Criminals are targeting the computer systems of school districts, universities, banks, large businesses, and other groups around the world, locking up their computer files, and refusing to unlock them until they are paid.
Published in “South America”
The coronavirus pandemic has been hard on most businesses, but airlines have been hit harder than most. Many airlines have been forced to shut down. Those that remain in business are having to get creative.
Dogs are being trained to sniff out COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. So far, dogs seem to be quite good at detecting the illness, but it's not clear yet how useful these skills will be.
Ecuador is carefully watching a huge group of 260 Chinese fishing boats located just outside a special protected ocean area near the Galapagos Islands. The government is worried that the ships could threaten many endangered fish and sharks.
Scientists have recently discovered that Andean condors - some of the world's largest birds - barely flap their wings at all while flying. Instead, they use rising air currents to remain in the air for hours.
For months, the presidents of the United States and Brazil have played down the dangers of the coronavirus. Now the countries lead the world in coronavirus cases and deaths. Yesterday, Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, announced that he had COVID-19.
A Hood Island giant tortoise named Diego has returned to his home island in the Galapagos after becoming the father of up to 800 tortoises. Diego's efforts have helped raise the number of Hood Island tortoises from 15 to nearly 2,000.
Among the more unusual news stories recently…Singapore uses a robot dog to encourage social distancing, an 11-year-old skateboarder does three complete turns in the air, and an injured hiker in Tasmania is found and rescued thanks to three little words.
During the last few months, most countries around the world have spent weeks in lockdowns of different kinds. Now, governments are trying to decide if the time is right to start normal business activity again.
Scientists around the world are racing to create and test vaccines to help protect people from the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. The scientists are making progress, but it will still be quite a while before any vaccines are ready.
The coronavirus is making life hard for people all over the world. But the difficult times have encouraged people to do what they can to make life better for others, and to give thanks to workers who are risking their lives to help out.