The European Space Agency previews a big 2021 starting with a new boss. Data show last year’s temperatures tied the hottest on record, and French wines return to Earth after a year aboard the International Space Station. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space. Producer: Arash Arabasadi. …
The World Health Organization’s ((WHO)) European chief says 95% of the 23.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines that have been administered around the world so far have been given out in just 10 countries. At a Copenhagen news briefing Thursday, WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge voiced perhaps the health agency’s most recurring theme of the COVID-19 pandemic: To effectively stop the virus, the world’s vaccines must be shared equitably, with low-income nations as well as poor ones. In the global effort to end the pandemic, Kluge said, “collectively, we simply …
More than 150,000 people from 154 countries are at the U.S. Consumer Electronics Show – all online – this week. Michelle Quinn reports. Contributors: Elizabeth Lee, Julie Taboh Video editor: Matt Dibble …
Lady Gaga will sing the national anthem at Joe Biden’s inauguration and Jennifer Lopez will give a musical performance on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol when Biden is sworn in as the nation’s 46th president next Wednesday. The announcement of their participation comes one day after word that Tom Hanks will host a 90-minute primetime TV special celebrating Biden’s inauguration. Other performers include Justin Timberlake, Jon Bon Jovi, Demi Lovato and Ant Clemons. At the swearing-in ceremony, the Rev. Leo O’Donovan, a former Georgetown University president, will give …
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is set to unveil Thursday a coronavirus response plan that includes boosting the rate of vaccinations and helping counter the economic effects of the pandemic. Biden is scheduled to detail the program in an evening address. He has already set a goal of administering 100 million vaccine shots in the first 100 days after he takes office on January 20, and his plan is expected to include funding to expand the vaccination campaign. FILE – Florida Department of Health medical workers prepare to administer a COVID-19 vaccine to seniors in the parking …
After months of negotiations and accusations that China was obstructing an independent investigation, a team of World Health Organization experts has landed in Wuhan, China, where they will try to uncover the origin of the coronavirus that has killed nearly 2 million people globally.Chinese state media on Thursday reported the arrival of the WHO team, composed of researchers from top universities around the world, including experts in animal science and epidemiology. The 15-member team will spend about a month in China. At the insistence of Chinese authorities, the scientists will …
Racing against a surging COVID-19 death toll, the United States is releasing all available doses of the coronavirus vaccine and has instructed states to immediately begin vaccinating Americans 65 and older and adults with medical conditions. Patsy Widakuswara has this story. …
Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder was charged Wednesday with willful neglect of duty after an investigation of ruinous decisions that left the city of Flint with lead-contaminated water and a deadly regional outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease.The charges, revealed in an online court record, are misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.The charges are groundbreaking: No governor or former governor in the state of Michigan’s 184-year history had been charged with crimes related to their time in that office, according to the state archivist.“We believe …
The Trump administration said Wednesday that it would slash millions of acres of protected habitat designated for the imperiled northern spotted owl in Oregon, Washington state and Northern California, much of it in prime timber locations in Oregon’s coastal ranges. Environmentalists immediately decried the move and accused the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under President Donald Trump of taking a parting shot at protections designed to help restore the species in favor of the timber industry. The tiny owl is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and was rejected …