BETHANY BEYOND THE JORDAN, JORDAN — The Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on Friday consecrated a new church at a place on the banks of the Jordan River that
Read MoreBANGKOK — Nearly all of the world’s 35,000 online pharmacies are being run illegally and consumers who use them risk getting ineffective or dangerous drugs, according to the U.S. Trade Representative’s
Read MoreNEW YORK — The 13-year-old boy came to the clinic with a rapidly ballooning neck. Doctors were puzzled. Testing ruled out their first suspicion. But further tests pinpointed what they —
Read MoreHuman Metapneumovirus (HMPV) has recently spread widely across China, overwhelming hospitals and evoking memories of the COVID-19 outbreak. HMPV is not a new virus; it has been known for years
Read MoreISLAMABAD — A high court in Pakistan prohibited authorities Friday from forcibly deporting Afghan musicians and singers until their asylum cases are resolved within the next two months. The ruling comes
Read MoreGENEVA — The World Meteorlogical Organization says that preventive action cannot avert natural disasters such as the wildfires raging across Los Angeles, but that it can help save lives and mitigate
Read MoreFor the first time, a person in the United States has died after being infected with the bird flu. Louisiana health officials reported the death on Monday. The World Health
Read MoreWASHINGTON — Nearly a quarter of animals living in rivers, lakes and other freshwater sources are threatened with extinction, according to new research published Wednesday. “Huge rivers like the Amazon can
Read MoreLOS ANGELES — Peter Yarrow, the singer-songwriter best known as one-third of Peter, Paul and Mary, the folk-music trio whose impassioned harmonies transfixed millions as they lifted their voices in favor
Read MoreIndia TV’s claims that HMPV is a mysterious virus, or speculation that a new virus may have arisen out of China, are false. …
Read MoreWASHINGTON — The Louisiana Department of Health said Monday that a U.S. patient hospitalized with H5N1 bird flu had died, the country’s first death from an outbreak of the virus that
Read MoreHollywood got dressed up as the Golden Globes returned for its annual champagne-soaked celebration of film and television workers at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. The show serves as the
Read MoreTwo wildly audacious films — Brady Corbet’s 215-minute postwar epic “The Brutalist” and Jacques Audiard’s Spanish language, genre-shifting trans musical “Emilia Perez” — won top honors at the 82nd Golden
Read MoreBeverly Hills, California — Viola Davis’ journey to becoming one of Hollywood’s most revered actors was driven by a straightforward mantra: Embrace every role, using each as a paycheck and a
Read MoreThe Walt Disney Co.’s “Mufasa” claimed the No. 1 spot on the North American box office charts over the first weekend of 2025. The photorealistic “Lion King” prequel earned $23.8
Read MoreCAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — The new year will bring a pair of lunar eclipses, but don’t expect any sun-disappearing acts like the one that mesmerized North America last spring. While the
Read MoreTOKYO — Tomiko Itooka, a Japanese woman who was the world’s oldest person according to Guinness World Records, has died, an Ashiya city official said Saturday. She was 116. Yoshitsugu Nagata,
Read MoreWASHINGTON — The highly decorated Special Forces soldier who died by suicide in a Cybertruck explosion on New Year’s Day confided to a former girlfriend who had served as an Army
Read MoreNEW YORK — Say hello to the latest dog in the American Kennel Club’s lineup of recognized breeds. Or you might say “hej.” The Danish-Swedish farmdog — yep, that’s the official
Read MoreWASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration announced Friday that it will allocate $306 million to bolster the nation’s bird flu response before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The new
Read MoreThe holidays came with a side of flu for many Americans, with 40 states reporting high or very high levels of illness last week, according to the latest government health
Read MoreWASHINGTON/LONDON — Alcoholic drinks should carry a warning about cancer risks on their label, the U.S. surgeon general said Friday in a move that could signal a shift toward more aggressive
Read MoreJuba, South Sudan — More than 1.1 million doses of an oral cholera vaccine have arrived in South Sudan, as the government launched a program to inoculate more than 80 percent
