Experts say coronavirus lockdowns anywhere in the world can trigger stress, irritability, fear and fatigue. There can be a disconnection from extended family and friends, causing loneliness. Uncertainty is another corrosive factor.In Australia, mental health charities estimated that about a third of people in …
Dozens of COVID-19 patients died in Indonesia over the weekend when a hospital in Yogyakarta ran out of oxygen. The Dr. Sardjito General Hospital tried switching oxygen cylinders during the outage but failed to save 63 of its COVID …
A car with wings recently completed a test flight in Slovakia. Its designers say the successful journey brings us one step closer to flying cars, but experts aren’t so sure that’s happening any time soon. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more.Produced …
Two astronauts made the first space walk on Sunday outside China’s new orbital station to work on setting up a 15-meter-long robotic arm.Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo were shown by state TV climbing out of the airlock as Earth rolled …
North Korea this week reported a mysterious “grave incident” that suggested a major lapse related to its coronavirus response.Its leader, Kim Jong Un, recently acknowledged food shortages, comparing the situation to a devastating 1990s famine.The North now acknowledges on a …
The German Standing Committee on Vaccination recommended this week that people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine as their first COVID shot should be inoculated with either the Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine for their second shot in the battle against …
Indonesian police threw up roadblocks and more than 400 checkpoints on the islands of Java and Bali to ensure hundreds of millions of people stayed home on Saturday, the first day of stricter curbs on movement to limit the spread …
Life in New York City is slowly returning to normal after the coronavirus pandemic hit the city hard more than 15 months ago. But certain changes caused by the pandemic are here to stay — at least for a while. …
As the World Health Organization draws up plans for the next phase of its probe of how the coronavirus pandemic started, an increasing number of scientists say the U.N. agency it isn’t up to the task and shouldn’t be the …
COVAX, the World Health Organization initiative for the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, is urging countries to recognize as fully vaccinated all people who have received COVID-19 vaccines that COVAX has recognized as safe and effective.“Any measure that only allows …
Call it a space race for billionaires: British mogul Richard Branson one-upped rival Jeff Bezos on Thursday, announcing that he too will blast beyond Earth’s atmosphere — as many as nine days ahead of the Amazon founder.With both tycoons having …
Private space operations continue to expand. Plus, Europe’s space agency continues its quest for diversity, and a French astronaut makes good — sort of — on a promise to his crewmates. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space.Produced …
The South African pharmaceutical company Aspen has begun production of hundreds of millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine for African countries. To speed up the process, the company is getting a large funding boost from the U.S. government. Speaking …
The World Health Organization says the recent decline in the number of new coronavirus infections throughout Europe “has come to an end.”Hans Kluge, the director of the U.N. health agency’s Europe region, said Thursday during a news briefing in Copenhagen …
Amid rising caseloads of coronavirus infections as it emerges from a strict COVID lockdown, Cambodia is pinning its hopes on a vaccination rollout that will help the nation reach herd immunity, even as the nation confronts unique challenges that could …
Several countries have imposed restrictions on travelers from Britain amid rising cases of the delta variant of the coronavirus. Scientists say the delta mutation is more infectious and now makes up around 95 percent of new cases in Britain. Henry …
Zimbabwe’s new COVID-19 lockdown includes a curfew, a ban on intercity travel, and a vaccination blitz aimed at border towns and vendors. But vendors and rights activists say the government should make more vaccine available instead of tightening regulations.President Emmerson …
Bangladesh starts its most severe lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic Thursday with people allowed to leave their homes only in emergencies and soldiers set to patrol the streets to enforce it, as the nation faces a deadly resurgence of COVID-19 …
Efforts are taking place around the world to vaccinate as many people as possible to protect against COVID-19. Officials are tracking the safety and effectiveness of those efforts, but some medical experts say they aren’t getting the information they need …
Last week, a 12-story apartment building suddenly collapsed in a Miami, Florida, suburb, killing at least 11 people and leaving some 150 others missing. While the cause of the disaster is unclear, rising sea levels that flood parts of the …
“Better than nothing.” That’s one infectious disease expert’s assessment of Sinovac Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine, following reports that hundreds of Indonesian health care workers who had received the vaccine caught the disease anyway. At least 10 doctors have died after getting both doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine, …
U.S. President Joe Biden is holding talks Wednesday with a group of governors from eight Western states about wildfire preparedness as much of the region deals with drought. Biden and other administration officials will be speaking from the White House with …
Cities in the Pacific Northwest of North America reported power outages Tuesday, both from failures of utility companies and rolling blackouts due to heavy power demand. Seattle and Portland temperatures were expected to fall Tuesday, below Monday’s record highs, but inland, the city of Spokane, Washington, continued to record high temperatures and experience rolling blackouts …
Florida’s governor has announced the start of Python Challenge in Everglades National Park. The python removal will start July 9 and last for 10 days. The Everglades ecosystem suffers from the overpopulation of Burmese pythons — a nonnative species for …