Taylor Swift Sets Records for Spotify Streams, YouTube Views

Spotify says Taylor Swift has set a new global first day streaming record. The music delivery site said Saturday it had logged more than 8 million same-day streams for her new single, “Look What You Made Me Do.” The 27-year-old singer dropped the much-anticipated song late Thursday to streaming platforms and iTunes. She wrote and …

Nanotechnology Asphalt Could Last Twice as Long

In spite of many attempts to replace it with a more suitable material, asphalt concrete remains the best and cheapest material for paving roads. Vulnerable to heat, ice, ultraviolet light and mechanical stress, it has a relatively short lifespan and has to be repaired or replaced at regular intervals. Swiss engineers say they may have …

French President Macron’s Makeup Costs Prompt Criticism

President Emmanuel Macron’s office has confirmed a report that the French leader spent 26,000 euros ($30,695) on makeup during his first three months in power, and says it’s trying to find a cheaper alternative. The report in Le Point news magazine prompted harsh criticism of the president from French social media users. It said the …

Angolan Ruling Party Wins National Election

Angola’s MPLA party has won the country’s general election, extending its hold on power and ensuring that Defense Minister Joao Lourenco will be the country’s next president. The National Electoral Commission said Friday that MPLA received just over 61 percent of the vote in Wednesday’s election The main opposition UNITA party came in second with …

Massachusetts Hospital Worker Claims Record $758.7M Lottery Jackpot

A 53-year-old Massachusetts hospital worker stepped forward Thursday to claim the biggest undivided lottery jackpot in U.S. history — $758.7 million — after breaking the news to her employer the way the rest of us only dream of: “I called and told them I will not be coming back.” “The first thing I want to …

As Syria War Tightens, US-Russian Military Hotlines Hum

Even as tensions between the United States and Russia fester, there is one surprising place where their military-to-military contacts are quietly weathering the storm: Syria. It has been four months since U.S. President Donald Trump ordered cruise missile strikes against a Syrian airfield after an alleged chemical weapons attack. In June, the U.S. military shot …

Angolans Vote for Dos Santos’s Successor

On Wednesday, Angola’s longtime president did something he hasn’t done in decades: He voted for someone else. Just after 9 a.m., retiring President Jose Eduardo dos Santos shuffled slowly through a side entrance of Luanda’s polling station 1047, at the law school named after his predecessor, Angola’s first president, Agostinho Neto, who died in 1979. …

Tackle Central American Hunger to Help Cut Migration, Report Says

Worry over having enough food is forcing people from drought-stricken Central America to migrate north to the United States, leaving families behind who grow more vulnerable to poverty, said an international report released Wednesday. Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala must address hunger-related migration by adapting agricultural practices to deal with increased water shortages and help …