Read MoreLONDON — A worker digging up clay in a southern England limestone quarry noticed unusual bumps that led to the discovery of a “dinosaur highway” and nearly 200 tracks that date
Read MoreJOHANNESBURG — The dance world mourned Tuesday the internationally acclaimed South African dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo, who died in the hospital over the weekend at age 39. Masilo died unexpectedly
Read MoreWASHINGTON — When the Quadrantid meteor shower peaks Friday, it will be the year’s first chance to see fireballs in the sky. A waning crescent moon means good visibility under clear
Read MoreIt was a life that took him from peanut farming to the presidency. While former President Jimmy Carter ‘s time in the White House lasted only one term, the decades
Read MoreLONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — King Charles III announced awards for actors Stephen Fry and Carey Mulligan, as well as victims of Britain’s Post Office scandal in the country’s traditional New Year
Read MoreGeneva — The World Health Organization on Monday implored China to share data and access to help understand how COVID-19 began, five years on from the start of the pandemic that
Read MoreNEW DELHI — India launched a rocket Monday carrying two small spacecraft to test docking in space, a critical step for the country’s dreams of a space station and a manned
Read MoreBUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA — An Argentine judge confirmed charges against five people in connection with the death of Liam Payne, a former member of musical group One Direction, and ordered preventive
Read MoreNEW YORK — Linda Lavin, a Tony Award-winning stage actress who became a working class icon as a paper-hat wearing waitress on the TV sitcom “Alice,” has died. She was 87.
Read MoreThe World Meteorological Organization warns this year’s record-breaking heat is likely to continue in 2025, further accelerating climate change and leading to catastrophic consequences if urgent action is not taken
Read MoreJERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu successfully underwent prostate removal surgery on Sunday and is in good condition, according to the hospital treating him. The surgery took place while
Read MoreTwo family films dominated the holiday box office this week, with “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” winning the three-day weekend over “Mufasa” by a blue hair. Paramount’s Sonic movie earned $38
Read MoreMEXICO CITY — On a Sunday afternoon in Mexico City’s Roma neighborhood, Rosa María Espinosa joins nearly 80 men under a park pavilion to play poleana, a board game requiring mental
Read MoreAbortion has become more common despite bans or deep restrictions in most Republican-controlled states, and the legal and political fights over its future are not over yet. It’s now been
Read MoreLONDON — Olivia Hussey, the actor who starred as a teenage Juliet in the 1968 film “Romeo and Juliet,” has died, her family said on social media Saturday. She was 73.
Read MoreBOGOTA, COLOMBIA — 2024 was a brutal year for the Amazon rainforest, with rampant wildfires and extreme drought ravaging large parts of a biome that’s a critical counterweight to climate change.
Read MoreAs Russia’s war against Ukraine enters its third year, centers focused on soldiers’ rehabilitation and mental health are appearing across Ukraine. An active serviceman started one such place in his
Read MoreA different approach to energy is at the center of President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to bring down the cost of living for Americans. But as VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson
Read MoreWASHINGTON — Changes are coming to the cold and cough aisle of your local pharmacy: U.S. officials are moving to phase out the leading decongestant found in hundreds of over-the-counter medicines,
Read MoreA genetic analysis suggests the bird flu virus mutated inside a Louisiana patient who contracted the nation’s first severe case of the illness, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Read MoreHealth care organizations may be required to bolster their cybersecurity to better prevent sensitive information from being leaked by cyberattacks like the ones that hit Ascension and UnitedHealth, a senior
Read Morewashington — Cosmetics companies would have to take extra steps to ensure that any products containing talc are free of asbestos under a federal rule proposed Thursday. The proposal from the
Read MoreThe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday its analysis of samples from the first severe case of bird flu in the country last week showed mutations
Read More