Author: Dmedia

India TV’s claims that HMPV is a mysterious virus, or speculation that a new virus may have arisen out of China, are false. ...

WASHINGTON — The Louisiana Department of Health said Monday that a U.S. patient hospitalized with H5N1 bird flu had died, the country's first death from an outbreak of the virus that has sickened dozens of people and millions of poultry and cattle.  Nearly 70 people in…

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — The new year will bring a pair of lunar eclipses, but don't expect any sun-disappearing acts like the one that mesmerized North America last spring. While the world will have to wait until 2026 for the next total solar eclipse, the cosmos…

TOKYO — Tomiko Itooka, a Japanese woman who was the world’s oldest person according to Guinness World Records, has died, an Ashiya city official said Saturday. She was 116. Yoshitsugu Nagata, an official in charge of elderly policies, said Itooka died on Dec. 29 at a…

WASHINGTON — The highly decorated Special Forces soldier who died by suicide in a Cybertruck explosion on New Year's Day confided to a former girlfriend who had served as an Army nurse that he faced significant pain and exhaustion that she says were key symptoms of…

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden's outgoing administration announced Friday that it will allocate $306 million to bolster the nation's bird flu response before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The new funding will support national, state and local preparedness and monitoring programs, as well as research…

The holidays came with a side of flu for many Americans, with 40 states reporting high or very high levels of illness last week, according to the latest government health data.  "A lot of flu out there," said Carrie Reed of the Centers for Disease…

WASHINGTON/LONDON — Alcoholic drinks should carry a warning about cancer risks on their label, the U.S. surgeon general said Friday in a move that could signal a shift toward more aggressive tobacco-style regulation for the sector.  U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said alcohol consumption increases the…

Juba, South Sudan   — More than 1.1 million doses of an oral cholera vaccine have arrived in South Sudan, as the government launched a program to inoculate more than 80 percent of the population. But the mass vaccination exercise faces numerous challenges, including a lack of…

LONDON — A worker digging up clay in a southern England limestone quarry noticed unusual bumps that led to the discovery of a "dinosaur highway" and nearly 200 tracks that date back 166 million years, researchers said Thursday.  The extraordinary find made after a team of…

WASHINGTON — When the Quadrantid meteor shower peaks Friday, it will be the year's first chance to see fireballs in the sky.  A waning crescent moon means good visibility under clear and dark conditions.  Most meteor showers are named for the constellations where they appear to…

Geneva — The World Health Organization on Monday implored China to share data and access to help understand how COVID-19 began, five years on from the start of the pandemic that upended the planet. COVID-19 killed millions of people, shredded economies and crippled health systems. "We…

NEW DELHI — India launched a rocket Monday carrying two small spacecraft to test docking in space, a critical step for the country's dreams of a space station and a manned moon mission.  The mission is "vital for India's future space ambitions," Jitendra Singh, the country's…

The World Meteorological Organization warns this year's record-breaking heat is likely to continue in 2025, further accelerating climate change and leading to catastrophic consequences if urgent action is not taken to stem the "human activities" behind this looming disaster.  According to the United Nations weather…

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu successfully underwent prostate removal surgery on Sunday and is in good condition, according to the hospital treating him.   The surgery took place while Israel remains at war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, more than 14 months…

Abortion has become more common despite bans or deep restrictions in most Republican-controlled states, and the legal and political fights over its future are not over yet. It's now been two and a half years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and…

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA — 2024 was a brutal year for the Amazon rainforest, with rampant wildfires and extreme drought ravaging large parts of a biome that's a critical counterweight to climate change.  A warming climate fed drought that in turn fed the worst year for fires since…

A different approach to energy is at the center of President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to bring down the cost of living for Americans. But as VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, Trump’s plans could be complicated by a complex global interdependence on oil and gas…

As Russia’s war against Ukraine enters its third year, centers focused on soldiers' rehabilitation and mental health are appearing across Ukraine. An active serviceman started one such place in his native village in the Carpathian Mountains. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story. Videographer and video editor: Yuriy Dankevych…

WASHINGTON — Changes are coming to the cold and cough aisle of your local pharmacy: U.S. officials are moving to phase out the leading decongestant found in hundreds of over-the-counter medicines, concluding that it doesn't actually relieve nasal congestion. Phenylephrine is used in popular versions of…

A genetic analysis suggests the bird flu virus mutated inside a Louisiana patient who contracted the nation’s first severe case of the illness, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week. Scientists believe the mutations may allow the virus to better bind…

Health care organizations may be required to bolster their cybersecurity to better prevent sensitive information from being leaked by cyberattacks like the ones that hit Ascension and UnitedHealth, a senior White House official said Friday. Anne Neuberger, the U.S. deputy national security adviser for cyber…

washington — Cosmetics companies would have to take extra steps to ensure that any products containing talc are free of asbestos under a federal rule proposed Thursday. The proposal from the Food and Drug Administration and mandated by Congress is intended to reassure consumers about the…

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday its analysis of samples from the first severe case of bird flu in the country last week showed mutations not seen in samples from an infected backyard flock on the patient's property. The CDC…

London — King Charles thanked the medics who have cared for him and his daughter-in-law Kate, after they both underwent treatment for cancer this year, in a Christmas Day message that touched on global conflicts and the summer's riots in Britain. In his third Christmas TV…

WASHINGTON — NASA's pioneering Parker Solar Probe made history Tuesday, flying closer to the sun than any other spacecraft, with its heat shield exposed to scorching temperatures topping 930 degrees Celsius (1,700 degrees Fahrenheit).  Launched in August 2018, the spaceship is on a seven-year mission to…

NEW YORK — A NASA spacecraft aims to fly closer to the sun than any object sent before. The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 to get a close-up look at the sun. Since then, it has flown straight through the sun's corona: the outer…

The incoming Trump administration inherits efforts by the US space agency, NASA, to return astronauts to the surface of the moon and is turning to commercial space entrepreneurs to help. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh has more. ...