The government Papua New Guinea is considering blocking Facebook while it investigates how to best to regulate the social networking site. Critics say the move would be authoritarian.

Authorities in Papua New Guinea, or PNG, say Facebook has become a magnet for illegal and unsavory activity. The government is considering a temporary ban on the site while it works out the best way to regulate the social media platform.

Only about 10 percent of the nearly 7 million people in PNG use Facebook, but some officials have become increasingly agitated by content being posted online.They have asked experts to help in their search for the best way to impose controls on the social media site.

PNG Communications Minister, Sam Basil, says illegal use of Facebook must be curbed.

“Defamatory publications or the fake news, identity theft and, of course, unidentified Facebook users. Most of those users are the ones that are really breaching all the laws in terms of posting pornography materials and, of course, posting fake news,” he said.

But critics believe the government’s attempts to muzzle Facebook are an attack on free speech. They believe that ministers are motivated by a desire to silence those who expose official corruption and wrongdoing online.

Lawrence Stephens, the chairman of Transparency International PNG, says a temporary ban of Facebook would be a draconian move.

“To talk about stopping this for a month whilst someone, somewhere does an analysis of what we should be able to see sounds pretty authoritarian and pretty worrying,” said Stephens.

The move to temporarily ban Facebook comes as PNG prepares to host the 2018 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, leaders’ summit later this year.

PNG is a South Pacific nation and is Australia’s closest neighbor.
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From: MeNeedIt

China has warned that any agreements with Washington in their talks on settling a sprawling trade dispute “will not take effect” if threatened U.S. sanctions including tariff hikes go ahead.

The statement Sunday came shortly after delegations led by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and China’s top economic official, Vice Premier Liu He, held another round of talks on China’s pledge to narrow its trade surplus with the United States by purchasing more American goods. 

The Chinese statement said the two sides made “positive and concrete progress,” but neither side released details.

The statement said, “If the United States introduces trade sanctions including increasing tariffs, all the economic and trade achievements negotiated by the two parties will not take effect.”

Ross said U.S. and Chinese officials have discussed specific American export items Beijing might buy as part of its pledge to narrow its trade surplus with the United States.

The two sides began a new round of talks in Beijing this weekend aimed at settling a simmering trade dispute.

Ross gave no details at the start of his meeting Sunday with Liu, China’s top economic official. But Chinese envoys promised after the last high-level meeting in Washington in mid-May to buy more American farm goods and energy products.

President Donald Trump is pressing Beijing to narrow its politically volatile surplus in trade in goods with the United States, which reached a record $375.2 billion last year. He’s threatening to hike duties on up to $150 billion of Chinese imports.

“Our meetings so far have been friendly and frank, and covered some useful topics about specific export items,” Ross said.

Ross was accompanied by agricultural, treasury and trade officials. Liu’s delegation included China’s central bank governor and commerce minister.

There was no indication whether the talks also would take up American complaints that Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies regarding their technology. The White House renewed a threat this week to hike duties on $50 billion of Chinese technology-related goods over that dispute.

Private sector analysts say that while Beijing is willing to compromise on its trade surplus, it will resist changes that might threaten plans to transform China into a global technology competitor.

Ross had a working dinner Saturday evening with Liu, also at the same guesthouse in Beijing.

China has promised to “significantly increase” purchases of farm goods, energy and other products and services. Still, Beijing resisted pressure to commit to a specific target of narrowing its annual surplus with the United States by $200 billion.
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From: MeNeedIt

Trucks can be used for so much more than transporting goods from one place to another. They can be transformed into restaurants, mobile health clinics … even a concert hall.

That’s what two young pianists have done with their truck as they work to make classical music more accessible to a wider range of audiences.

The Concert Truck

Nick Luby came up with the idea for the Concert Truck, says his partner, Susan Zhang. “He went sailing with his grandfather,” she says. “When they would dock, they would go to certain churches where he could practice (piano). While he was practicing, people would gather because they were curious about what he was playing.”

Though people can listen to music anywhere, on radio, TV or on their earphones with MP3 players, Luby says nothing is like listening to live music.

“When you listen to live music there is energy they just can’t get from recordings.” He adds, “It brings people together. For me it makes life worth living.”

