Month: July 2023

It is possible to end AIDS by 2030 if countries demonstrate the political will to invest in prevention and treatment and adopt non-discriminatory laws, the United Nations said on Thursday. In 2022, an estimated 39 million people around the world were living with HIV, according…

Warmer, drier weather because of an earlier-than-usual El Nino is expected to hamper rice production across Asia, hitting global food security in a world still reeling from the impacts of the war in Ukraine.  An El Nino is a natural, temporary and occasional warming of…

BEIJING — Employers across much of China were ordered Monday to limit outdoor work due to scorching temperatures, while the east and southwest were warned to prepare for torrential rain as the country struggled with heat, flooding and drought. Temperatures as high as 40 C…

The Webb Space Telescope is marking one year of cosmic photographs with one of its best yet: the dramatic close-up of dozens of stars at the moment of birth.  NASA unveiled the latest snapshot Wednesday, revealing 50 baby stars in a cloud complex 390 light-years…

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Tuesday it has extended its probe into Novo Nordisk's diabetes drugs Ozempic and weight-loss treatment Saxenda, following two reports of suicidal thoughts, to include other drugs in the same class. The agency began its review on July 3…

Australian scientists say they have developed a special glue that can be used to repair parts of the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef. Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology believe the biodegradable putty has the potential to help the coral recover after it's been…

Humanity has etched its way into Earth's geology, atmosphere and biology with such strength and permanence that a team of scientists figures we have shifted into a new geologic epoch — one of our own creation. It's called the Anthropocene. A geologic task force recommends…

Double Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya won an appeal against track and field's testosterone rules on Tuesday when the European Court of Human Rights ruled she was discriminated against and there were "serious questions" about the rules' validity. World Athletics, which enforces the regulations, said…

India will launch a mission to the moon later this week hoping to become the fourth country to land a craft on the lunar surface.     So far only three countries — the United States, Russia and China — have achieved what is called a "soft…

Astronomers have discovered the most distant black hole yet using NASA’s Webb Space Telescope, but that record isn't expected to last. The black hole is at the center of a galaxy created a mere 570 million years after the Big Bang. That’s 100 million years…

Scientists say crushing temperatures that blanketed Europe last summer may have led to more than 61,000 heat-related deaths, highlighting the need for governments to address the health impacts of global warming. In their study, published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, researchers examined official mortality…

Meta Platforms' Twitter rival Threads crossed 100 million sign-ups within five days of launch, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Monday, dethroning ChatGPT as the fastest-growing online platform to hit the milestone.  Threads has been setting records for user growth since its launch on Wednesday, with…

Health officials are reporting a deadly outbreak of cholera in the South African province of Gauteng Authorities say nearly 50 people have died, with most of the deaths concentrated in the Hammanskraal area. Cases have been reported in other areas as well.   Medical officials…

Two years after Brazil began emerging from its pandemic horror show thanks to a massive immunization campaign, officials face a paradoxical predicament: vaccination rates have plunged, and not just for COVID-19.  The troubling trend has left millions exposed to once-eradicated diseases.     Doctors, public officials and…

One person is dead and three missing in landslides in southwestern Japan, authorities said Monday, as the country's weather agency warned of the "heaviest rain ever" in the region.  A 77-year-old woman was confirmed dead in a landslide that entered her home overnight in rural…

Natural disasters can be dramatic — barreling hurricanes, building-toppling tornadoes — but heat is more deadly. Chicago learned that the hard way in 1995. That July, a weeklong heat wave that hit 106 degrees Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius) killed more than 700 people. Most of…

Partnership is opening eyes of students of color who never pictured themselves fighting forest fires ...

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met Saturday with his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, to build momentum for an upcoming regional summit on the Amazon rainforest and enhance efforts for its protection. The meeting took place in Colombia's Leticia, a…

A solar storm forecast for Thursday is expected to give star gazers in 17 U.S. states a chance to see the northern lights, the colorful sky show that happens when solar wind hits the atmosphere. Northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, are most often…

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Friday on dozens of countries to work together to combat synthetic drugs, but China — facing blame in Washington over an addiction epidemic — denounced the effort.  Inaugurating a new U.S.-led "coalition" on the scourge, Blinken told…