Two women have been charged with criminal damage after climate change protesters threw soup on Vincent van Gogh’s painting “Sunflowers” at London’s National Gallery, British police said Saturday. A video posted by the Just Stop Oil campaign group, which has been holding protests for the last two weeks in the …
your ad hereIran Bars Filmmaker From Travel to London Fest ‘Over Support for Protests’
An Iranian filmmaker said the Islamic republic barred him from travelling to the London Film Festival over his support for the protest movement sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini that he called a “great moment in history.” “I was prevented by the Iranian authorities from boarding my flight to …
your ad hereIndian Village Disconnects With ‘Daily Digital Detox’ Initiative
In a remote village in India, a siren can be heard from the local temple every night at 7 p.m. — signaling the commencement of a daily “digital detox.” For the next 90 minutes, the population of 3,000 in Sangli district’s Mohityanche Vadgaon lays aside all the electronic gadgets in …
your ad hereAstronomer Captivated by Brightest Flash Ever Seen
Astronomers have observed the brightest flash of light ever seen, from an event that occurred 2.4 billion light-years from Earth and was likely triggered by the formation of a black hole. The burst of gamma rays — the most intense form of electromagnetic radiation — was first detected by orbiting …
your ad hereActor Robbie Coltrane, Harry Potter’s Hagrid, Dies at 72
Robbie Coltrane, the baby-faced comedian and character actor whose hundreds of roles included a crime-solving psychologist on the TV series “Cracker” and the gentle half-giant Hagrid in the “Harry Potter” movies, has died. He was 72. Coltrane’s agent, Belinda Wright, said he died Friday at a hospital in his native …
your ad hereExperts: Cyberattacks on US Airport Websites Highlight Ongoing Threats
Cybersecurity experts say that the October 10 attack on at least 14 U.S. airport websites, including those in Los Angeles and Chicago, appears to be the work of the Russian hacking group Killnet. As Mike O’Sullivan reports, the disruptions were a minor inconvenience for airline passengers, but experts say they …
your ad hereDisaster Challenge Aids Australia’s Response to Natural Hazards
Young researchers and students are competing in a disaster challenge at a natural hazards forum in the Australian city of Brisbane. The government-funded organization Natural Hazards Research Australia has said more Australians “than ever before are exposed to the damage and destruction of floods, bushfires, cyclones, heatwaves and storms.” It …
your ad hereWarmer-Than-Average Winter Ahead for Europe, Forecaster Says
Europe faces a higher-than-usual chance of a cold blast of weather before the end of the year, but the winter overall is likely to be warmer than average, the continent’s long-range weather forecaster said Thursday. Temperatures this winter will be crucial for homeowners worried about the record cost of heating …
your ad hereOzone Hole Grows This Year but Still Shrinking in General
The Antarctic ozone hole last week peaked at a moderately large size for the third straight year — bigger than North America — but experts say it’s still generally shrinking despite recent blips because of high altitude cold weather. The ozone hole hit its peak size of more than 26.4 …
your ad here3.3 Million More Americans Get Their COVID Boosters, CDC Says
Still, just 6.9% of those eligible have gotten the omicron-tailored vaccine …
your ad hereCameroon: Armed Separatists Prevent Health Workers From Assisting Monkeypox Patients
A monkeypox outbreak has been confirmed in the town of Mbonge, health authorities in Cameroon say, but armed separatists are preventing workers from investigating suspected cases. Cameroon government officials say health workers have been deployed to the districts of Kumba and Mbonge to communicate to hundreds of civilians with suspected …
your ad hereAustralia Investigates Impact of Long COVID
As Australia prepares to end mandatory coronavirus isolation rules Friday, new research shows that almost a third of adults have had symptoms of long COVID. In Canberra, a parliamentary health committee has heard clinics are being contacted by more patients struggling with ongoing ailments. COVID-19 cases reported in Australia continue …
your ad hereTourists Flock to Taiwan as COVID Entry Restrictions Ease
Taiwan lifted all its COVID-19 entry restrictions Thursday, allowing tourists unfettered access to the self-ruled island after more than 2 1/2 years of border controls. Hong Kong and Taiwan, together with mainland China, required most visitors to complete a mandatory quarantine period throughout the pandemic, even as most countries reopened …
