The last musher has arrived in Nome, ending the 50th running of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race across Alaska. Musher Apayauq Reitan of Kaktovik, Alaska, crossed the finish late Saturday night, winning the Red Lantern award and $1,000 for being the final sled dog team to reach the Bering …
your ad here‘CODA’ Gains Oscar Momentum With Top Prize at PGA Awards
“CODA” won the top prize at Saturday night’s Producers Guild Awards, giving momentum to the possibility that the small film could have a big night at next week’s Oscars. The story of three adult family members who are deaf and a fourth who is not and seeks a singing career …
your ad hereMalawi Launches Polio Vaccine for East and Southern Africa Countries
Malawi Sunday launched a polio vaccination campaign after the country in February confirmed its first case, 30 years after it eradicated the disease. UNICEF, the World Health Organization and other partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are leading the campaign, which targets over 20 million children in …
your ad hereBotswana Drops Vaccine Mandate for Travelers
Botswana will allow unvaccinated travelers into the country, provided they produce a negative COVID-19 test result. That’s a reversal from last month, when the nation started denying entry to travelers who were partially vaccinated or unvaccinated and not willing to get a free shot. Botswana Ministry of Health spokesperson Christopher …
your ad hereHong Kong Leader Says Plans to Review COVID Restrictions on Monday
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Sunday she plans to review COVID-19 restrictions on Monday, just days after acknowledging that many financial institutions were “losing patience” with coronavirus policies in the financial hub. The Chinese-ruled city has some of the most stringent COVID-19 rules in the world, with a …
your ad hereMicrosoft Faces Anti-Competition Complaint in Europe
Three companies have lodged a complaint with the European Commission against Microsoft, accusing the U.S. technology giant of anti-competitive practices in its cloud services, sources told AFP on Saturday, confirming media reports. Microsoft is “undermining fair competition and limiting the choice of consumers” in the computing cloud services market, said …
your ad hereDuring Pandemic, Sisters Open Denver’s First Vietnamese Coffee Shop
With many small businesses failing during the economic downturn of coronavirus lockdowns, three sisters in the U.S. state of Colorado chose the pandemic to open Denver’s first Vietnamese coffee shop. VOA’s Scott Stearns went to their café to hear their story. …
your ad hereUS Adult Smoking Rate Fell During First Year of Pandemic
The first year of the COVID-19 pandemic saw more Americans drinking heavily or using illicit drugs — but apparently not smoking. U.S. cigarette smoking dropped to a new all-time low in 2020, with 1 in 8 adults saying they were current smokers, according to survey data released Thursday by the …
your ad hereBallet Greats Unite For London Ukraine Benefit Gala
World-famous ballet dancers from Russia and Ukraine, Argentina, Cuba, France and Japan come together Saturday for a gala to raise funds for Ukraine and send a message of peace. “We as artists have talent and we need to use this talent to say what we believe in,” Ukraine’s Ivan Putrov, …
your ad here‘Dangerous Moment’: Huge Effort Begins to Curb Polio After Malawi Case
The world is at a ‘dangerous moment’ in the fight against diseases like polio, a senior World Health Organization official said, as efforts begin to immunize 23 million children across five African countries after an outbreak in Malawi. In February, Malawi declared its first case of wild poliovirus in 30 …
your ad hereUS Has No Funds for Its Global COVID-19 Response
The Biden administration is in danger of cutting short its efforts to help vaccinate the world because U.S. lawmakers had slashed global pandemic response funds from the omnibus spending bill that President Joe Biden signed into law earlier this week. The $1.5 trillion spending bill did not include $15.6 billion …
your ad here3 Russian Cosmonauts Arrive at International Space Station
A trio of Russian cosmonauts arrived at the International Space Station on Friday, the first new faces in space since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine. Russian space corporation Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveyev and Sergey Korsakov blasted off successfully from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in …
your ad hereArnold Schwarzenegger Tells Putin in Video: Stop This War
