How do I create a background thread

private class myTask extends AsyncTask<Void, Void, Void> {        @Override        protected void onPreExecute() {        }        @Override        protected Void doInBackground(Void... params) {            // Runs on the background thread            return null;        }        @Override        protected void onPostExecute(Void res) {        }    }

and to run it

new myTask().execute();

Yes there is, you need to use AsyncTask, this should help too.

If the .Net/Mono version you're using supports async/await then you can simply do

async void DisplayNews(){    string url = "http://rapstation.com/webservice.php";    HttpClient client = new HttpClient();    string content = await client.GetStringAsync(url);    NewsObject[] news = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<NewsObject[]>(content);    //!! Your code to add news to some control}

if Not, then you can use Task's

void DisplayNews2(){    string url = "http://rapstation.com/webservice.php";    Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>        {            using (var client = new WebClient())            {                string content = client.DownloadString(url);                return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<NewsObject[]>(content);            }        })    .ContinueWith((task,y) =>        {            NewsObject[] news = task.Result;            //!! Your code to add news to some control        },null,TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext());}