through 2050. It includes searching for extraterrestrial life, exploring Mars, Venus, and Jupiter, sending space crews to the moon and building an international lunar research stationmore
Leave a commentWASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department has sent a letter to Elon Musk’s super PAC warning that the billionaire Tesla CEO’s $1 million giveaways may violate federal law, several media organizations reported on Wednesday, citing people briefed on the matter. A letter from the department’s public integrity section, which investigates potential election-related law violations, went to the PAC. The Justice Department and Musk’s America PAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. South African-born Musk, who has thrown his support behind Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump ahead of the November 5 election, announced on Saturday while speaking before amore
Leave a commentPlains, Ga. — In a cavernous store filled with trinkets and knick-knacks, Philip Kurland is surrounded by politics. “We’re the largest political memorabilia dealer in the United States,” he tells VOA as he sorts through numerous bins that line his shop. If there’s a button or badge supporting a political candidate, chances are Kurland has it, as he stops and inspects one button in particular. “This is the number one button people request and come in for,” as he proudly shows an image of a smiling peanut shell. Every four years, Kurland stocks up on items featuring the candidates of themore
Leave a commentA top Chinese official has urged tech giant Apple to deepen its presence and investment in innovation in the world’s second largest economy at a time when supply chains and companies are shifting production and operations away from China. As U.S.-China geopolitical tensions simmer and tech competition between Beijing and Western countries intensifies, foreign investment in China shrunk in 2023 to its lowest level in three decades, according to government statistics. The United States has banned the export of advanced technology to China and Beijing’s crackdown on spying in the name of national security concerns has spooked investors. On Wednesday,more
Leave a commentWith a record number of Latino voters eligible for the 2024 election, their influence will likely be felt more than previous elections. Examining how this dynamic group shaped past elections in the pivotal state of Florida and key battlegrounds across the country can offer clues about how Latinos might impact the upcoming race. …
Leave a commentLondon — Britain’s prime minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday played down allegations made by Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump’s team of “blatant foreign interference” by his Labour Party in the U.S. election, saying it was normal for its volunteers to campaign. Starmer also insisted that he maintained “a good relationship” with Trump, having met him for talks last month. The former president’s legal team filed a complaint to the U.S. Federal Election Commission alleging the “British Labour Party made, and the [Kamala] Harris campaign accepted, illegal foreign national contributions.” The filing cited media reports that Labour officials, including the primemore
Leave a commentWASHINGTON — As the United States presidential election enters its final phase, more and more voters are expressing support for their favored candidate by wearing election merchandise. What they may not realize is that the “Make America Great Again” Trump hat or “Childless Cat Lady for Harris” T-shirt they’re wearing quite possibly was made in China. With the help of e-commerce platforms, Chinese traders are flooding the market for U.S. election merchandise with cheap goods. Anecdotal evidence suggests U.S. makers of these products are struggling to compete. “I think the amount of stuff on Amazon and Etsy that’s coming from Chinamore
Leave a commentWASHINGTON — Efforts by U.S. adversaries to divide Americans and sow growing distrust in the upcoming presidential election have already begun to intensify, according to senior U.S. intelligence officials, who warn some countries appear to be leaning toward additional measures to spark election-related violence. The latest declassified assessment, issued Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, comes just two weeks before voters head to the polls November 5 to choose a new president and vote on a series of statewide and local races and initiatives. “Foreign actors — particularly Russia, Iran and China — remain intent on fanningmore
Leave a commentAfter becoming the first U.S. president to reach the age of 100, Jimmy Carter was able to fulfill a wish that he had expressed to his family. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh has more from Georgia. Some VOA footage by Adam Greenbaum. …
Leave a commentFrom 1980 to 2016, 19 U.S. counties voted for the presidential winner every time. But the streak was broken in 2020, when only one of those counties, in Washington state, voted for the winner, President Joe Biden. The rest voted for Donald Trump, the incumbent. …
Leave a commentMOSCOW — Russian officials from President Vladimir Putin down say it makes no difference to Moscow who wins the White House on November 5. Yet anyone watching Kremlin-guided state media coverage of the U.S. election would conclude Donald Trump is strongly favored. State TV’s main Channel One news program this month showed video of billionaire Elon Musk and TV host Tucker Carlson denigrating Democratic candidate Kamala Harris before zooming in on what it cast as a series of stumbling performances. Harris’ tendency to burst into fits of laughter, something Putin himself spoke about sarcastically last month, has featured prominently in broadcastsmore
