Month: March 2021

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Monday it will be upgrading its Global Forecast System, one of the primary computer models used to predict weather across North America and the world.The update went live early Monday and is designed to predict more accurate forecasts as far out as two weeks into the future. NOAA says the update will lead to better predictions of hurricanes and other extreme weather events, ocean waves, and weather systems up high in the atmosphere.“This substantial upgrade to the GFS, along with ongoing upgrades to our supercomputing capacity, demonstrates our commitment to advancing weather forecasting to fulfill our mission of protecting life and property,” said Louis Uccellini, director of NOAA’s National Wether Service, in a media teleconference Monday.The upgrade focuses on underlying physics and…

The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday she is concerned the United States could be headed for an avoidable surge in coronavirus cases as more states relax prevention measures and more people travel around the country. During a virtual White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing, Rochelle Walensky said the U.S. saw the seven-day average of new daily cases climb to 53,800 over the past week, while the two-week average has wavered between 50,000 to 60,000 cases per day.  FILE - Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 18, 2021.Meanwhile, the CDC director said U.S. states are seeing an increasing number of new cases attributed to variant strains of the virus, particularly in California…

AstraZeneca said Monday that the results of its COVID-19 vaccine trials provide evidence that its shot provides “100% efficacy against severe or critical disease and hospitalization.”  AstraZeneca said in a statement that the safety and efficacy analysis was based on 32,449 participants in U.S. trials. “Vaccine efficacy was consistent across ethnicity and age. Notably, in participants aged 65 years and over, vaccine efficacy was 80%,” the statement said.  “The vaccine was well tolerated, and the independent data safety monitoring board (DSMB) identified no safety concerns related to the vaccine,” AstraZeneca said.  The U.S. trials also show the AstraZeneca COVID shot is safe and 79% effective against preventing symptomatic coronavirus, according to Britain’s University of Oxford, the developers of the pharmaceutical company’s vaccine.  Several European countries had recently stopped use of…

European Union solidarity is breaking down amid a vaccine debacle that analysts say may have long-lasting repercussions for the future of European political integration.Member states are divided over the wisdom of imposing a vaccine export ban threatened by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The ban is mainly focused on Britain, a bid to secure more vaccines for the EU, but critics warn it could backfire on the bloc and tarnish its much vaunted commitment to free trade and internationalism.And there is also an emerging dispute on whether the vaccines the bloc is receiving are being distributed fairly by the European Commission among the EU’s 27 member states.Five central European and Baltic countries, led by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, have complained of unequal treatment and plan to raise more…

Trials in the United States show the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine is safe and 79% effective against the coronavirus, according to Britain’s Oxford University, the developers of the pharmaceutical company’s vaccine.  Oxford said in a press release Monday that the AstraZeneca vaccine is “safe and highly effective, adding to previous trial data from the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa, as well as real-world impact data from the United Kingdom.” AstraZeneca said in a statement that the safety and efficacy analysis was based on 32,449 participants in the U.S. trials. “Vaccine efficacy was consistent across ethnicity and age. Notably, in participants aged 65 years and over, vaccine efficacy was 80%,” the statement said.  “The vaccine was well tolerated, and the independent data safety monitoring board (DSMB) identified no safety concerns related to the vaccine,” AstraZeneca said.  Several European countries had recently stopped using the AstraZeneca because of reports that…

Widespread flooding is disrupting the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations in Australia as thousands of people are forced to leave their homes.Emergency crews in eastern Australia have responded to thousands of calls for help.  The rain in many areas has been unrelenting. For the first time in years, Sydney’s main reservoir is overflowing, putting suburbs at risk of flooding. Authorities are reporting once-in-a-century downpours north of Sydney, and thousands of people have been told to leave their homes.     Near the town of Taree, a house occupied by a young couple was washed away down a river by floodwaters on what was supposed to have been their wedding day.    The bride, Sarah Soars, told Australian television the property was swept away within minutes.  “I am lost for words. I do not know even what to say, like, everything that we…

Australian authorities are planning to evacuate thousands of more people Monday from Sydney's flooded western suburbs, in the worst flooding the city has seen in 60 years with another day of drenching rain expected. Unrelenting rains over the past three days swelled rivers in Australia's most populous state of New South Wales (NSW), causing widespread damage and triggering calls for mass evacuations. "Flooding is likely to be higher than any floods since Nov 1961," NSW emergency services said in a tweet late Sunday. Authorities expect the wild weather to continue until Wednesday. The fast-moving flood waters detached houses, swept away vehicles and farm animals, and submerged roads, bridges, houses and farms, television and social media footage showed. Nearly 2,000 people have been evacuated from low lying areas, NSW emergency services said. Large parts of the country's east coast will receive more heavy rains from Monday thanks to the combination of a…

