Month: November 2022

Australia can expect another wave of COVID-19 infections in coming weeks, according to experts, as new variants circulate. Coronavirus cases are rising quickly in New South Wales and Victoria, Australia’s most populous states. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11,…

Tanzania's Ministry of Tourism released a census this week showing the country's elephant population has stabilized. Tanzania's elephants were among the hardest hit by poaching in Africa, with numbers dropping 60 percent between 2009 and 2014. But authorities say joint efforts with conservation groups and…

A private spaceflight giant has a busy week sending satellites into orbit. Plus, massive meteor strikes on Mars, and the Pillars of Creation get an eerie makeover. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. ...

The United Nations reports that up to 222 million people globally are facing acute hunger — and that 47 million of them in the Greater Horn of Africa. Most parts of the region are battling the worst drought in 40 years. After four consecutive years…

Europe has warmed more than twice as much as the rest of the world over the past three decades and has experienced the greatest temperature increase of any continent, according to a report by the World Meteorological Organization.  The report on the state of the…

A landmark deal to allow grain exports from Ukraine, which was back on track Wednesday after being briefly suspended, has played a crucial role in easing a global food crisis sparked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Brokered by the United Nations and Turkey and…

The World Health Organization warned Wednesday that Ebola's arrival in the Ugandan capital highlighted the high risk of further spread of the deadly virus, calling on neighboring countries to boost their preparedness.  Since Uganda's health ministry first declared the outbreak on September 20, the country…

Advocacy groups are welcoming a decision by India's Supreme Court that bans what is known as a "two-finger" test on rape survivors, calling it a patriarchal and invasive practice and ruling that anyone violating the directive will face misconduct charges. Medical experts have used the…

Ahead of the COP27 climate talks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh next week, there are concerns that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reversed progress on tackling climate change. But as Henry Ridgwell reports, some say the war could have a positive impact in…

Three of the largest U.S. pharmacy chains — CVS, Walgreens and Walmart — are reported to have tentatively agreed to pay more than $13 billion to settle more than 3,000 state and local lawsuits involving the dispensing of opioid painkillers.  Sources close to the negotiations…

New research shows vaccinating pregnant women helped protect their newborns from the common but scary respiratory virus called RSV that fills hospitals with wheezing babies each fall. The preliminary results buoy hope that after decades of failure and frustration, vaccines against RSV may finally be…

Lebanon received a first batch of vaccines Monday to combat a worsening cholera outbreak - together with sharply worded criticism of its crumbling public health infrastructure from France, which facilitated the donation of the doses. By Sunday, cases of cholera - a disease typically spread…

On Tuesday, Nov. 1, Australia's most populous state is banning a range of single-use plastic, including straws, cutlery and bowls. Polystyrene foam food containers are also banned under the new rules in New South Wales, along with some face, body and hair products that contain…

Research in Africa found a one-time dose of an experimental drug protected adults against malaria for at least six months, the latest approach in the fight against the mosquito-borne disease.  Malaria killed more than 620,000 people in 2020 and sickened 241 million, mainly children under…