Voice of America Special News

FILE - A student walks in front of the University of Toronto, St. George campus, in Toronto, Sept. 26, 2023. FILE - People take a break from playing sports on the grounds of the University of Toronto, Sept. 9, 2020.

FILE - A view of the logos of TP-Link, a maker of computer networking products, and its sub-brand Aginet, whose products are designed for internet service providers, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Feb. 28, 2023. FILE - FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before a House committee, July 24, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington.

FILE - The app for Bluesky is shown on a mobile phone, left, and on a laptop screen on June 2, 2023, in New York.

FILE - Iron crosses marking graves are silhouetted against storm clouds building over a cemetery May 25, 2024, in Victoria, Kan. FILE - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is shown March 15, 2020, in Atlanta.

FILE - A chicken is caged on a farm where thousands of birds are produced in Tepatitlan, Mexico, on June 6, 2024. World health experts cautioned on Dec. 17, 2024, that H5N1 avian influenza — bird flu — presents a possible global health threat.

FILE - Orlando Pride forward Marta, center, is interviewed after their NWSL championship win over the Washington Spirit at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, Nov. 23, 2024.

Pig kidney recipient Towana Looney sits with transplant surgeon Dr. Jayme Locke at NYU Langone Health, in New York City, on Dec. 10, 2024. Doctors prepare patient Towana Looney to receive a gene-edited pig kidney at NYU Langone Health in New York City on Nov. 25, 2024.

People move the dead body of a police personnel killed in an attack by militants while guarding polio vaccinators, in Karak of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Dec. 16, 2024.

Flight attendant Dre Zulaica, front left, greets a participant and her guardian during the United Airlines annual "fantasy flight" to a fictional North Pole at Denver International Airport, in Denver, Colorado, Dec. 14, 2024. Flight attendant Kaori Kiguradze welcomes participants during the United Airlines annual "fantasy flight" to a fictional North Pole at Denver International Airport, in Denver, Colorado, Dec. 14, 2024. Participants deplane during the United Airlines annual "fantasy flight" to a fictional North Pole at Denver International Airport, in Denver, Colorado, Dec. 14, 2024.

Olivia DeMattio, outside Simple Coffee in Mendham, New Jersey on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, is one of many New Jersey residents who have seen large drones at night over their houses and businesses.

FILE - A member of a group of hackers uses his computer at the group's office in Dongguan, China, Aug. 4, 2020. Hundreds of thousands of Rhode Island residents' personal and bank information were likely hacked by an international cybercriminal group, said state officials.

FILE - A TikTok logo is displayed on a smartphone in this illustration taken Jan. 6, 2020.

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2013, photo, various cuts of beef and pork are displayed for sale in the meat department at a discount market in Arlington, Va.

FILE - Members of the Women's March group protest in support of access to abortion medication outside the Federal Courthouse on March 15, 2023, in Amarillo, Texas.

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones and Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland attend a news conference in Sydney, Dec. 12, 2024.

Tourists gather at Santa Claus Village, a winter-themed amusement park perched on the edge of the Arctic Circle, in Rovaniemi, Finland, Dec. 4, 2024.

The U.N. Development Program features the Timbuktoo GreenTech Hub and Africa Centre on its website on Dec. 10, 2024.

FILE - A monarch butterfly flexes its wings in a garden in Marple Township, Pa., on July 11, 2021.

FILE - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company founder Morris Chang speaks at the new facility in Phoenix, Dec. 6, 2022.

Golden Globes President Helen Hoenhe and actors Mindy Kaling and Morris Chestnut pose during nominations announcement for the 82nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, Dec. 9, 2024.

FILE - A Nvidia Corp. sign is shown in Santa Clara, Calif., May 31, 2023. AI chips and their leading designer, Nvidia, are now at the center of what some experts consider an AI revolution that could reshape the technology sector.

FILE - An early morning pedestrian is silhouetted against sunrise as he walks through the U.S. Flags on the National Mall and past the US Capitol Building in Washington Monday, Nov. 7, 2022,

Amazon Web Services data center is seen on Aug. 22, 2024, in Boardman, Ore.

Apex, a 150 million-year-old stegosaurus dinosaur fossil that billionaire Kenneth C. Griffin bought for $44.6 million, is displayed at the American Museum of Natural History, in New York, Dec. 5, 2024.

FILE - The TikTok logo is displayed on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying a TikTok home page on March 18, 2023, in Boston, Massachusetts.

FILE - A person smokes fentanyl on April 12, 2023, in Portland, Oregon. The mayor of Portland spoke at a summit on drug reform in Sydney, Australia, this week, describing problems the city has encountered after Oregon decriminalized possession of small amounts of illicit drugs.

FILE - A TikTok logo is displayed on a smartphone in this illustration. FILE - Devotees of TikTok gather at the Capitol in Washington, on March 13, 2024. FILE - Women chat as they pass the headquarters of ByteDance, owners of TikTok, in Beijing, China, Aug. 7, 2020. FILE - U.S. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi questions a witness during a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 20, 2019.

People stand outside Notre Dame cathedral in Paris on Nov. 29 2024.

FILE - A doctor performs an ultrasound scan on a pregnant woman on Aug. 7, 2018, at a hospital in Chicago.

FILE - A woman and a girl walk along the shore to cool off during a heat wave on the coast of Veracruz, Mexico, on June 15, 2024. FILE - Workers labor under the sun amid high heat during their workday at a construction site in the city of Veracruz, Mexico, on June 17, 2024.

Climate activists demonstrate in front of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, on Dec. 2, 2024.

Iran

FILE - A view of the general Hospital Panzi in southwestern Congo, Nov 5, 2024. The Panzi health zone is the focus of a mystery flu-like illness that has killed dozens of people.

Japanese sake, listed as a nominee for Intangible Cultural Heritage, is displayed on Japan's delegation table during an UNESCO World Heritage Convention, in Asuncion, Paraguay, Dec. 4, 2024.

People hold flags and signs at a demonstration as the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments over a Republican-backed ban in Tennessee on gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, outside the court in Washington, Dec. 4, 2024.

FILE - The Google logo is seen at the Google headquarters in Brussels, March 23, 2010.

FILE - A Chinese official walks by a China and U.S. national flags ahead of a meeting between Chinese and U.S. negotiators at the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing, Aug. 28, 2023.

FILE - ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio, left, and plaintiff Joaquin Carcano address reporters after a hearing, June 25, 2018, in Winston-Salem, N.C.,

President Joe Biden speaks as first lady Jill Biden listens on the South Lawn of the White House during a ceremony to mark World AIDS Day with survivors, their families and advocates, in Washington, Dec. 1, 2024.

FILE - People walk on the Interpol logo at the international police agency headquarters in Lyon, central France, Nov. 8, 2018.

Shirts designed by artist Paul Middleton are on display in a shop at the LGBTQ+ Christmas market Christmas Avenue at Nollendorfplatz in Berlin, Nov. 25, 2024. Christmas stars illuminate the top of the tents of the Christmas market at Bebelplatz in Berlin, Nov. 25, 2024.

This illustration provided by Marcin Ambrozik shows plant-eating dinosaurs in Poland during the Early Jurassic period. This undated photo provided by Grzegorz Niedzwiedzki shows fossilized plant-eating dinosaur feces found in the Holy Cross Mountains, Poland.