Thursday, January 28, marked the 35th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger disaster. The craft exploded shortly after liftoff, killing all seven on board, including a schoolteacher who was NASA’s first citizen passenger. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has this story and more in the Week in Space. …
read moreCoffee shops in downtown Tripoli, Libya, are closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, so Mohammed Abdulwaheb, 37, got his ”to-go” and drank it in the parking lot. Libya and other countries had been subject to the Trump-era “travel ban” for four years before it was lifted last week. Back then, Abdulwaheb had wanted to attend graduate school in the United…
read moreOne of the consistent themes during Joe Biden’s campaign for president and since he won and was inaugurated has been a desire to find bipartisan agreement with Republicans on his agenda items.“The American system contemplates that there has to be cooperation to get most things done,” said Chris Edelson, assistant professor in the School of…
read moreSecretary of State Antony Blinken says the humanitarian crisis in Yemen — as well as U.S. relations with Russia and China — are among his immediate priorities. VOA Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington. …
read moreAs part of an ongoing project in Pakistan’s Sindh province, efforts are underway to integrate a uniquely nutritious and drought-resistant tree called Moringa, into the local diet to help alleviate malnutrition. Muhammad Saqib has details from Matiari in Sindh province in this report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard. …
read moreU.S. President Joe Biden is set to sign orders related to health care Thursday, including a special enrollment period for a health insurance marketplace that could help those who have lost coverage during the coronavirus pandemic. Employer-related coverage is the most common way Americans get health insurance, and with the pandemic putting more people out of…
read moreAustralia is failing to keep up with the growing threat of extreme weather as global warming increases the risk in areas once thought to be safe, according to a new report.Australia is a land well used to nature’s extremes. It is the world’s driest inhabited continent, where droughts can last for years. The Black Summer…
read moreWorld Health Organization investigators exited a two-week quarantine Thursday in Wuhan, China, to begin their work in search of the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.The international team boarded a bus after exiting their hotel in the afternoon.China, which for months rejected calls for an international probe, has pledged adequate access for the researchers. The team…
read moreOne of the consistent themes during Joe Biden’s campaign for president and since he won and was inaugurated has been a desire to find bipartisan agreement with Republicans on his agenda items.“The American system contemplates that there has to be cooperation to get most things done,” said Chris Edelson, assistant professor in the School of…
read moreSecretary of State Antony Blinken says the humanitarian crisis in Yemen — as well as U.S. relations with Russia and China — are among his immediate priorities. VOA Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington. …
read moreHuman Guinea worm cases in six African countries dropped to 27 in 2020, about 50% less than what was recorded the year before, despite COVID-19 challenges, the Carter Center announced Tuesday.Animal cases fell by 20% over the same period.“The numbers we are seeing are very encouraging,” said Jason Carter, chair of the center’s board of…
read morePresident Joe Biden signed a series of sweeping executive orders aiming to cut oil, gas and coal emissions to tackle climate change. Biden said he wants the U.S. to once again lead the global response to the climate crisis, a sharp departure from his predecessor. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story. …
read moreFacebook Inc’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday the company would no longer recommend civic and political groups to users of the platform.The social media company said in October that it was temporarily halting recommendations of political groups for U.S. users in the run-up to the presidential election. On Wednesday, Facebook said it would be…
read moreU.S. lawmakers Wednesday expressed concern about China’s growing influence at the United Nations during their questioning of President Joe Biden’s intended U.N. ambassador, seeking assurances that she would vigorously push back against Beijing’s “malign influence.” “Despite the fact that the United States is by far the largest donor to the United Nations, the Chinese Communist…
read moreFacebook’s profits surged in the final three months of last year as people enduring the holidays in a pandemic turned to the leading social network for work and pleasure, the company said Wednesday.Facebook reported a profit of $ 11.2 billion on revenue of $ 28 billion, increases of 53% and 33% when compared with the…
read moreA Polish law limiting abortion to cases of rape, incest and when the mother’s health or life is at risk was expected to go into effect Wednesday following an October court decision deeming abortions due to fetal defects illegal. The court’s decision set off protests across the mostly Roman Catholic country. More protests were expected as the…
read moreTwo NASA astronauts conducted a spacewalk Wednesday outside the International Space Station (ISS) to complete an antenna assembly and communications terminal. Flight Engineers Astronaut Mike Hopkins and Victor Glover are conducting the space walks, which will complete upgrades to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Columbus Module, among other tasks. A posting to the…
read moreAs countries deal with coronavirus vaccine access, supply and distribution difficulties, the world surpassed 100 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 with more than 2.1 million deaths. It took about 11 months for worldwide infections to reach 50 million, and three more months to hit 100 million. Five nations have suffered more than 100,000 deaths, including Britain, which…
read moreThe new top U.S. diplomat, Antony Blinken, is pledging to work with core allies and partners to confront complex global challenges, while investing in a diverse and inclusive American Foreign Service.Blinken was officially welcomed to the State Department on Wednesday as secretary of state by approximately 30 of the women and men representing a small cross-section…
read moreAuthorities in Moscow have lifted some coronavirus restrictions, including the overnight closure of bars, restaurants, and nightclubs, citing the improving health situation. Starting on Wednesday, businesses no longer are required to have at least 30 percent of employees working remotely, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on his blog, saying the “situation with the spread of the…
read moreSouth African President Cyril Ramaphosa is calling on wealthy countries to, in his words, stop hoarding coronavirus vaccines so that poorer countries can have access to them. Ramaphosa spoke at a virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum Tuesday, as VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports. …
read moreU.S. President Joe Biden is set to sign a series of actions Wednesday to combat climate change. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday that Biden believes climate change is one of the top crises to address during his time in office. Biden has appointed former Secretary of State John Kerry to serve as his climate envoy. Kerry was…
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