World News

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Czech Republic's First 3D-Printed House Built in 48 Hours" The Czech Republic's first 3D-printed house takes just 48 hours to build, a few weeks to dry, and is designed to last at least 100 years. Designed by artist Michal Trpak with the support of a Czech building society, the first "Prvok" house has been built in the southern Czech city of Ceske Budejovice. The Prvok house was designed with 43 square meters of floor space and three rooms: a bathroom, a living room with kitchen, and a bedroom. It can be used in both the city and countryside, and can even float on water. According to the building society, 3D-printed houses can be built seven times faster than regular houses, and the costs can be up to 50% lower. Also, 3D-printing homes creates up to 20% less carbon dioxide than building with bricks. The house uses environmentally friendly technologies like a shower that can collect, clean and reuse water, and a…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Balloon to Fly Tourists to Edge of Space" Two companies, Space Perspective and PriestmanGoode, are working together to make a balloon that will fly passengers to the edge of space. The balloon, known as Spaceship Neptune, will use hydrogen to float up over 30 kilometers, more than twice as high as a passenger plane. Below the balloon, there’s a capsule with seats for eight passengers and one pilot. Nigel Goode, Designer and Co-Founder of PriestmanGoode, said that the companies want to make the journey as comfortable as possible for passengers. There’s a bar and a bathroom, plus large windows so passengers can see space and the Earth below. They’ll even be able to share the experience on social media while on board. The journey will take six hours in total. It will take two hours for the balloon to float to the edge of space, where it will stay for two hours. It will then return to Earth and land in the ocean,…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Japan's Fugaku Supercomputer is Helping Fight COVID-19" Scientists around the world are trying to find effective treatments for COVID-19, and they're getting extra support from Fugaku, a Japanese supercomputer. Fugaku — also another name for Mount Fuji — is kept in Kobe, Japan. Its installation began in December 2019, and even though it is not scheduled for full operation until 2021, it has been helping with coronavirus research since April 2020. The supercomputer has identified dozens of possible treatments for COVID-19. Researchers from Kyoto University used it to run molecular-level simulations on 2,128 existing drugs. Over ten days, it looked for those that can bond with proteins associated with the novel coronavirus and inactivate them. The dozens of drugs it identified include 12 that are already being tested around the world to treat the virus, but also a number that have not yet been looked at by…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Study: Young Children Are Using Apps Meant for Adults" Some children as young as 3 years old use apps on mobile devices that are intended for adults, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics. The study used an app called Chronicle for Android devices, and screenshots of the battery page for Apple devices, to see app use information for 346 children aged 3 or 4. Of the 346 kids, 121, or about 35%, had their own device. The rest were using their parents' devices. Parents were also asked how much time they thought their kids spent using the devices. The study found that while some apps were age appropriate, others were gambling apps, like Cashman, or violent ones like Terrorist Shooter or Fortnite. Many children also used "general audience" apps, like Cookie Jam and Candy Crush. Players can spend real money in these games, and children's privacy could be at risk because the apps may not restrict…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Museum of Underwater Art Opens in Australia" The new Museum of Underwater Art is now open in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The museum is two hours by boat from Townsville, Queensland, and is 18 meters below the ocean’s surface. The museum features sculptures from British artist Jason deCaires Taylor. Taylor created the world's first underwater sculpture park in Grenada in 2006, and has made other underwater museums in Mexico and Spain. The new museum hopes to get people thinking about climate change and protecting coral reefs. It is made out of material that helps new coral grow, and also provides a home for underwater wildlife. The largest sculpture, Coral Greenhouse, weighs more than 58 metric tons and is the first underwater building by the artist. Inside, there are places for fish and other wildlife to live and hide, as well as 20 sculptures of children. Doorways allow divers to swim into the building.…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Uber Taxi Service Comes to Tokyo" Uber is now offering taxis in Tokyo after six years of being in Japan. People in Tokyo could already use the company's food delivery service, Uber Eats, and taxis could be booked with the Uber app in some other Japanese cities, including Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima. Until now, people looking for a ride with Uber in Tokyo could only use its "Uber Black" service, which offers rides in luxury black cars driven by professional drivers for a higher price than a taxi. But Uber is now working with three normal taxi businesses in Tokyo: Hinomaru Limousine Co., Tokyo MK Corp. and Ecosystem. Together, they are making 600 cars available in some of the city’s busiest areas. However, Uber's car sharing services are still banned, because only professional drivers are allowed to carry paying customers in Japan. This means that people cannot sign up to be drivers with their own cars as they do…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Foreign Students Must Leave US if Classes Go Online" International students will be forced to leave the US or find a different college if their schools offer classes entirely online this fall. The new guidelines from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) put more pressure on universities to reopen despite concerns about the spread of COVID-19 among young adults. Colleges were told the new rules on the day that many, including Harvard University, announced that all classes will be offered remotely. Under the new rules, international students must take at least some of their classes in person. And new visas will not be given to students who want to study at schools that are entirely online. The American Council on Education said the guidelines are "horrifying" and will result in confusion as schools look for ways to reopen safely. One big concern is that students won’t be exempt from the rules even if an…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Japanese City Bans Phone Use While Walking" The city of Yamato in Kanagawa prefecture has become the first city in Japan to ban the use of phones while walking. Starting July 1, people in Yamato are no longer allowed to look at their smartphones while walking outside in public places, such as streets and parks. If they need to use their smartphones, pedestrians must move to the side and stop, making sure they are not in the way of vehicles or other pedestrians. Although those who break the law will not be punished, city officials hope that the ban will make people think more about the dangers of walking while looking at their phones. Posters about the new rule will also be placed around the city. "The number of people using smartphones has rapidly increased and so have the number of accidents," city official Masaaki Yasumi told AFP. The new law was proposed after a January study which watched around 6,000…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Manta5 Unveils First E-Bike for the Water" A company in New Zealand has developed an electric bicycle that can be used on water — the Manta5 Hydrofoil e-bike. Manta5 describes its invention as half-bike and half-plane. The company says riding one feels like normal cycling, but on the water. It uses a battery, motor and underwater wings — which are called "foils" — to move across water at speeds of up to 20 kilometers an hour. The bikes are made to be strong, but still light enough to carry. Manta5 was started in early 2011 by Guy Howard-Willis and Roland Alonzo, both passionate cyclists. Howard-Willis had wanted there to be more options for would-be water cyclists, and when he met Alonzo, decided to try and make that happen. It took the company eight years to develop the bike, but it was able to show a prototype in 2017. The company says that a short video of that first bike got 350 million views on Facebook.