Scientists have observed the biggest supernova – stellar explosion – ever detected, the violent death of a huge star up to 100 times more massive than our sun in a faraway galaxy.The supernova, releasing twice as much energy as any other stellar explosion observed to date, occurred about 4.6 billion light years from Earth in…
read moreDr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said Tuesday the U.S. does not yet have the critical testing and tracing procedures needed to begin reopening the nation’s economy, adding a dose of caution to increasingly optimistic projections from the White House. “We have to have something in place that is efficient and…
read moreThe WHO said its emergency committee would meet Tuesday to discuss whether the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo still constitutes an international health emergency, after fresh cases were detected. The meeting comes a day after DR Congo had been expected to announce that the outbreak in the east of the…
read moreFormer U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has won last week’s Democratic primary in the state of Wisconsin. Results released Monday showed Biden capturing about twice the votes of Senator Bernie Sanders, his final opponent in a once very crowded field contending to face off against Republican President Donald Trump in the November general election. Wisconsin turned out to be the…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump is asserting that he, not the states, has “the ultimate authority” to decide when to lift stay-at-home directives and reopen the country’s economy. The president “calls the shots,” Trump said in a reply to a question from VOA about whether consortiums of states developing their own reopening plans pose a challenge to…
read moreU.S. lawmakers and rights groups are raising concerns about privacy protections and civil liberties as health authorities study China, South Korea and other nations for insights into deploying big data in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. So far, the United States has made limited use of available data to fight the outbreak. Instead of using cell phone location data to track down individuals exposed to the…
read moreVermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday formally endorsed his erstwhile rival, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, for U.S. president in the November national election against Republican President Donald Trump. “We’ve got to make Trump a one-term president and we need you in the White House,” Sanders told Biden in joint virtual appearance on a Biden webcast. “I will do all that I can to see…
read moreMore than 3,600 deaths nationwide have been linked to coronavirus outbreaks in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, an alarming rise in just the past two weeks, according to the latest count by The Associated Press. Because the federal government has not been releasing a count of its own, the AP has kept its own…
read morePresident Donald Trump said Monday he would soon decide whether to reopen the United States to commerce as health experts voiced optimism that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic in the country may soon be over.In the U.S., 42 of the 50 state governors have imposed stay-at-home edicts as the virus swept through the country.…
read moreThe coronavirus outbreak could reach its peak in the United States this week, a top U.S. health official said on Monday, pointing to signs of stabilization across the country. The United States, with the world’s third-largest population, has recorded more fatalities from COVID-19 than any other country, more than 22,000 as of Monday morning…
read moreCrowds swarm Stockholm’s waterfront, with some people sipping cocktails in the sun. In much of the world, this sort of gathering would be frowned upon or even banned.Not in Sweden.It doesn’t worry Anders Tegnell, the country’s chief epidemiologist and top strategist in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.The 63-year-old has become a household name in…
read moreA former aide to Joe Biden is accusing the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee of sexually assaulting her during the early 1990s when he was a senator. Biden’s campaign denies the charges.In two recent interviews with The Associated Press, Tara Reade alleged the assault occurred in the basement of a Capitol Hill office building in the…
read moreSocial restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus could have saved lives if they’d been started earlier, and when they’re eased new cases are certain to arise, said the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, seeming to draw the ire of President Donald Trump. Trump, who has been chafing at criticism…
read moreElection officials in the Midwestern U.S. state of Wisconsin are set to release results Monday from last week’s Democratic primary vote. The figures were delayed by a legal battle that saw the governor try to postpone voting due to the coronavirus outbreak, only to have his decision overturned by the state’s supreme court. Those who opposed going ahead with…
read moreBy the time President Donald Trump first spoke publicly about the coronavirus, it may already have been too late.Interviewed at Davos, a gathering of global elites in the Swiss Alps, the president on Jan. 22 played down the threat posed by the respiratory virus from China, which had just reached American shores in the form…
read moreTwo U.S. astronauts say it’s hard to comprehend the changes on Earth that have occurred due to the coronavirus pandemic, as they prepare to return from the International Space Station.The astronauts, Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir, have been in space for more than half a year, having left Earth before anyone had ever heard of…
read moreThe internet is playing a special role in the coronavirus pandemic, allowing billions of people sheltered at home to communicate. A global event is underway online to seek creative ways to deal with the crisis. Mike O’Sullivan has more on the Hack the Crisis movement and its worldwide Global Hack this weekend. …
read moreBy the time the towering Saturn V rocket carrying the Apollo 13 crew left the launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, thundering into the skies on April 11, 1970, traveling to the moon seemed about as interesting to the general public as commuting to work.It was, after all, America’s third mission aimed at landing on the…
read moreAs the world fights the coronavirus pandemic, there are questions about whether restrictions to contain the virus are leading to cleaner air and skies. Some say there is a correlation between lockdowns and pollution levels, but others disagree. VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo reports. …
read moreWith billions locked down at home by COVID-19, the internet is a lifeline, allowing people to work, study and share ideas online.It also presents opportunities, say the organizers of the Global Hack, a virtual gathering of hundreds of thousands of people in 50 nations taking place Thursday through Saturday, April 9-11. Prizes for the best ideas for new platforms, applications and…
read moreA watchdog has found that the Treasury Department appropriately handled Congress’ request for President Donald Trump’s tax returns, which Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has refused to provide.But the acting inspector general for Treasury, Rich Delmar, also said he had no opinion on whether the advice Mnuchin followed — which came from Justice Department attorneys —…
read moreApple and Google on Friday launched a major joint effort to leverage smartphone technology to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.New software the companies plan to add to phones would make it easier to use Bluetooth wireless technology to track down people who may have been infected by coronavirus carriers. The idea is to help national governments…
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