The United States is investing $3.2 billion in the development of antiviral pills for COVID-19 and other viruses that could spark new pandemics.   The top U.S. infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, made the announcement Thursday at a White House briefing as part of a new initiative called the Antiviral Program for Pandemics.   The program will support research into the development of new drugs to address symptoms caused by the coronavirus and other potentially dangerous viruses.   Pills for COVID-19 are already in the developmental stage and could …

The U.S. Supreme Court for the third time on Thursday upheld the legality of the country’s chief health insurance law that provides millions of Americans with coverage to help pay their medical costs.   The court, in a 7-to-2 decision, rejected a bid by 18 Republican-led states and the administration of former President Donald Trump to upend the 2010 Affordable Care Act.   It was the signature legislative achievement of former President Barack Obama, Trump’s immediate predecessor, and is popularly known in the U.S. as Obamacare.   The country’s highest …

The United Nations warns accelerating climate change is causing a dramatic intensification of global drought disasters, which are threatening agricultural production, the world’s safe water supply and other essential aspects of human development.   The U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has launched a “Special Report on Drought 2021.”  U.N. researchers say drought has affected more people around the world in the past four decades than any other natural disaster.  The U.N. report warns the impact of the climate-driven drought emergency on the lives and livelihoods of people across the planet will …

Japan unveiled plans Thursday to slowly ease the coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and several other prefectures in time for next month’s opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced that the government will switch to “quasi-emergency” measures once the state of emergency expires Sunday.  The looser restrictions would remain in place until July 11, just 12 days before the start of the Olympic Games.  In addition to looser restrictions, the government is expected to announce a plan to allow up to 10,000 spectators to enter venues …

For some people, COVID has led to changes in lifestyle, or even a new job.  That’s the case of a cyclist in Los Angeles, California, who ended up opening several bicycle shops to meet a growing demand by people wanting to get exercise while exploring their city. Mike O’Sullivan has more. Camera: Mike O’Sullivan and Roy Kim  …

China launched the first crew of its new permanent space station into orbit Thursday morning.Veteran astronauts Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming and rookie Tang Hongbo blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China aboard the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft.A crowd of well-wishers bid the three astronauts farewell in an elaborate ceremony before they boarded a van to take them to the launch pad to board their spacecraft.  The mission is China’s first manned space flight in five years.The trio is expected to reach the first module of the station, …

The current rate of forest fires burning through the Rocky Mountains in the United States is the highest it’s been in the past 2,000 years, University of Montana professor Philip Higuera, right, and his team collect lake sediment from Chickaree Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, used to reconstruct fire and vegetation history. (Grace Carter photo; image courtesy of Philip Higuera)“The 2020 fire season was record-setting across the West [of the United States],” said Philip Higuera, a fire ecologist at the University of Montana and lead author of the study. …