There’s more evidence that one of the world’s most common viruses may set some people on the path to developing multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis is a potentially disabling disease that occurs when immune system cells mistakenly attack the protective coating on nerve fibers, gradually eroding them. The Epstein-Barr virus has long been suspected of playing…
read moreChinese technology and expertise is making it possible for Venezuela and Cuba to exercise suffocating control over digital communications in the two countries, according to insider accounts and several international investigations. Venezuela and Cuba do more to block internet access than any other governments in Latin America, according to the U.S.-based advocacy group Freedom House,…
read moreThe white dome of the U.S. Capitol shone through the night, illuminating a small group huddled down the hill, bundled tightly against the winter cold and carrying binoculars and cameras with long lenses. The motley crew were not there to photograph Washington’s famous monuments, they had their sights set on a rare creature that flew…
read moreBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office apologized to Queen Elizabeth on Friday after it emerged that staff members partied late into the night in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral, when indoor gatherings were banned. Johnson is facing the gravest crisis of his premiership after almost daily revelations of social gatherings during…
read moreU.S. health officials on Friday encouraged more Americans to wear the kind of N95 or KN95 masks used by health care workers to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Those kinds of masks are considered better at filtering the air. But they were in short supply previously, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and…
read moreOhio’s Republican-drawn congressional map was rejected by the state’s high court Friday, giving hope to national Democrats who had argued it unfairly delivered several potentially competitive seats in this year’s critical midterm elections to Republicans. In the 4-3 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court returned the map to the Ohio General Assembly, where Republicans hold supermajorities…
read moreMartin Shkreli must return $64.6 million in profits he and his former company reaped from jacking up the price and monopolizing the market for a lifesaving drug, a federal judge ruled Friday while also barring the provocative, imprisoned ex-CEO from the pharmaceutical industry for the rest of his life. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote’s ruling…
read moreThe World Health Organization is recommending two new drugs for the treatment of COVID-19, adding to a growing list of therapeutic remedies for the deadly disease. Baricitinib is an oral medication recommended for patients with severe or critical COVID-19.It is part of a class of drugs that suppresses the overstimulation of the immune system and…
read moreUkraine was hit by a massive cyberattack warning its citizens to “be afraid and expect the worst”, and Russia, which has massed more than 100,000 troops on its neighbor’s frontier, released TV pictures on Friday of more forces deploying in a drill. The developments came after no breakthrough was reached at meetings between Russia and…
read moreTo mask or not to mask is a question Italy settled early in the COVID-19 outbreak with a vigorous “yes.” Now the onetime epicenter of the pandemic in Europe hopes even stricter mask rules will help it beat the latest infection surge. Other countries are taking similar action as the more transmissible — yet, apparently,…
read moreDrones sprayed holy water from the Ganges on thousands of Hindu pilgrims on Friday to reduce crowding during a massive festival being held despite soaring COVID-19 cases in India. The Gangasagar Mela in the east of the country has drawn comparisons with another “superspreader” Hindu gathering last year that the Hindu nationalist government refused to…
read moreU.S. President Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers are maneuvering this week to alter Senate rules to allow for debate on key voting rights legislation that has been blocked for months by Republicans. The showdown is the culmination of a fierce debate over the democratic process. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more. …
read moreA 4-billion-year-old meteorite from Mars that caused a splash here on Earth decades ago contains no evidence of ancient, primitive Martian life after all, scientists reported Thursday. In 1996, a NASA-led team announced that organic compounds in the rock appeared to have been left by living creatures. Other scientists were skeptical, and researchers chipped away…
read moreThe U.S. House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol subpoenaed Meta, Alphabet, Twitter and Reddit on Thursday, seeking information about how their social media platforms were used to help fuel misinformation in a failed bid to overturn the 2020 presidential election. “Two key questions for the Select Committee are how the spread…
read moreU.S. President Joe Biden met Thursday with Senate Democrats in a last-ditch plea to overhaul the country’s election laws even as one fellow Democrat pointedly said she would not support changing the Senate’s legislative rules to circumvent uniform Republican opposition to establishing national voting rules. Biden met with most of the Senate Democratic caucus over…
read moreThe Supreme Court has stopped the Biden administration from enforcing a requirement that employees at large businesses be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing and wear a mask on the job. At the same time, the court is allowing the administration to proceed with a vaccine mandate for most health care workers in the…
read moreTwo U.S. government agencies – space agency NASA, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said Thursday 2021 was the sixth hottest year on record. In separate reports, the agencies also said their data indicates the last eight years were the eight hottest since modern recordkeeping began. They also said global temperatures in 2021…
read moreA SpaceX rocket launch Thursday carried three small South African-made satellites that will help with policing South African waters against illegal fishing operations. Produced at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, the satellites could also be used to help other African countries to protect their coastal waters. SpaceX’s billionaire boss Elon Musk has given three nano satellites produced in his birth country, South Africa, a…
read moreU.S. President Joe Biden was a longtime supporter of the Senate supermajority rule known as the filibuster, but with the chamber’s Republican minority blocking parts of his agenda, the former senator said this week he is open to altering the rule in order to try to enact voting rights legislation. The 100-member Senate is currently…
read moreA new Hong Kong mandate that restaurants and other establishments require use of an app aimed at recording people’s locations and telling them if they have been near a COVID-19 patient has spurred opposition from the city’s pro-democracy voices. The LeaveHomeSafe app scans a two-dimensional QR barcode at taxis and other locations. If a COVID-19 patient…
read moreThe risk of dying from cancer in the United States has fallen by nearly a third in three decades, thanks to earlier diagnoses, better treatments and less smoking, an analysis said Wednesday. The cancer death rate for men and women fell 32% from its peak in 1991 to 2019, the American Cancer Society said in its…
read moreThe House panel investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection requested an interview and records from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday, shifting their investigation to a top ally of former President Donald Trump in Congress. Representative Bennie Thompson, Democratic chairman of the panel, requested that McCarthy provide information to the nine-member panel regarding the violence…
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