NASA Mars rover captures rock that could hold fossilized microbes
washington — NASA’s rover Perseverance on Mars has made what could be its most astonishing discovery to date: possible signs of ancient life on the Red Planet. The six-wheeled robotic explorer came across an intriguing, arrow-shaped rock dubbed “Cheyava Falls”…
Advocates hail sub-Saharan Africa’s lead in global HIV response
washington — Thousands of policymakers, health care professionals and advocates gathered this week in Munich, Germany, to take stock of the global fight against HIV as they try to meet the 2030 deadline set by world leaders for eliminating AIDS…
Astronomers use Webb telescope to discover new planet
A team of astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, to observe a new, Jupiter-like planet outside our solar system – known as an “exoplanet.” It was the first new planet observed and imaged with the telescope that…
Recycled Russian conspiracy theories falsely accuse Ukraine of child organ harvesting
Ukrainian children continue to pay what the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) called “an extraordinary price in lives lost and upended” due to Russia’s invasion. UNICEF said the war has had “a devastating impact on the country’s 7.5…
For Ukrainian athletes, joy mixes with sorrow at the Paris Olympics
Paris — For Ukrainian competitors in Paris for the Olympics, joy goes hand in hand with sorrow. Athletes are striving to enjoy the dream of competing at one of the world’s most prestigious sports events while carrying the burden of…
Oil tanker sinks, hundreds of thousands affected as ‘super typhoon’ batters Philippines
An oil tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of fuel also sank in rough seas off the capital, in the Manila Bay. Now downgraded to a typhoon, Gaemi (locally called Carina) combined with effects of southwest monsoons to bring intense rains…
Global education fund announces $2.5 million grant for Haiti
Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), announced the grant on Friday in the capital, Port-au-Prince, during a high-level UN mission to the Caribbean country. The aim is to reach nearly 75,000 children and adolescents in the hard-hit…
Deadly Atlantic shipwreck shows victims’ desperation, says UN refugee agency
The UN agency’s comments follow reports on Monday that dozens of people are missing after a boat carrying hundreds of people capsized in the waters off the coast of the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott. Recent months have continued to see a…
WHO to send one million polio vaccines to Gaza to protect children
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that the vaccines will be administered to children in the coming weeks. He noted that no cases of polio have been recorded yet but without immediate action, it was “just a matter of time before it reaches the thousands of children who have been left…
Gaza: Evacuation orders displace thousands, disrupt aid operations
Meanwhile, hundreds remain stranded in eastern Khan Younis as fighting continues. “Once again, we underscore that all parties to the conflict must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, including by taking constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects,”…