(CNN)Shenzhen, in southeastern China, has become the first city in the country to ban the consumption of cats and dogs, the government announced Thursday. Under new rules which will come into effect May 1, the government said it will be illegal to eat animals raised as pets. In February, following the coronavirus outbreak, China passed a law to ban the consumption of wild animals.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) read the entirety of the Green New Deal on the House floor Wednesday, marking over a year since she first introduced the resolution. Republicans have sought to weaponize the ambitious climate proposal against Democrats, and the measure has failed to advance through either chamber.

American workers are feeling more isolated, and younger workers are experiencing loneliness more so than their older co-workers, according to a new Cigna study.

To meet the goals set in the Paris Climate Accord and avert climate catastrophe, UN scientists say nations must cut their greenhouse gas emissions to half of their 2018 levels by 2030 and aim for net zero emissions by 2050. That means cutting emissions by 7.6 percent every year for the next decade. But according to a new report from an independent federal energy-monitoring agency, the U.S. is hardly on track to hit these goals, with meager 4 percent decline in emissions by 2050.

A well-controlled study out of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center of more than 400 participants supports reducing salt intake as an important public health strategy to decrease incidence of hypertension.

Rail passengers could soon be leaving Sweden after dinner and arriving in London the next morning, under plans unveiled by the Swedish authorities. Trafikverket, Sweden's rail infrastructure manager, says overnight sleeper trains should run from Malmö in the country's south to the German city of Cologne – with onward connections to other European countries.

Billionaire Bill Gates wants rich people to pay higher taxes. "I've been disproportionately rewarded for the work I've done," the Microsoft founder and philanthropist said in a blog post titled "What I'm thinking about this New Year's Eve."

No one really knows what happens inside an atom.

Down but not out — that’s the state of the Chinese economy as it stands today amidst the prolonged trade war against the United States. Despite all the challenges, the communist regime under President Xi Jinping remains committed to going a step up in the rankings to make China the largest economy in the world, by utilizing technologies like blockchain.

The rotary telephone was still being used in 1953.

An all-electric powered seaplane has taken flight in Vancouver, Canada, in what the operators describe as a "world first" for the aviation industry. The short test flight by Harbour Air and magniX involved a six-passenger aircraft fitted with an electric motor.

For more than fifty years, scientists have thought that the origin of speech depended on one pivotal moment 200,000 years ago. That’s when the human larynx descended, elongating the vocal tract. Until now, this physiological innovation was seen as the root of humans’ unique ability to communicate verbally with one another. But a new paper suggests that estimate may be off — by a couple of million years.

Actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said that environmental protection efforts need to be bigger than just focusing on President Donald Trump. In an appearance on Meet The Press Sunday, Schwarzenegger and former Secretary of State John Kerry spoke about their efforts to bring awareness to climate change and environmental issues through World War Zero, a climate coalition that includes both men as members.

Prosecutions against Extinction Rebellion activists who were arrested under an unlawful protest ban are being dropped. Solicitors representing demonstrators said many had received official confirmation that charges were being dropped from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on Wednesday. Hodge Jones & Allen said its position was “futile” following a ruling by the High Court earlier this month.