your ad hereWorld War II Ships Sunk Off the US Coast Now Artificial Reefs
Early in World War II, the U.S. Navy battled Nazi U-boats off the East Coast of the United States in an area that came to be known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” For VOA, Genia Dulot takes us on an underwater tour of some of those wrecks, which are …
your ad hereWorldwide Monkeypox Cases Surpass 70,000, WHO Says
Case numbers in the global monkeypox outbreak have now topped 70,000, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Wednesday as it warned that a decline in new cases did not mean people should drop their guard. The WHO said that case numbers last week were on the rise in several countries …
your ad hereFans Warned to Be Ready for World Cup Queues
Qatar World Cup organizers on Wednesday warned fans to brace for “congestion” in the first two weeks of the tournament when the peak number of supporters will be packing the Gulf state’s capital. Private cars will be banned from many streets and residents near some stadiums will need permits to …
your ad hereWorld’s 1st Space Tourist Signs Up for Flight Around Moon
The world’s first space tourist wants to go back — only this time, he’s signed up for a spin around the moon aboard Elon Musk’s Starship. For Dennis Tito, 82, it’s a chance to relive the joy of his trip to the International Space Station, now that he’s retired with …
your ad hereWhite House: Get New Booster by Halloween for Safer Holidays
The White House on Tuesday said eligible Americans should get the updated COVID-19 boosters by Halloween to have maximum protection against the coronavirus by Thanksgiving and the holidays, as it warned of a “challenging” virus season ahead. Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 coordinator, said the U.S. has the …
your ad hereActress Angela Lansbury, Star of Stage and Screen, Dies at 96
Angela Lansbury, the big-eyed, scene-stealing British actress who kicked up her heels in the Broadway musicals “Mame” and “Gypsy” and solved endless murders as crime novelist Jessica Fletcher in the long-running TV series “Murder, She Wrote,” has died. She was 96. Lansbury died Tuesday at her home in Los Angeles, …
your ad hereSmashing Success: NASA Asteroid Strike Results in Big Nudge
A spacecraft that plowed into a small, harmless asteroid millions of miles away succeeded in shifting its orbit, NASA said Tuesday in announcing the results of its save-the-world test. The space agency attempted the first test of its kind two weeks ago to see if in the future a killer …
your ad hereClimate Extremes Pose as Big a Threat to Power System as Ukraine War, WMO Says
Energy infrastructure will become more vulnerable to extreme weather such as heatwaves and hurricanes, the World Meteorological Organization warned on Tuesday, with a senior official saying that climate change poses as big a threat to global energy security as the war in Ukraine. This year was illustrative of what the …
your ad hereSome Airport Websites Go Offline; Cause Being Investigated
The websites for some major U.S. airports went down early Monday in an apparent coordinated denial-of-service attack, although officials said flights were not affected. The attacks followed a call by a shadowy group of pro-Russian hackers that calls itself Killnet for coordinated denial-of-service attacks on the targets. The group published …
your ad hereMalawi Announces Rollout of Africa’s First Children’s Malaria Vaccine
Malawi’s health ministry says it will soon roll out Africa’s first malaria vaccine for children under age five. The RTS,S vaccine, which was tested in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, took more than 30 years to develop. While the vaccine has a relatively low level of effectiveness, it has raised hopes …
your ad here‘Best Before’ Labels Scrutinized as Food Waste Concerns Grow
As awareness grows around the world about the problem of food waste, one culprit in particular is drawing scrutiny: “best before” labels. Manufacturers have used the labels for decades to estimate peak freshness. Unlike “use by” labels, which are found on perishable foods like meat and dairy, “best before” labels …
your ad hereWorld Mental Health Day Marked on Monday
Monday is World Mental Health Day. To mark the day, the World Health Organization has launched a campaign to “raise awareness and spur action” in regions where there are high rates of death by suicide. The world health body said that the pandemic has created “a global crisis for mental …
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