A bay-breasted warbler weighs about the same as four pennies, but twice a year makes an extraordinary journey. The tiny songbird flies nearly 4,000 miles (6,437 kilometers) between Canada’s spruce forests and its wintering grounds in northern South America. “Migratory birds are these little globetrotters,” said Jill Deppe, the senior director of the migratory bird…
read moreMarking World Patient Safety Day, Saturday, the World Health Organization warns unsafe medication practices and errors are a leading cause of avoidable harm in world health care systems. The WHO is calling for urgent action to stop the medication errors putting millions at risk of severe harm or even death. The agency’s quality of care…
read moreTwo Chinese astronauts went on a spacewalk Saturday from a new space station that is due to be completed later this year. Cai Xuzhe and Chen Dong’s installed pumps, a handle to open the hatch door from outside in an emergency, and a foot-stop to affix an astronaut’s feet to a robotic arm, state media…
read moreAt a gathering of current and former U.S. officials and private-sector executives Friday in Washington, concern was rampant that the United States has fallen behind China in the development of several key technologies, and that it faces an uncertain future in which other countries could challenge its historic dominance in the development of cutting-edge communications…
read moreSouth African President Cyril Ramaphosa made his first visit to the White House on Friday, where he and US President Joe Biden discussed global security, climate change, trade, food security and health — and African nations’ reluctance to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House. Video editor: Kim Weeks…
read moreResearch to develop a pill form of insulin is showing promise at the University of British Columbia in western Canada. The goal is to eliminate the need for diabetics to inject themselves with the lifesaving medication. According to the World Health Organization, there are an estimated 422 million diabetics worldwide. The disease claims 1.5 million…
read moreA U.N. report warns the right to privacy is under siege as an increasing number of governments are using spyware to keep tabs on their people. The U.N. human rights office said urgent steps are needed to address the spread of spyware. It noted many governments are using modern digital networked technologies to monitor, control…
read moreThe World Health Organization has declared an end to Ghana’s outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus after more than six weeks without any new cases. Three cases of the virus were recorded in the West African country in late June, killing two people. Marburg is a highly infectious viral hemorrhagic fever in the same…
read moreMount Everest base camp, a sprawling tent village that is home away from home during climbing season for hundreds of aspiring summiteers and support staff, may soon be on the move. Nepalese officials say they are considering the move to a lower elevation because the Khumbu glacier on which the camp sits is being melted…
read moreMajor tech companies on Thursday committed to taking fresh steps to combat online extremism by removing more violent content and promoting media literacy with young users, as part of a White House summit on fighting hate-fueled violence. Platforms such as Alphabet’s YouTube and Meta’s Facebook have come under fire for years from critics who say…
read moreThe 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s “moonshot” speech, which rallied a nation behind NASA. Plus, President Biden calls for a moonshot of his own, and a private spaceflight company suffers its first failure. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. …
read moreRussia’s war on Ukraine has seen scores of hospitals and clinics bombed, and frequent power cuts that can turn off lifesaving machines. Medical aid groups are using a Kenyan-manufactured breathing device for premature babies that works without electricity, helping save vulnerable newborns in countries affected by conflict. Victoria Amunga reports from Nairobi, Kenya. Camera –…
read moreIndia’s ambitions to create a domestic semiconductor manufacturing capability got a boost with this week’s announcement of a $ 19.5 billion investment by Taiwanese electronic company Foxconn and local conglomerate Vedanta. The companies will set up manufacturing facilities for producing the chips in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, Gujarat. The plants are expected to…
read moreWith monkeypox cases subsiding in Europe and parts of North America, many scientists say now is the time to prioritize stopping the virus in Africa. In July, the U.N. health agency designated monkeypox as a global emergency and appealed to the world to support African countries so that the catastrophic vaccine inequity that plagued the…
read moreNewly released information from the unsealed portions of the legal documents the FBI submitted justifying its reasons to secure a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate shows the Justice Department on June 24 subpoenaed the Trump Organization, demanding video from surveillance cameras located near the estate’s storage room where dozens of boxes…
read moreThe National Archives is still not certain that it has custody of all former President Donald Trump’s presidential records even after the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago club, a congressional committee said in a letter Tuesday. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform revealed that staff at the National Archives on an August 24 call…
read moreA second U.S. death was linked to monkeypox on Tuesday as health authorities published a study describing how two previously healthy young men experienced inflammation of the brain and spinal cord as a result of the virus. There have been nearly 22,000 U.S. cases in the current global outbreak, which began in May, but new…
read moreNASA has so far been unable to launch its first Artemis mission, bringing added scrutiny to a program that is billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule in returning humans to the moon. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports that despite scrubbed launches, the U.S. space agency hopes to get the Artemis program off the…
read moreOn the eve of her first day in Congress, Mary Peltola stood outside what was once the office of the late Alaska Representative Don Young, swarmed by the local and national press, and marveled at the moment. “I really hope that Don is getting a kick out of this,” Peltola told The Associated Press in…
read moreU.S. senators expressed empathy with Twitter’s former security chief during a hearing on Tuesday as he outlined serious concerns about the influential social media platform. “It doesn’t matter who has keys if you don’t have any locks on the doors. And this kind of vulnerability is not in the abstract. It’s not far-fetched to say…
read moreHoping to witness the launch of NASA’s Artemis 1 rocket to the moon is – so far – an exercise in frustration for Mark Franko. “I was hoping to feel the noise and the power and the sound – it would have been pretty interesting to see, I think,” Franko told VOA as he and…
read moreAs temperatures reach record highs worldwide, air conditioning is becoming more of a necessity. From Somerville, Massachusetts, Matt Dibble has this story of a company hoping to make AC units more efficient. …
read more
