Year: 2023

In a move that amplifies the debate over access to abortion in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration this week ruled that a drug used in the majority of abortions in the country can be dispensed by retail pharmacies to individuals with valid prescriptions. Until the ruling, that drug, mifepristone, could be dispensed only by certified clinics and doctors’ offices, or by specific online pharmacies. Now, retail pharmacies, including those of major chains like CVS and Walgreens, will have the ability, though not the obligation, to carry the medication. However, it will remain illegal for pharmacies to dispense the medication in at least 12 states, which have passed laws banning abortions. Mifepristone blocks hormones that contribute to the development of a fetus. When a dose is followed one…

With Russian rockets targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure and electrical grid, scientists in the city of Sumy near Kyiv are hoping to start mass producing solar technology that could keep the lights on. Olena Adamenko has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Mykhailo Zaika Produced by: Mykhailo Zaika ...

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday finalized a rule change that allows women seeking abortion pills to get them through the mail, replacing a long-standing requirement that they pick up the medicine in person.  The Biden administration implemented the change last year, announcing it would no longer enforce the dispensing rule. Tuesday's action formally updates the drug's labeling to allow women to get a prescription via telehealth consultation with a health professional, and then receive the pills through the mail, where permitted by law.  Still, the rule change's impact has been blunted by numerous state laws limiting abortion broadly and the pills specifically. Legal experts foresee years of court battles over access to the pills, as abortion-rights proponents bring test cases to challenge state restrictions.  For more than 20…

Walter Cunningham, the last surviving astronaut from the first successful crewed space mission in NASA's Apollo program, died Tuesday in Houston. He was 90. NASA confirmed Cunningham's death in a statement but did not include its cause. Spokespersons for the agency and Cunningham's wife, Dot Cunningham, did not immediately respond to questions. Cunningham was one of three astronauts aboard the 1968 Apollo 7 mission, an 11-day spaceflight that beamed live television broadcasts as they orbited Earth, paving the way for the moon landing less than a year later. Cunningham, then a civilian, crewed the mission with Navy Capt. Walter M. Schirra and Donn F. Eisele, an Air Force major. Cunningham was the lunar module pilot on the space flight, which launched from Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Florida, on October…

A top health official in China has said that the fatalities from the latest surge in COVID-19 cases are “increasing” but within the normal range for mortality. In an interview with state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), Jiao Yahui, a National Health Commission official, said, “We have a huge base, so what people feel is that the severe cases, the critical cases or the fatalities are increasing. “Relative to the rest of the world, the infection peaks we are faced with across the country are not unusual,” she added.  The contrast between statements by Chinese officials assessing the COVID situation and social media footage of crowded hospital hallways and long lines at clinics prompted leading scientists advising the World Health Organization to call Tuesday for a “more realistic picture” about…

Advocates for education and health care in Malawi are criticizing the government's decision to close schools in two cities to try to contain a cholera outbreak.  The Presidential Taskforce on Coronavirus and Cholera said in a statement Monday that the suspension is applied to all primary and secondary schools in the capital, Lilongwe, and commercial hub, Blantyre. Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, co-chairperson of the taskforce and Malawi's minister of health, told a press conference Tuesday the decision is a result of the continuing increase in the number of cholera cases in the two cities. As of Monday, the bacterial disease, spread by dirty water, had killed more than 620 people out of 18,222 cases since the outbreak began in March.  Chiponda expressed fear for the safety of students and others if…

A new report by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies says "once in a hundred years" floods will become more common in coastal communities due to rising sea levels caused by climate change. As a stretch of West Africa’s coast is set to become the world’s largest megalopolis and an economic powerhouse, academics worry rising sea levels will stymie growth and impact the continent and the world. Henry Wilkins reports from Ganvie, Benin. ...

A new year is around the corner. And many use this time to make New Year’s resolutions. Why do people do that, you might ask? “It's a new calendar year," said Mandy Doria, a certified counselor at the University of Colorado, speaking with The Associated Press. 'We have a chance to leave behind all of the old stuff, good and bad, from the previous year and move forward and start to make new plans, new goals, and we may feel excited and recharged by that.” That feeling of hope can dissipate amid day-to-day stressors but there are ways to set goals without feeling like you're setting yourself up for failure, said Doria. “There is a concept called smart goals," she said. "So smart goals should be specific. They should be…

Howard Fischer, a 63-year-old investor living north of New York City, has a wish for when he dies. He wants his remains to be placed in a vessel, broken down by tiny microbes and composted into rich, fertile soil. Maybe his composted remains could be planted outside the family home in Vermont, or maybe they could be returned to the earth elsewhere. “Whatever my family chooses to do with the compost after it’s done is up to them,” Fischer said. “I am committed to having my body composted and my family knows that,” he added. “But I would love for it to happen in New York where I live rather than shipping myself across the country.” Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation Saturday to legalize natural organic reduction, popularly known…