The world’s biggest and most powerful space telescope found a parking space. Plus, a lottery winner can’t claim his prize, and a volcanic eruption may offer clues on the formation of planets. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. …

Six people who were children living in Fukushima at the time of the 2011 nuclear disaster and have since developed thyroid cancer filed a lawsuit Thursday demanding a utility pay compensation for their illnesses, which they say were triggered by massive radiation spewed from the Fukushima nuclear plant.  The people, now aged 17-27 and living in and outside of Fukushima, demand the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings pay a total of 616 million yen ($5.4 million) in compensation.  One of the plaintiffs, identified only as a woman in her 20s, …

Nigerian health authorities say the country’s life expectancy is among the worst in the world, with influenza and pneumonia leading causes of death. In southern Nigeria’s Cross River state, severe air pollution is increasing the cases of respiratory diseases. Port Harcourt resident David Tolu-Adamu knows. Before leaving for work each day, he dons his face mask. Tolu-Adamu says it’s a measure he has been taking since long before the coronavirus pandemic to filter out the sooty air. “Constantly on a daily basis, year in year out, we have issues with …

Bathed in crisp morning light, Sidra Hussain grips a cooler stacked with glistening vials of polio vaccine in northwest Pakistan.  Watching over Hussain and her partner, a policeman unslings his rifle and eyes the horizon.  In concert they begin their task — going door-to-door on the outskirts of Mardan city, dripping bitter doses of rose-colored medicine into infants’ mouths on the eve of a major milestone for the nation’s anti-polio drive.  The last infection of the wild poliovirus was recorded on January 27, 2021, according to officials, and Friday marks …

As he faced the multitude of news cameras and reporters during a 2015 press conference grappling with a potentially fatal cancer diagnosis, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, then 90, said he had one more goal to fulfill. “I’d like the last Guinea worm to die before I do,” he told a reporter, referring to the waterborne parasite that can grow up to 80 centimeters long inside the body, eventually erupting painfully out of the host’s skin and sometimes taking days to extract. More than six years later, Carter, now 97, has battled …

Nigerian health authorities say the country’s life expectancy is among the worst in the world, with influenza and pneumonia both leading causes of death. In Nigeria’s Cross River state, severe air pollution is increasing the cases of respiratory disease — as Timothy Obiezu reports from Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Camera: Emeka Gibson …