Within weeks, the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is expected to start releasing treated radioactive wastewater into the sea, a highly contested plan facing fierce protests in and outside Japan

A half-century ago, the nation’s top health experts urged the federal agency in charge of mine safety to adopt strict rules protecting miners from poisonous rock dust

The Biden administration will centre White House efforts to address threats of various transmissible diseases, pathogens and other biological agents in a new permanent office headed by a member of the National Security Council (NSC). The White House announced the creation of the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy (OPPR) on Friday. OPPR will be “charged with leading, coordinating, and implementing actions related to preparedness for, and response to, known and unknown biological threats or pathogens that could lead to a pandemic or to significant public health-related disruptions in the United States”, according to a handout. The new office will shift the White House’s Covid reponse efforts from a standalone team to a broader group that will include experts working on a number of different potential “public health-related disruptions”, including new variants of the influenza (common flu) virus. “Under President Biden’s leadership, the Administration has taken significant steps to ensure all individuals have continued access to lifesaving protections such as vaccines, treatments, and tests, and that the nation is well prepared to manage the risks of COVID-19 or other causes of potential pandemics in the future,” a White House statement read. The office’s inaugural director will be Major General (retired) Paul Friedrichs, special assistant to President Biden and the Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biodefense on the National Security Council. The new office comes three months after Mr Biden formally ended the national emergency declaration over the pandemic. More than 1.1 million Americans have died from Covid since it first emerged in the US in early 2020. Mr Biden lobbied Congress against passing the resolution to end the national emergency but nevertheless signed the bipartisan piece of legislation when it hit his desk in April. The president had previously declared the Covid pandemic “over” in 2022, telling CBS’s 60 Minutes: “We still have a problem with Covid. We're still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over. If you notice, no one's wearing masks.” Read More The fight over Alabama's congressional redistricting now shifts back to federal court DeSantis downplays Jan. 6, says it wasn't an insurrection but a 'protest' that 'ended up devolving' Biden names CIA Director William Burns to his Cabinet

“Barbenheimer” didn’t just work – it spun box office gold

Excessive heat continues to bear down on sections of the United States, a reminder of the impetus for the The Inflation Reduction Act, the significant climate legislation that turns one year old on August 16

Members of a U.N. agency that governs international waters are locked in a fierce debate amid disagreement over whether to allow deep sea mining and set a new deadline for proposed regulations still stuck in draft mode

A federal jury in Miami on Wednesday found a Florida family guilty of defrauding the United States by distributing a toxic bleaching agent as a Covid-19 cure, according to court records.

Waves of pink-clad moviegoers passed under carboard palm trees on the frenzied first day of “Barbenheimer.”

By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The White House on Friday launched an office to prepare for and respond to potential

The release of “Barbie” is upon us, and the color pink is nearly inescapable

Blur have vowed to stick around forever as they are all "emotionally" attached to the legendary British rock band.

As swaths of southern Europe continue to swelter under a deadly heat wave, for many outdoor workers, it's turning into a brutal endurance test.