Negotiators at a United Nations biodiversity conference Saturday have still not resolved most of the key issues around protecting the world’s nature by 2030 and providing tens of billions of dollars to developing countries to fund those efforts. The United Nations Biodiversity Conference, or COP15, is set to wrap up Monday in Montreal and delegates … continue reading -> “Biodiversity Talks in Final Days With Many Issues Unresolved”
he World Health Organization warns billions of people who lack access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene are at risk of deadly infectious diseases. The finding appears in the WHO and U.N.-Water’s Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) report issued this week. Data collected from 121 countries show billions of people … continue reading -> “Action Urged to Ensure Safe Water, Sanitation Globally”
The World Health Organization says climate change is behind an unprecedented surge in the number of cholera outbreaks around the world this year. At least 30 countries have reported outbreaks of the deadly disease this year, about a third higher than normally seen. Philippe Barboza, WHO’s team leader for cholera and epidemic diarrheal diseases, said … continue reading -> “Climate Change Fuels Unprecedented Cholera Increase”
Russian and NASA engineers were assessing a coolant leak on Thursday from a Soyuz crew capsule docked with the International Space Station that could have been caused by a micrometeorite strike. Dramatic NASA TV images showed white particles resembling snowflakes streaming out of the rear of the vessel for hours. The coolant leak forced the … continue reading -> “Tiny Meteorite May Have Caused Leak From Soyuz Capsule”
The United States is monitoring for new coronavirus variants as it braces for a potential outbreak of COVID-19 infections following Beijing’s easing of strict controls that kept the pandemic at bay in China. “We have a very robust surveillance program that we use for travelers as people come in, in terms of identifying people who … continue reading -> “US Monitors New Variants from China as Beijing Relaxes Zero-COVID Approach”
A week after China dramatically eased its three-year-long zero-COVID policy of lockdowns and near-daily PCR testing, the country is experiencing its biggest wave of COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began in 2020. But Ray Yip, an American epidemiologist and a former director of the China branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, … continue reading -> “VOA Interview: China Can Avert COVID Crisis With the Help of its People”
China raced to vaccinate its most vulnerable people on Thursday in anticipation of waves of COVID-19 infections, with some analysts expecting the death toll to soar after it eased strict controls that had kept the pandemic at bay for three years. The push comes as the World Health Organization also raised concerns that China’s 1.4 … continue reading -> “China Pushes Vaccines as Retreat from ‘Zero-COVID’ Turns Messy”
National Health Service nurses in Britain will strike on Thursday in their first-ever national walkout as a bitter dispute with the government over pay ramps up pressure on already-stretched hospitals at one of the busiest times of year. An estimated 100,000 nurses will strike at 76 hospitals and health centers on Thursday, canceling thousands of … continue reading -> “British Nurses Set to Begin First-Ever Strike as Pay Dispute Deepens”
What’s a dust devil sound like on Mars? A NASA rover by chance had its microphone on when a whirling tower of red dust passed directly overhead, recording the racket. It’s about 10 seconds of not only rumbling gusts of up to 25 mph (40 kph), but the pinging of hundreds of dust particles against … continue reading -> “Mars Rover Captures 1st Sound of Dust Devil on Red Planet”
A South African researcher has developed a way to remove contaminants from water used in mining that could help clean up the dirty industry. The award-winning ion exchange method not only cleans the water but captures polluting metals that can then be re-purposed. At a Johannesburg laboratory, researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand have … continue reading -> “South African Researchers Develop New Method to Clean Mining-Polluted Water “
Fighting between the Democratic Republic of Congo’s military and rebels has since March displaced nearly 400,000 people, with most IDP camps in Nyiragongo territory, where health centers are struggling to cope. Ruth Omar Esther visited a medical center in Nyiragongo and has this report. …
New Zealand on Tuesday passed into law a unique plan to phase out tobacco smoking by imposing a lifetime ban on young people buying cigarettes. The law states that tobacco can’t ever be sold to anybody born on or after January 1, 2009. It means the minimum age for buying cigarettes will keep going up … continue reading -> “New Zealand Imposes Lifetime Ban on Youth Buying Cigarettes”
A Franco-U.S. satellite is due for launch this week on a mission to survey with unprecedented accuracy nearly all water on Earth’s surface for the first time and help scientists investigate its impact on Earth’s climate. For NASA and France’s space agency CNES, which have worked together in the field for 30 years, it’s a … continue reading -> “Franco-US Satellite Set for Unprecedented Survey of Earth’s Water”
