Month: August 2021

A Belgian-African company operating in Burkina Faso is planting trees to help curb desertification and open up lands for grazing cattle and farming. The project by the company, Hommes et Terre (Men and Earth), is taking place in Burkina Faso’s dangerous conflict zones where expanding desertification is a cause for strife. Henry Wilkins reports from Ouagadougou.Camera: Henry Wilkins       ...

The U.S. intelligence community has reportedly told President Joe Biden that it has not reached a definitive conclusion after reviewing available information on the origins of the COVID-19. The pandemic has sickened more than 213.2 million people around the globe since late 2019 and killed more than 4.4 million, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. President Biden ordered the nation’s intelligence agencies in May to deliver a report within 90 days on whether the virus, which was first detected in Wuhan, China, was the result of an animal-to-human transmission or an accidental leak from a Wuhan laboratory.   FILE - Security personnel gather near the entrance of the Wuhan Institute of Virology during a visit by the World Health Organization team in Wuhan, China, Feb. 3, 2021.The president ordered U.S.…

The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday announced a new kind of climate observatory near the headwaters of the Colorado River that will help scientists better predict rain and snowfall in the U.S. West and determine how much of it will flow through the region. The multimillion-dollar effort led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory launches next week. The team has set up radar systems, balloons, cameras and other equipment in an area of Colorado where much of the water in the river originates as snow. More than 40 million people depend on the Colorado River. Alejandro Flores, an associate professor of hydrology at Boise State University, said the weather in mountainous areas is notoriously difficult to model and the observatory will be a “game changer.” “We have to think about the land and the…

Geologists on Tuesday said they had detected a swarm of earthquakes at Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, though it is not erupting.  The quakes began overnight and continued into the morning, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said.  More than 140 earthquakes were recorded as of 4:30 a.m. The largest was magnitude 3.3. Most were less than magnitude 1.  At the same time as the swarm, scientists recorded changes to the ground surface of the volcano. That may indicate magma was moving beneath the south part of Kilauea's caldera, the observatory said. There's been no evidence of lava at the surface.  The observatory changed its volcano alert level to watch from advisory, meaning Kilauea is showing heightened or escalating unrest with more potential for an eruption.  Kilauea is one of the world's most active volcanoes, having erupted 34 times since…

The British government is considering plans to release beavers back into the wild across England some four centuries after the dam-building mammals became extinct in Britain. The proposals, described as a cautious step toward establishing a native beaver population, would see the animals allowed to be introduced if strict criteria were met along with an assessment of their impact on the surrounding land and other species. It comes after a successful five-year trial on the River Otter in Devon, a rural county in southwest England, concluded a family of beavers had a beneficial effect on the local ecology in what was the first legally sanctioned reintroduction to England of an extinct native mammal. "Today marks a significant milestone for the reintroduction of beavers in the wild," environment minister George Eustice said on Wednesday…

A new study finds the number of people with hypertension has doubled over the last 30 years to 1.28 billion, mostly in developing countries.  The study led by Imperial College London and the World Health Organization is the first comprehensive global analysis of trends in hypertension prevalence, detection, treatment and control.Data from more than 100 million people aged 30 to 79 in 184 countries showed that more than 700 million people with hypertension, a life-threatening illness, go untreated. Most do so because they are undiagnosed and do not know they have this condition.Bente Mikkelsen, director of WHO’s department of noncommunicable diseases, said lack of knowledge can have deadly consequences."First of all," Mikkelsen said, "we know that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of deaths. In the last global health estimates, we know that 17.1…

The judge overseeing Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy said Monday that some members of the Sackler family who own the OxyContin maker face a "substantial risk" of liability and could be on the hook for "huge amounts of money" over claims the company fueled the opioid epidemic. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain in White Plains, New York, made the remark during closing arguments in a trial over Purdue's proposed reorganization plan. Drain said he believes some Sacklers face liability, but that "the question is where you draw the line." Under the deal, which Purdue said is worth more than $10 billion, the Sacklers would contribute approximately $4.5 billion and would receive legal protections against future opioid-related litigation. Drain did not explicitly state how he would rule but suggested he finds the deal sufficient. The judge is expected…

Igor Vovkovinskiy, the tallest man in the United States, has died in Minnesota. He was 38.His family said the Ukrainian-born Vovkovinskiy died of heart disease on Friday at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. His mother, Svetlana Vovkovinska, an ICU nurse at Mayo, initially posted about his death on Facebook.Vovkovinskiy came to the Mayo Clinic in 1989 as a child seeking treatment. A tumor pressing against his pituitary gland caused it to secrete abnormal levels of growth hormone. He grew to become the tallest man in the U.S. at 2 meters, 34.5 centimeters (7 feet, 8.33 inches) and ended up staying in Rochester.His older brother, Oleh Ladan of Brooklyn Park, told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis that Vovkovinskiy was a celebrity when he arrived from Ukraine because of his size and…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.  “The public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards of safety effectiveness and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product,” acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement Monday.The vaccine produced by Pfizer-BioTech was approved for emergency use last December.  More than 200 million doses have been administered in the U.S. and hundreds of millions more worldwide.Information from AP and Reuters was used in this report. ...

