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National Weather Service to resume translating its products for non-English speakers

TECH

National Weather Service to resume translating its products for non-English speakers
TECH

TECH

National Weather Service to resume translating its products for non-English speakers

2025-04-25 02:13 Last Updated At:02:23

The National Weather Service will resume translating its products for non-English speakers.

The weather service paused the translations this month because its contract with the provider had lapsed. Experts said the change could put non-English speakers at risk of missing potentially life-saving warnings about extreme weather.

The weather service said Thursday the contract has been reinstated, and the translations will resume by the end of the day Monday.

Lilt, an artificial intelligence company, began providing translations in late 2023. That replaced manual translations that the weather service had said were labor-intensive and not sustainable. It eventually provided them in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, French and Samoan.

Nearly 68 million people in the U.S. speak a language other than English at home, including 42 million Spanish speakers, according to 2019 Census data.

The translations are important during extreme weather events, but general weather forecasts are also essential for people who work in tourism, transportation and energy, experts say.

The weather service’s parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is among the federal agencies targeted by the Trump administration for aggressive staff and budget cuts.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

FILE - Kayakers paddle on the floodwaters at the Buffalo Trace Distillery on Monday, April 7, 2025, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry, File)

FILE - Kayakers paddle on the floodwaters at the Buffalo Trace Distillery on Monday, April 7, 2025, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry, File)

A tornados is seen just north of Omaha, Neb. from Highway 75 , on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

A tornados is seen just north of Omaha, Neb. from Highway 75 , on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)

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