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A solid majority of Americans believe most abortions should be legal in the first three months of a woman's pregnancy, but most say the procedure should usually be illegal in the second and third trimesters, according to a new poll.The poll comes just weeks after…

Parts of the western United States are seeing record high temperatures in the midst of drought — signaling, experts say, long-term changes in the weather.  With dozens of fires now burning in Western states, President Joe Biden will convene a meeting of Western governors, emergency officials and others to talk about the…

“Africa is facing a fast-surging third wave of COVID-19 pandemic, with cases spreading more rapidly and projected to soon overtake the peak of the second wave the continent witnessed at the start of 2021,” according to the World Health Organization’s regional office in Africa. WHO said…

Workers and residents in Sydney were ordered to stay home for a week on Friday, as authorities locked down several central areas of Australia's largest city to contain an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19.Sixty-five COVID-19 cases have been reported so far…

Fossils from tiny baby dinosaurs discovered in northernmost Alaska offer strong evidence that the prehistoric creatures lived year-round in the Arctic and were likely warm-blooded, according to a study published on Thursday in the journal Current Biology.The fossils are from at least seven types of…

The European Space Agency (ESA) reports that the first recruitment drive for astronauts since 2008 netted 22,000 applications, including an increase in female applicants and the first applications from people with disabilities.The agency put out a call for applicants in February, encouraging more women and people…

The Northern Hemisphere sees its longest day of the year; astronauts make power moves outside the International Space Station. Plus: do you ever get the feeling you’re being watched?  Details in The Week in Space from VOA’s Arash Arabasadi.Produced by: Arash Arabasadi  ...

Amnesty International and 27 groups in southern Africa are calling for a faster pace of vaccinations as a new wave of coronavirus infections sweeps through the region. "A number of countries across southern Africa, including Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, are currently in the midst…

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday there is a likely association between two COVID-19 vaccines and a rare heart condition in boys and young men. The federal health agency said more than 1,200 people who had received either the PfizerBioNTech or Moderna…

An Indonesian court jailed hardline Islamic cleric Rizieq Shihab on Thursday for four years for spreading false information in a video saying he was healthy despite having tested positive for COVID-19.The verdict comes after an eight-month jail term handed last month to Rizieq, the spiritual…

The U.S. space agency NASA aspires to land humans on the moon every year for 12 consecutive years, Administrator Bill Nelson testified to a congressional committee Wednesday in support of a request to boost the agency’s fiscal 2022 budget.Nelson acknowledged to the House Committee on…

Images of the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol are seared into many Americans' minds and remain especially vivid for members of Congress who witnessed the riot. One congressman has been especially forthcoming about the mental trauma he has been experiencing months after the…

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday the COVID-19 State of Emergency, originally declared in March of 2020, will expire Thursday.Cuomo made the announcement during a news briefing, and from his Twitter account, where he wrote, “New York’s COVID-19 State of Emergency will end tomorrow…

Feeling like you are being watched? It could be from a lot farther away than you think.   Astronomers took a technique used to look for life on other planets and flipped it around — so instead of looking to see what's out there, they…

Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders says tens of thousands of people in Cameroon's western regions have been deprived of lifesaving healthcare since December, when authorities stopped their services. Cameroon accused the aid group of being too close to anglophone separatists, which the group denies.  Doctors…

The Delta COVID-19 variant first identified in India has spread quickly around the world and is now hitting Indonesia. Southeast Asia’s largest country now looks at another peak as it hits the 2 million mark in confirmed cases. VOA’s Ghita Permatasari reports. Ahadian Utama  contributed to…

Organizers of the upcoming Tokyo Olympics have imposed restrictions on the few Japanese spectators who will be allowed inside the venues to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  Under rules announced Wednesday, domestic spectators are forbidden from cheering or waving towels, approaching athletes for autographs, or…

Colombia is home to the world's largest variety of butterflies, approximately 20% of all known species, according to a study published Tuesday by the Natural History Museum in London.An international team of scientists cataloged 3,642 species and 2,085 subspecies, registering them in a document titled…

When COVID-19 hit, the world was not ready. The pandemic showed us major gaps in our preparation and ability to respond to the virus. Health experts say we will have another one. VOA's Carol Pearson reports that it doesn't have to be as bad as COVID-19. Camera: Laurel Bowman …

The World Bank announced a partnership with the African Union Tuesday to finance the acquisition and distribution of COVID-19 vaccine for 400 million people in Africa.In a remote news conference via Zoom, World Bank Managing Operations Director Axel van Trotsenburg said the World Bank is…

The United States will miss President Joe Biden’s goal of having 70% of U.S. adults partially or fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by the July 4 Independence Day holiday, but the White House says it expects to hit that mark “in a few extra weeks.”In…

When COVID-19 hit, the world was not ready. The pandemic showed us major gaps in our preparation and ability to respond to the virus. Health experts say we will have another one. VOA's Carol Pearson reports that it doesn't have to be as bad as COVID-19. Camera: Laurel Bowman …