Packaging producers in Kenya have begun a campaign to collect each day 1,500 tonnes of empty beverage cartons and turn them into new products. Officials say the cartons account for 30 percent of the liquid packaging board produced in Kenya. Victoria Amunga reports from Thika, Kenya. Camera and edit: Jimmy Makhulo …

NASA on Wednesday showed off its first asteroid samples delivered last month by a spacecraft — the most ever returned to Earth. Scientists and space agency leaders took part in the reveal at Johnson Space Center in Houston. The ancient black dust and chunks are from the carbon-rich asteroid named Bennu, almost 60 million miles away. NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft collected the samples three years ago and then dropped them off sealed in a capsule during a flyby of Earth last month. Scientists anticipated at least a cupful of rocks, far more than what Japan brought back from a pair of missions years ago. They’re still not sure about the exact quantity. That’s because the main sample chamber has yet to be opened, officials said. “It’s been going slow and meticulous,” said the mission’s lead scientist, Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona. Black dust and particles were scattered around the …

In developing countries such as Nigeria, caregivers and parents of children with cerebral palsy struggle to support the children and deal with the stigma of the disorder. Gibson Emeka visits a mother in Abuja who has left everything to care for her son. Narrated by Salem Solomon. …

Tens of millions in the Americas will have front-row seats for Saturday’s rare “ring of fire” eclipse of the sun.  What’s called an annular solar eclipse — better known as a ring of fire — will briefly dim the skies over parts of the western U.S. and Central and South America.  As the moon lines up precisely between Earth and the sun, it will blot out all but the sun’s outer rim. A bright, blazing border will appear around the moon for as much as five minutes, wowing sky gazers along a narrow path stretching from Oregon to Brazil.  The celestial showstopper will yield a partial eclipse across the rest of the Western Hemisphere.  It’s a prelude to the total solar eclipse that will sweep across Mexico, the eastern half of the U.S. and Canada in six months. Unlike Saturday, when the moon is too far from Earth to completely …

October 14 is World Migratory Bird Day in the Southern Hemisphere. To better forecast bird migration, scientists are using machine learning and next-generation radar. The resulting “BirdCasts” offer new ways to help birds at risk. Shelley Schlender reports from the Rocky Mountain state of Colorado. …

In many African societies, elders are highly regarded as powerful figures who keep the culture alive and guide the young. But sometimes that power doesn’t help when it comes to obtaining health care. Juma Majanga reports from Nairobi, Kenya. (Camera and produced by: Jimmy Makhulo) …

Athletes from 20 countries took the field in Malaysia for the fourth World Deaf Football Championships. Ukraine is the men’s champion, and the United States won the women’s crown. As Dave Grunebaum reports, the athletes are succeeding on and off the field. …

Monday is World Mental Health Day. This year’s theme is “Mental health is a basic universal human right.” People all over the world who have mental health conditions, according to the World Health Organization, face discrimination. “Having a mental health condition should never be a reason to deprive a person of their human rights or to exclude them from decisions about their own health,” WHO said in a statement. “Yet all over the world, people with mental health conditions continue to experience a wide range of human rights violations.” The WHO says, “one in eight people globally are living with mental health conditions, which can impact their physical health, their well-being, how they connect with others, and their livelihoods.” World Mental Health Day was initiated in 1992 by the World Federation for Mental Health and since then has gained momentum as more people become aware of how essential good mental …

In fifth grade, Stella Gage’s class watched a video about puberty. In ninth grade, a few sessions of her health class were dedicated to the risks of sexual behaviors. That was the extent of her sex education in school. At no point was there any content that felt especially relevant to her identity as a queer teenager. To fill the gaps, she turned mostly to social media. “My parents were mostly absent, my peers were not mature enough, and I didn’t have anyone else to turn to,” said Gage, who is now a sophomore at Wichita State University in Kansas. Many LGBTQ+ students say they have not felt represented in sex education classes. To learn about their identities and how to build healthy, safe relationships, they often have had to look elsewhere. As lawmakers in some states limit what can be taught about sex and gender, it will be that …

A dose of patience may come in handy at the pharmacy counter this fall. Drug and staffing shortages haven’t gone away. Stores are starting their busiest time of year as customers look for help with colds and the flu. And this fall, pharmacists are dealing with a new vaccine and the start of insurance coverage for COVID-19 shots. Some drugstores have addressed their challenges by adding employees at busy hours. But experts say many pharmacies, particularly the big chains, still don’t have enough workers behind the counter. Chris Adkins said he left his job as a pharmacist with a major drugstore chain a couple years ago because of the stress. Aside from filling and checking prescriptions, Adkins routinely answered the phone, ran the register and stocked pharmacy shelves. “I just didn’t have time for the patients,” he said. “I am OK working hard and working long hours, but I just …

A massive number of migrating birds collided with McCormick Place — a Chicago convention center — this week, resulting in an unprecedented number of bird deaths. Dave Willard has collected dead and injured birds from around the center during the migration season for about 40 years. In an interview with the Audubon website, Willard said that he and his colleagues collected 964 dead birds and approximately 80 “stunned live ones.” “It was truly unprecedented,” he said of Thursday’s event. Hundreds more dead and injured birds were subsequently found around the city. Before this week’s catastrophe, the largest number of dead birds he had collected was 200. “Unfortunate weather” combined with “disorienting brightly lit buildings” confused the birds, resulting in the high death and injury numbers. “You pick up a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and realize, if it hadn’t been for a building in Chicago, it would be spending its winter in the …

Spanish company PLD Space launched its reusable Miura-1 rocket early on Saturday from a site in southwestern Spain, carrying out Europe’s first fully private rocket launch and offering hope for the continent’s stalled space ambitions. The startup’s test nighttime launch from Huelva came after two previous attempts were scrubbed. The Miura-1 rocket, named after a breed of fighting bulls, is as tall as a three-story building and has a 100-kilogram cargo capacity. The launch carries a payload for test purposes, but this will not be released, the company said. Mission control video showed engineers cheering as the rocket gained altitude against the dark nighttime sky, shouting for joy and congratulating one another. A first attempt to launch the Miura-1 rocket in May was abandoned due to strong high-altitude winds. A second attempt in June failed when umbilical cables in the avionics bay did not all release in time, halting the …

Indian rescuers are searching for over 100 people missing in a flash flood caused by a glacial lake bursting its banks, a risk scientists warn is increasing with climate change. Agence France-Presse explains what glacial lake outburst floods are and the risks they pose, particularly in parts of Asia. What is a glacial lake outburst flood? A glacial lake outburst flood, or GLOF, is the sudden release of water that has collected in former glacier beds. These lakes are formed by the retreat of glaciers, a naturally occurring phenomenon that has been turbocharged by the warmer temperatures of human-caused climate change. Glacier melt is often channeled into rivers, but ice or the build-up of debris can form what is effectively a natural dam, behind which a glacial lake builds. If these natural dams are breached, large quantities of water can be released suddenly from the lakes, causing devastating flooding. What …

At a rally Friday in the southern city of Blantyre, unemployed nurses called for more jobs and gave Malawi’s president 14 days to help them find new opportunities for work. Frank Kamwendo, the chairperson of concerned nurses, said the demonstrations were a last resort after several meetings with Malawi government officials. “We have been trying our level best to discuss with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of local government to recruit more than 2,260 nursing officers,” said Kamwendo. “Unfortunately, these ministries have been telling us that there are no funds for recruitment.” Kamwendo said the nurses have also tried in vain to get the government to help them work in other countries. Thousands without jobs Government statistics show that Malawi has about 3,000 unemployed nurses and 160 vacant positions for nurses in public medical facilities. Last year, Malawi’s government stopped a plan by the National …

A study published Friday indicates 1 in 10 babies around the world are born prematurely — before 37 weeks — leading to deaths, disability and chronic illnesses. The study was conducted by the World Health Organization, the U.N. Children’s Fund, UNICEF and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The study monitored global births between 2010 and 2020 and documented global, regional and country estimates and trends. It found 13.4 million babies — 1 in 10 of all live births — were born prematurely in 2020, with large disparities between regions and nations. It showed about 65% of 2020 preterm births worldwide occurred in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia, where more than 13% of all births were preterm. The rates in the most affected countries — Bangladesh, 16.2%; Malawi 14.5%; and Pakistan, 14.3% — were three or four times higher than those in the world’s least affected countries — …