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Kenya's Department of Gender says reported cases of gender-based violence have nearly quintupled during the COVID-19 pandemic. But campaigners note that stigma and fear of reporting abuse means the number of cases that go unreported is many times higher. Victoria Amunga reports from Nairobi.  Camera: Robert Lutta ...

In a landmark case brought by seven environmental groups, a Dutch court Wednesday ordered energy company Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) to cut its carbon emissions by net 45% from 2019 levels by 2030.The ruling could set a precedent for similar cases against polluting multinationals, particularly…

A former chief aide to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a parliamentary committee Wednesday the government failed the British people in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a statement Johnson rejects.   Dominic Cummings, who left the government in December, explained to a select…

A new algorithm tool is helping social workers better detect kids who are in high-risk child abuse situations. Deana Mitchell reports ...

The first total lunar eclipse in more than two years coincides with a “supermoon” Wednesday, putting on a cosmic show for at least half the world.A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes completely through the Earth’s dark shadow, or umbra. During this type…

The situation in pandemic-ravaged South Asia is “unlike anything our region has seen before,” the regional director of UNICEF said Tuesday."The sheer scale and speed of this new surge of COVID-19 is outstripping countries’ abilities to provide life-saving treatment,” George Laryea-Adjei told reporters Monday in…

Regional officials reported strong earthquakes Tuesday in the area surrounding the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Mount Nyiragongo volcano, three days after it erupted, killing 32 people, destroying villages, and displacing at least 5,000 residents.The Rwanda Seismic Monitor reported on its Twitter account several quakes…

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Tuesday called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to conduct a second, more fully transparent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.The WHO issued a joint statement with Chinese scientists in March after…

The U.S. biotechnology firm Moderna said Tuesday that recent trials of its COVID-19 vaccine show it to be safe and effective on adolescents ages 12 to 17.  The company said it will submit the findings to the U.S. Food and Drug administration (FDA) next month…

Tens of thousands of people were evacuated Tuesday in low-lying areas of two Indian states and moved to cyclone shelters to escape a powerful storm barreling toward the eastern coast. Cyclone Yaas is set to turn into a “very severe cyclonic storm” with sustained wind speeds of up…

Ahead of what is forecast to be an above-normal hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin, the U.S. government is doubling funding to prepare communities for such storms or other extreme weather events.  "We have to be ready when disaster strikes," President Joe Biden said on…

Taiwan has criticized what it calls the “indifference” of the World Health Organization to the health rights of the island’s people, according to Reuters. The WHO’s decision-making body, the World Health Assembly, begins its A man reacts as a health worker in protective suit takes his nasal swab sample to test for COVID-19 in New Delhi,…

For the family of the retired diplomat, the terror struck as they tried desperately to get him past the entrance doors of a private hospital. For the New Delhi family, it came when they had to create a hospital room in their ground-floor apartment. For…

The World Health Organization chief opened the agency’s annual World Health Assembly in Geneva Monday by paying tribute to the 115,000 health care workers around the world who lost their lives fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. In his comments to the WHO decision-making body, Director-General Tedros Adhanom…

The Australian government is being urged to offer citizens cash and lottery tickets as incentives to boost slow rates of COVID-19 vaccinations. Public health and advertising experts say more needs to be done to counter mounting hesitancy and confusion about a mass inoculation program. Research commissioned by two Australian newspapers found a third of respondents don’t intend to get…

An investigation was underway Monday into the deaths of 21 runners during a mountain ultra-marathon in northwest China, as harrowing testimony emerged from survivors who battled to safety through freezing temperatures and bone-chilling winds. The extreme weather struck a high-altitude section of the 100-kilometer (62-mile) race held in the…

India is nearing 300,000 recorded deaths from the coronavirus, after adding more than 3,700 deaths in the last 24 hours.   The country reported more than 240,000 new infections Sunday – a number that many believe is an undercount because of limited testing resources.  …

Ending the COVID-19 pandemic and preventing future pandemics is expected to dominate discussions during this week’s 74th World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization.  The session will also address other pressing global health issues.The 2021 World Health Assembly will be held…

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is investigating reports  that young people have developed myocarditis, or heart inflammation, after being inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine.The agency’s vaccine safety group said in a recent report that there have been “relatively few reports“…

Yuan Longping, a Chinese scientist who developed higher-yield rice varieties that helped feed people around the world, died Saturday at a hospital in the southern city of Changsha, the Xinhua News agency reported. He was 91.Yuan spent his life researching rice and was a household…

Virgin Galactic on Saturday made its first rocket-powered flight from New Mexico to the fringe of space in a manned shuttle, as the company forges toward offering tourist flights to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere.High above the desert in a cloudless sky, VSS Unity…

COVID-19, climate change and cooperation in high-tech industries were the focus of a summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House Friday. While the leaders also discussed North Korea, prospects for a breakthrough on denuclearization appear dim.…