Author: Dmedia

The World Food Program says that without consolidated global action to stop the acceleration of climate change, the world faces a crisis of acute hunger. The WFP says climate shocks are destroying lives, crops and livelihoods and  are undermining people’s ability to feed themselves. It cites…

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionally affected midcareer and older working women in the United States. About 40% have experienced at least one job interruption, and of those who remained unemployed, 70% were out of work for six months or more. Lesia Bakalets has more in…

Ahead of next week’s climate conference in Scotland, 10 United Nations and international agency heads, including the World Meteorological Organization, are calling on governments to turn their carbon neutral commitments into climate action.   Scientists tracking the impact of human activity on the warming of…

Desperate for work, Sabila Dafadar walks every morning from her poor neighborhood tucked behind tall glass and chrome buildings in the business hub of Gurugram, 32 kilometers from New Delhi, to a busy intersection where day laborers wait for contractors who come to pick up…

As world leaders gather in Glasgow, Scotland, for the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26), China on Thursday announced it has no new significant goals to reduce climate-changing emissions, despite being the world's top emitter of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that cause global warming. …

NASA moves forward with its next moon mission. Plus, SpaceX readies its Halloween space launch, and Blue Origin offers an orbiting office park for the future. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. Producer: Arash Arabasadi. ...

A new British research ship, named for British broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, has arrived in London to call attention to climate change ahead of next week’s Glasgow climate summit. The 129-meter RSS Sir David Attenborough has completed sea trials and is ready for service. It…

In Malawi, health authorities say an outbreak of scabies around the commercial capital of Blantyre has affected more than 300 people. Scabies is a contagious, intensely itchy skin condition caused by tiny mites that burrow into the skin.  “We started seeing cases from June and we have…

The United States is sending more than 4.8 million coronavirus vaccine doses to four African nations, the White House told VOA on Wednesday. White House officials said the 55-member African Union determined the allocations. Landlocked Chad, one of the world’s poorest nations, will get 115,830…

A cheap antidepressant reduced the need for hospitalization among high-risk adults with COVID-19 in a study that was looking for existing drugs that could be repurposed to treat coronavirus. Researchers tested the pill used for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder because it was known to reduce…

Wildlife officials and environmental groups in Florida are raising an alarm over the unprecedented die-off this year of manatees, the large, slow-moving sea animals that are the southeastern U.S. state's official marine mammal.  The latest figures from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission show that…

U.S. federal law enforcement agencies and Europol announced dozens of arrests to break up a global operation that sold illegal drugs using a shadowy realm of the internet.  At a Department of Justice news conference Tuesday in Washington, officials said they arrested 150 people for…

Britain's Queen Elizabeth has pulled out of the COP26 conference in Glasgow next week after she was advised by doctors to rest, Buckingham Palace said on Tuesday, in a blow to the United Nations climate summit. A palace source said the decision to not attend…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's independent advisory committee is meeting Tuesday to consider giving emergency approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. While it is considered rare for younger children to become seriously ill or die from COVID-19, FDA…

Coal-rich Australia unveiled a much-delayed 2050 net zero emissions target Tuesday, in a plan that pointedly dodged thorny details or near-term goals ahead of a landmark UN climate summit.  Widely seen as a climate laggard, Australia is one of the world's largest coal and gas…

U.S.-based pharmaceutical company Moderna says a clinical trial shows that a low dose of its COVID-19 vaccine is safe for children between 6 and 11 years old.  The company says it inoculated more than 4,700 children with its two-dose vaccine about 28 days apart, with each shot…

The battle to stem climate change may be lost as new information indicates the Amazon rain forest is turning from a carbon sink – or area that absorbs CO2 – into a source of carbon dioxide, the World Meteorological Organization warns.  The latest edition of…

The director-general of the World Health Organization said Sunday that unless countries use existing tools in the fight against the pandemic effectively, there will be no end in sight. “The pandemic will end when the world chooses to end it,” Tedros said addressing World Health…

Health care activists in Cameroon are visiting homes, markets and farms this month, encouraging women to get free screenings for breast cancer. The central African state says the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer has risen sharply over the past year because many women…

“Coral reefs are amazing and beautiful, and we must conserve them,” Sam Purkis, chair of the department of marine geosciences at the University of Miami, told VOA. Although coral reefs only cover 0.1% of the ocean floor, they are a lifeline for the planet.  With the most…

For the first time in a laboratory, Australian scientists have produced tadpoles more tolerant of climate change. A team from the University of Western Australia has cross-bred frogs from wetter regions with other species from drier areas to make them more resilient.  Researchers in Australia want…

Millions of people in the United States are gearing up to get COVID-19 booster shots amid ongoing controversy over vaccine mandates. Michelle Quinn reports. Produced by: Mary Cieslak  ...

British finance minister Rishi Sunak's budget this week will include an extra $8.1 billion of spending for the health service over the next few years to drive down waiting lists, the finance ministry said on Sunday.    The sum comes on top of an $11 billion package announced in…

Pakistan and Afghanistan, the only two countries where polio still paralyzes children, marked World Polio Day (October 24) Sunday amid excitement and hopes that global eradication of the crippling disease is within reach.  The neighboring countries constitute a bloc where the disease has been endemic;…

A Financial Times report says COVAX, the global collaboration established to ensure that poor countries have access to the COVID-19 vaccine, has “largely failed.”  “Wealthy countries have received over 16 times more COVID-19 vaccines per person than poorer nations that rely on the COVAX program backed…

There will be cars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday but no drivers in sight as racing teams mark a milestone in autonomous vehicle development. Nine single-seaters will take part in the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC), a competition with a $1 million prize that…

U.N. agencies are preparing to launch a polio vaccination campaign for all children under 5 in Afghanistan, a country where the potentially crippling disease persists despite a more than three-decade-long campaign that has nearly eradicated it worldwide. Vaccine doses will begin to be administered in Afghanistan…

One of the world's largest oil producers, Saudi Arabia, announced Saturday it aims to reach "net zero" greenhouse gas emissions by 2060, joining more than 100 countries in a global effort to try and curb man-made climate change. The announcement, made by Crown Prince Mohammed…