Honeybees in Bolivia’s mountains are in trouble. Their natural habitat is disappearing, being replaced by an environment they cannot call home. One couple in one of the country’s forest regions is fighting to save them. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports. …
read moreThe unrelenting increase in COVID-19 infections in Spain following the holiday season is again straining hospitals, threatening the mental health of doctors and nurses who have been at the forefront of the pandemic for nearly a year.In Barcelona’s Hospital del Mar, the critical care capacity has more than doubled and is nearly full, with 80%…
read moreThe world is on the verge of reaching 100 million COVID-19 infections, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center statistics. More than 2 million people have died from the virus.The coronavirus continues to create an unyielding and staggering path of illness and death across the United States. Johns Hopkins reported early Sunday that the U.S.…
read moreDisneyland Park in Anaheim, California, will become the first mass vaccination site for the COVID-19 vaccine distribution in Orange County. Angelina Bagdasaryan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.Camera: Vazgen Varzhabetyan. …
read moreIt’s taken only days for Democrats gauging how far President Joe Biden’s bold immigration proposal can go in Congress to acknowledge that if anything emerges, it will likely be significantly more modest.As they brace to tackle a politically flammable issue that’s resisted major congressional action since the 1980s, Democrats are using words like “aspirational” to…
read moreThe local government in Hong Kong said Saturday that it had locked down one of the territory’s most heavily populated areas to complete mandatory COVID-19 testing of its entire population.Hong Kong’s Special Administrative Region government said the lockdown was imposed in parts of the Jordan District to test nearly 10,000 residents within 48 hours, paving…
read moreProminent Iran-based and Iranian diaspora critics of Tehran’s Islamist rulers have differing expectations about how far U.S. President Joe Biden will go to implement his promised new approach to dealing with Iran’s objectionable behavior.Biden, who took office on Wednesday, has vowed to use diplomacy in coordination with U.S. allies to try to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive…
read moreA surge in coronavirus cases in Zimbabwe has included the deaths of two Cabinet ministers in 48 hours. The government announced Friday night that Transport Minister Joel Matiza had died of COVID-19. On Wednesday, the president’s office said Sibusiso Busi Moyo, Zimbabwe’s minister of foreign affairs and international trade, had died of complications related to COVID-19.Pallbearers…
read moreThe world is steadily inching up to 100 million COVID cases. Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Saturday there are more than 98 million global COVID infections and more than 2 million deaths.“For the moment, the virus still has its hand in the game, but we still have our two best players: vaccination and…
read moreProminent Iran-based and Iranian diaspora critics of Tehran’s Islamist rulers have differing expectations about how far U.S. President Joe Biden will go to implement his promised new approach to dealing with Iran’s objectionable behavior.Biden, who took office on Wednesday, has vowed to use diplomacy in coordination with U.S. allies to try to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive…
read moreThe U.S. House of Representatives is set to send an article of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate on Monday, accusing the former president of inciting an insurrection during the Jan. 6 mob storming of the Capitol. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this story on why Democrats are still keen to pursue impeachment…
read moreTwitter said Friday it has permanently banned an account that some in Iran believe is linked to the office of the country’s supreme leader after a posting that seemed to threaten former President Donald Trump.In the image posted by the suspect account late Thursday, Trump is shown playing golf in the shadow of a giant…
read moreGermany surpassed 50,000 deaths from COVID-19 Friday, while Europe’s vaccination effort was dealt another setback when drugmaker AstraZeneca announced a slower rollout than planned because of production issues.German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Friday that he would begin leaving a light in a window at his official residence, Bellevue Palace, to remember those killed by the…
read moreA raging pandemic, tumultuous presidential election and deadly Capitol insurrection have combined to make the annual tradition of Dry January less than air-tight for some.Not Sarah Arvizo. She considers it her easiest yet.As much as the 32-year-old Manhattanite would love to partake in a little “vinopeutics,” she said the abstinence from alcohol period she’s participated…
read moreTexas on Friday moved to stop President Joe Biden from allowing a 100-day moratorium on deportations, bringing one of the first lawsuits against his new administration.The lawsuit seeks a halt to the deportation moratorium “for certain noncitizens” that was to begin Friday. Biden has signed a raft of executive orders, including one revoking former President…
read moreU.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday will send an article of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate, Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Friday, beginning a trial at which the former president could be convicted of inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.”There will be a trial,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.…
read moreThe World Health Organization (WHO) Friday formally welcomed back the United States, after President Joe Biden signed an executive order this week to retain U.S. membership. Speaking at the agency’s regular briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted the United States was a founding member of the organization in 1948 and has long…
read moreU.S. President Joe Biden got a needed boost early Friday, with lawmakers giving final approval to his secretary of defense, who becomes only the second Cabinet member to be confirmed the administration seeks to push back against key adversaries, including Russia.The Senate voted 93–2 to confirm retired General Lloyd Austin, making him the first African…
read moreDespite the health and security concerns that kept the usual large crowds away from this week’s swearing-in of a new American president, one Washington community was well represented at the solemn ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol – the diplomatic corps.For many of them, the ceremony was a moving reaffirmation of the strength…
read moreGerman President Frank-Walter Steinmeier says he will begin leaving a light in a window at his official residence, Bellevue Palace, to remember those killed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Steinmeier has called on Germans to do the same as a remembrance that “the dead in the corona pandemic are not just statistics for us.” He added, “Even…
read moreNew coronavirus variants appearing in Britain, South Africa, Brazil and elsewhere have experts concerned. Not only do they spread faster than existing strains, it’s possible that vaccines against them might not work as well, though that hasn’t been a problem so far. Here’s how these variants are different and why scientists think vaccines will still…
read moreU.S. president Joe Biden is expected to sign at least two executive orders Friday aimed at providing financial and food security to families impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The newly inaugurated president will order the Department of Agriculture to expand benefits in the country’s food program in one of the orders. Many people who have been laid off from their jobs because of the pandemic have sought help finding food.In addition, the new president is seeking a 15% increase in a school meals program that began after the pandemic. Biden officials say the…
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