It remains 100 seconds to midnight on the “Doomsday Clock,” the famous annual announcement for how close humanity is to extinction. The Chicago-based non-profit Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists kept the analog hands at the same time for a second …
International health workers say the end of the war in Afghanistan brings new hope to efforts to rid the country of the crippling disease polio. For many years, efforts to immunize all Afghan children under five years old were considered …
A new study in two states that compares coronavirus protection from a prior infection and vaccination concludes that getting the shots is still the safest way to prevent COVID-19. The study examined infections in New York and California last summer …
It’s been a year since U.S. President Joe Biden took the oath of office on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. He inherited a global coronavirus pandemic that, from the campaign trail, he promised to end. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports …
South African-born U.S. billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa have cut the ribbon Wednesday at a new vaccine manufacturing plant. It is hoped the facility will soon start making Africa’s first locally produced COVID-19 vaccines, as well …
The U.S. government quietly conducted a soft launch Tuesday of its website where Americans can request free rapid coronavirus tests — a day ahead of the scheduled rollout. Covidtests.gov quickly became the most accessed federal government website as millions of …
A large asteroid is expected to pass within 1.93 million kilometers of Earth on Tuesday, according to NASA. The asteroid known as 7482 (1994 PC1), which was discovered in 1994, is about one kilometer wide or “bridge size” as NASA …
The worst drought in Somalia in decades has millions of people dependent on food aid and thousands flocking to cities to escape hunger. At makeshift shelters on the outskirts of the capital, displaced people face cramped conditions and poor sanitation …
China on Monday canceled plans to sell tickets to the public for the Winter Olympics in Beijing, as the number of COVID-19 cases in the country reached its highest point since March 2020. Organizers said last year there would be …
Scientists are struggling to monitor an active volcano that erupted off the South Pacific island of Tonga at the weekend, after the explosion destroyed its sea-level crater and drowned its mass, obscuring it from satellites. The eruption of Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano, which …
New Zealand began inoculating 5- to11-year-old children Monday with Pfizer’s pediatric COVID vaccine. More than 120,000 vaccines have been delivered to 500 vaccination centers around the country, the health ministry said. “Getting vaccinated now is a great way to help …
On a cold winter afternoon in the Indian capital, New Delhi, a group of auto rickshaw drivers huddled outside a metro station hoping to pick up passengers. Since the city shut schools, colleges, restaurants and offices to cope with a third …
The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said early Sunday 326.2 million people around the world have been infected with the coronavirus, while 5.5 million deaths have been recorded. More than 9 billion vaccines have been administered, the center reported. UNICEF’S …
Novak Djokovic’s hopes of playing at the Australian Open were dashed Sunday after a court dismissed the top-ranked tennis star’s appeal against a deportation order. Three Federal Court judges upheld a decision made on Friday by the immigration minister to …
Novak Djokovic’s fate now lies in the hands of three Australian Federal Court justices, after his last-gasp appeal against deportation adjourned Sunday pending a verdict that is expected later in the day. The tennis star’s lawyers told an emergency hearing …
Ahead of the February opening of the Winter Olympics in China, authorities are attempting to contain an outbreak of the omicron coronavirus variant in a southern city. Officials in Zhuhai suspended the city’s bus service after uncovering seven cases of …
An unprecedented, experimental attempt to feed manatees facing starvation in Florida has started slowly but wildlife officials expressed optimism Thursday that it will work as cold weather drives the marine mammals toward warmer waters. A feeding station established along the …
There’s more evidence that one of the world’s most common viruses may set some people on the path to developing multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis is a potentially disabling disease that occurs when immune system cells mistakenly attack the protective coating …
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office apologized to Queen Elizabeth on Friday after it emerged that staff members partied late into the night in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral, when indoor gatherings were banned. Johnson is …
U.S. health officials on Friday encouraged more Americans to wear the kind of N95 or KN95 masks used by health care workers to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Those kinds of masks are considered better at filtering the air. …