There are nearly 134.7 million worldwide COVID-19 cases, Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Saturday. The U.S. has more cases than anywhere else, with 31 million infections, followed by Brazil, with 13.3 million, and India, with 13.2 million cases.India has recorded its highest daily spike in COVID cases for …

La Soufriere volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent erupted on Friday after decades of inactivity, sending dark plumes of ash and smoke billowing into the sky and forcing thousands from surrounding villages to evacuate.Dormant since 1979, the volcano started showing signs of activity in December, spewing steam …

Malawi’s Ministry of Health expanded eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine to all Malawians 18 and older.  The decision was prompted by the approaching expiration date for about 40,000 doses the country received from the African Union. Malawi’s government has so far received 512,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which it is …

U.S. Centers for Disease Control Director Rochelle Walensky said Friday that hospitalizations and new COVID-19 cases continue to rise, driven by infections in younger adults, who have not yet been vaccinated.During a White House COVID-19 Response Team virtual news briefing, Walensky noted hospitalizations for COVID-19 rose by seven percent over …

Germany’s top health officials said Friday a nationwide lockdown of two to four weeks is necessary to bring a new wave of COVID-19 infections under control. Health Minister Jens Spahn and Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for Infectious Disease President Lothar Wieler told reporters in Berlin there were 25,000 new infections …

A U.S. astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) Friday for a six-month mission.   NASA’s Mark Vande Hei and Russians Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov blasted off as scheduled on board of the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.   The …

Around $1 trillion of food is lost or wasted each year around the world, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Reversing that trend could preserve enough food to feed 2 billion people. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias looks at how COVID-19 has spurred innovative efforts to prevent food …

The United States officially joined a U.N. group on climate and security on Thursday as part of the Biden administration’s focus on mitigating all impacts of the climate crisis.“This is a critical issue for the United Nations, especially because the threat isn’t just to all of our climates. It’s also …

CDC says cases of coronavirus clusters are increasing in the U.S. in youth sports and day care centers, while hospitals are reporting more younger adults are being admitted with severe cases of the disease.  As Mariama Diallo reports, coronavirus variants are to blame for the rise.    …

Modern brains are younger than originally thought, possibly developing as recently as 1.5 million years ago, according to a study published Thursday. By that time, the earliest humans had already begun walking on two feet and had started fanning out from Africa. Our first ancestors from the genus Homo emerged on …

Several nations have issued new guidelines over the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after the European Union’s medical regulator announced a link between the vaccine and rare, possibly fatal blood clots.Britain, where the vaccine was developed jointly by the British-Swedish drugmaker and scientists at the University of Oxford, says it …

Moroccan authorities decided Wednesday to enforce a night-time curfew during the holy month of Ramadan because of a recent rise in COVID-19 cases, as scientists announced the discovery of a new, local variant of the virus.Many Moroccans voiced their anger over the decision on social networks, describing it as another …

Several nations have issued new guidelines over the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after the European Union’s medical regulator announced a link between the vaccine and rare, possibly fatal blood clots.Britain, where the vaccine was developed jointly by the British-Swedish drugmaker and scientists at the University of Oxford, says it …

A New York social worker and psychotherapist says more is needed to address the pandemic’s impact on mental health, particularly among health care workers. More from VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo. …

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday the highly contagious B.1.1.7 variant originally identified in Britain is now the most common strain of the virus that causes COVID-19 circulating in the United States.During the White House COVID-19 response team briefing, Walensky said the variant has …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.  …

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  …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …