Month: February 2020

NASA astronaut Christina Koch, who has spent nearly 11 months in orbit on the longest spaceflight by a woman, landed safely in Kazakhstan on Thursday along with two of her International Space Station crewmates.      The Soyuz capsule carrying Koch, along with station Commander Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency and the Russian space agency Roscosmos' Alexander Skvortsov, touched down southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, at 3:12 p.m. (0912 GMT).      Koch wrapped up a 328-day mission on her first flight into space, providing researchers the opportunity to observe the effects of long-duration spaceflight on a woman. The study is important since NASA plans to return to the moon under the Artemis program and prepare for the human exploration of Mars.      Koch smiled and gave a…

Japanese health authorities say 10 more people aboard a cruise ship have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus that has killed hundreds of people in China and triggered a global health emergency.A total of 20 people aboard Carnival Japan’s Diamond Princess have been diagnosed with the virus since it arrived at the port city of Yokohama earlier this week. The vessel and its 3,700 passengers and crew members have been quarantined after a passenger who disembarked after the ship docked in Hong Kong late last month tested positive for the virus.Off the waters of Hong Kong, more than 3,600 passengers and crew are under quarantine after three passengers from a previous voyage tested positive for the virus. The Chinese territory has shut down nearly all land and sea border crossings…

The World Health Organization on Wednesday called for $675 million to fight the novel coronavirus, mainly through investment in countries considered particularly at risk. This comes as the number of deaths nears 500 with more than 24,300 confirmed cases in China. Outside of China there are 191 confirmed cases in 24 countries. VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo reports.   ...

The World Health Organization is not yet calling the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, although some infectious disease experts are saying it could lead to one. The virus has spread to more than two dozen countries, although the vast majority of cases – and deaths – have been in China. VOA’s Carol Pearson asked experts experienced on disease outbreaks what they would do to stop this one.   ...

A vast transportation lockdown meant to contain the spread of a new coronavirus in central China is complicating the already grueling journey of North Korean refugees, according to two sources who help arrange North Korean defector trips.Chinese authorities have implemented what one World Health Organization official called an “unprecedented” lockdown to contain the viral outbreak, which has infected over 24,000 people and killed nearly 500 worldwide.China has closed public transportation links, restricted access to major highways, and imposed strict  ID and temperature checks - effectively placing tens of millions under quarantine in an expanding circle around Hubei province, where the outbreak began.The lockdown is disrupting the main path through which North Koreans escape, forcing at least dozens of refugees to indefinitely pause their journeys, and leaving them vulnerable in a…

“1-2-3,” shouts Dr. Noradhiah Tumirin, a physician and fitness trainer. “You can do it,” she enthusiastically says as her client Sarah Baharudin is lying flat on her back and struggling to lift her legs from the ground to a 90-degree angle.Baharudin, age 35, is breathing heavily throughout the workout. She’s 165 centimeters tall and weighs 110 kilograms.“I eat traditional Malay food, yes and it’s high in fat and calorie,” Baharudin says while explaining how she became obese. “On top of that I was not active, not living an active lifestyle, did not exercise. So years after years of doing that it becomes obesity.”Sorry, but your player cannot support embedded video of this type, you can Dr. Noradhiah Tumirin, right, a physician and fitness trainer, says Malaysia’s obesity crisis is behind…

Despite Kenya banning female genital mutilation in 2011, the tradition of circumcising girls has continued in some ethnic communities. President Uhuru Kenyatta vowed to end FGM by 2023, but activists say more needs to be done as millions of girls are still at risk of undergoing the cut.At just seven years old, Sylvia Keis' family told her she would be circumcised.One day before the ceremony, Keis ran away from her home village of Ewaso Ngiro to the town of Narok — a three-hour walk.    "I just decided I better ran away even if I was going to die, because I had that emotion," Keis said. "My father never took me to school and now he wants to circumcise me. After circumcision and you are not in school, what next?…

Solar power is making a strong showing in Vietnam after years of shuttling from one extreme to the other, with the nation looking sometimes like it would revert to coal, and other times like it would invest in renewable energy.By the end of last year Vietnam had surpassed Malaysia and Thailand to reach the largest installed capacity of solar power in Southeast Asia, with 44% of the total capacity, according to figures from Wood Mackenzie, a firm that sells consulting services in the energy industry.The figures show that Vietnam is serious about solar power, an issue that had been up for debate for years. Solar supporters were encouraged to see the government offer a high feed in tariff (FIT), a fee pioneered in Germany to let solar panel owners sell…

With many Chinese cities on a virtual lockdown and businesses closed until next week at the earliest, there are growing concerns about coronavirus's impact on the global economy. On Tuesday, automaker Hyundai Motor said  it will suspend production in South Korea, its biggest manufacturing base, becoming the first major automaker to do so outside China due to disruption in the supply of parts resulting from the coronavirus outbreak. VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo reports. ...

