Month: July 2021

The space-tourism industry got a major boost aboard a billionaire’s rocket ship.  Plus, the EU lends Mother Earth a climate-conscious hand, and LeBron James suits-up for the big screen.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space. Produced by: Arash Arabasadi ...

A NASA-University of Hawaii study warns that upcoming changes in the moon's orbit coupled with higher ocean levels could lead to record coastal flooding on U.S. coasts in the next decade.The study, conducted by the NASA Sea Level Change Team at the University of Hawaii,…

Haiti, reeling from the assassination of its president and the coronavirus pandemic, has received its first half-million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund said Thursday. UNICEF said in a statement the doses were donated by the U.S. and delivered Wednesday through COVAX,…

Indonesia, the world’s fourth-largest nation, is the latest hotspot for the fast-moving, highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19.  The nation reported more than 54,517 new coronavirus infections Wednesday, a new single-day record, along with 991 deaths. Hospitals on Java island are overflowing with infected patients…

New data by two leading U.N. agencies find the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted routine life-saving immunization services for millions of children, many of whom risk dying from vaccine-preventable diseases.The World Health Organization and U.N. Children’s Fund report 23 million children missed out last year on…

More than 93,000 people died from drug overdoses in the U.S. last year, a record experts say was partly triggered by the isolation that many experienced during coronavirus-related lockdowns.   The government reported Wednesday that the 2020 total easily surpassed the previous record of about…

European Union leaders on Wednesday introduced the bloc’s most comprehensive plans yet to combat climate change, with a new goal of reducing carbon emissions to 55% below 1990 levels by 2030.Unveiled by the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, the legislation would make the bloc’s…

More than 93,000 people died from drug overdoses in the U.S. last year, a record experts said was partly triggered by the isolation that many experienced during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.The government reported Wednesday that the 2020 total easily surpassed the previous record…

New Zealand students have developed sustainable materials made from cabbage tree leaves and flax that could soon be used to make high-performance skis, kayaks and skateboards. Their plan is to use them to replace traditional fiberglass and carbon fiber. Skateboards need to be tough. Two students at New Zealand’s University of…

Residents in Sydney, Australia will remain under lockdown for another two weeks as officials continue to struggle to contain a growing outbreak of the delta variant of COVID-19.The lockdown was first imposed on June 26 after a Sydney airport limousine driver who had been transporting…

The United States should accommodate millions of refugees who will be forced to flee disasters and other effects of a changing climate, according to a task force report released Wednesday.  The In this April 15, 2021, file photo, President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington. No nation offers asylum or…

Seven COVID-19 vaccines have received the green light from the World Health Organization so far. And as new variants of the coronavirus evolve, questions arise about how well each vaccine works. It can get confusing. But as VOA's Steve Baragona reports, when it comes to…

Students in Afghanistan have lacked access to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, as schools have remained closed and the virus has not been controlled."The real tragedy is that over 3,000 students in Kabul who come from poor families simply do not have the ability…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is adding a new warning to Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine because of a link to a rare neurological condition.The federal oversight agency issued a statement Monday saying it had received preliminary reports of 100 people who developed Guillain-Barré…

Wildfires that torched homes and forced thousands to evacuate burned across 10 parched Western states on Tuesday, and the largest, in Oregon, threatened California's power supply. Nearly 60 wildfires tore through bone-dry timber and brush from Alaska to Wyoming, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.…

Scientists funded by U.S. space agency NASA are studying how small impacts from space materials have affected the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa and how they could affect the search for signs of life there. Scientists have determined that on Europa, beneath a thick layer of…

U.S. President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland met Monday with key municipal and law enforcement officials about a seemingly intractable American problem: the soaring number of gun crimes.By various tabulations, 2021 could be the deadliest year for gun violence in the U.S. in…

World leaders should prioritize reopening schools for in-person learning immediately in order to avoid a “generational catastrophe,” UNICEF and UNESCO said in a joint statement Monday.The organizations said that keeping schools closed to 156 million students in 19 countries, due to COVID-19, is causing potentially…

The United Nations said Monday that global hunger grew dramatically in 2020, due in large part to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cost of and access to food.    “The reality is worse than expected,” World Food Program chief economist Arif Husain…

More manatees have died already this year than in any other year in Florida's recorded history, primarily from starvation due to the loss of seagrass beds, state officials said.The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission reported that 841 manatee deaths were recorded between Jan. 1…