…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Russians Vote to Allow Putin to Rule Until 2036" According to election officials, nearly 78% of Russian voters have approved a set of constitutional amendments that clear the way for President Vladimir Putin to rule Russia until 2036. Turnout across the country was said to be almost 68% over seven days of voting that concluded July 1. The amendment that allows Putin to run for two more six-year terms after his current one expires in 2024 was part of a package of constitutional changes that also outlaw same-sex marriage, mention "a belief in God as a core value" and emphasize Russian law over international norms. Voters could not vote on the individual amendments but only on the entire set. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the results were "a triumphant referendum on trust in President Putin." But Putin's critics argued that the results were rigged and didn't reflect decreasing enthusiasm for the…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "UK Universities Drop in Rankings for Fourth Year in a Row" For the fourth year in a row, universities in the United Kingdom have dropped in international rankings, according to the 2021 QS World University Rankings. Each year, QS looks at each school's academic reputation, its reputation with employers, the quality of its published research, the number of students per teacher, and the number of international students and staff. Almost 75% of British universities saw their rank drop this year. Speaking to The Guardian, Ben Sowter of QS suggested why the UK's rankings might be getting lower. In 2013, the British government allowed universities to accept more students without increasing the number of teachers, which Sowter believes could lead to poor teaching quality. Sowter also thinks Brexit and COVID-19 have affected the scores, since both led fewer international students to come to the UK, which hurt the…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Middle-Aged Americans More Stressed Today than in 1990s" A new study has found that Americans aged between 45 and 65 may be much more stressed today than people in that same age range were in the 1990s. A team of researchers led by Penn State University looked at data from 1,499 adults in 1995, and data from 782 adults in 2012. Both groups were interviewed every day for eight days, and were asked about anything stressful they had experienced in the previous 24 hours. This included things like arguments with family and friends, and problems at work. The study, published in American Psychologist, found that 2% of adults experienced more stress in the 2010s than the 1990s. However, among those aged 45 to 64, 19% experienced more stress in the 2010s. David M. Almeida of Penn State University said the researchers were very surprised that so many middle-aged Americans were more stressed. Middle-aged people were also…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Study: Starting School Late Improves Health and Grades" A 2017 study at an English high school found that students who started school at 10 a.m. instead of 8:50 a.m. had better health and school results. For the first year of the study, the students started school at 8:50 a.m. For the second and third years, their start time changed to 10 a.m. Then, for the fourth year, the students went back to starting at 8:50 a.m. The researchers looked at how often students stayed home from school due to illness, and how well they did with their school work. For the first year, the average number of absences due to illness was 15.4 per student. In the second year, that number dropped to 11.3, and by the third year it was just 7.9. But in the fourth year, when the students went back to starting at 8:50 a.m., the number went up to 11.2. The students' school work also improved. By the end of the first year, only 34% of the…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Web Inventor: World Must Close Internet Divide" World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee has said the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates "the gross inequality" of a world where almost half the population is unable to connect to the internet. Speaking at the launch of the UN's Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, Berners-Lee said that around 3.5 billion people have missed out on the "lifeline" the internet has provided by enabling work and education to continue during the pandemic. Since the onset of the pandemic, internet usage has jumped 70%, the use of communication apps has grown by 300%, and virtual collaboration tools by 600%. Some video streaming services have grown 20-fold, said Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the World Economic Forum. But Schwab also emphasized that only about half of the world has internet access. Of the 25 least connected countries, 21 are in Africa. "This inequality is a barrier to wider…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Tokyo is 3rd Most Expensive City for Expats" Tokyo is the third most expensive city for expatriates, or "expats", according to Mercer's 2020 Cost of Living Survey. That's one spot lower than in 2019, when Tokyo was in second place. Hong Kong is the most expensive city for expats, while Ashgabat in Turkmenistan is now the second most expensive. Six of the top 10 cities this year are in Asia. Mercer figures out the cost of living for expats to help employers know what they should pay staff who are working in other countries. To find the cost of living, Mercer looks at the price of more than 200 goods and services in over 200 cities. Mercer includes things like housing, food, utilities, transportation, entertainment, and clothing. Each city is then compared with New York City to find its rank. The city of Tunis, Tunisia, is the least expensive city for expats in 2020. The second least expensive is Windhoek,…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Japanese Stores to Charge for Plastic Bags from July" From July 1, stores and supermarkets in Japan will start charging fees for single-use plastic bags, under a new national law. The law is part of the Japanese government’s plan to reduce plastic waste and encourage people to make lifestyle changes in a country where plastic bags are often handed out even for small purchases. Some supermarkets in Japan have already started charging customers for plastic bags, but the new law will make it mandatory. Stores are free to set their own prices, with a minimum fee of ¥1 per bag. Three major convenience store chains — Seven-Eleven, FamilyMart and Lawson — will charge customers ¥3 for regular-sized plastic bags. All three have announced that they will also shift towards more environmentally-friendly bags in the future. Activists in Japan have long criticized the government for moving too slowly on dealing with the…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Free Wi-Fi, Phone Chargers for Seoul's New Bus Stops" South Korea's capital, Seoul, is planning to build new bus stops with free Wi-Fi, phone chargers and air cleaners. Seoul's government plans to build 10 of the new "Smart Shelters" by October 2020 in order to test them, before new features are added to bus stops around the city. The bus stops will have heated chairs, air conditioning and information about how clean the air is inside and outside. They will also offer information on when buses will arrive, and for emergencies, there will be