A smartphone app that combines computer vision with a host of experts is empowering nature enthusiasts across the globe to document the organisms around them. Matt Dibble takes a closer look.  ...

Medical workers in Hong Kong are staging a second consecutive day of strikes Tuesday as the Chinese territory reports its first death from a coronavirus that has killed 425 people in mainland China.Hong Kong shut down nearly all land and sea border crossings with the mainland at midnight local time after more than 2,000 medical workers walked off the job Monday demanding that all border crossings be closed completely.  Hong Kong was hit hard by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002-03.Hong Kong health authorities have identified the victim as a 39-year-old male with a pre-existing illness who had recently visited Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.  Meanwhile, the Chinese gambling territory of Macau announced Tuesday that it will temporarily shut down all casino operations for two weeks to help…

Medical workers in Hong Kong are staging a second consecutive day of strikes Tuesday as the Chinese territory reports its first death from a coronavirus that has killed 425 people in mainland China.Hong Kong shut down nearly all land and sea border crossings with the mainland at midnight local time after more than 2,000 medical workers walked off the job Monday demanding that all border crossings be closed completely.  Hong Kong was hit hard by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002-03.Hong Kong health authorities have identified the victim as a 39-year-old male with a pre-existing illness who had recently visited Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.  Meanwhile, the Chinese gambling territory of Macau announced Tuesday that it will temporarily shut down all casino operations for two weeks to help…

The World Health Organization reports cancer is on the increase globally. But it says preventive measures can save the lives of millions of cancer sufferers over the next decade. This report comes in regard to World Cancer Day on Feb. 4.Over the past decade, nearly every country in the world has seen an increase in the number of cancer patients. The World Health Organization reports one in six people will develop cancer in their lifetime, causing at least 10 million deaths from this disease every year.  If current trends continue, WHO warns, new cancer cases will rise by 60% by 2040, more than 80% in low- and middle-income countries.The technical officer in cancer control at WHO, Andre Ilbawi, says more people are dying from cancer in the poorer countries because…

Wai Htet Aung, age 27, waits for his turn at a crowded betel quid stand in downtown Yangon. Customers have lined up by the table to place their orders. “It’s tasty,” he says. “I have bad breath and I want my mouth to smell better.”The signs of this popular habit are easy to spot from the roadside stands across the country to the red stains on teeth as well as on streets and sidewalks that stem from betel quid spit. “After I chew betel quids my mouth feels better,” says Ko Zaw Naing. “My mind feels relaxed.”Figures from the World Health Organization show that more than 60% of men in Myanmar chew betel quids and almost 25% of the women do. Aung Thura is 30-years-old and has been chewing betel…

The latest trial of a vaccine against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has been halted as results show it is not working.The Maryland-based U.S. National Institutes of Health announced Monday it has stopped the HVTN 702 study in South Africa, following a recommendation of an independent data and safety monitoring board.The study, also called Uhambo — meaning travel or a journey in Zulu — enrolled 5,407 HIV-negative volunteers at 14 sites across South Africa beginning in 2016. Participants were sexually active men and women between the ages of 18 and 35, who were randomly assigned to receive six injections of either the investigational vaccine regimen or a placebo.Over a period of 18 months, enough time for the vaccine regimen to stimulate an immune response, there were 129 HIV infections…

 The World Health Organization is working with Google to ensure that people get facts from WHO first when they search for information about the new virus that recently emerged in China.       Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the opening of WHO's executive board meeting on Monday that social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Tencent and TikTok have also taken steps to limit the spread of misinformation and rumors about the virus and outbreak that first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late December and has now spread to 23 other countries.      “To that end, we have worked with Google to make sure people searching for information about coronavirus see WHO information at the top of their search results,” he said.       WHO officials…

As the deadly coronavirus continues to spread worldwide, it has killed its first patient outside China. News reports from the Philippines say a Chinese man from Wuhan, in Hubei province where the virus was first detected, died in a hospital in Manila a few days after arriving there. Many countries, including the United States, are denying entry to all foreign visitors who had recently been to China as part of a global effort to stop the spread. VOA's Zlatica Hoke reports people returning home from China are being quarantined. ...