Leave a commentAcross the country, about 14 million voters are members of unions – workers’ organizations formed to protect their rights. But even though union members make up a small part of the American electorate, presidential candidates eagerly seek their endorsement. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports from Nevada, where unions have a powerful voice in this year’s presidential election. …
Leave a commentThe men formerly known as the Central Park Five before they were exonerated filed a defamation lawsuit Monday against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. With Election Day two weeks away, the group accused the former president of making “false and defamatory statements” about them during last month’s presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. The group is asking for a jury trial to determine compensatory and punitive damages. “Defendant Trump falsely stated that plaintiffs killed an individual and pled guilty to the crime. These statements are demonstrably false,” the group wrote in the federal complaint. The men are upset becausemore
Leave a commentwashington — The Supreme Court rejected an appeal Monday from Michael Cohen, who wanted to hold his ex-boss, former President Donald Trump, liable for a jailing he said was retaliation for writing a tell-all memoir. The justices did not detail their reasoning in the brief, a routine order released just over two weeks before Election Day, when Trump is running for another term. Cohen had asked the high court to revive a lawsuit tossed out by lower courts. Those judges found the law doesn’t generally allow people to seek damages over claims they were jailed for criticizing a president, and thatmore
Leave a commentWashington — When it comes to combating disinformation ahead of the U.S. presidential elections, artificial intelligence and chatbots are failing, a media research group has found. The latest audit by the research group NewsGuard found that generative AI tools struggle to effectively respond to false narratives. In its latest audit of 10 leading chatbots, compiled in September, NewsGuard found that AI will repeat misinformation 18% of the time and offer a nonresponse 38.33% of the time — leading to a “fail rate” of almost 40%, according to NewsGuard. “These chatbots clearly struggle when it comes to handling prompt inquiries related tomore
Leave a commentNorth Carolina has emerged as an important battleground state since Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket in the 2024 election. …
Leave a commentMicrosoft will allow customers to build autonomous artificial intelligence agents starting in November, the software giant said on Monday, in its latest move to tap the booming technology. The company is positioning autonomous agents — programs which require little human intervention unlike chatbots — as “apps for an AI-driven world,” capable of handling client inquiries, identifying sales leads and managing inventory. Other big technology firms such as Salesforce have also touted the potential of such agents, tools that some analysts say could provide companies with an easier path to monetizing the billions of dollars they are pouring into AI. Microsoft said itsmore
Leave a commentThe U.S. presidential campaign is culminating in a final sprint to the official Election Day on November 5, with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, focused almost exclusively on seven political battleground states that most likely will determine the outcome. More than 14 million people have already cast early ballots, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, and more will do so in the coming days as almost all the country’s 50 states open polling stations for early voting and to accept mail-in ballots. National polls show the contest is among themore
Leave a commentRecent comments by former President Donald Trump about the U.S. having an “enemy within” that needs to be “dealt with,” have sparked a new wave of criticism by his opponents. But the heated rhetoric that both the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees use on the campaign trail comes with a warning from analysts: it may hurt their chances to win the White House. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias, explains. …
Leave a commentThe artificial intelligence boom has benefited chatbot makers, computer scientists and Nvidia investors. It’s also providing an unusual windfall for Anguilla, a tiny island in the Caribbean. ChatGPT’s debut nearly two years ago heralded the dawn of the AI age and kicked off a digital gold rush as companies scrambled to stake their own claims by acquiring websites that end in .ai. That’s where Anguilla comes in. The British territory was allotted control of the .ai internet address in the 1990s. It was one of hundreds of obscure top-level domains assigned to individual countries and territories based on their names.more
Leave a commentANCHORAGE, ALASKA — On a desolate slab of island tundra in western Alaska, a resident of Adak will again become the last American to cast an in-person ballot for president, continuing a 12-year tradition for the nation’s westernmost community. The honor of having the last voter in the nation fell to Adak when they did away with absentee-only voting for the 2012 election and added in-person voting. “People have a little bit of fun on that day because, I mean, realistically everybody knows the election’s decided way before we’re closed,” said city manager Layton Lockett. “But, you know, it’s still fun.”more
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