The northern white rhino is on the brink of extinction.  Poachers decimated the population, but now science has a chance to bring it back.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports.Camera:  Reuters Produced by: Arash Arabasadi   …

The World Health Organization director-general on Tuesday continued to press his case against what he calls “vaccine nationalism,” saying poor countries have had to “watch and wait,” while wealthy nations forge ahead with vaccination programs.In his closing remarks to the 10-day WHO executive board meeting in Geneva, agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “With every day that passes, the divide grows larger between the world’s haves and have-nots.”He said the world faces a “catastrophic moral failure” if it does not work for vaccine equity. He cited recent studies showing how …

World Health Organization experts say more clinical evidence is needed to know whether the Moderna vaccine protects against COVID-19 variants.  The conclusion came as WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, known as SAGE, issued interim recommendations for use of the Moderna vaccine against COVID-19.     Health officials are concerned about the new strains of COVID-19, which recently were found in South Africa and Britain and have since migrated to other places. The appearance of these variants has triggered consternation and many questions regarding their potential impact on …

Argentina is set to receive another batch of a Russian vaccine against COVID-19 on Tuesday, just days after Vice-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner became the country’s latest leader vaccinated with the Sputnik V vaccine.       The vice president was given the shot three days after President Alberto Fernández was given his first dose.   Argentina is one of the largest countries to begin vaccinating its citizens with Sputnik V vaccine, which its developers claim is more than 90 percent effective against COVID-19.   Argentina approved the use of Sputnik …

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Tuesday wealthy countries should not hold onto excess stockpiles of COVID-19 vaccines, and that the world needs to work together to fight the pandemic. FILE – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visits the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment facilities in Johannesburg, April 24, 2020.Ramaphosa told a virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum that those who have hoarded vaccines need to release them “so that other countries can have them.” “The rich countries of the world went out and acquired large doses of vaccines,” Ramaphosa said.  “Some …

Two NASA astronauts are set to embark on two spacewalks in a week’s time outside the International Space Station. The first of the two spacewalks will be Wednesday and will focus on completing the installation of the Bartolomeo science payloads platform outside the European Space Agency’s Columbus module, according to a NASA media advisory.  The tasks will include the replacement of a nickel-hydrogen battery with a lithium-ion one. The pair will also upgrade cameras with high-definition ones. And adding antenna and cable rigging for power and data connections, including a high-bandwidth link for European ground stations. The Bartolomeo platform, named for the younger brother of Italian explorer Christopher …