The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) reports it is covering the cost of health insurance for an additional 20,000 Afghan refugees in Iran. This boosts the number of refugees to 120,000 who will be able to access medical care for COVID-19 and other illnesses under Iran’s national health plan. Iran …
your ad here‘Cambodia Burning’ Documentary Shows Unfettered Logging Impact on Forest Ecosystem
“Cambodia Burning,” a documentary by filmmaker Sean Gallagher, throws light on the effect Cambodia’s unfettered logging has had on the country’s forest ecosystem. VOA’s Penelope Poulou spoke to the award-winning filmmaker …
your ad hereWill The Oscars Be A ‘Who Cares’ Moment As Ratings Dive?
George Bradley used to love watching the Academy Awards. The 28-year-old Brit now living in San Diego would stay up late back home just to tune in. Though he’s now in the right time zone, he’s just not interested, and that’s due primarily to the pandemic. “The rising dominance of …
your ad hereHit with Second Wave, India Becomes COVID-19 Hotspot
India has become the global hotspot for the COVID-19 pandemic, counting the world’s highest numbers of daily new infections in recent days as it grapples with a second wave of the pandemic weeks after witnessing a dramatic decline. The impact of the swift surge in the virus, in the world’s biggest …
your ad hereOxford-AstraZeneca Researchers Halt Clinical Trial of COVID-19 Vaccine Among Children
A clinical trial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine involving young children and teenagers has been halted by Oxford researchers as British drug regulators conduct a safety review of the two-shot regimen.The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is looking into a possible link between the vaccine and blood clots in …
your ad hereVaccine Rollout Races Against Evolving Virus Variants
The race is on between COVID-19 vaccinations and the continuing evolution of coronavirus variants that threaten to undermine them.As vaccination ramps up in the United States and cases decline, people are letting their guard down, including those who are not vaccinated.But public health experts are urging people not to let …
your ad hereAs More Americans Get Vaccinated, Biden Ramps Up Assistance Effort Abroad
As the U.S. nears reaching its goal of vaccinating 200 million Americans by the end of April, the Biden administration is taking more steps toward helping other nations by appointing a coordinator for its global COVID-19 response. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story. …
your ad hereBiden Mulls US Boycott of Beijing Olympics Under Pressure From Conservatives
The political dispute over a new election law in the southern state of Georgia has broadened into a debate over whether the United States should participate in a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. On Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price acknowledged the U.S. will discuss with allies …
your ad hereFollowing Their Passion, Women Go Far to Play Flag Football
From a distance, it looks like college kids in sweat clothes tossing a football around on a campus green space. Draw closer, and it’s apparent this is no sandlot game. A coach is explaining routes he wants receivers to run on a play he calls “Bingo.” Then he tells his quarterbacks …
your ad hereFamed New York City Chess Café Survives COVID Pandemic
A famed chess café in New York City called Chess Forum has survived the pandemic. Elena Wolf reports in this story narrated by Anna Rice.Camera: Max Avloshenko …
your ad hereUnderwater Biodiversity Near Equator Shrinking, Report Finds
A recent report published by the National Academy of Sciences paints a grim picture of declining diversity in ocean life. The study spanned decades, and as VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports, researchers link a drop in species to a rise in ocean temperature. Camera: Reuters Produced by: Arash Arabasadi …
your ad hereA Year After Pandemic Hit, Haiti Awaits Vaccines Amid Apathy
Haiti does not have a single vaccine to offer its more than 11 million people over a year after the pandemic began, raising concerns among health experts that the well-being of Haitians is being pushed aside as violence and political instability across the country deepen.So far, Haiti is slated to …
your ad hereAll US Adults Will Be Eligible for COVID Vaccinations on April 19, Biden Says
U.S. President Joe Biden is announcing Tuesday that every adult in the country will be eligible by April 19 to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, about two weeks earlier than his original May 1 date. As the available supply of three vaccines expands in the U.S., Biden last week …
your ad hereMore Than 150 People Dead in Indonesia and East Timor in Wake of Tropical Cyclone Seroja
