Voice of America Special News

FILE - Debris from homes destroyed by Hurricane Milton lies strewn around still-standing houses on Manasota Key, Florida, Oct. 12, 2024. FILE - A resident of Bay City Texas, right, talks with a city worker as she stands in front of her neighbor's home after Beryl passed through on July 8, 2024.

This Dec. 14, 2023 image made available by NOIRLab shows meteors from the Geminid meteor shower streaking across the sky above the Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF's NOIRLab, in Tucson, Ariz.

FILE - A patient prepares to take the first of two combination pills, mifepristone, for a medication abortion in Kansas City, Kansas, Oct. 12, 2022. On Nov. 19, 2024, a judge in Wyoming struck down an explicit prohibition on the use of medication to end pregnancy.

Mukhtar Babayev, COP29 President, center, arrives to a news conference next to Yalchin Rafiyev, left, Azerbaijan's COP29 lead negotiator, during the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Nov. 18, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Simon Stiell, United Nations climate chief, speaks ahead of a plenary session at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Nov. 18, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. People adjust a banner outside the venue for the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Nov. 18, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. FILE - Activist Teresa Anderson leads a demonstration calling for climate finance during the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Nov. 14, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

This image released by Prime shows Kristofer Hivju, left, and Dwayne Johnson in a scene from "Red One."

'Seed guardians' (not pictured) display corns and potatoes as well as seeds of tomatoes, little yellow pears and artichoke, as they meet to exchange forgotten vegetables varieties, in Rancagua, Chile, Oct. 11, 2024. Mapuche native cook and farmer Ana Yanez Antillanca, known as a 'Seed guardian', shows 'egg pumpkin' seeds as she meets with comrades to exchange forgotten vegetables varieties, in Rancagua, Chile, Oct. 11, 2024.

A Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials researcher controls a wheelchair with stiffness-variable "morphing" wheels in Daejeon, South Korea, Nov. 5, 2024. The "morphing" wheel can roll over obstacles up to 1.3 times the height of its radius. Inspired by the surface tension of water droplets, it goes from solid to fluid when it encounters impediments.

FILE - Part of the temples of Baalbek, a UNESCO world heritage site in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, illuminated in blue light, Oct. 24, 2015. FILE - This picture shows closed shops on an empty street in the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek on Oct. 19, 2024. FILE - People walk near the Roman ruins of Baalbek, Lebanon, Jan. 5, 2024. FILE - A man sits amidst the rubble at a site damaged in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on the town of Al-Ain in the Baalbek region, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Lebanon, Nov. 6, 2024.

Dr. Jaafar al Jotheri, shown here Nov. 10, 2024, holds satellite images and explores the site of the Battle of al-Qadisiyah, which was fought in Mesopotamia -- present-day Iraq -- in the 630s AD. A desert area with scattered plots of agricultural land with features that closely matched the description of the al-Qadisiyah battle site described in historic texts, Nov. 10, 2024.

FILE - This colorized electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 2024 shows mpox virus particles, orange, found within infected cells, green. (NIAID via AP)

Activists protest in a demonstration at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit on Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Jake Paul, left, fights Mike Tyson during their heavyweight boxing match on Nov. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas.

Climate activists stage a protest inside the COP29 venue to demand a phase out of fossil fuels during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku on Nov. 15, 2024.

A motorist drives past the CHS oil refinery Sept. 28, 2024, in McPherson, Kan. Pumpjacks operate in a milo field, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, near Hays, Kan.

FILE - Tuvalu, shown in this undated photo, is among Pacific atoll islands threatened with rising sea levels, according to a World Bank study released on Nov. 14, 2024. (Rising Nations Initiative via AP)

FILE - A pumpjack operates at dawn in a pasture, Sept. 30, 2024, near Hays, Kan.

Divers from National Geographic Pristine Seas measure the world’s largest coral colony in the Solomon Islands.

Samantha Harvey poses with the trophy and her book "Orbital" after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Nov. 12, 2024.

Ninawa Inu Pereira Nunes, President of the Federation of the Huni Kuin indigenous people in Brazil's state of Acre, gives an interview during the United Nations climate change conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan November 13, 2024.

FILE - This colorized electron microscope image released by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on March 26, 2024, shows avian influenza A H5N1 virus particles (yellow), grown in Madin-Darby Canine Kidney epithelial cells (blue).

FILE - Lou Donaldson performs with Pat Bianchi on the organ at the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, R.I., on Aug. 2, 2015. Donaldson died Nov. 9, 2024, at age 98.

Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan president, and Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, pose for a group photo at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Nov. 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

A drone view shows the ancient geoglyph of 'El Gigante de Tarapaca' placed on 'Unita' hill close to 'Huara' town area, in Atacama desert, Iquique, Chile, Oct. 28, 2024. A man walks on ‘Cerro Dragon' nature sanctuary dune while practicing sandboard with Iquique city in the background, at Atacama desert, Iquique, Chile, Oct. 29, 2024.

A 249-centimeter TCL QM-8 Q-Class Mini-LED QLED 4K HDR Smart TV is displayed at the Pepcom Holiday Spectacular event, in New York, Oct. 30, 2024. A 249-centimeter Samsung television, left, sits by others of various sizes on display at a Best Buy store in Dallas, Oct. 25, 2024.

Cassandra Garduno cuts Mexican marigold flowers known as cempasuchil she grew in her floating garden in the Xochimilco borough of Mexico City, Oct. 29, 2024. FILE - Amateur soccer players and families travel in a traditional canoe in the Xochimilco borough of Mexico City, on Oct. 20, 2024.

FILE - This colorized electron microscope image released by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on March 26, 2024, shows avian influenza A H5N1 virus particles (yellow), grown in Madin-Darby Canine Kidney epithelial cells (blue).

FILE - A health worker tests a blood sample to check for dengue at the Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Oct. 22, 2024. Climate change nurtures fever-carrying mosquitoes in new places — one health impact of rising temperatures, experts say.

FILE - Horses graze in a field on the outskirts of Abbots Langley, England, on Oct. 18, 2024. FILE - Stewart Lewis poses near his home in Abbots Langley, England, on Oct. 18, 2024.

FILE - Salman Rushdie poses for a portrait to promote his book 'Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder' at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin, May 16, 2024. The front pages of the Aug. 13 edition of the Iranian newspapers, Vatan-e Emrooz, front, with the headline 'Knife in the neck of Salman Rushdie,' and Hamshahri, rear, with the headline: 'Attack on writer of Satanic Verses,' are pictured in Tehran, Aug. 13, 2022.

FILE - The Eiffel tower is illuminated in green with the words "Paris Agreement is Done," to celebrate the Paris U.N. Climate Change agreement in Paris, France, Nov. 4, 2016. FILE - A sign for COP29, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, is on display in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 16, 2024.

In this image taken from video, pro-Palestinian supporters march with Palestinian flags near the Ajax stadium in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Nov. 7, 2024. In this image taken from video, police escort Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters to the metro station leading them to the Ajax stadium, after pro-Palestinian supporters marched near the stadium, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Nov. 7, 2024.

FILE - The TikTok Inc. building is seen in Culver City, Calif., on March 17, 2023.

FILE - Tourists with an umbrella walk in front of the Parthenon at the ancient Acropolis in central Athens, June 12, 2024.

FILE - A nurse practitioner prepares a syringe with the mpox vaccine before inoculating a patient at a vaccination site in New York City, Aug. 30, 2022 The U.K. has three confirmed cases of mpox variant clade 1b, as of Nov. 5, 2024.

FILE - The logo of the World Health Organization is seen at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The U.N. health agency listed, Nov. 5, 2024, 17 pathogens that cause widespread disease and death, including HIV, malaria and tuberculosis.

FILE - World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses a press conference on the Marburg virus outbreak at the Kigali Convention Center in Kigali, Rwanda, Oct. 20, 2024.

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A TikTok logo is displayed on a smartphone in this illustration

FILE - Music producer Quincy Jones poses for a portrait to promote his documentary "Quincy" during the Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 7, 2018, in Toronto.

FILE - Delegates attend the last plenary session of the COP16 Summit in Cali, Colombia, on November 1, 2024.

Firecrackers and smoke fill the city skyline as a part of Diwali celebrations at Shivaji Park in Mumbai, India, Oct. 30, 2024.

FILE - In this photo provided by the Center for Biological Diversity, Tiehm's buckwheat grows in the high desert in the Silver Peak Range of western Nevada about halfway between Reno and Las Vegas, June 1, 2019. A rendering of a processing facility planned at Ioneer Ltd's lithium mine is displayed by the US Bureau of Land Management during a news conference in Reno, Nev., Oct. 24, 2024, announcing the bureau's approval of a permit for the project.

Clockmakers Rich Finn, left, and Tom Erb adjust the time zone controllers on a series of clocks at the Electric Time Company in Medfield, Massachusetts, Oct. 30, 2024. Clockmaker Jim Gongoleski works on restoring the Eastman monument clock in Medfield, Massachusetts, Oct. 30, 2024.

FILE - A spokesperson of the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings shows photos captured by a robotic probe inside one of the three melted reactors at the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant during a news conference at the TEPCO headquarters in Tokyo on April 4, 2023.

Hello Kitty waves as she appears to attend the opening ceremony of the exhibition "As I change, so does she," marking the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty at the Tokyo National Museum in Tokyo, Oct. 30, 2024. A visitor looks at giant Hello Kitty display at the exhibition "As I change, so does she," marking the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty at the Tokyo National Museum in Tokyo, Oct. 30, 2024. Visitors react to gigantic Hello Kitty slippers at the exhibition "As I change, so does she," marking the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty at the Tokyo National Museum in Tokyo, Oct. 30, 2024. A visitor looks at Hello Kitty display at the exhibition "As I change, so does she," marking the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty at the Tokyo National Museum in Tokyo, Oct. 30, 2024. Tourists from Britain pose with Hello Kitty decoration at the Tokyo National Museum where the exhibition "As I change, so does she" is held, marking the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty in Tokyo, Oct. 30, 2024. A visitor wears boots featuring Hello Kitty at the National Museum during the exhibition "As I change, so does she," marking the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty at the Tokyo National Museum in Tokyo, Oct. 30, 2024.

FILE - A person removes snow from a sidewalk during a winter storm in Doylestown, Pa., Feb. 13, 2024.

FILE - A nurse prepares a syringe of a COVID-19 vaccine at an inoculation station in Jackson, Miss., July 19, 2022.

Children play with firecrackers on Diwali festival, the Hindu festival of lights, at an orphanage in Jammu, India, Oct.31, 2024.

Bird Flu