New York City is making a move against the fossil fuel industry on two fronts. Democratic Mayor Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday the city is suing five big oil companies for global warming and divesting $5 billion in oil …
The Zambian Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization are beginning a cholera vaccination campaign January 10 to help stop an outbreak of this deadly disease. Latest official figures put the number of cases at 2,672, including 63 deaths. …
The United Kingdom is now banning the manufacturing of tiny plastic microbeads used in products such as cosmetics, toothpaste and shower gels because they could hurt marine animals. The move comes as some other countries have banned microbeads, including the …
Human antibodies made in genetically engineered cows have proved safe in an early stage clinical trial, U.S. scientists said on Wednesday, and could be developed into a treatment for the fatal viral disease, MERS. MERS, or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, …
President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered the secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs to come up with a plan to improve mental health care for U.S. veterans. “They get out of the military and they had nobody to …
A handful of Indian cities are gearing up to launch bike-sharing systems to ease traffic congestion and deadly air pollution, as urban populations surge and vehicles clog the streets. Bike-sharing systems in the southern city of Mysuru and the central …
Failure to rein in global temperature rises could cause the marine food web to collapse, devastating the livelihoods of tens of millions of people who rely on fisheries for food and income, scientists have warned. Warming oceans restrict vital energy …
Children who eat restaurant carry-out, or “takeaway,” meals once a week or more tend to have extra body fat and long-term risk factors for heart disease, suggests a UK study. In the study of 9- and 10-year-olds, the kids who …
One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to lose weight and get fit. Faith Lapidus takes a look at how some people are trying to keep that commitment. …
From gritty neighborhoods in New York and Los Angeles to clinics in Kenya and Brazil, health workers are trying to popularize a pill that has proven highly effective in preventing HIV but which – in their view – remains woefully …
Three people in South Sudan have died of a suspected viral hemorrhagic fever and 60 of their contacts are being monitored for any infection, the World Health Organization said Monday. Ebola, Marburg and yellow fever are among viral hemorrhagic fevers …
The death toll from an outbreak of listeria in South Africa has jumped beyond 60 in the past month, health authorities said Monday, adding they had closed a poultry abattoir where the bug that causes the disease had been detected. …
In 2012, Britons delighted in the spectacular opening ceremony of the London Olympics celebrating British history. One of the curtain-raiser’s most popular sequences, drawing loud applause, involved 1,800 dancers and 320 hospital beds honoring the country’s National Health Service. Six …
A group of disabled Egyptians is not letting the lack of having lost a leg get in the way of playing football. They have formed a team they hope will be a part of a soccer league for people with …
The unpredictable and aggressive nature of wolf-dog hybrids makes them difficult to keep as household pets. But the founders of the Lockwood Animal Rescue Center in California say the dual nature of these animals makes them ideal therapists for combat …
A remote island volcano in Papua New Guinea has begun spewing ash into the air, forcing the evacuation of more than 500 residents, media and nonprofit groups said. Kadovar Island, a 365-meter (1,197 feet) tall volcano on the north coast …
The World Health Organization classifies alcohol as a “group 1 carcinogen.” That means there is convincing evidence it can cause cancer in humans. But new research shows how alcohol can damage the body on a genetic level. VOA’s Kevin Enochs …
Health experts say the influenza season in the United States is proving to be more severe than usual, with about twice the number of people reporting flu-like illness to their doctors compared with the same time last year. The Centers …
Veteran U.S. astronaut John Young, who walked on the moon and even smuggled a corned beef sandwich into orbit during one of his six missions in space, has died at age 87, NASA said Saturday. Young, a former Navy test pilot, …
Emergency authorities in Australia have released a virtual reality program recreating potentially catastrophic bushfire scenarios. The project aims to encourage residents in the state of Victoria to prepare for extreme danger. “This emergency warning is being issued for Hare …
The World Health Organization warns that children in Yemen are dying as diphtheria, a preventable disease, spreads rapidly throughout the country. Forty-six of the more than 470 people with clinically diagnosed diphtheria in Yemen — or nearly 10 percent — …
People walking outdoors with masks are an increasingly common sight in the capital of India, where the toxic air, which ranks among the world’s dirtiest, has rung alarm bells. Now a team of innovators from the prestigious Indian Institute of …
America’s space agency wants you to head for the mountains with a smartphone and a measuring stick. NASA’s earth science arm is funding research that recruits citizen scientists on skis, snowshoes and snowmobiles to measure the depth of snow …
A life threatening cold front swept across North America, bringing piles of snow and icy conditions. The National Weather Service issued wind chill advisories and freeze warnings covering a vast area from South Texas to Canada and from Montana through …