But for Zhang, the idea of using a truck to bring live music to different locations was a bit unsettling at first.

“When he came to me with the idea, I thought he was crazy,” she recalls. “Then, I watched this movie, ‘Chef,’ about a chef who has a food truck and he travels across the country and I thought that kind of life would be so cool, so I decided to go in on this with him.”

The next step was to get funding.

“We started by winning a Creativity in Music Award from our university in South Carolina,” Luby says. “That was matched by the Performing Art Consortium. They provide some financing for artists to perform or to apply for schools and competitions. And the piano is a generous loan from Jordan Kitts Music, which is a piano store in Rockville, Maryland.”

That was two years ago, and they’ve been performing ever since.

A different experience

Zhang admits that performing from a truck, in the middle of street traffic and noise, can be challenging.

“Usually when you perform in a concert hall, everything is very controlled, everybody is quiet, the lighting,” she says. “In a place like this, anything could happen. When I start performing, I really don’t notice a lot of the things that happen. I think there is definitely a kind of endurance you gain from performing on a truck.”

And the artists don’t take it personally when people pass by and don’t stay to listen.

“When people walk by and listen for a second and keep going you definitely notice, but the fact that someone stops even for a second or a minute is really a nice thing to be able to share that moment with people,” Luby says.

On a recent day, the performance is in front of a farmers market in Baltimore, where Luby and Zhang are both high school music teachers. With their rented piano tightly stored aboard the truck, the duo head downtown. The 5-meter-long Concert Truck is equipped with speakers and lights, and takes only a few minutes to transform into a stage.

The music draws a lunchtime crowd, including Reba Cornman, who was buying some herbs from the farmers market.

“All of a sudden, I heard (Sergei) Prokofiev’s ‘Cinderella’ played on piano,” Cornman says. “I love Prokofiev! I came right over and sit down. It was extraordinary. I know they’re trying to reach all kinds of audiences and being on a truck is such a remarkable way to do that.”

Baltimore Farmers Market manager Jill Ciotta worked with Luby and Zhang to bring their Concert Truck to the market. She considers the performing experience part of the healthy focus the market, which is run by the University of Maryland’s Medical Center, tries to promote in downtown.

“We’re always open on bringing in things that make it better and bigger and really draw people outside, get moving, walking, and get healthy food. I’d love to see more performances here, I’d love to see them attracting more people, employees, students and neighbors, and getting them to enjoy the outdoors,” Ciotta said.

Performing on the road

The Concert Truck has performed in schools, children’s homes and homeless shelters, in addition to public squares in several cities in South Carolina, Ohio, Maryland and Minnesota. These trips, Luby says, bring him closer to his dream, “to create a platform that allows musicians, not just us but many musicians, to share their craft and their art broadly.”

That dream is what keeps Luby and Zhang energized, and on the road, bringing the Concert Truck and classical music to new audiences.
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From: MeNeedIt

Classical music is often thought of as an elite art, usually performed in concert halls to a dedicated, dressed up audience. But two young pianists are working hard to make this style of music more accessible to wider audiences. As Faiza Elmasry tells us, to do that, they’re offering free performances on a mobile stage, The Concert Truck. Faith Lapidus narrates.
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From: MeNeedIt

The French news agency AFP is reporting five new suspected cases of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

AFP reported Saturday that DRC health authorities had recorded two new cases of illness in the Wangata area and three new cases in Bikoro. Both areas are in the northwest Equateur province.

A new Ebola virus outbreak was declared in DRC on May 8 in Bikoro. Since then, about 50 cases of infection have been reported, with 25 of them leading to death.

This is the most serious outbreak of Ebola virus since a massive outbreak in western Africa that ended in 2016 after infecting more than 28,600 people.

On May 30, the World Health Organization said there had been 37 confirmed cases and 13 probable cases in DRC since the start of this outbreak. The fast-acting virus has killed about half its victims in the current outbreak.

Meanwhile, the WHO has been involved in an effort to create a vaccine against the Ebola virus, which has broken out nine times in DRC since its discovery in the 1970s.

On Friday, Peter Salama, the head of emergency response for the WHO, told VOA that teams had vaccinated about 500 people who had contact with Ebola cases discovered recently in Equateur’s capital, Mbandaka.