*/ /-->/ /-->/ /-->/ /-->/ /-->/ The Latest:Passengers arrive at LAX from Shanghai, China, after a positive case of the coronavirus was announced in the Orange County suburb of Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 26, 2020.Chad Wolf, acting Homeland Security secretary, said that the overall risk to Americans remains low. He added that the new rules could add stress and travel time for some passengers, but "public health and security experts agree these measures are necessary to contain the virus and protect the American people," he said.President Donald Trump told Fox News that the United States has "shut down" the coronavirus coming in from China, even as officials in San Francisco reported a ninth confirmed U.S. case."We've offered China help but we can't have thousands of people coming in who…

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued rules on Sunday to implement new restrictions on Americans who have recently visited China to address the threat of the coronavirus.Airline officials said Sunday the new rules will mean they must now ask all U.S.-bound passengers if they have visited mainland China. Airlines are expected to scrutinize passports of travelers, and warned the new rules could require passengers to arrive even earlier for U.S.-bound flights.American Airlines Inc said Sunday it encouraged U.S.-bound passengers "to arrive at the airport three hours early as we expect this additional screening will lengthen the normal check-in process."The United States said Friday that for flights departing after 5 p.m. EST Sunday, it will bar entry to nearly all foreign visitors who have been in China within the…

President Donald Trump says the United States has "shut down" the coronavirus coming in from China even as officials in San Francisco report the ninth confirmed U.S. case."We've offered China help but we can't have thousands of people coming in who may have this problem, the coronavirus," Trump told Fox News in a special Super Bowl pregame interview. "So we're going to see what happens, but we did shut it down."National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told CBS's Face the Nation that the administration has offered China help — specifically sending experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But China has yet to accept the U.S. offer."So far, the Chinese have been more transparent certainly than in past crises and we appreciate that," O'Brian said. "We've got tremendous expertise.…

*/ /-->/ /-->/ /-->/ /-->/ /-->/ The Latest:A clerk wearing a face mask and a plastic bag stands in a pharmacy in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 31, 2020.Reports, including some from Wuhan residents, indicate that early information about the outbreak was covered up, and many people, including doctors, speaking about the virus in December were threatened by the government or even detained."These rumors were already flying around the Chinese internet," Flora Fauna, an American Wuhan resident who asked to be referred to by her pseudonym, told VOA Mandarin about the beginning of the outbreak in December."So, in response, the city governments dispatched the police to arrest people who were spreading this information," she said.Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during a news…

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike promised Sunday to implement "thorough measures" to protect people from the deadly coronavirus in the run-up to this summer's Olympic Games.At the opening of the $330 million Ariake Arena, venue for Olympic volleyball and Paralympic wheelchair basketball, Koike said:"I will implement even more stringent measures to tackle infectious diseases. I am having discussions this weekend with senior officials to assure the safety and security of people in Tokyo — specifically focusing on ways to prevent the spread of the virus and strengthen testing systems."Koike also urged people to wash their hands and wear surgical masks to help protect them from disease.Japan has warned citizens against non-essential travel to China, where the outbreak began, and fast-tracked new rules including limits on entering the country as it tries…

As if health officials in China don't have enough on their hands with a spreading coronavirus, now officials announced an outbreak of bird flu.China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced Saturday an outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain of H5N1 bird flu at a farm in the southern province of Hunan.The virus was discovered on a farm with nearly 8,000 chickens — more than half of them have already died because of the outbreak.China is not alone in trying to tamp down the spread of this virus.Earlier this week authorities in India started culling chickens and destroying eggs to contain the bird flu virus.And a different strain — the H5N8 virus — has spread throughout eastern Europe in recent weeks.A bird flu outbreak in China back in 2013 ended…

A vaccine against the new Wuhan coronavirus may start testing in as little as three months, according to National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci.That’s fast.It took 20 months before a vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS, was ready for clinical trials.That doesn’t mean you can line up for a shot in three months. The vaccine will need to be tested for safety and efficacy. That will take months more.But the time it takes to go from outbreak to vaccine candidate is shorter than ever, thanks in part to a new kind of vaccine.A lab assistant works on samples with Christian Drosten, director of the institute for virology of Berlin's Charite hospital on his researches on the coronavirus in Berlin, Jan. 21, 2020.Eighteenth century techEver since…