On the eve of World Suicide Prevention Day on Tuesday, the World Health Organization is calling for action to stop the global epidemic, which every year takes the lives of an estimated 800,000 people. The WHO said Monday suicides are preventable and fewer people would die by self-inflicted means if more …

At a routine ultrasound when she was five months pregnant, Hevan Lunsford began to panic when the technician took longer than normal, then told her she would need to see a specialist.Lunsford, a nurse in Alabama, knew it was serious and begged for an appointment the next day.That’s when the …

Former top officials of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are assailing the agency for undermining its weather forecasters as it defends President Donald Trump’s claim that Hurricane Dorian had threatened Alabama.    They say NOAA’s action risks the credibility of the nation’s weather and science agency and may even …

U.S. college students are using marijuana at the highest rates in 35 years, according to a report released Thursday.About 43% of full-time college students said they used some form of pot at least once in the past year, up from 38%, a University of Michigan survey found. About 25% said …

India’s space agency says it has lost communication with its unmanned spacecraft that was set to touch down Saturday on the moon’s south pole.”Communications from lander to ground station was lost,” said K Sivan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization. “The data is being analyzed.”   It is not …

The World Health Organization has reached an agreement with Facebook to direct millions of users to WHO sites where they can get accurate information about vaccines.WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib tells VOA that misinformation about vaccines is a global health threat that could reverse decades of progress made in tackling preventable …

Nearly three-quarters of Americans see weather disasters, like Hurricane Dorian, worsening and most of them blame global warming to some extent, a new poll finds. And scientists say they’re right. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey shows 72% of Americans think catastrophic weather is more severe, while 4% see …

Scotland’s fabled Loch Ness Monster might most likely be a giant eel, a study of samples of DNA in the lake’s murky waters has found.Neil Gemmell, a geneticist from the University of Otago in New Zealand, led the study that tried to catalog all living species in the lake by …

A U.S. judge on Tuesday rejected efforts by drugmakers, distributors and pharmacies to dismiss claims that they caused the nation’s opioid crisis, clearing the way for a scheduled  landmark trial even as he pushes for a nationwide settlement.U.S. District Judge Dan Polster, who oversees roughly 2,000 opioid lawsuits by state …

US officials on Tuesday declared New York’s worst measles epidemic in nearly 30 years officially over after months of emergency measures that included mandatory vaccinations.About 654 people, many in areas with large Orthodox Jewish communities, were infected since October last year but there have been no new cases since mid-July, …

The European Space Agency says it has performed an evasive maneuver with one of its satellites after rival SpaceX said it wouldn’t move its own spacecraft out of the way, risking a potentially catastrophic collision.ESA said Tuesday that it “reached out early to SpaceX and was informed that no maneuver …

The eco-minded Prince Harry announced a massive travel sustainability initiative Tuesday in partnership with key service providers that’s aimed at bettering the practices of the global industry amid an ever-increasing number of travelers.    The Duke of Sussex unveiled Travalyst at a news conference in Amsterdam, a city hit hard …

Want to experience life on Mars?  You don’t have to wait till it’s possible to travel there. Spain is much closer.  Astroland, an interplanetary agency in Spain, has replicated Martian environment in a cave in northern Spain and has opened it to visitors from around the world. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke …

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres encouraged donors to honor the pledges they have made to combat Ebola as he visited the Democratic Republic of Congo to offer support in fighting the outbreak.Guterres told reporters Monday in Kinshasa that the United Nations has received only 15% of what it needs to …

Almost every day 20-year-old Rizaldian Syahputra puts on his blue uniform, laces up his high boots and leaves his wooden house on stilts for a job many nature-lovers would envy.But by next year, he may no longer be employed.Syahputra works as a wildlife guide at Komodo National Park on the …

India’s ambitious mission to the moon has crossed a crucial milestone and is on course to place a probe on the south pole of the lunar surface later this week.Space officials say the landing module detached from the main spacecraft successfully Monday afternoon and is now about 100 kilometers from the …

Far from just playing backgammon or shuffleboard, today’s senior citizens may want to renew their gym memberships.  A new, small-sample study says that older adults benefit from the types of exercise just years ago thought too risky for their bodies. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi stretches and warms up for this story. …

Joyce Sasser was born in 1970 with no bones in her thumbs. Her doctors blamed thalidomide, a drug used to treat pregnant women experiencing morning sickness, until it was found to cause congenital abnormalities. Sasser said her mother swore up and down she’d never taken thalidomide; the two risks she felt …

A new floating laboratory onboard a boat on the Potomac River is keeping tabs on the water quality that flows through the nation’s capital and surrounding area. A local environmental group, the Potomac Riverkeeper Network, is collecting water samples at several sites to measure the amount of bacteria that cause …

Every day, more than 130 people in the U.S. die of an opioid overdose, but in one state heavily impacted by the opioid crisis, innovative solutions are now advancing with the hope of saving lives.The opioid epidemic has taken an unspeakable toll on individuals, families and communities in the U.S.To …

U.S. health officials are warning users of e-cigarettes to reconsider their habit of vaping, noting a rise in the number of respiratory illnesses linked to the practice.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Friday that they were investigating 215 cases of a serious lung disease possibly related …

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg joined several hundred other young people Friday outside the United Nations to demand action on global warming.    To chants of “Greta! Greta!” the petite 16-year-old climate rock star made her way through a sea of young people, many of whom said they had drawn …

Gavi, the global vaccine alliance that targets developing countries, said Friday that it was appealing for $7.4 billion to immunize 300 million children in 2021-25. Gavi’s latest fundraising drive is its most ambitious to date. Officials said they expected huge returns from what would be the agency’s most comprehensive and cost-effective preventive health package ever.    Gavi said the vaccines would protect …

The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo has reached another grim milestone, the World Health Organization says. More than one year after the epidemic was declared, the WHO confirmed 3,004 cases, including 2,006 deaths. That is the second worst Ebola outbreak after the 2014 West African epidemic, which infected …

A 9-year-old Congolese girl who tested positive for Ebola in neighboring Uganda has died, officials said Friday, as the World Health Organization said that the outbreak has neared 3,000 cases.The young girl’s body will be repatriated with her mother back to Congo for a funeral, according to Dr. Eddy Kasenda, …