China has conditionally approved a second COVID-19 vaccine for public use.The National Medical Products Administration said in a statement Saturday that regulators approved the use of Sinovac Biotech Ltd.’s CoronaVac the day before.A vaccine developed by a Chinese institute affiliated with the state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) was approved for public use two months…
read moreTechnology that can predict bushfires is being developed in Australia, one of the world’s most fire-prone countries. It will offer real-time visual displays of how fires are likely to spread. It comes as dozens of homes already have been destroyed this year by fires on the outskirts of the Western Australian state capital, Perth.Bushfires are…
read moreAs the Trump administration was nearing the end of an unprecedented string of executions, 70% of death row inmates were sick with COVID-19. Guards were ill. Traveling prisons staff on the execution team had the virus. So did media witnesses, who may have unknowingly infected others when they returned home because they were never told…
read moreUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed Beijing on its treatment of Uighurs, Tibetans and Hong Kong in the first conversation between top officials of the two powers since President Joe Biden took office. “I made clear the U.S. will defend our national interests, stand up for our democratic values, and hold Beijing accountable for its…
read moreThe United States said Friday it intends to revoke the terrorist designation for Yemen’s Houthi movement in response to the country’s humanitarian crisis, reversing one of the most criticized last-minute decisions of the Trump administration.The reversal, confirmed by a State Department official, comes a day after President Joe Biden declared a halt to U.S. support…
read moreThe head of the World Health Organization called Friday for pharmaceutical companies to share manufacturing facilities to increase the production of COVID-19 vaccines.Speaking at an online news briefing from Geneva, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said what is needed is “a massive scale-up in production.”He noted that France’s pharmaceutical company Sanofi announced it would make its manufacturing…
read moreThe U.S. mid-Atlantic state of Virginia has taken another step toward abolishing the death penalty with the House voting Friday to end the practice, making it all but certain the action will become law.The House passage followed a Senate vote earlier in the week and came after Democratic Governor Ralph Northam said he would sign…
read moreThe World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday that 75% of all COVID-19 vaccinations worldwide have been given in just 10 countries, while nearly 130 nations have not given a single vaccination.At the agency’s regular briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that, globally, the number of vaccinations has now overtaken the number…
read moreAs more people get the COVID-19 vaccine, health care experts are tackling the issue of how someone can prove they’ve been vaccinated. Lesia Bakalets has more in this story narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Sergii Dogotar …
read moreDonald Trump has resigned from the Screen Actors Guild after the union threatened to expel him for his role in the Capitol riot in January.In a letter dated Thursday and addressed to SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris, Trump said he was resigning from the union that he had been a member of since 1989. “I no longer wish…
read moreThe Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Friday that there are more than 104 million global GOVID-19 cases and 2.2 million deaths from the virus. The United States remains at the top of the list as the location with the most infections, with more than 26 million cases, followed by India with 10.8 million and…
read moreDespite its world-class medical system and its vaunted Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. fell behind in the race to detect dangerous coronavirus mutations. And it’s only now beginning to catch up.The problem has not been a shortage of technology or expertise. Rather, scientists say, it’s an absence of national leadership and coordination,…
read morePresident Joe Biden’s drive to enact a $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill gained momentum early on Friday as the U.S. Senate narrowly approved a budget blueprint allowing Democrats to push the legislation through Congress in coming weeks with or without Republican support. At the end of approximately 15 hours of debate and back-to-back votes…
read moreDespite its world-class medical system and its vaunted Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. fell behind in the race to detect dangerous coronavirus mutations. And it’s only now beginning to catch up.The problem has not been a shortage of technology or expertise. Rather, scientists say, it’s an absence of national leadership and coordination,…
read moreDrugmaker Johnson & Johnson said Thursday it is seeking approval for its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.The FDA said it has scheduled a Feb. 26 meeting of its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee to discuss an emergency use authorization for the company.In January, Johnson & Johnson released a…
read morePresident Joe Biden visited the State Department Thursday and outlined his vision for U.S. foreign policy, ordering an end to U.S. support for offensive military operations in Yemen and an overall shift toward diplomacy. VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. Producer: Kim Weeks …
read moreU.S. lawmakers say the threat of domestic extremism remains high almost one month after pro-Trump protesters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol, resulting in the deaths of five people. As VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, those threats are expected to continue well past the Senate impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump. Camera: Adam Greenbaum…
read moreThe U.S. House of Representatives passed a Democratic-supported resolution Thursday to reprimand a Republican lawmaker who encouraged violence against her Democratic colleagues.Eleven Republicans joined Democrats in taking a public stand, 230-199, against Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene after House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy declined to reprimand her Wednesday.FILE – House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of CaliforniaPassage…
read moreFar beneath the ocean surface, a cacophony of industrial noise is disrupting marine animals’ ability to mate, feed and even evade predators, scientists warn. With rumbling ships, hammering oil drills and booming seismic survey blasts, humans have drastically altered the underwater soundscape – in some cases deafening or disorienting whales, dolphins and other marine mammals that…
read morePresident Joe Biden promised Thursday that the United States would sharply increase its engagement around the world during his White House tenure, ending what he contended was the “past few years of neglect and abuse” of foreign relations by former President Donald Trump.“America is back,” Biden declared at the State Department in his first major…
read moreAs African nations wait for hundreds of millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses to arrive, health officials are concerned about a general rise in coronavirus cases and deaths, especially in Southern Africa. The stories, reported in local media and highlighted by aid groups, are chilling. In the tiny kingdom of eSwatini, medical aid group Doctors…
read morePresident Joe Biden on Thursday called for a confrontation of the “political extremism” that inspired the U.S. Capitol riot and appealed for collective strength during such turbulent times in remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast, a Washington tradition that asks political combatants to set aside their differences for one morning. The breakfast has sparked controversy…
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