In marking the International Day of Forests, environmentalists are calling for the restoration of forests and their life-giving biodiversity systems which, they say, are under increasing threat from illegal exploitation. Forests are the lungs of the earth. They help provide the air we breathe and play a major role in providing clean water. The United Nations reports more than a billion people depend on forest foods and 2.4 billion people use fuel wood and charcoal to cook their daily meals.Additionally, the health of the world is largely dependent on the forests’ so-called green pharmacies. The U.N. reports up to 25 percent of medicinal drugs in developed countries and 80 percent in developing countries are plant-based.Unfortunately, the oxygen that sustains 80 percent of all known terrestrial plants and animal species on the…

Carrie Brady was 40 and single when she decided to adopt a baby. Because of the US opioid crisis, her chances of finding a match were better if she agreed to accept the child of someone addicted to drugs and that’s what she did. Maxim Moskalkov has the story.Casmera: Artyom Kokhan ...

The world’s largest vaccine producer has told at least three countries that their COVID-19 vaccine shipments will be delayed.The Serum Institute of India has informed Brazil, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia that India’s overwhelming need for the vaccine is the cause of the delay.India is experiencing a surge in infections. The South Asian nation has the third-highest number of coronavirus cases, with 11.6 million. Only the United States and Brazil have more, at 29.7 million and 11.9 million, respectively.India’s Serum Institute has come under criticism for selling or donating more vaccines than inoculations put in arms in India.Meanwhile, Brazil is in talks with the United States to import excess doses of coronavirus vaccines, its Foreign Ministry tweeted Saturday.The South American nation recorded 79,069 new cases of coronavirus infections in a 24-hour…

Throngs of revelers flocking to Miami Beach, Florida, for spring break have become so uncontrollable that authorities imposed a curfew Saturday that they hope will spoil the party.For the next 72 hours, visitors will have to leave the streets and restaurants will close their doors at 8 p.m. in the main tourist areas of South Beach, the epicenter of the city's party scene, authorities announced.In addition, the three bridges that connect the island with mainland Miami will be closed to traffic after 10 p.m.Only residents, workers and hotel guests will have access."This is all about the public safety, folks," said acting City Manager Raul Aguila.Referring to photos of huge crowds gathering on the main Ocean Drive strip, he added: "It looked like a rock concert. You couldn't see pavement and…

Ahead of World Water Day Monday, the World Meteorological Organization warns climate change is intensifying water-related disasters, threatening the lives and livelihoods of billions of people worldwide.   Climate-related hazards include increased flooding and longer-lasting droughts. Climate change also is altering rainfall patterns, affecting water availability and worsening the damage floods and drought cause worldwide.   The WMO says increased flooding threatens to destroy water points and sanitation facilities and contaminate water sources. As a consequence, WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis says billions of people have limited or no access to clean water and sanitation.   “So, 39 percent of the global population does not have access to safe drinking water. We expect this problem to be exacerbated because of socio-economic changes, of population growth, and obviously, changes in sources of…

The coughing among the western lowland gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in January was the first warning sign. Soon the fears were confirmed: A troop of gorillas became the first apes known to test positive for the coronavirus.Around the world, many scientists and veterinarians are now racing to protect animals from the coronavirus, often using the same playbook for minimizing disease spread among people: That includes social distancing, health checks and, for some zoo animals, a vaccine.Karen, a 28-year-old orangutan, became the first ape in the world to get a coronavirus vaccine on Jan. 26 at the San Diego Zoo.Two shots for KarenKaren has received two shots of a vaccine from Zoetis, a veterinary pharmaceutical company in New Jersey, and has shown no adverse reactions. Since then,…

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson received his first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine Friday and urged the public to do the same, saying "he did not feel a thing." Johnson, 56, received his vaccine at the same hospital where almost a year ago he was put in an intensive care unit and given oxygen via a tube in his nose after he contracted the virus and fell seriously ill. He later said he was so sick that plans were drawn up on how to announce his death. "I literally did not feel a thing. It was very good, very quick," Johnson said after receiving the injection at St Thomas' Hospital in London. "I cannot recommend it too highly, everybody when you do get your notification to go for a…

France, Germany and Italy resumed use Friday of a coronavirus vaccine made by AstraZeneca after health officials sought to allay concerns it might cause blood clots.The European nations resumed inoculations after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford vaccine was “safe and effective” and the World Health Organization said “available data do not suggest any overall increase in clotting conditions” among those who had been vaccinated.From left, German public health expert Karl Lauterbach, RKI health institute deputy director Lars Schaade and German Health Minister Jens Spahn speak at a news conference, March 19, 2021, in Berlin, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Germany and Italy are trying to avoid a third wave of coronavirus infections while France is experiencing its highest caseload in four months.Beginning Friday, several French regions, including…

