MEXICO CITY — Gliding above her neighborhood in a cable car on a recent morning, Sonia Estefanía Palacios Díaz scanned a sea of blue and black water tanks, tubes and cables looking for rain harvesting systems. “There’s one!” she said, pointing out a black tank hooked up to a smaller blue unit with connecting tubes snaking…
read moreGENEVA — U.N. agencies warn that the demolition of a critical water facility in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip increases the risk of infectious diseases as people are forced to drink unsafe water while sanitary conditions continue to deteriorate. “Until recently, that reservoir served thousands and thousands of internally displaced people who had sought refuge…
read moreBangkok — Millions of lives could be put at risk unless urgent action is taken to curb the spread of drug-resistant malaria in Africa, according to a new paper published in the journal Science. The paper says the parasite that causes malaria is showing signs of resistance to artemisinin, the main drug used to fight the…
read moreThe malaria parasite is showing signs of resistance to artemisinin, the main drug used to fight the disease, in parts of Africa. A new report warns of potentially millions more deaths without immediate health policy changes. Henry Ridgwell has more from Bangkok. …
read moreGALAPAGOS ISLANDS, Ecuador — Warm morning light reflects from the remains of a natural rock arch near Darwin Island, one of the most remote islands in the Galapagos. In clear, deep blue water, thousands of creatures — fish, hammerhead sharks, marine iguanas — move in search of food. The 2021 collapse of Darwin’s Arch, named for…
read moreWashington — New blood tests could help doctors diagnose Alzheimer’s disease faster and more accurately, researchers reported Sunday – but some appear to work far better than others. It’s tricky to tell if memory problems are caused by Alzheimer’s. That requires confirming one of the disease’s hallmark signs — buildup of a sticky protein called beta-amyloid…
read moreKENITRA, Morocco — Golden fields of wheat no longer produce the bounty they once did in Morocco. A six-year drought has imperiled the country’s entire agriculture sector, including farmers who grow cereals and grains used to feed humans and livestock. The North African nation projects this year’s harvest will be smaller than last year in both…
read moresydney, australia — The world’s largest platypus conservation center has welcomed its first residents as part of a project to protect the semi-aquatic mammal found only in Australia amid threats to its habitat from extreme weather and humans. The four platypuses — two females and two males — were released over the last two weeks into…
read moreHONOLULU — A Hawaii judge has temporarily blocked the state from enforcing a law requiring the licensing of practitioners and teachers of traditional Native Hawaiian midwifery while a lawsuit seeking to overturn the statute wends its way through the courts. Lawmakers enacted the midwife licensure law, which asserted that the “improper practice of midwifery poses a…
read morewashington — NASA’s rover Perseverance on Mars has made what could be its most astonishing discovery to date: possible signs of ancient life on the Red Planet. The six-wheeled robotic explorer came across an intriguing, arrow-shaped rock dubbed “Cheyava Falls” that may harbor fossilized microbes from billions of years ago, when Mars was a watery world.…
read morewashington — Thousands of policymakers, health care professionals and advocates gathered this week in Munich, Germany, to take stock of the global fight against HIV as they try to meet the 2030 deadline set by world leaders for eliminating AIDS as a public health threat. Advocates hailed sub-Saharan Africa’s progress in the global HIV response, with…
read moreUnited Nations — The U.N. Secretary-General warned Thursday that the Earth is becoming hotter and more dangerous for everyone, killing nearly a half-million people annually, and he blamed fossil fuels for driving global warming. “Billions of people are facing an extreme heat epidemic — wilting under increasingly deadly heat waves, with temperatures topping 50 degrees Celsius…
read moreCAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — A super Jupiter has been spotted around a neighboring star by the Webb Space Telescope — and it has a super orbit. The planet is roughly the same diameter as Jupiter, but with six times the mass. Its atmosphere is also rich in hydrogen like Jupiter’s. One big difference: It takes this…
read moreA group of young African students is shooting for the stars thanks to a program called ‘Pathways to Space.’ Aerospace company Boeing and a South African science organization backed an education program that just celebrated its first batch of graduates. Vicky Stark reports from Cape Town. …
read moreGeneva — A senior World Health Organization official expressed alarm Tuesday at the high risk of polio spreading within the Gaza Strip because of dire sanitary conditions in the war-wracked enclave, and that the paralytic disease it causes could spill across borders without prompt action to stem the outbreak. “I am, like, super worried,” Dr. Avadil…
read moreBENGALURU, India — At a Coca-Cola factory on the outskirts of Chennai in southern India, a giant battery powers machinery day and night, replacing a diesel-spewing generator. It’s one of just a handful of sites in India powered by electricity stored in batteries, a key component to fast-tracking India’s energy transition away from dirty fuels. The…
read morenew york — As U.S. health officials investigate a fatal outbreak of listeria food poisoning, they’re advising people who are pregnant, elderly or have compromised immune systems to avoid eating sliced deli meat unless it’s recooked at home to be steaming hot. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention didn’t mandate a food recall as…
read moreAfter the Apollo program ended, the US took a long hiatus from lunar exploration. What happened during this time, and what has NASA been doing? This documentary by the Voice of America’s Russian service focuses on the details of the NASA’s Artemis program and plans to further explore the Moon and Mars. …
read moreWashington — Russia and China are edging ever closer to unleashing space-based weapons, a decision that could have far-reaching implications for America’s ability to defend itself, U.S. military and intelligence agencies warn. Adding to the concern, they say, is what appears to be a growing willingness by both countries to set aside long-running suspicions and animosity…
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