Search and rescue efforts are underway for at least 72 people missing on several remote islands across eastern Indonesia in the wake of a tropical cyclone that struck the region last week. The torrential rains produced by Tropical Cyclone Seroja triggered flash floods and landslides that washed out bridges, downed trees and left roads thick …
your ad hereNorth Korea Withdraws from Tokyo Olympics, Citing Pandemic
North Korea says it will not participate in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. The country’s sports ministry said the decision was made “in order to protect players from the world public health crisis caused by COVID-19,” in a statement dated Monday. If North Korea follows through with the decision, it …
your ad hereHikers Scramble as New Fissure Opens Up at Icelandic Volcano
Steam and lava spurted Monday from a new fissure at an Icelandic volcano that began erupting last month, prompting the evacuation of hundreds of hikers who had come to see the spectacle. The new fissure, first spotted by a sightseeing helicopter, was about 500 meters (550 yards) long and about a …
your ad hereCrews Race to Drain Florida Wastewater Reservoir; Pollution Concerns Grow
Emergency crews labored around the clock Monday to prevent the collapse of a wastewater reservoir’s leaky containment wall near Tampa Bay, Florida, making steady progress after officials warned of an imminent threat of flooding over the weekend. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers worked with local public safety teams to drain …
your ad hereThe Weeknd Donates $1 Million to Ethiopian Relief Efforts
Pop star The Weeknd has announced he will be donating $1 million to relief efforts in Ethiopia amid the country’s ongoing conflict in the Tigray region.A U.N. statement said his donation, the equivalent of 2 million meals, went to World Food Program USA, the U.S. affiliate of the United Nations …
your ad hereHigh Court Sides with Google in Copyright Fight with Oracle
The Supreme Court sided Monday with Google in an $8 billion copyright dispute with Oracle over the internet company’s creation of the Android operating system used on most smartphones worldwide.To create Android, which was released in 2007, Google wrote millions of lines of new computer code. But it also used …
your ad herePet Adoption Business in US Never Better
Ever since the pandemic lockdown began in the U.S. in March 2020, the pet adoption business has been booming. But trend hasn’t just been good for the animals. Lesia Bakalets has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.Camera: Andrey Degtyarev …
your ad hereFacing Pressure at Home, Chinese Tech Giants Expand in Singapore
Chinese tech giants are expanding in Singapore as they face a crackdown at home and growing pressure in other key markets — but they may struggle to find talent in the city-state. Messaging-and-gaming behemoth Tencent is opening a hub and TikTok owner ByteDance is on a hiring spree after establishing a regional headquarters, while e-commerce giant Alibaba is investing in …
your ad hereAmid Outcry, States Push Mental Health Training for Police
The officer who Cassandra Quinto-Collins says kneeled on her son’s neck for over four minutes assured her it was standard protocol for sedating a person experiencing a mental breakdown. “I was there watching it the whole time,” Quinto-Collins told The Associated Press. “I just trusted that they knew what they were …
your ad hereDeath Toll from Weather-Related Natural Disasters in Indonesia and East Timor Rising
The death toll from the natural disasters spawned by torrential rains across eastern Indonesia has risen to 55, according to new figures issued Monday by the country’s disaster relief agency. Landslides wiped out dozens of homes in Lamenele village on Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara province shortly after midnight Saturday, with flash …
your ad hereStanford Holds Off Arizona 54-53 to Win Women’s NCAA Basketball Title
Tara VanDerveer hugged each of her Stanford players as they climbed the ladder to cut down the nets, capping a taxing whirlwind journey and ending an exhaustive women’s college basketball championship drought for the Cardinal. It took 29 years, that included 10 weeks on the road this season because of the coronavirus, for VanDerveer and the Cardinal to be …
your ad hereVast Archives at JFK Library Help Bring ‘Hemingway’ to Life
A new documentary on Ernest Hemingway — powered by vast but little-known archives kept at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston — is shedding new light on the acclaimed novelist.”Hemingway,” by longtime collaborators Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, premiering on PBS on three consecutive nights starting …
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