U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris arrived Friday in the southeastern U.S. state of Georgia, responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and the massage parlor killings of six Asian American women and two others Tuesday near Atlanta.The U.S. leaders will meet with Asian American leaders to discuss the shootings and the targeting of people of Asian descent in the U.S. in apparent hate crimes.Watch the president's remarks at 4:40 EDT, March 19, 2021:Georgia officials, however, have not yet labeled the massage parlor shootings as hate crimes because the suspect said the shootings were a result of his sexual issues.Before leaving the White House for Georgia, Biden issued a statement urging Congress to approve legislation related to the coronavirus and hate crimes.“I urge Congress to swiftly pass the COVID-19 Hate…

A 14-year-old South Sudanese girl who could not control her urine or bowel movements for two years is lying on a bed at the Lutheran Medical Center in Juba, recovering from an operation to repair a fistula - a medical condition in which a hole develops in the birth canal that is caused by prolonged obstructed labor.The girl, who VOA is not identifying for privacy reasons, said a doctor friend called her last month from Juba when she was in Rumbek to inform her about a two-week camp being run by the Barbara May Foundation, an Australian organization that helps women suffering from fistula in the South Sudanese capital.The girl told South Sudan in Focus that in 2019 an old man found her by the roadside, kidnapped her, and forced…

U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are traveling to the southern U.S. state of Georgia on Friday, responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and the massage parlor shootings near Atlanta on Tuesday.The U.S. leaders will meet with Asian American leaders to discuss the shootings and the targeting of people of Asian descent in the U.S. in apparent hate crimes.Georgia officials, however, have not yet labeled the massage parlor shootings as hate crimes because the suspect said the shooting spree was a result of his sexual issues.The president and the vice president will also meet with officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention while in Georgia to get an update on the U.S.  handling the COVID-19 pandemic.They were originally also planning to participate in a “Help Is…

German health officials Friday said coronavirus cases in the country are rising at “an exponential rate,” forcing the government to reconsider lifting COVID-19 restrictions. At a news conference in Berlin, Robert Koch Institute ((RKI)) for infectious Diseases Vice President Lars Schaade told reporters highly contagious virus variants were getting the upper hand in the nation, wiping out progress seen last month in containing the pandemic.Shaade, appearing with German Health Minister Jens Spahn, reported 17,482 new infections in the previous 24 hours and 226 deaths in Germany, with the seven-day incidence rate soaring to about 96 per 100,000 people, despite a months-long lockdown in much of the country.Shaade said increased infections were notably among younger people. “The incidence increases are clearly in the groups under 60 years old, especially in the group…

As the Northern Hemisphere enters a second spring of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts are saying the higher temperatures and sunnier days are unlikely to do much on their own to curtail the spread of the virus.Travel restrictions and mask mandates, along with people's behavior, have a much bigger impact than the weather, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The report highlights that the steps people can take "far outweigh any external factors, and that's a really positive thing to know," said Dev Niyogi, geosciences professor at the University of Texas at Austin, who was not involved in the report but wrote a study published in November with similar findings. “We saw waves of infection rise in warm seasons and warm regions in the first year of the…

U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are traveling to the southern U.S. state of Georgia on Friday, responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and the massage parlor shootings near Atlanta on Tuesday.The U.S. leaders will meet with Asian American leaders to discuss the shootings and the targeting of people of Asian descent in the U.S. in apparent hate crimes.Georgia officials, however, have not yet labeled the massage parlor shootings as hate crimes because the suspect said the shooting spree was a result of his sexual issues.The president and the vice president will also meet with officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention while in Georgia to get an update on the U.S.  handling the COVID-19 pandemic.They were originally also planning to participate in a “Help Is…

The European Medicines Agency has approved the continued use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in the battle to contain the pandemic. The European regulator’s seal of approval comes after several European countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain, stopped using the vaccine following reports that the shots caused blood clots in some vaccine recipients.The agency said in a statement Thursday “the benefits of the vaccine in combating the still widespread threat of COVID-19 (which itself results in clotting problems and may be fatal) continue to outweigh the risk of side effects.”The agency added, “A causal link with the vaccine is not proven but is possible and deserves further analysis.”Meanwhile, the White House announced Thursday that it is sending millions of stockpiled doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Mexico and Canada.The…

NASA calls its latest mission on the surface of Mars a “Wright Brothers moment” of aeronautical pioneering. The ISS gets hardware upgrades, and Russia’s lone, female Cosmonaut now has a Barbie doll in her own image. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space.Camera: NASA/AP/ESA/REUTERS/SPACE X/MATTELProduced by: Arash Arabasadi   ...

U.S. and Mexican officials deny Washington is attaching any strings to a likely shipment of millions of coronavirus vaccine doses to America’s southern neighbor at a time of heightened migration passing through Mexico en route to the United States.“[P]reventing the spread of a global pandemic is part of one of our diplomatic objectives. Another one of our diplomatic objectives is working to address the challenges at the border. So, it shouldn't be a surprise that those conversations are both ongoing and happening,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki replied when asked about a link between lending vaccine supplies and commitments from Mexico to tighten the flow of migrants heading north.White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House, March 18, 2021, in Washington.“These are…