Parts of the northeastern United States braced for more heavy rains and the potential for flooding Monday as the storm that made landfall as Tropical Storm Henri slowly moved across the region. The bulk of the rain overnight was located over New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The National Hurricane Center expects the center of the storm, now downgraded to a tropical depression, to drift a short distance to the east during the day Monday before eventually making it back out over the Atlantic Ocean by Tuesday morning. Forecasters said total rainfall amounts across much of the region would be between 7 and 15 centimeters, with some locally higher amounts. The storm made landfall Sunday in the state of Rhode Island, and knocked out power to more than 130,000 homes in that state, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York. President…

“You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it,” is the succinct warning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration posted on its Twitter account Saturday about Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic medication for livestock that some people have used as a COVID treatment.“The FDA has received multiple reports of patients who have required medical support and been hospitalized after self-medicating with ivermectin intended for horses,” the agency said on its website.You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it. https://t.co/TWb75xYEY4 — U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) Demonstrators march during a far-right rally against the health pass, Aug. 21, 2021 in Lille, northern France.The protesters see the pass as a restriction of their freedom in a country of more than 60 million people, more than…

Scores of firefighters backed by water-dropping aircraft battled a forest fire that broke out early Monday on the southern part of Greece's Evia island, less than two weeks after an inferno decimated its northern part.   The fire was burning near the village of Fygia where two neighborhoods have been evacuated and was moving toward the coastal tourist village of Marmari, where authorities were preparing boats to evacuate people if needed, according to Athens News Agency.   Forty-six firefighters were battling flames fanned by high winds -- assisted by 20 fire engines, three water-dropping airplanes and two helicopters, the Greek fire brigade said.    Authorities have boats on standby off Marmari. Evia is northeast of the capital Athens.   The civil protection authorities had announced on Sunday a "very high risk" of fire for many areas of Greece on Monday.  Wildfires since July have ravaged…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is aiming to give full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine by early September, according to The New York Times. The two-dose vaccine, which Pfizer developed in collaboration with German-based BioNTech, was granted emergency use authorization by the FDA last November.    It is one of just three COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. stockpile, along with the two-shot vaccine from Moderna and the single-dose version developed by Johnson & Johnson.   The newspaper says the FDA is accelerating its normal timetable to grant full approval to the two-dose vaccine as the United States undergoes a new surge of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations caused primarily by the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19. The recent surge of new infections is mainly among people who have not gotten vaccinated. The Times quotes recent polls by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health care…

Experts say South Africa is seeing growing drug addiction among young people during the pandemic. A medical research center found that some teenagers are abusing cough syrup that contains the drug codeine. Franco Puglisi looks at the drug addiction problem and efforts to rehabilitate youth in this report from Johannesburg.Camera: Franco Puglisi   Produced by: Barry Unger ...

The state of Florida is experiencing a hospital crisis because of a surge in the number of patients with COVID-19. These patients are younger and sicker than patients infected with the original virus, and they are largely unvaccinated. Most of them have the Delta variant that is sweeping through the southern U.S., where vaccination rates remain low. At a media briefing August 3, doctors belonging to the Infectious Disease Society of America called for more COVID testing and more vaccinations — both in the U.S. and in other countries.  The Delta variant was first detected in India, but it is rapidly spreading around the world. Rachael Walensky, head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has called the current wave “an epidemic of the unvaccinated.” She called this variant “one of the most infectious respiratory viruses we know of.” The Delta variant can infect even those who have been vaccinated.  Dr. Ricardo Franco, a member of the society, said Delta makes up 89% of new COVID infections at the University…

NOAA-supported scientists on Tuesday reported that this year’s “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico is larger than originally predicted, at more than 16,000-square kilometers, or about the surface area of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie combined.NOAA forecasted in June that the hypoxic zone — an area with little to no oxygen to support marine life — would be 12,600 square kilometers, which would have been smaller than the five-year average. The actual size proved far larger.The annual hypoxic zone survey was conducted aboard the R/V Pelican research vessel from July 25 to August 1 by scientists from Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium.The researchers gathered data on the dead zone’s location, as well as oxygen and salinity levels. This evidence is vital for NOAA to refine…

The U.S. space agency, NASA, and aerospace company Boeing said they have scrubbed the launch of the company’s Starliner spacecraft for the second time in a week.In a release, Boeing said the launch of the Starliner crew capsule onboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket was scrubbed after a prelaunch check indicated an “unexpected valve position” in the propulsion system. Liftoff had been scheduled for 1:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday.The capsule, designed to carry up to seven crew and passengers, was to be test-launched unmanned to the International Space Station (ISS).The Boeing crew capsule had first been scheduled to launch last Friday, but that launch was postponed after the Russian lab module, Nauka, caused chaos at the space station. The Russian module unexpectedly fired its thrusters, which tilted the space…

