South African authorities in the port city of Durban said Saturday they were investigating a coastal chemical spill that may have been caused by a warehouse fire during unrest this week.Other possible sources are also being investigated as the cause of the spill, which is affecting marine and bird life, …

The U.S. is experiencing a rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths. The highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus among unvaccinated people is largely responsible for the outbreak.Four states with low vaccination rates were responsible for 40% of last week’s new cases, but cases have risen in all 50 states, …

Oliver Daemen, 18, received exciting news Thursday from the Blue Origin flight team: He will be flying into space on July 20.Daemen, who will attend Utrecht University in the Netherlands this fall, will be the youngest person to reach space when he departs on Blue Origin’s New Shepard flight. A …

The Hubble Space Telescope should be back in action soon, following a tricky, remote repair job by NASA.  The orbiting observatory went dark in mid-June, with all astronomical viewing halted.  NASA initially suspected a 1980s-era computer as the source of the problem. But after the backup payload computer also failed, …

The World Meteorological Organization is calling for action to halt climate change as extreme weather becomes the norm rather than the exception. Heavy rainfall this week has triggered devastating floods across western Europe, killing and injuring scores of people, destroying homes and livelihoods.  At the same time, parts of Scandinavia — …

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has warned in a statement that the global COVID vaccination rate “must increase rapidly and protection measures upheld, if we are to win the race against more transmissible, and potentially more deadly, variants.” “At least three quarters of people in most …

U.S. President Joe Biden, his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Russian President Vladimir Putin are among Pacific Rim leaders gathering virtually to discuss strategies to help economies rebound from a resurgent COVID-19 pandemic. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will chair the special leaders’ meeting …

In a medical first, researchers harnessed the brain waves of a paralyzed man unable to speak — and turned what he intended to say into sentences on a computer screen. It will take years of additional research but the study, reported Wednesday, marks an important step toward one day restoring …

The space-tourism industry got a major boost aboard a billionaire’s rocket ship.  Plus, the EU lends Mother Earth a climate-conscious hand, and LeBron James suits-up for the big screen.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space. Produced by: Arash Arabasadi …

A NASA-University of Hawaii study warns that upcoming changes in the moon’s orbit coupled with higher ocean levels could lead to record coastal flooding on U.S. coasts in the next decade.The study, conducted by the NASA Sea Level Change Team at the University of Hawaii, and published last month in …

Indonesia, the world’s fourth-largest nation, is the latest hotspot for the fast-moving, highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19.  The nation reported more than 54,517 new coronavirus infections Wednesday, a new single-day record, along with 991 deaths. Hospitals on Java island are overflowing with infected patients and residents scrambling to find …

New data by two leading U.N. agencies find the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted routine life-saving immunization services for millions of children, many of whom risk dying from vaccine-preventable diseases.The World Health Organization and U.N. Children’s Fund report 23 million children missed out last year on vaccines against killer diseases such …

More than 93,000 people died from drug overdoses in the U.S. last year, a record experts say was partly triggered by the isolation that many experienced during coronavirus-related lockdowns.   The government reported Wednesday that the 2020 total easily surpassed the previous record of about 72,000 deaths in 2019.   …

European Union leaders on Wednesday introduced the bloc’s most comprehensive plans yet to combat climate change, with a new goal of reducing carbon emissions to 55% below 1990 levels by 2030.Unveiled by the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, the legislation would make the bloc’s goal of reaching climate neutrality …

More than 93,000 people died from drug overdoses in the U.S. last year, a record experts said was partly triggered by the isolation that many experienced during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.The government reported Wednesday that the 2020 total easily surpassed the previous record of about 72,000 deaths in …

New Zealand students have developed sustainable materials made from cabbage tree leaves and flax that could soon be used to make high-performance skis, kayaks and skateboards. Their plan is to use them to replace traditional fiberglass and carbon fiber. Skateboards need to be tough. Two students at New Zealand’s University of Canterbury, Ben Scales and William Murrell, believe …

Residents in Sydney, Australia will remain under lockdown for another two weeks as officials continue to struggle to contain a growing outbreak of the delta variant of COVID-19.The lockdown was first imposed on June 26 after a Sydney airport limousine driver who had been transporting international air crews tested positive …

The United States should accommodate millions of refugees who will be forced to flee disasters and other effects of a changing climate, according to a task force report released Wednesday.  The In this April 15, 2021, file photo, President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington. No nation offers asylum or other protections to people displaced …

Seven COVID-19 vaccines have received the green light from the World Health Organization so far. And as new variants of the coronavirus evolve, questions arise about how well each vaccine works. It can get confusing. But as VOA’s Steve Baragona reports, when it comes to keeping people out of the …

Students in Afghanistan have lacked access to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, as schools have remained closed and the virus has not been controlled.”The real tragedy is that over 3,000 students in Kabul who come from poor families simply do not have the ability to pursue online education during …

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is adding a new warning to Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine because of a link to a rare neurological condition.The federal oversight agency issued a statement Monday saying it had received preliminary reports of 100 people who developed Guillain-Barré syndrome after receiving the single-shot …

Wildfires that torched homes and forced thousands to evacuate burned across 10 parched Western states on Tuesday, and the largest, in Oregon, threatened California’s power supply. Nearly 60 wildfires tore through bone-dry timber and brush from Alaska to Wyoming, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Arizona, Idaho and Montana accounted …

U.S. President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland met Monday with key municipal and law enforcement officials about a seemingly intractable American problem: the soaring number of gun crimes.By various tabulations, 2021 could be the deadliest year for gun violence in the U.S. in two decades. Already this year, …

Scientists funded by U.S. space agency NASA are studying how small impacts from space materials have affected the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa and how they could affect the search for signs of life there. Scientists have determined that on Europa, beneath a thick layer of ice, is a salty ocean …

World leaders should prioritize reopening schools for in-person learning immediately in order to avoid a “generational catastrophe,” UNICEF and UNESCO said in a joint statement Monday.The organizations said that keeping schools closed to 156 million students in 19 countries, due to COVID-19, is causing potentially irreparable damage to child development. …