The Department of Energy planned an announcement Tuesday on a “major scientific breakthrough” at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, one of several sites worldwide where researchers have been trying to develop the possibility of harnessing energy from nuclear fusion. It’s a technology that has the potential to one day accelerate the planet’s shift away from … continue reading -> “Explainer: Why Fusion Could Be a Clean-Energy Breakthrough”
On the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 17 mission – the last to land astronauts to the lunar surface – the agency’s Artemis 1 Orion capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, ending a 26-day test flight of NASA’s next generation system designed to take people back to the moon. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh has more. … continue reading -> “NASA Hails Successful Conclusion of Artemis 1 Mission”
French President Emmanuel Macron says free condoms will be available in pharmacies for any adult up to the age of 25 starting next year. The new measure comes as the rate of sexually transmitted diseases and inflation are both on the rise in France. Originally, Macron announced that the condoms would be available to people … continue reading -> “France to Offer Free Condoms for Those 25 and Younger”
Industry executives have joined activists and negotiators from nearly 200 countries at this month’s U.N. nature summit in Montreal, where negotiations on a global pact to protect nature could lead to tougher disclosure requirements for businesses. Sectors such as mining, agriculture, oil and fashion are under scrutiny at the COP15 talks, due to their heavy … continue reading -> “EXPLAINER-UN Nature Summit Puts Industry on Alert to Disclose More”
The U.S. Department of Energy said Sunday it would announce a “major scientific breakthrough” this week, after media reported a federal laboratory had recently achieved a major milestone in nuclear fusion research. The Financial Times reported Sunday that scientists in the California-based Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) had achieved a “net energy gain” from an … continue reading -> “US Teases ‘Major’ Science News Amid Fusion Energy Reports”
One of the challenges of fighting climate change is balancing the need to shift to cleaner sources of energy in the future with the need to keep the lights on in the here and now. It’s no different for Indonesia, with its rapidly growing economy, as VOA’s Yuni Salim explains in this report narrated by … continue reading -> “Indonesia Balancing Climate, Energy Needs in Effort to Reduce Coal Use”
One of China’s top health experts has warned of a surge in COVID-19 cases, state media said Sunday, in the wake of the government’s decision to abandon its hardline coronavirus strategy. Shops and restaurants in Beijing are deserted as the country awaits a spike in infections following the decision to reduce the scope of mandatory … continue reading -> “Top China Expert Says COVID ‘Spreading Rapidly’ After Rules Easing”
After making a close pass at the moon and venturing further into space than any previous habitable spacecraft, NASA’s Orion capsule is due to splash down Sunday in the final test of a high-stakes mission called Artemis. As it hurtles into Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 40,000 kph, the gumdrop-shaped traveler will have to … continue reading -> “NASA Moon Capsule Orion Due to Splash Down After Record-Setting Voyage”
A Japanese space startup launched a spacecraft to the moon Sunday after several delays, a step toward what would be a first for the nation and for a private company. Ispace Inc’s HAKUTO-R mission took off without incident from Cape Canaveral, Florida, after two postponements caused by inspections of its SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. More … continue reading -> “Japan’s Ispace Launches World’s First Commercial Moon Lander”
A winter storm packing high winds and potentially several feet of snow blew into the Sierra Nevada on Saturday, triggering thousands of power outages in California, closing a mountain highway at Lake Tahoe, and prompting an avalanche warning in the backcountry. The storm is expected to bring as much as 1.2 meters of snow to … continue reading -> “Storm Brings High Winds, Heavy Snow to Northern California”
The World Health Organization says the arrival of one of three trial Ebola vaccines in Uganda Thursday “marks a historical milestone in the global capacity to respond to outbreaks.” The 1,200 doses of the Sudan ebolavirus vaccine arrived “just 79 days after the outbreak was declared on 20 September,” the WHO said. “Uganda is showing … continue reading -> “WHO: Trial Sudan Ebolavirus Vaccine Marks Historical Milestone”
While China is beginning to loosen its COVID-19 restrictions, medical practitioners there are preparing for a possible onslaught of COVID cases, which analysts predict could be just weeks away. China had one of the toughest anti-COVID policies in the world. Its zero-COVID campaign put anyone with COVID in a hospital or locked them up in … continue reading -> “China Braces for Another COVID Wave”