cameras, a bell to call for help, and a defibrillator. There are three possible designs for the bus stops, and Seoul's government has asked people to vote online for the one they like best. People can vote until June 24th. Bus stops with some of the features of "Smart Shelters" were already built in 2019. The city called them "Eco-Shelters" and they had plants growing in…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "31% of UK Students Say University Not Good Value" A survey has found that 31% of UK students believe that their university courses are poor or very poor value, up from 29% the year before. However, that number is not as high as the 34% who thought university was poor value in 2017. There are about 1.8 million undergraduate students in UK universities, and the Student Academic Experience Survey was taken by about 10,000 of them. The survey also found that 39% of students were happy with the value of their courses, down from 41% the year before. And 64% said they would not change their school or course if they had a second chance — the same as the year before. Students in Scotland felt they got the best value for their money, with 57% agreeing that university was good value, although this was down from 63% the year before. However, Scottish students can get their first university degree for free — and students…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "European Borders Slowly Reopening" Many countries in Europe are opening their borders to fellow Europeans after three months of coronavirus lockdowns. The European Union home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson, has told member nations that they "should open up as soon as possible." Many countries are doing just that, allowing travel from the EU, Britain and the rest of Europe’s usually passport-free Schengen travel area, which includes non-EU countries like Switzerland. Still, it’s a complicated patchwork of different rules. Spain only plans to open to European travelers on June 21, but has already started allowing thousands of Germans to fly to its Balearic Islands for a trial run — removing its 14-day quarantine for the group. "We want our country, which is already known as a world-class tourist destination, to be recognized as also a secure destination," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said. Italy…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "13% of Museums May Not Reopen after Pandemic" Research has found that an estimated 13% of museums that closed because of the coronavirus pandemic may never open again. According to two studies, 90% of museums across the world — around 85,000 — have had to close because of the pandemic. The studies were done by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UNESCO and ICOM say they will use the information to find ways to support institutions after life returns to normal. The research found that only 5% of museums in Africa and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), like Samoa and Haiti, were able to offer online materials. But even museums with online services will see a large decrease in earnings if they can't open for visitors. In the US, the American Alliance of Museums also says museums are losing as much as $33 million a…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Qatar Building 16 'Floating Hotels' for 2022 World Cup" Qatar is building 16 floating hotels with more than 1,600 rooms as it prepares for the 1.5 million soccer fans expected to visit during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Designed by the Finnish architecture firm, Sigge Architects, each floating hotel will be 72 meters long, 16 meters wide and four stories high, with 101 rooms, a restaurant and a bar. They will float off the coast of Qetaifan Island North, a 1.3-square-kilometer island with seven beaches. The island is just 15 minutes from Lusail Stadium, where the opening and final games of the World Cup will be played. Large cruise ships, like the 2,700-room Symphony of the Seas — the world's largest cruise ship — can only stop at ports with at least 9 meters of water. But Qatar's floating hotels will need just 4 meters of water — which will allow them to be taken away and used on almost any other coast after the…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Microsoft to Replace Journalists with AI" Microsoft is laying off dozens of journalists from its news services. In their place, it will use artificial intelligence (AI) to find and share news stories. The affected journalists have been told that they won't be needed after June 30. Some employees, who asked not to be named, told The Seattle Times that Microsoft plans to use AI for the work they had been doing. The journalists did not write their own articles, but instead chose stories from other news organizations to share on Microsoft's MSN website and Edge browser news pages. They also edited some articles and headlines. One of the journalists told The Guardian, "I spend all my time reading about how automation and AI is going to take all our jobs, and here I am — AI has taken my job." They added that replacing humans with AI has some risks. For example, staff were careful to make sure users were not shown…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Drones Deliver Medicine in Small Irish Town" Manna Aero and Ireland's Health Service Executive are testing the use of drones to deliver medicine to people in a small town during the coronavirus pandemic. After a video call with a patient, local doctors write a prescription and send it by email to nearby pharmacists, who prepare the medicine. The medicine is then put into a drone, which flies straight to the patient's address and uses cameras to find a safe place, like a garden or driveway, to lower the delivery. To help stop the coronavirus, Ireland has told its citizens to only go out if they need to. It also asked people over 70 and other high-risk groups not to leave their homes at all, and get things they need from friends or family, or from delivery services. Fidelma Gleeson, aged 70, received one of the drone deliveries, reports the BBC. "I thought I would never see the day that there would be such…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Facebook Announces First 20 Members of Oversight Board" Facebook has announced the first 20 members of a new Oversight Board, which some are calling the social media giant's "Supreme Court." The board will make final decisions over what content can and cannot be posted on both Facebook and Instagram. Later this year, the group of 20 will start hearing cases from people who feel their content was taken down unfairly, as well as cases referred to it by Facebook. In the months that follow, it will also start hearing from people who want content taken down. The board's job will be to decide whether or not content is acceptable under Facebook and Instagram’s policies. And it will also take into account issues around freedom of speech and human rights. "The cases we choose to hear may be contentious, and we will not please everyone with our decisions. Facebook and Instagram users come from all corners of the world,…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "1,900 Airbnb Employees Lose Jobs to Pandemic" Airbnb is laying off 1,900 of its 7,500 workers as the coronavirus pandemic causes a huge decrease in global travel. In a letter to its employees, CEO Brian Chesky said the company is also getting rid of parts of its business that don't directly support home-sharing. Those include its investments in hotels, air travel and movies. Airbnb expects its revenues to fall by more than half this year. It is a private company, so it does not share its financial figures. But AirDNA, which monitors bookings with Airbnb and other similar companies, said new US bookings fell by 53% between February 3 and April 13. Some countries are also not allowing any non-essential travel or are only letting medical workers book with Airbnb. Only a few months ago, the company was valued at $31 billion, and was planning an initial public offering. The 12-year-old company has around 7 million…

Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "World's Largest Soccer Stadium to be Built in China" By the end of 2022, Guangzhou Evergrande, a professional Chinese soccer team, will have the world's largest soccer stadium as its new home. On April 16, work started on the 100,000 seat stadium, which will cost $1.7 billion and will be made to look like a lotus flower. Guangzhou Evergrande are one of the best soccer teams in Asia. They were taken over by Evergrande in 2010, and have won the Chinese Super League eight times, and the Asian Champions Leagues twice. The early idea for the lotus flower design of the stadium came from the Evergrande Group chairman Hui Ka Yan, and it was designed by American designer Hasan Syed, who lives in Shanghai. It refers to Guangzhou, Evergrande's home city, which is sometimes called the "city of flowers." The CEO of Evergrande Group, Xia Hajun, said that the stadium would be "an important symbol of Chinese soccer going to…

Facebook will soon begin warning users when they interact with dangerous misinformation about the coronavirus. A notice will be sent to users who have clicked on, reacted to, or commented on posts with harmful or false claims about COVID-19 after they have been removed by moderators. The notification, which will start appearing on Facebook in the next few weeks, will direct users to a site where the World Health Organization debunks misinformation about the virus. Facebook said that in March it put more than 40 million warning labels on videos, posts or articles about the coronavirus that fact-checking organizations had determined to be false or misleading. Facebook says those warning labels have stopped 95% of users from clicking on the false information. "It’s a big indicator that people are trusting the fact-checkers," said Baybars Orsek, director of the International Fact-Checking Network. However, Orsek also said that Facebook's data should be reviewed by outside editors or experts, and that the company…