So far, he said, it appears that the highly contagious virus has not spread in the city.

VOA’s Jackson Mvunganyi and Kate Pound Dawson contributed to this report.
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From: MeNeedIt

An anonymous bidder offered more than $3.3 million Friday for a private lunch with Warren Buffett, an amount just short of the record paid in 2016 and 2012 for the chance to pick the brain of the renowned investor and philanthropist.

An online auction that raises money for the Glide Foundation’s work to help the homeless in San Francisco ended Friday night on eBay with a winning bid of $3,300,100. The winner wished to remain anonymous.

Third highest price paid

The price was the third highest in the 18 years Buffett has offered the lunch. Winners paid $3,456,789 in 2012 and 2016, which remain the most expensive charity items ever sold on eBay.

Buffett has raised more than $26 million for the Glide Foundation through the annual auctions. Bidders continue to pay high prices for the chance to talk with Buffett, who leads Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway, and the event raises a significant part of Glide’s $20 million annual budget.

Buffett supports Glide because of the work the charity does to help people. His first wife, Susie, introduced him to Glide after she volunteered there.

“Glide really takes people who have hit rock bottom and helps bring them back. They’ve been doing it for decades,” Buffett said.

Glide provides meals, health care, job training, rehabilitation and housing support to the poor and homeless.

One topic off limits

Buffett has said he gets asked about a variety of topics during the lunch. The only subject that’s off limits is what Buffett might invest in next.

The winners of the lunch auction typically dine with Buffett at Smith and Wollensky steak house in New York City, which donates at least $10,000 to Glide each year to host the lunch.

Buffett’s company owns more than 90 companies including insurance, furniture, railroad, jewelry, utility and candy businesses. Berkshire Hathaway also has major investments in companies including Coca-Cola Co., Apple, American Express and Wells Fargo & Co.
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From: MeNeedIt

For Muslims, the month of Ramadan is a time for self-reflection and prayer — and fasting from sunrise to sunset. After sunset, families and friends enjoy a meal called Iftar. At a mosque in Virginia, outside Washington, people of various faiths came to Iftar one evening and to join Muslims in prayer. VOA’s Deborah Block has the story.
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From: MeNeedIt

The U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in May, sending the unemployment rate to an 18-year low of 3.8 percent. The Labor Department says hourly wages also grew, bumping average worker pay up 2.7 percent from this time last year. And yet, despite the improving job picture, economists say there may be dark clouds forming on the horizon. Mil Arcega reports.
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From: MeNeedIt

From Italian to Chinese and Afghan to Ethiopian, there are many diverse ethnic restaurants in Washington. Yet, opening a new one with an unfamiliar cuisine can be risky. Seng Luangrath, a former refugee with a passion for cooking, dared to open the first Lao restaurant in the U.S. capital. As VOA’s June Soh reports, Thip Khao is thriving. Carol Pearson narrates her report.
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From: MeNeedIt

Student photographer Madeline Morales takes her camera everywhere she goes. She is always looking for something interesting to shoot.

“I try to look at things with a lot of light; a lot of what draws me is positivity – something that means love or happiness,” said Morales.

At 15 years of age, she has lived through experiences most teens have not had to deal with. She has faced cancer, chemotherapy and radiation, but she stays optimistic and tries to find beauty through her camera lens. Today, she will see something most people will never see in their lifetime.

“It makes me feel excited, a little bit nervous,” said Morales, whose photos were on display at a gallery show in Los Angeles.

“I think with photography and having that faith in God has really helped me a lot to staying positive and being motivated to want to keep fighting this disease,” she said.

Morales was one of 23 students who shared their experiences with cancer through photos at the Pablove Foundation’s gallery show of its advanced photography class. The foundation aims to improve the lives of children living with the disease through its Shutterbugs photography program. The Pablove Foundation also provides money for underfunded pediatric cancer research. Proceeds from the students’ prints will go toward pediatric cancer research grants.

The Pablove Shutterbugs program offers photography classes in eight cities across the United States.

“Being in these classes with other people that completely understand their experience and can be a community with them has been really impactful and has really made them feel a lot more comfortable in what they’ve been through and where they’re going with it,” said Ashley Blakeney, program manager of Pablove Shutterbugs.