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday people engaged in indoor activities including fitness clubs, bars and restaurants will be required to be vaccinated, beginning later this month, the first major city in the United States to make such a requirement. At a news conference, De Blasio said the city will create a Key to NYC Pass, available by providing proof of vaccination. The new policy will be phased in over few weeks, during which time the city will coordinate with the business community and educate the community on the process, with the final details to be announced and implemented the week of August 16. FILE - New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio speaks to people as he gives away face masks for using in public spaces to prevent the…

The White House announced Tuesday the U.S. has shipped more than 110 million doses of U.S.-made COVID-19 vaccines to more than 60 nations.In a statement, the White House said most of the vaccine was shipped through the World Health Organization–managed COVAX cooperative, but also through regional partnerships, such as the African Union and Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The White House said the donations reflect a fulfillment of President Joe Biden’s pledge to give at least 80 million vaccine doses to other nations around the globe, and the doses are a down payment on the “hundreds of millions of more doses that the U.S. will deliver in the coming weeks.”The statement says the Biden administration will begin shipping half-a-billion doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to 100 of the world’s low-income countries.Biden is expected…

With worries of a sharp increase in COVID-19 infections overwhelming the country’s hospitals, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced Tuesday that only seriously ill coronavirus patients or those at risk of becoming so will be admitted for treatment. Others infected with COVID-19 will have to isolate at home in order to try to make sure there are enough beds available. Japan is adding about 10,000 new cases per day, prompting the head of the Japan Medical Association to call Tuesday for a nationwide state of emergency. Residents wait at the observation area during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination session for those aged between 12 and 14, in Heihe, Heilongjiang province, China, Aug. 3, 2021. (China Daily via Reuters)In China, authorities said Tuesday all residents of Wuhan will be tested after the city recorded…

A new study suggests Earth’s supply of oxygen developed thanks to the planet’s gradually slowing rotation creating longer days that allowed a certain form of algae to admit more oxygen as a byproduct of its metabolic process.The study, published Monday in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience, suggests that about 2.4 billion years ago there was so little oxygen in Earth's atmosphere, it could barely be measured, so no animal or plant life as we know it could exist.Much of the life on Earth consisted of tiny microbes, among them, a blue-green form of algae called cyanobacteria, which breathed in carbon dioxide and exhaled oxygen in the earliest form of photosynthesis.The researchers say about 400 million years ago, the Earth took a relatively enormous leap in the amount of oxygen in…

Nigeria has been hit by a surge in cholera cases in recent weeks, focused on the country's north and adding to a public health crisis accompanied by a rise in COVID-19 cases."In the last two weeks we had new and resurgence cases," Dr. Bashir Lawan Muhammad, the state epidemiologist and deputy director of public health for northern economic hub Kano State, told Reuters.He said the rainy season was making it worse, while insecurity in the north, where the authorities have been battling Islamist militants and armed criminals, was also hindering the authorities' ability to respond.Twenty-two of Nigeria's 36 states, as well as the federal capital territory Abuja, have suspected cases of cholera, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, (NCDC). The illness, which is caused by contaminated water, can…

Britain will begin offering a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to 32 million Britons starting in early September, The Telegraph reported Sunday. The shots will be available in as many as 2,000 pharmacies with the goal of getting them into arms by early December.   The government has been preparing since at least June, when the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) called for a plan to offer the third shot to people 70 years old or older, care home residents and those who are vulnerable for health reasons.   At least 90% of British adults have received at least one shot, but that rate falls to 60% for those 18-30 years old, government figures show.     To encourage younger adults to get vaccinated before colder weather…

With the delta variant of the coronavirus spreading in the United States, officials are instituting new mask guidance and some employers and even restaurants are requiring proof of vaccination. Michelle Quinn reports. Video editor: Mary Cieslak ...

The recent success of private space flight companies spiked adventure seekers’ interest, but the price tag is far too high for most people. Experts say in just a few years, prices for a trip to space will likely drop low enough for ordinary people to be able to afford a flight. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has this report. ...

The top U.S. infectious disease expert said Sunday that the country is facing “some pain and suffering” with the surging delta variant of the coronavirus. Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser, told ABC’s “This Week” show, “Things are going to get worse,” and laid the blame on millions of people who have not been vaccinated against the virus. As the number of new cases has risen sharply in recent weeks, some people who have not been vaccinated say they now are considering getting shots. But millions more are saying that for one reason or another they have no intention of getting inoculated no matter how many health officials urge them to do so. FILE - Dr. Anthony Fauci responds to accusations by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., as he testifies before…

Tokyo’s metropolitan government said new coronavirus infections surged to a record high Saturday as the city hosts the Olympic Games.The government reported 4,058 new cases, topping 4,000 for the first time.The new record was set one day after Japan, with a population of more than 126 million, extended a state of emergency for Tokyo through the end of August to contain the spread. The extension also applies to three prefectures near Tokyo and the western prefecture of Osaka.A new record for infections also was set nationwide Saturday. Public broadcaster NHK reported 12,341 new cases, 15% higher than the day before.Since the start of the pandemic, Japan has reported 914,718 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and 15,197 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.Protests…