Netflix has gotten nearly 16 million new subscribers during the first three months of the year, showing that it has become one of the world's most popular services in times of isolation or crisis. During those three months, many governments around the world started telling people to stay home to stop the spread of the coronavirus. This appears to have made millions of people start using Netflix for entertainment. Netflix more than doubled the growth that it had predicted for the first three months of 2020, with the company ending March with nearly 183 million subscribers worldwide. It was the biggest three-month gain in the 13-year history of Netflix's streaming service. Netflix says it expects to get 7.5 million new subscribers between April and June 2020, nearly three times as many as the average 2.7 million it usually gets in spring. Production has stopped on many of Netflix's films and series, but the company has promised that it will continue to release new content throughout the year. "We don’t…

Professional cyclist Davide Martinelli is using his bike to bring medicine to elderly people and others who need help during the coronavirus pandemic. Martinelli's service is helping his hometown of Lodetto in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, which has been hit hard by the virus. Lodetto doesn't have a pharmacy or a supermarket, so Martinelli goes to the nearby town of Rovato every day to get supplies. The trip is 10 kilometers, which Martinelli said is easy for a professional cyclist. "I wanted to help the people who always support me during the season. It's time to give back to them," he said. Martinelli joined a Facebook group called "Lodetto Solidale" (Supporting Lodetto) where those who need help can ask for it online, by phone or message. Martinelli receives his orders each night and plans a route for the next day. When he gets to the pharmacy, he puts on gloves and a face mask. He says that by going to the pharmacy for three or four people at the same time, the virus is less likely to spread.…

NASA will send two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on May 27. This will be the first spaceflight with a crew launched from the US since 2011. For the last few years, NASA has been using Russian ships to send astronauts to the ISS. "NASA will once again launch American astronauts on American rockets from American soil!" tweeted NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. The two astronauts are Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley. Behnken has been an astronaut with NASA since 2000 and has completed two space flights. Before joining NASA, he was a flight test engineer with the US Air Force. Hurley has also been with NASA since 2000, and has been to space twice. Before becoming a NASA astronaut, he was a pilot in the US Marines. Behnken and Hurley will travel in SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft and will join 3 crew members who are already on the ISS. They are expected to stay on the ISS for several weeks or months. Only three countries have launched people into space since 1961: Russia, the US and…

According to Amnesty International, the number of executions around the world in 2019 decreased by 5% compared to the year before. However, the number in the Middle East and North Africa increased by 16%, from 501 in 2018 to 579 in 2019. Amnesty International's 2019 Death Sentences and Executions report noted that the number of executions in the world decreased from at least 690 in 2018 to at least 657 in 2019. That's the lowest number in more than 10 years. All of the world's executions occurred in just 20 countries. Amnesty says that China executed the most people in 2019. While the rights group estimates that the number is in the thousands, it is a state secret, and China was not included in Amnesty's global total. The rights group also did not have enough information to estimate the number of executions in North Korea or Vietnam. Iran likely executed at least 251 people, the second-most after China. Saudi Arabia executed 184 people in 2019, the highest number for a single year in the country, and up from…

