Southern Africa pushes for better energy access
GABORONE, BOTSWANA — Southern Africa energy experts and political leaders pledged to improve access to energy at a summit in Botswana this week. The commitments come as most countries in the region still rely on coal, a major contributor to…
Harsh flu season has health officials worried about brain complications in children
WASHINGTON — This year’s harsh flu season — the most intense in 15 years — has federal health officials trying to understand if it sparked an increase in a rare but life-threatening brain complication in children. The Centers for Disease…
Katy Perry, Gayle King to join Blue Origin spaceflight
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — Katy Perry and Gayle King are headed to space with Jeff Bezos’ fiancee, Lauren Sanchez, and three other women. Bezos’ rocket company, Blue Origin, announced the all-female celebrity crew on Thursday. Sanchez, a helicopter pilot and…
Japan’s births fell to record low in 2024
TOKYO — The number of babies born in Japan fell to a record low of 720,988 in 2024 for a ninth consecutive year of decline, the health ministry said on Thursday, underscoring the rapid aging and dwindling of the population….
What we know about Congo illness that has sickened 400, killed 50
KINSHASA, CONGO — Unidentified illnesses in northwestern Congo have killed more than 50 people over the past five weeks, nearly half of them within hours after they felt sick. The outbreaks in two distant villages in Congo’s Equateur province began…
First measles death reported in west Texas outbreak that’s infected more than 120 people
LUBBOCK, TEXAS — A person who was hospitalized with measles has died from measles in West Texas, the first death in an outbreak that began late last month. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center spokesperson Melissa Whitfield confirmed the death…
Egg prices will jump another 41% this year, USDA predicts
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts the current record prices for eggs will soar 41% in 2025, as the Trump administration offered the first new details Wednesday about its plan to battle bird flu and ease the cost…
Newly discovered asteroid will bypass Earth
Earth is not in danger of being hit by an asteroid in the near future, NASA and the European Space Agency said Tuesday. The proclamations from the two agencies came after an asteroid dubbed 2024 YR4, discovered in December, had…
Unknown illness kills over 50 in part of Congo with hours between symptoms and death
KINSHASA, DR Congo — An unknown illness has killed over 50 people in northwestern Congo, according to doctors on the ground and the World Health Organization on Monday. The interval between the onset of symptoms and death has been 48…
Talks to protect Earth’s biodiversity resume with money topping the agenda
BOGOTA, Colombia — An annual United Nations conference on biodiversity that ran out of time last year will resume its work Tuesday in Rome with money at the top of the agenda. That is, how to spend what’s been pledged…