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Chancellor Angela Merkel is telling Germans in her New Year message that "everything humanly possible" must be done to tackle climate change.Merkel said that there is good reason to be confident about the 2020s in her annual televised message, the text of which was released…

The first space race pitted the United States against what was then the Soviet Union for the bragging rights of being first in space travel. The space race of the 21st century is a quest by many to land the first people on Mars. VOA’s…

There's no doubt that many people around the world see - in magazines and on social media - unrealistic beauty standards and end up feeling unhappy with how they look. But Jessamyn Stanley has never let her body image get in the way of her…

The U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says verified attacks on children in conflict have risen threefold since 2010, making the past decade particularly deadly for children. As the decade draws to a close, UNICEF reports children continue to pay a deadly price as conflicts rage around…

This year was the hottest ever registered in Russia, the country's weather chief said on Monday, as climate change pushes global temperatures to record highs."This year in Russia was the hottest for the entire period of instrumental observations," the head of the Gidromedtsentr weather service,…

A total of 2,231 people have died out of 3,373 declared cases of Ebola in the current epidemic in the DR Congo, according to the agency overseeing the response, health officials said Sunday.Deadly unrest in the fragile state has hampered the fight against the disease…

2019 was the year of Greta Thunberg, Extinction Rebellion and an uptick in climate action pledges by governments across the globe.    From Britain to Germany, Europe's mainstream party leaders scrambled to respond to a surge in electoral support for Green parties — and to…

Scientists are scrambling to understand why thousands of dead mussels are turning up in several rivers across the United States and Europe, including one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Experts worry that the rapid decline of mussels in Appalachia's Clinch River may be a sign of…

A U.S. astronaut set a record Saturday for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, breaking the old mark of 288 days with about two months left in her mission.Christina Koch, a 40-year-old electrical engineer from Livingston, Montana, arrived at the International Space Station on…

The World Health Organization reports investigations into potential health threats and the quick response by WHO and partners to global emergencies has protected millions of the world’s most vulnerable people this year from disease and death.In 2019, the World Health Organization and partners have responded…

A NASA robotic rover is nearing completion ahead of a journey next year to search for evidence of past life on Mars and lay the groundwork for the space agency’s mission to send humans into deep space.The U.S. space agency on Friday showed off its…

The United Nations’ Climate Change Conference ended earlier this month ((in December)) in Madrid.  It was the 25th meeting, and participants left with an ominous warning from experts.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports that melting glaciers today may cause serious problems tomorrow ...

In Kenya, the opuntia cactus, also known as the prickly pear, is spreading, destroying thousands of acres of grassland, and making animals that eat it sick.  Kenyans have come up with a variety of methods to try to eradicate the problem plant, including breeding a microorganism that…

While studying in college, Jasmine Burton discovered that one-third of the world's people don't have access to proper toilets. Burton decided to try to solve the problem. Ariadne Budianto reports. ...

People along a swath of southern Asia gazed at the sky in marvel on Thursday at a “ring of fire” solar eclipse.                     The so-called annular eclipse, in which a thin outer ring of the sun is still visible, could be seen along a…

Global carbon dioxide emissions rose by point-six percent this year, according to a new estimate. That's at a time when scientists say the world needs to sharply cut greenhouse gas emissions in order to stave off the worst of climate change. There was a glimpse…

It was something, the silence. Nothing but the scuff of her slip-on shoes as Madeleine Mukantagara walked through the fields to her first patient of the day. Piercing cries once echoed down the hill to the road below. What she carried in her bag had…

Patients with breast cancer who use supplements during chemotherapy may be at an increased risk of recurrence and death, a new study suggests.Use of dietary supplements that boost levels of antioxidants, iron, vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acids appeared to lower the effectiveness of chemotherapy,…

Before Sim Ark gave birth to her second child, she didn't think much about what a workplace needed to accommodate a new mother.Now that she's a working mother rather than a stay-at-home mom as she was with her first child, Sim Ark knows."I want to…

It took a blaze that nearly destroyed Paris’ most famous cathedral to reveal a gap in global safety regulations for lead, a toxic building material found across many historic cities.After the Notre Dame fire in April spewed dozens of tons of toxic lead-dust into the…