While people can't travel, the Faroe Islands are offering remote tours that let people use the internet to control a tour guide and see the archipelago's small towns and volcanic islands. The tours were started to help sustain global interest in the North Atlantic islands, where tourism has recently become an important industry. It will also help people in lockdown see more of the world. The idea is to make people want to come and experience the Faroe Islands in real life, said Levi Hanssen from the tourist board. Local guides wear helmets with cameras on them and take online audiences across the archipelago while also providing information. "If you ask them to go left, they go left. If you ask them to jump, they jump. If you ask them to run, they run," said Hanssen. Nearly 50,000 people joined the first four-hour-long tours, which are offered for free, said Hanssen. Most people were trying to get one of the one-minute-long slots for controlling the guide, which are given to whoever signs up for them first.…

Trump Ends US Aid to World Health Organization President Donald Trump has said he is cutting off US funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), accusing the organization of failing to do enough to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Trump claimed the outbreak could have been contained at its source and that lives could have been saved had the UN health agency done a better job investigating early reports out of China. "The WHO failed in its basic duty and must be held accountable," Trump said at a press conference. He said the US would be reviewing the WHO's actions to stop the virus before making any decision on providing aid in the future. The United States paid nearly $900 million towards the WHO's budget for 2018-19, according to information on the agency's website. That represents one-fifth of its total $4.4 billion budget for those years. There was no immediate comment from the Geneva-based organization on Trump's announcement. But UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres responded saying that now is…

A survey has found that South Koreans spent an average of 2 hours a day searching for information on the coronavirus in March. Yonhap News Agency reports that two professors from Seoul's Yonsei University surveyed 2,035 people living in Seoul from March 14-21, including 18 people in self-quarantine. Those in self-quarantine spent an average of 2.3 hours a day looking for information on the virus. South Korea reported its first case of the coronavirus on January 20. There were still just 28 cases by February 14, but the number had soared to 8,086 by March 14, the day the survey began. One of the survey professors, June Sun-jae, said that people should not spend too much time searching for information on the virus because it could increase anxiety. The survey found that almost 60% of the people had feelings of depression, compared to 7.7% in 2013. Writing in Yonsei Medical Journal, Sun Jae Jung of Harvard and Jin Yong Jun of South Korea's National Institute of Health agree that reading too much news can…

For the 18th year in a row, American adults believe nurses are the most honest workers, according to a Gallup poll. The results show that 85% of US adults believe that nurses are honest or very honest, putting them above 21 other jobs like police officers, doctors, teachers and businesspeople. Second on the list are engineers, with 66% of people saying that engineers are honest or very honest. Also in the top five are doctors, who received a score of 65%, and pharmacists, at 64%. The fifth highest score was for dentists, at 61%. Police officers are in the middle of the list: only 54% of Americans feel they can trust the police to be honest. People in the government are among the least trusted by Americans. Members of the US Senate are only trusted by 13% of the adults who took the poll. Members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives together only got 12%. The lowest on the list are people who sell cars, at 9%. The high number for nurses hasn't changed much over the years. In 2018, the number was…

🔴Please subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/channel/UCHl6jliV…ub_confirmation=1 🔴Script Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "How Finland Aims to End Homelessness" In 1987, there were over 18,000 homeless people in Finland. At the end of 2018, there were fewer than 5,500. In fact, Finland is the only European Union country where homelessness is falling, which many credit to the country's "Housing First" policy, introduced in 2008. People can become homeless for many reasons, from suddenly losing work or family support to drug or mental health problems. And most policies for helping the homeless require them to solve their personal problems before they can get housing. But Finland's Housing First policy is based on the idea that having a home makes it easier to solve these problems. So people are given a permanent place to live as soon as they become homeless. They still have contracts and pay rent, but they may get rent support from the…

🔴Please subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/channel/UCHl6jliV…ub_confirmation=1 🔴Script Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Most Japanese Students Happy to Join Online Classes" More than half of Japanese university students feel good about taking classes online, according to a new survey from Nihon University in Tokyo. Professor Tetsuya Usui from the university used social media to ask 1,572 university students how they felt about online classes, as schools around the world try to find ways to continue teaching during the coronavirus pandemic. He found that 59% were happy to take part in online classes, reports Kyodo News, while 21% said they did not want to do so. Usui also found that for online classes, almost 72% of students preferred video lessons to be available on demand, and only 15% said they would prefer live, interactive online classes. Just over 13% said they would like classes to be live but not interactive. The Japanese…

🔴Please subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/channel/UCHl6jliV…ub_confirmation=1 🔴Script Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "US General Election to Be Biden vs. Trump" With Bernie Sanders' decision to end his campaign, Joe Biden will likely represent the Democratic Party against President Donald Trump this fall. Biden won't officially win the nomination until June, but with no Democratic rivals left, a general election campaign that will be among the most expensive and nastiest in history has begun. In Biden and Trump, voters will choose between two men with dramatically different views on healthcare, climate change, foreign policy and leadership in an era of extreme partisanship. At 77, Biden will become the oldest major party presidential nominee in modern history. Having spent most of his life as an elected official in Washington, no nominee has had more experience in government. In Trump, Biden is up against an opponent unlike any…