Film icon Arnold Schwarzenegger told Russians in a video posted on social media Thursday they’re being lied to about the war in Ukraine and accused President Vladimir Putin of sacrificing Russian soldiers’ lives for his own ambitions. Schwarzenegger is hugely popular in Russia, and apparently also with Putin. The President …
your ad hereFinland Crowned World’s Happiest Nation for Fifth Year
Finland has been named the world’s happiest country for the fifth year running, in an annual U.N.-sponsored index that again ranked Afghanistan as the unhappiest, followed closely by Lebanon. Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania recorded the biggest boosts in wellbeing. The largest falls in the World Happiness table, released on Friday, …
your ad hereWHO Chief: Health ‘Not A Cost, But an Investment’
As COVID-19 infection and death rates begin to increase in some countries that have begun to relax their COVID-related restrictions, the director-general of the World Health Organization issued a reminder of what the pandemic has taught the world so far. Speaking Thursday at the Thailand International Health Expo, Tedros Adhanom …
your ad hereRepublicans Revive Anti-Vax, Pro-Ivermectin Measure in Kansas
Conservative Republican lawmakers on Thursday revived a proposal to weaken Kansas’ vaccination requirements for children enrolling in school and day care and to make it easier for people to get potentially dangerous treatments for COVID-19. The Senate health committee approved a bill that would allow parents to get a no-questions-asked …
your ad hereModerna Seeks FDA Authorization for Second COVID Booster for All Adults
Moderna Inc sought emergency use authorization with U.S. health regulators for a second COVID-19 booster shot late Thursday, as a surge in cases in some parts of the world fuels fears of another wave of the pandemic. The U.S. biotechnology company said its request covered all adults over the age …
your ad hereNASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Snaps Galactic Photobomb
NASA’s new eye in the sky snapped a pic of a star and its ancient galactic buddies. Plus, a spacewalk amid another week of heightened global tensions, and rolling out the next lunar rover. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. …
your ad hereSt. Patrick’s Day Parades in US Turn Pandemic Blues Irish Green
St. Patrick’s Day celebrations across the country are back after a two-year hiatus, including the nation’s largest in New York City, in a sign of growing hope that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic may be over. The holiday served as a key marker in the outbreak’s progression, with parades …
your ad hereWHO Says Africa Faces Rising Substance Abuse Post-COVID
African health groups have warned that the COVID pandemic has led to a rise in drug and alcohol abuse on the continent, but a gap in data is making it hard to monitor. In South Africa, a Soweto-based nonprofit is scrambling to help youth to stay clean and sober. Substance …
your ad hereVisual Explainer: Russian Disinformation
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, the groundwork had already begun — online. Russian disinformation is a key part of what many are calling a hybrid war. VOA’s Tina Trinh explains. …
your ad hereBurkina Faso-born Kere First African to Win Pritzker Architecture Prize
The Pritzker Prize, architecture’s most prestigious award, was awarded Tuesday to Burkina Faso-born architect Diebedo Francis Kere, the first African to win the honor in its more than 40-year history. Kere, 56, was hailed for his “pioneering” designs that are “sustainable to the earth and its inhabitants — in lands …
your ad hereGangster Film ‘The Outfit’ Resonates With Today’s Grim Realities
“The Outfit,” a film noir by Academy Award winning writer Graham Moore, tells a fictional story of an expert tailor who finds himself caught up in a turf war among dangerous gangsters in 1950s Chicago. Moore, who won an Oscar for the film drama “The Imitation Game,” spoke to VOA’s …
your ad hereMusher Brent Sass Wins His 1st Iditarod Race Across Alaska
Musher Brent Sass won the arduous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across Alaska on Tuesday as his team of 11 dogs dashed off the Bering Sea ice through a crowd of fans in downtown Nome. Sass mushed down Front Street and across the finish line just before 6 a.m. “It’s …
your ad hereNFT Owners Have New Ways to Show Off Digital Collections
Until recently, fans of NFTs have lacked ways to show off their digital collections. Matt Dibble looks at a company bringing NFTs into the physical world. …
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