As the world braces for more intense heat waves fueled by climate change this summer, urban centers across the world are unprepared to face these brutal natural disasters.Several countries in the FILE – In this June 26, 2021, photo, paramedics respond to a heat exposure call at a cooling center during a heat wave in…
read moreThe first person charged under Hong Kong’s national security law was found guilty on Tuesday of terrorism and inciting secession in a landmark case with long-term implications for how the legislation reshapes the city’s common law traditions. An alternative charge of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm was not considered. The High Court will hear…
read moreRetired U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican known as a consensus-builder in an increasingly polarized Washington, has died. He was 77. Enzi died Monday surrounded by family and friends, former spokesman Max D’Onofrio said. Enzi had been hospitalized with a broken neck and ribs after a bicycle accident near Gillette on Friday. He was…
read moreChinese companies with shares traded on American stock exchanges are facing significant challenges from political leaders in both Washington and Beijing. New regulations in both countries will make it much harder for other companies to follow in their footsteps, restricting access to billions of the dollars in funding that helped grow internet retail giant Alibaba,…
read moreHearings begin Tuesday in the House of Representatives for a select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. VOA’s Steve Redisch explains the committee’s work and the political controversy surrounding it.Camera: Mary Cieslak …
read morePakistan said Monday it “amicably” repatriated dozens of Afghan soldiers and police personnel to authorities in Afghanistan a day after they had crossed the border, apparently fleeing advances by Taliban insurgents. Stepped up Taliban attacks in recent weeks have forced hundreds of pro-Afghan government forces to take shelter in Tajikistan, Iran, China and Pakistan,…
read moreHaitian Foreign Minister Claude Joseph says an apology by the head of a South Korean television station after the broadcaster portrayed Haiti using stereotypical images “didn’t go far enough.” Munhwa Broadcasting Corp. (MBC) used video footage of a riot in Haiti as Haitian athletes marched in the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony. The broadcaster is under fire for its use of stereotypical images…
read moreA group of centrist U.S. senators remained deadlocked Monday on trying to reach agreement on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package to repair the country’s deteriorating roads and bridges and boost funding for broadband internet service.The Republican and Democratic lawmakers had hoped to finalize their plan but still had not reached agreement for specific funding totals…
read moreWithin months, U.S. forces in Iraq will end their combat duties there, President Joe Biden announced on Monday during a White House meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. In response to reporters’ questions in the Oval Office, Biden, alongside the Iraqi leader, said the new role for American troops in Iraq will be ”to…
read moreSomalia’s indirect election of lawmakers, expected to begin Sunday, was delayed once again as regional parliaments were not ready. No new date was set for the Somali upper house elections. Authorities said the vote did not take place because the five state leaders failed to submit a list of the final candidates. They also said…
read moreThe number of known deaths from COVID-19 has passed 4 million, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking both cases and deaths. In the past 100 years, there have been flu and cholera epidemics, the AIDS epidemic and multiple other diseases around the world. VOA’s Carol Pearson says the latest research shows many epidemics…
read moreWith Europe’s rise in coronavirus infections accelerating, more governments are seeking ways to force the unvaccinated, mainly in their twenties and thirties, to get inoculated, and avoid a return to lockdowns. Italy and Britain have followed France’s lead in planning or imposing restrictions on the unvaccinated. The moves prompted street protests in both countries Sunday…
read moreTunisian troops blocked the head of parliament from entering the building early Monday, hours after President Kais Saied announced he had fired Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and suspended parliament for 30 days. Saied said he was acting in response to the country’s economic woes and political deadlock and added that the country’s constitution gave him that authority. Rached Ghannouchi, the parliament speaker…
read morePolice in Australia have warned that more anti-lockdown protests won’t be tolerated after thousands of people defied COVID-19 public health orders in Sydney Saturday. Health officials fear the illegal demonstration could become a super-spreader event as an outbreak of the delta variant in Sydney gets worse. The hunt for the ringleaders of Saturday’s anti-lockdown demonstrations in Sydney is…
read moreSpeaker Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, on Sunday named a second Republican, Congressman Adam Kinzinger, to the select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by hundreds of supporters of then-President Donald Trump. Kinzinger, an Illinois lawmaker, joins Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney, both of…
read moreAfter much lobbying, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef will not appear on a list of “in danger” World Heritage Sites. Environmentalists call this a “terrible” decision fueled by political pressure. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports. …
read moreDr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, sounded new alarms Sunday about the surge in coronavirus cases in the country, especially in regions where people have been resistant to getting vaccinated even as the delta variant spreads rapidly.“We’re going in the wrong direction,” Fauci said on CNN’s “State of the Union” show. “Fifty…
read moreZimbabwe on Sunday received one million SINOVAC vaccines it bought from China as the African country battles to meet the demand for the COVID-19 jabs. Zimbabweans want to get vaccinated to beat a third wave facing the country. After the arrival of the doses from China on Sunday, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube told reporters that…
read moreExperts have said that rare footage of an endangered marsupial in outback Australia is a sign that native animals are beginning to recover from years of feral cat predation. Feral cats threaten the survival of over 100 native species in Australia, according to federal environment officials. The opportunistic predators have caused the extinction of some…
read moreOn the eve of the funeral for slain Haitian president, Jovenel Moïse, host Carol Castiel and assistant producer at the Current Affairs Desk, Sydney Sherry, speak with Haiti expert Georges Fauriol, senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and fellow at the Caribbean Policy Consortium, about the chaos following Moïse’s assassination,…
read moreTens of thousands of people protested in Australia, France, Italy and Greece on Saturday, sparking clashes with police as they railed against COVID-19 measures and government sanctions against the unvaccinated aimed at prodding more people into getting their shots.Dozens of protesters were arrested after an unauthorized march in Sydney, with the city’s police minister calling…
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