Year: 2021

The British Natural History Museum said it has recovered fragments of the first meteorite collected in the United Kingdom in 30 years and one of the rarest ever discovered.  On the night of February 28, a fireball was seen streaking across the sky over southwestern…

The U.S. Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry said Wednesday the world’s developed countries - which emit most of the world's greenhouse gases - “have every capacity" to address the climate crisis. Speaking at a joint news conference in Paris with French Finance Minister Bruno…

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday refuted claims by European Union Council President Charles Michel that Britain had imposed a ban on COVID-19 vaccine exports. In an online blog posted Tuesday to the EU website, Michel wrote that Britain and the United States have imposed…

The first federal recommendations for people vaccinated against COVID-19 allow cautious steps toward normal life.Too cautious, critics say.The In this Jan. 27, 2021, image from video, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks during a White House briefing.Though vaccinated…

Behind the counter of Skippack Pharmacy in Schwenksville, near Philadelphia, owner Mayank Amin has been working late into the night since his independent drugstore received state approval to administer COVID-19 vaccines in late January.   There are thousands of emails to sort through and phone…

With COVID-19 still limiting travel, a Cameroonian startup has created a system that allows African medical patients to have an online consultation with doctors abroad.  Moki Edwin Kindzeka has this report from Anne Nzouankeu in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Camera: Anne Nzouankeu   ...

The World Health Organization reports one in three women globally, around 736 million, suffer physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence by a non-partner. The study, the largest ever conducted on the prevalence of violence against women, is based on data…

The United Nations’ weather agency, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said Tuesday the record cold felt in the U.S. during February was the result of the same weather phenomena that sent above-average warmth to parts of the arctic.  At a virtual news conference from Geneva…

The first federal recommendations for people vaccinated against COVID-19 allow cautious steps toward normal life.Too cautious, critics say.The In this Jan. 27, 2021, image from video, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks during a White House briefing.Though vaccinated…

U.S. Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry was in Brussels Tuesday to discuss transatlantic cooperation with European Union (EU) officials and U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to rejoin the global climate change effort.   Speaking to reporters alongside EU climate chief Frans Timmermans, Kerry reiterated…

Last March, when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, it had already proved to be lethal and highly contagious. It was a new virus with many unknowns. Since then, scientists have learned a lot about how it affects vital organs and its long-term effects. VOA's Carol Pearson reports. ...

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine neutralizes the rapidly spreading variant of the coronavirus recently discovered in Brazil, according to the results of a laboratory study.   Scientists with Pfizer and the University of Texas took blood from people who had been given the vaccine and mixed it with…

Uganda launches its national vaccination program on Wednesday, two days after receiving 100,000 additional doses of Covid-19 vaccine donated by the Indian government.   So far, Uganda has received 964,000 doses of the vaccine through donations.   Health minister Jane Ruth Aceng said healthcare workers…

The U.S. government on Monday sued the automobile device manufacturer EZ Lynk for selling tens of thousands of "defeat devices" that enabled car and truck owners to disable their vehicles' computerized emission controls at the push of a button. In a complaint filed in the federal…

The United States denounced Monday what it called a Russian disinformation campaign against U.S.-made COVID-19 vaccines, saying Moscow was putting lives at risk. The Global Engagement Center, an arm of the State Department whose activities include monitoring foreign propaganda, said that Russian intelligence was behind four online…

As coronavirus vaccine rates in the U.S. continue to climb, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Monday that those who have been vaccinated can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without masks or social distancing. The CDC also said vaccinated people can gather…

Italy's death toll from the coronavirus surpassed 100,000 on Monday, a year after it became the first country in Europe to go into lockdown to try to stop the spread of the virus.  Italy's Health Ministry recorded 318 deaths Monday in the past 24 hours,…

Wang  Jingyu didn’t think he would become an enemy of China for his online comments.    The 19-year-old left his hometown of Chongqing in July 2019 and is now traveling in Europe. On February 21, netizens on the popular micro-blogging website, Weibo reported him to Chinese…

The Italian Health Ministry Monday changed course and signed an order approving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for people 65 and older. Even though Europe’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, fully approved the vaccine, the Italian government initially balked, as did Germany, at giving the vaccine…

When the coronavirus first emerged, many East Asian countries were hailed as global examples due to their impressive containment efforts. But as the one-year anniversary of the pandemic approaches, some of those countries are falling behind in their vaccine campaigns, as VOA’s Bill Gallo reports…

Before COVID-19, the United States considered itself one of the best-prepared countries in the world for a health crisis. The pandemic proved otherwise. One year into the crisis, more than half a million Americans have died. VOA's Steve Baragona has more. ...

Britain opened all its schools Monday. The openings come as the country has experienced some of its lowest coronavirus death tolls since October.Vietnam began its COVID-19 vaccination program Monday with its front-line health care workers as the first recipients of the shots.Japan’s rollout of its…

There is a call for an amnesty for the estimated 100,000 undocumented workers in Australia because of fears they could miss out on the coronavirus vaccine.They are an unseen workforce in Australia, from cleaning to hospitality and farm work. Of the estimated 100,000 undocumented workers,…

Canada’s postal service is trying to bridge the socially distanced gap of the coronavirus pandemic by encouraging people to send postcards to loved ones.To facilitate that effort, Canada Post is delivering a postcard to every residential address in the country that people can then send…

March 11 marks a year since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. The Middle East was one of the first regions to be hit outside China – and as Henry Ridgwell reports, the pandemic has exacerbated existing crises caused by…

The United States is marking one year since the first stay-at-home orders went into effect because of the coronavirus pandemic; but, returning to normal is happening slowly as Michelle Quinn reports. Producer: Mary Cieslak ...