Workplace mandates requiring vaccination against COVID-19 continue to be controversial in the U.S. The Biden administration is expected to respond this week to a recent federal court decision to temporarily halt federal vaccine mandate rules for large employers. Michelle Quinn …
High wind off the Florida coast have prompted SpaceX to delay the return of four space station astronauts who have been in orbit since spring. The U.S., French and Japanese astronauts were supposed to leave the International Space Station on …
Poland’s Health Ministry issued instructions Sunday to doctors confirming that it is legal to terminate a pregnancy when the woman’s health or life is in danger, a directive that comes amid apparent confusion over a new restriction to the country’s …
The Taliban-run Afghan public health ministry announced Sunday the start of a four-day nationwide polio vaccination campaign aimed at inoculating children younger than 5. For the past three years before taking control of Afghanistan, the Taliban had barred U.N.-organized vaccination …
Jesse Readlynn, a father of two from Rochester, New York, breathed a huge sigh of relief this week. “My children getting coronavirus was one of my biggest fears,” he told VOA.“Finally, this worry and uncertainty I’ve been living with can …
When a rotten egg smell rises from the mangrove swamps of southeast Mexico, something is going well. It means that this key coastal habitat for blunting hurricane impacts has recovered and is capturing carbon dioxide — the main ingredient of …
The astronauts who will depart the International Space Station on Sunday will be stuck using diapers on the way home because of their capsule’s broken toilet. NASA astronaut Megan McArthur described the situation Friday as “suboptimal” but manageable. She and …
Germany’s health minister, Jens Spahn, called Friday for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for anyone who was fully vaccinated at least six months ago, as the nation faces a fourth wave of coronavirus infections. Speaking to reporters following a two-day summit …
Editor’s note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch. Leaders talk global warming in Glasgow — World leaders met in Glasgow, Scotland, this …
U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced Friday its new COVID-19 pill showed an 89% reduction in risk of COVID-19-related hospitalization or death in clinical trials and they plan to submit the drug to U.S. regulators for emergency use approval. In a …
Activists will take over the UN climate summit in Scotland on Friday, capping off a week of dizzying government speeches and pledges with a student march, youth-led presentations, and a giant iceberg shipped from Greenland to Glasgow’s River Clyde to …
Seats are once again packed at professional baseball games in South Korea. Just as in pre-pandemic times, fans can drink beer and eat fried chicken. They can clap their hands, stomp their feet, and wave inflatable noisemakers to support their …
The “end of coal” is in sight, according to Britain — the host of the COP26 climate summit — after dozens of countries pledged to stop using coal and end the financing of fossil fuels. But as Henry Ridgwell reports from the Glasgow summit, weaning economies off coal …
Congressional Democrats this week proposed an addition to U.S. President Joe Biden’s climate and social spending legislation that would allow Medicare, the federal government’s health care program for older Americans, to negotiate with drugmakers over the cost of certain prescription …
An Earth-flight giant contributes to NASA’s upcoming moon missions. Plus, words from the next crew to visit the International Space Station and grim news from NASA about the future of food on Earth. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week …
Britain could revive domestic production of super strong magnets used in electric vehicles and wind turbines with government support, to cut its reliance on China and achieve vital cuts in carbon emissions, two sources with direct knowledge said. A government-funded …
The COVID-19 pandemic shortened life expectancy around the globe last year, according to a new international study. A team of researchers led by University of Oxford public health professor Nazur Islam examined changes to life expectancy in 37 upper-middle- and high-income countries, using the years between 2005 and …
A New Zealand research project is looking at ways to produce hydrogen in Antarctica to reduce carbon emissions. A four-month New Zealand project is investigating whether hydrogen could be generated, used and stored at Scott Base, its Antarctic research facility, to reduce its reliance on carbon-based …
No in-person school. Isolation from friends. Lost rites of passage like graduation ceremonies. The COVID-19 pandemic upended the lives of many children in the United States. “A lot of children’s joy comes from being with friends or from play, and …
Over the past few years, the so-called healing crystals trend has resurfaced in the wellness industry, even though the stones have no scientifically proven health benefits. Karina Bafradzhian has the story. …