She said the photography classes give students living with cancer a sense of community at a time when they often feel isolated in their experience. Photography also helps build confidence, said Blakeney.

“Pavlove Shutterbugs serve as a distraction for these students while they’re going through their treatment because it literally is an out of hospital experience first and foremost,” she said, adding, “Because they are able to build this skill set and to be the really great photographers that they are. They’re incredible. It gives them something to brag about in a sense that they can now say “I am an artist. I am a photographer. I have this voice, and I have this story to tell” and they’re able to do that through their images.”

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Another student photographer featured in the gallery show is Bayu Lukman.

“Most of my photos’ themes focused on hope,” said Lukman

Lukman was diagnosed with cancer after graduating from elementary school. He described the devastating emotional side of living through cancer and its treatments of chemotherapy and radiation.

“You kind of get really depressed and you don’t want to live anymore.” Lukman continued, “You need to stay optimistic and push yourself through.”

With photography, many young students see the world through the lens of optimism, where their identity is not dictated by cancer.

“There’s more to us than just having cancer, that we have more of a story to tell besides cancer. We want people to see what we see even if it’s through the lens,” said Morales.

“Pablove helped me understand more about the struggles of cancer and has given me a small chance to actually assist in the world a bit with photography, I’d say, to express my story and allow it to hopefully to reach other kids so they understand how to deal with it hopefully,” said Lukman.
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From: MeNeedIt

Cancer is not just an illness of the body, it also takes a toll on a patient’s emotional well-being. To fight feelings of isolation and depression, an organization called the Pablove Foundation created a program that teaches photography to children living with cancer. Through a camera lens, young cancer patients can focus on the beauty in life. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee reports from a gallery show in Los Angeles where some of these students’ pictures are on display.
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From: MeNeedIt

Outside Facebook’s annual shareholders meeting Thursday, a lone protester paced on the sidewalk, carrying a U.S. flag and a sign that read “Zuckerberg destroys shareholder value.”

Above, a small plane pulled a banner that read “You Broke Democracy.”

Inside, Facebook shareholders offered both praise and criticism of the company’s leadership.

The social media giant has been in a constant spotlight over how foreign actors used its service to try to influence elections worldwide. It suffered a double blow when it was revealed that 87 million users’ information had gone to a political consulting firm without the users’ knowledge. 

The company continues to face inquiries from federal and state regulators about privacy and user data issues. And Mark Zuckerberg, its chief executive, recently testified in front of the European Parliament after appearing in front of Congress on the issues.

Shareholders sound off 

Facebook shareholders provided another sort of oversight. Many expressed their displeasure by selling shares in March after it was disclosed that Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm, obtained user data without their knowledge. Facebook shares have more than recovered since then, rising 2 percent Thursday to $191.78, which was up 26 percent from the company’s three-month low of $152 in March. 

“We didn’t do enough to see how people could abuse these tools,” Zuckerberg told the shareholders.

“The main thing we need to do right now is take a broader view of our responsibility to the community we serve,” he said.

Investors applauded Zuckerberg several times during the meeting. And they followed the company’s advice and appeared to vote down shareholder proposals, including one that would change the voting power of company shares. Currently, Zuckerberg, 34, and insiders hold a class of stock that gives them more than 60 percent of the voting power. 

Shareholders also appeared to vote against other proposals such as requiring the company to report on its gender pay gap and a content report that would show how the company enforces its terms of service worldwide. (Official results of the tally will be posted in the next several days.)

Despite the defeats, shareholder proposals are worthwhile, said Natasha Lamb, managing partner at Arjuna Capital, an activist investment firm behind two proposals.

They “send a signal to management, send a signal to the board,” she said.

Diversity of ideas 

Amid the applause, there was also sharp criticism. 

“We contend that Facebook’s poor stewardship of user data is tantamount to a human rights violation,” said Christine Jantz, chief investment officer at Northstar Asset Management.

Another investor asked what Facebook was doing to understand political bias among its employees and how that affects decisions about content on the site.

Zuckerberg said the company was “committed to being a platform for all ideas.” 

The company ended the meeting, but not before a shareholder pleaded, “Engage with us on these issues. We are on the same team.” 

Company leaders said they would.

Deana Mitchell contributed to this report.
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From: MeNeedIt