The World Health Organization warns a sharp rise in measles cases in Afghanistan is threatening the lives and well-being of millions of malnourished children. More than 35,300 suspected cases of measles and 156 deaths have been reported in Afghanistan from January 2021 through January of this year. What is setting off alarm bells ringing is…
read moreAt the Tokyo Olympics, mental health was the breakout star. Amplified by some of the world’s top athletes, it shook up those Games and made everyone take notice. Six months later, in Beijing, the conversation has evolved: The subject pops up regularly, but no one is shocked when it does. Many athletes have spoken about…
read moreNASA’s new space telescope has captured its first starlight and taken a selfie of its giant, gold mirror. All 18 segments of the primary mirror on the James Webb Space Telescope seem to be working properly 1½ months into the mission, officials said Friday. The telescope’s first target was a bright star 258…
read moreThe COVID-19 infection rate for Africa may be as much as seven times higher than reported, while death counts could be two to three times higher, according to the World Health Organization’s regional director for Africa. “We’re very much aware that our surveillance systems problems that we had on the continent, with access to testing…
read moreTrucker-led protests against coronavirus restrictions in Canada shut down another U.S. border crossing Thursday, as copycat movements gathered steam overseas and Washington called on its northern neighbor to use federal powers to end the blockades. The border obstructions have already impacted business, with the key Ambassador Bridge linking Ontario and Detroit out of service for…
read moreFacing growing pressure from impatient state governors, the Biden administration acknowledged for the first time that it is developing plans to guide the country away from the pandemic’s emergency phase toward a more relaxed national response, including ending the federal recommendation for wearing masks in most indoor settings. “We are internally discussing, of course, what…
read moreCongress on Thursday gave final approval to legislation guaranteeing that people who experience sexual harassment at work can seek recourse in the courts, a milestone for the #MeToo movement that prompted a national reckoning on the way sexual misconduct claims are handled. The measure, which is expected to be signed by President Joe Biden, bars…
read moreSeveral senior members of President Joe Biden’s administration led the charge Thursday for a significant practical expansion of the nationwide use of electric vehicles. The federal government is “teaming up with states and the private sector to build a nationwide network of EV chargers by 2030 to help create jobs, fight the climate change crisis,…
read moreFrench researcher Luc Montagnier, who won a Nobel Prize in 2008 for discovering HIV and more recently spread false claims about the coronavirus, has died at age 89, local government officials in France said. Montagnier died Tuesday at the American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a western suburb of the capital, the area’s city hall…
read moreThe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Thursday issued a draft of revised guidelines for prescribing opioid painkillers, urging doctors to be flexible and individualize their use of the drugs to the needs of the patient. The CDC’s current guidelines were issued in 2016, largely in response to the over-prescribing of opioids…
read moreFrance will build at least six new nuclear reactors in the decades to come, President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, placing nuclear power at the heart of his country’s drive for carbon neutrality by 2050. Macron said the new plants would be built and operated by state-controlled energy provider EDF and that tens of billions…
read moreCameroonian health authorities say at least 1,300 cholera cases have been detected, with nearly three dozen people dying as a result of the outbreak within the past two weeks. Cameroon’s Public Health Ministry says water shortages and poor hygiene have spread the bacterial disease throughout half the country. Cameroon says the lives of thousands of…
read moreA new study says 1 in 10 Australian health care workers has had thoughts of suicide or self-harm during the pandemic. The authors of the Australian Frontline Health Workers survey believe it is the world’s largest study of suicidal thoughts among health care workers. It canvassed the opinions of 8,000 staff, in a range of…
read moreLegislation has advanced in the U.S. House of Representatives to impose sanctions on Ethiopians committing human rights abuses, blocking food aid delivery, or taking other actions that are worsening the country’s 15-month crisis. It would also sanction those providing training, weapons, or financial support to those involved in the conflict. The proposed Ethiopian Stabilization, Peace…
read moreThe COVID pandemic exposed stark vaccine inequities between high- and low-income nations and underscored Africa’s dependence on outside countries for jabs. However, a new initiative in Senegal hopes to reduce that inequity Annika Hammerschlag reports from Dakar, Senegal. Camera: Annika Hammerschlag …
read moreHealth care workers in Somalia suffer from high rates of anxiety, depression and stress because of their work with COVID-19 cases, a new study finds. The study was presented at a health research conference in the Somali town of Garowe last week. Initial findings recorded a high prevalence of anxiety in the workforce at 69.3%,…
read moreAs if we didn’t have enough to worry about: Some scientists are warning about the inevitable catastrophic effects on modern life from a super-sized solar storm. These outbursts from the sun, which eject energy in the form of magnetic fields and billions of tons of plasma gas known as “flares,” are unpredictable and difficult to…
read moreThe director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that even though she was encouraged by dropping COVID-19 hospitalizations and case rates, the pandemic was still not at the point at which the agency could recommend dropping nationwide indoor mask requirements. During a White House COVID-19 response team briefing, CDC Director…
read moreSpaceX says a geomagnetic storm brought down 40 satellites launched last Thursday as part of its Starlink satellite internet service. In a release posted to the company’s website, the private space company said the satellites were among 49 Starlink satellites launched from the Kennedy Space Center, and that they were deployed to their intended orbit…
read moreWorld Health Organization officials say insecurity and bureaucratic difficulties continue to prevent medical supplies and other crucial relief from reaching millions of beleaguered civilians in conflict-ridden northern Ethiopia. An estimated 9.4 million people in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray, Amhara, and Afar regions are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance. Millions are suffering from severe food shortages,…
read moreCongress would lift onerous budget requirements that have helped push the Postal Service deeply into debt and would require it to continue delivering mail six days per week under bipartisan legislation the House approved Tuesday. The election-year bill, coming at a time of widespread complaints about slower mail service, would also require the Postal…
read morePresident Joe Biden on Tuesday announced that an Australian company that makes chargers for electric vehicles will build a manufacturing facility in Tennessee, while reiterating his commitment to make the U.S. government’s fleet of cars electric. The new plant will produce up to 30,000 electric vehicle chargers per year and create 500 local jobs, according…
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