🔴Please subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/channel/UCHl6jliV…ub_confirmation=1 🔴Script Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Jeff Bezos Still World's Richest Person Even After Divorce" Jeff Bezos is the world's richest person for the third year in a row, according to Forbes magazine's 2020 list of the world's billionaires. As of March 18, when the list was made, the CEO of Amazon was worth $113 billion. Bill Gates of Microsoft stayed in second place with $98 billion. Bernard Arnault and his family, owners of LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods company, moved into third place with $76 billion. Arnault took third place from investor Warren Buffett, who is now fourth with $67.5 billion. Jeff Bezos, who started the Amazon company in 1994, stayed at the top of the list even though about $36 billion of his money went to his ex-wife, MacKenzie Bezos, as part of their divorce settlement. However, Amazon's stock went up 15% last year, making…

🔴Please subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/channel/UCHl6jliV…ub_confirmation=1 🔴Script Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Study: Irregular Sleep Increases Risk of Heart Disease" A new study has found that not having a regular time to sleep and wake up can be bad for your heart. Having regular sleep was defined by the study as always going to bed and waking up within 30 minutes of the same times. The study looked at almost 2,000 people between the ages of 45 and 84 for five years. Their health and living habits were checked, and they were asked to wear a device on their wrist for seven nights that measured when they slept. The study's lead author, Tianyi Huang, from Harvard Medical School, said that those with the most irregular sleep times – more than a 90 minute difference on average over seven nights – were more than two times as likely to have heart disease over 5 years. The study found that even after considering other things…

🔴Please subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/channel/UCHl6jliV…ub_confirmation=1 🔴Script Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Manhattan Opens Its Highest Outdoor Observation Deck" Opened on March 11, the Edge at 30 Hudson Yards is the highest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere, and the fifth highest in the world. 30 Hudson Yards is 387 meters high, making it the second tallest office building in New York City after One World Trade Center. Located on the building's south and east sides, the Edge is 345 meters – or 100 stories – above the ground, 24 meters long, and has a glass floor in its center. The 2.7-meter walls are also made of glass, offering panoramic views of the city. The elevator takes just 52 seconds to arrive at the 100th floor, where guests will also find a champagne bar. "The view is really amazing," said Fransina Gutierrez, 31, from Ecuador, speaking to New York Post. "I've been waiting for this for a long…

🔴Please subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/channel/UCHl6jliV…ub_confirmation=1 🔴Script Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Tokyo Ends Smoking in Most Restaurants" Japan has been called a "smoker's paradise," but that's starting to change. From April 1, a new law in Tokyo, which was passed in June 2018, bans smoking in most bars and restaurants around the city. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's local law is stricter than a national law that was passed a month later, and also began on April 1, 2020. The laws were passed to help prepare for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Olympics, which have now been delayed until 2021 due to the coronavirus, have been "tobacco-free" since 1988. The national law bans smoking in schools, hospitals, government offices, and on public transport. Bars and restaurants may only let people smoke in special rooms, where food and drinks are not served. However, if a bar or restaurant is smaller than 100 square…

🔴Please subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/channel/UCHl6jliV…ub_confirmation=1 🔴Script Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Students in Nepal Required to Take Yoga Classes" According to The New York Times, Nepal is about to be the first country in the world to require all students between fourth and eighth grade to take yoga classes. The change will happen at the start of the 2020 school year. Giriraj Mani Pokhrel, head of education in Nepal, told the newspaper, "Yoga is our ancient science. We want students to learn it, and we think this is the right time." The government hopes the yoga classes will improve exercise and health across the country. "Yoga has really helped me care for myself," said Abhiyan Bhatta, a 15-year-old student in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal. He said the yoga classes at his school helped him with the knee problems he'd had for years. "I have healed my pain," he said. Schools all around the world offer…

🔴Please subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/channel/UCHl6jliV…ub_confirmation=1 🔴Script Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "The Best Ways to Study at Home" If you usually like to work in cafés and libraries, having to study at home might be difficult. So here are some ways to help you focus at home. Follow a schedule Having a clear plan for your day will help keep you from getting distracted. Try making a list of the things you want to get done each day and when you will do them to help you focus. But make sure you also plan breaks – the longer you go without a break, the worse you get at what you're doing. Some research has found that you should take a 17 minute break for every 52 minutes of work done. Have a study area Don't try to study in places you normally use to have fun or rest, like the couch or bed. Choose somewhere bright, and try to make it nice, maybe by adding some plants. If you have an area that you only use for study,…

