The World Health Organization’s top vaccine expert says the agency needs to evaluate coronavirus vaccines and their immune responses based on more than just a press release.Kate O’Brien, WHO’s director of immunization, vaccines and biologicals, said at a press briefing in Geneva on Friday that it was still not clear if vaccines against COVID-19 were…
read moreA cyclone that hit parts of Somalia this week killed eight people and displaced thousands, flooded farmlands and could worsen a locust plague, an official and U.N. agencies said.The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said Thursday that Tropical Cyclone Gati made landfall in the semiautonomous Puntland region Sunday and subsided Tuesday,…
read moreThe Trump administration moved forward Friday on removing long-standing federal protection for the nation’s birds, over objections from former federal officials and many scientists that billions more birds will likely perish as a result.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published its take on the proposed rollback in the Federal Register. It’s a final step that…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s legal team suffered yet another defeat in court Friday as a federal appeals court in Philadelphia roundly rejected its latest effort to challenge the state’s election results.Trump’s lawyers vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court despite the judge’s assessment that the “campaign’s claims have no merit.”“Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of…
read moreWhen a Senegalese woman lost her arm to cancer, she viewed her new reality not as a disability but a problem that needed fixing. Allison Lékogo Fernandes reports from the capital in this reported narrated by Carol Guensberg. Camera: Allison Lékogo Fernandes Producer: Allison Lékogo Fernandes …
read moreBrazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Thursday he would refuse a coronavirus vaccine, the most recent of his vaccine-skeptic statements.”I’m telling you, I’m not going to take it. It’s my right,” he said in remarks aired over several social media platforms.Brazil, with more than 6 million cases of COVID-19, is behind only the United States and…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he will leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden, the closest he has come to conceding the Nov. 3 election, even as he repeated his unfounded claims of massive voter fraud.Speaking to reporters on the Thanksgiving holiday, Republican Trump said if Democrat Biden,…
read moreCanada’s economy could rebound faster than expected if consumer spending jumps in the wake of a successful coronavirus vaccination effort, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said Thursday.On the other hand, if the economy weakens amid a second wave of infections, Macklem indicated the central bank could, if necessary, cut already record-low interest rates.In late…
read moreDespite the controversial nature of many of Donald Trump’s presidential pardons, including that of his associate, Michael Flynn, this week, Trump has granted clemency far less than any of his predecessors in the past century, according to a U.S. research group. FILE – Former national security adviser Michael Flynn, right, and his lawyer, Sidney Powell, leaves the federal courthouse in…
read moreThe U.N. Program on HIV and AIDS warns that stigma and discrimination against marginalized populations are driving both the AIDS crisis and COVID-19 and must be tackled and eliminated to end what officials call the dual, colliding pandemics. In a report released in advance of World AIDS Day on December 1, the U.N. agency called on…
read morePresident-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been described as a man of few words, direct, and compassionate. Alejandro Mayorkas, a Cuban American and former Obama administration official, would be the first Latino, if confirmed by the Senate, to lead DHS, an agency created after the September…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump pardoned Michael Flynn, the national security adviser from the early days of his administration, putting an end to criminal proceedings Trump had called unfair while drawing sharp criticism from Democrats.“It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon,” Trump tweeted Wednesday. “Have…
read moreAs a second wave of coronavirus approaches, Africa has a plan, says the continent’s top health official. In recent weeks, the continent has started to distribute 2.7 million rapid antigen tests. By mid-2021, health officials hope to vaccinate 60 percent of the continent’s population with one of the several promising new vaccines. Now, says Dr.…
read moreAs coronavirus cases surge again nationwide the Supreme Court late Wednesday barred New York from enforcing certain limits on attendance at churches and synagogues in areas designated as hard hit by the virus. The justices split 5-4 with new Justice Amy Coney Barrett in the majority. It was the conservative’s first publicly discernible vote as…
read moreThere is rising optimism in India about getting access to a COVID-19 vaccine after Britain-based pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced clinical trials of its vaccine candidate have shown it prevented infections. As Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, an Indian vaccine manufacturing company is already making the vaccine, even though final approvals have still to come. Experts say this could…
read moreNational reading and math tests long used to track what U.S. students know in those subjects are being postponed from next year to 2022 over concerns about whether testing would be feasible or produce valid results during the coronavirus pandemic, the National Center for Education Statistics announced Wednesday.The biennial National Assessment of Educational Progress evaluations…
read moreU.S. President-elect Joe Biden discussed the coronavirus pandemic Wednesday and the “shared sacrifices” Americans are making ahead of Thursday’s annual Thanksgiving holiday.Millions of Americans typically gather with family and friends, many traveling long distances to do so. But this year, with COVID-19 infections spiking across the country, the federal government has urged people to stay…
read morePresident Donald Trump pardoned former national security adviser Michael Flynn on Wednesday, taking direct aim in the final days of his administration at a Russia investigation that he has long insisted was motivated by political bias. “It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon,” Trump tweeted.…
read moreU.S. President-elect Joe Biden is set to discuss the coronavirus pandemic Wednesday and the “shared sacrifices” Americans are making ahead of Thursday’s annual Thanksgiving holiday.Millions of Americans typically gather with family and friends, many traveling long distances to do so. But this year, with COVID-19 infections spiking across the country, the federal government has urged…
read moreMillions of Americans have resumed traveling this year to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends -this despite a warning from the Centers for Disease Control to stay home. VOA’s Carol Pearson has the latest. …
read moreU.S. President-elect Joe Biden is set to discuss the coronavirus pandemic and the holiday season in an address Wednesday. The speech comes a day before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, a time when millions of Americans typically gather with family, many traveling in order to do so. But this year, with COVID-19 infections spiking across the country, the federal government…
read moreChina is stepping up virus inspections on imported food packaging as cooler weather brings new waves of coronavirus infections in several overseas countries, Chinese officials said Wednesday. Packaging is “not exempt” from carrying the virus, deputy director of the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center Li Ning told reporters. While the coronavirus positivity rate for…
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