🔴Please subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/channel/UCHl6jliV…ub_confirmation=1 🔴Script Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Japan Declares State of Emergency" Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has declared a month-long state of emergency for Tokyo and six other prefectures to protect against the spread of the coronavirus. However, the move is only a stay-at-home request – not an order – and those who ignore it will not be penalized. The COVID-19 outbreak is now spreading rapidly, threatening people's health, their daily lives and the economy, Abe said. The state of emergency will last until May 6. "The most important thing is for each one of us to change our activity," Abe said. He urged everyone to reduce contacts with others by 70-80% for one month. Abe had been under pressure to declare a state of emergency to get people to better follow social distancing rules as concern increases over the number of cases without any known…

🔴Please subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/channel/UCHl6jliV…ub_confirmation=1 🔴Script Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Why Air Pollution Has Decreased Due to Coronavirus" In an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus, a third of the world's population has gone into lockdown, meaning most people must stay at home, and many aren't going to work. That means fewer people driving cars, fewer factories running and less power being generated. As a result, less pollution is being released into the air. Air pollution caused by the emission of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in eastern and central China was 10-30% lower in January and February compared to the same months in 2019, according to NASA. A report from Carbon Brief said that China's carbon dioxide (CO2) levels have also fallen, with a 25% reduction in February 2020 compared with February 2019. Most man-made CO2 and NO2 comes from burning fossil fuels for things like transport and…

🔴Please subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/channel/UCHl6jliV…ub_confirmation=1 🔴Script Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "10 Times More Americans Over 65 Now Use Marijuana" A new study has found that 10 times more Americans over 65 are now using marijuana than in 2006. In 2006, 0.4% of Americans over 65 had used marijuana in the last year. By 2015 that number was 2.9% – and it became 4.2% by 2018. Since 1996, 31 US states have changed their laws to let people use marijuana as medicine. And since 2012, 11 states and the District of Columbia have allowed adults to use marijuana for any reason. According to Gallup, the number of American adults using marijuana has increased from 7% in 2013 to 12% in 2019. However, the number was already 11% by 2015, and it has changed little since. In states where marijuana has been legalized, some studies have even shown that young people now use it less than before. But older people are using…

🔴Please subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/channel/UCHl6jliV…ub_confirmation=1 🔴Script Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Tokyo Olympics Postponed to 2021" The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that the 2020 Summer Olympics will be postponed as the coronavirus shuts down daily life around the world. The IOC said the Tokyo Games "must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020, but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community." IOC President Thomas Bach and Japan's Prime Minister Abe Shinzo spoke on the phone on the morning of March 24. They, along with officials from the IOC and Japan's organizing committee, agreed to make the decision. Other Olympics – 1916, 1940 and 1944 – have been canceled because of war, but none has ever been postponed. The decision comes as a relief to the 11,000 or so potential Olympic athletes who no…

🔴Please subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/channel/UCHl6jliV…ub_confirmation=1 🔴Script Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "AI Cameras Catch Drivers on Phones in Australia" On December 1, the Australian state of New South Wales started using artificial intelligence (AI) cameras to catch people using mobile phones while driving. For the first three months, drivers caught using their phones will only get a warning letter. After that time, they will get a fine of $235 – or $312 if they are near a school. The cameras work day and night, and in any kind of weather. When a camera sees someone who is probably using a phone while driving, the photo is checked by a government worker. People will usually find out about their fine within a week, and they will be able to see their photo. The cameras were tested from January to June, 2019. During that time, 8.5 million vehicles were checked, and more than 100,000 drivers were caught using their…

🔴Please subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/channel/UCHl6jliV…ub_confirmation=1 🔴Script Welcome to the World news. World news keeps you updated news around the nations. Today's topic is "Remote Work Not Possible Without Trust, Employers Say" Remote working is gaining momentum at small businesses in the US. It's hard to find definitive statistics on how many people work remotely, but Gallup's most recent survey in 2016 showed that 43% of employees worked remotely in at least some capacity, up 4 percentage points from 2012. But even as remote working grows, business owners find managing offsite employees involves more than videoconferencing and messaging apps like Slack. Owners say a remote operation can't work without trust between a boss and employee. Tyler Forte is CEO of Felix Homes, which is based in Tennessee and has employees in California. He used to check on his staff all the time, but "over time, you develop trust with the employee," he says. "People have this idea that if you have a…