VOA News for Thursday, April 29th, 2021

VOA News for Thursday, April 29th, 2021
Thanks to gandalf.ddo.jp/ for transcribing
This is VOA News. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd.
President Joe Biden will be making history when he addresses Congress in just over an hour. We get more from AP's Sagar Meghani.
It began 14 years ago. "I have the high privilege and the distinct honor of presenting to you, the president of the United States.”
President George W. Bush said he had his own honor and privilege "as the first president to begin the State of the Union message with these words: Madam Speaker.”
Since then, Nancy Pelosi sat on the House chamber rostrum for several presidential addresses, next to men.
"I, Kamala Devi Harris, do solemnly swear ....”
Tonight marks the first time two women will preside. Pelosi tells MSNBC it's exciting and wonderful and about time. The vice president's office says the moment will speak for itself.
Sagar Meghani, Washington.
Live coverage of the president's speech begins at one hour UTC at voanews.com.
India's death toll from COVID-19 continues to climb, moving past 201,000 by early Thursday that puts the South Asian nation forth in the world behind the United States, Brazil and Mexico. Reuters Lucy Fielder has more.
A grim scene captures the sheer number of dead: Row upon row of bodies burning on makeshift platforms as cremation grounds have become overrun.
Across New Delhi, people are turning to temporary facilities, undertaking mass burials and cremations. Mourners have turned to parking lots and parks as families grow desperate to bury their loved ones.
International help is starting to get through, though. Supplies arriving in New Delhi included ventilators and oxygen concentrators from Britain, with more sent from Australia, Germany and Ireland, while Singapore and Russia pledged oxygen cylinders and medical supplies.
That's Reuters Lucy Fielder.
This is VOA News.
A man linked to the Capitol riot in January has been convicted of making threats against lawmakers. AP's Mike Gracia reports.
A man who admitted creating a series of menacing social media posts was convicted Wednesday on federal charges of threatening to kill members of Congress.
A jury in federal court in Brooklyn found 37-year-old Brendan Hunt guilty after a weeklong trial. Prosecutors alleged Hunt called for the public execution of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Charles Schumer.
Hunt, who admitted posting videos and other materials supporting the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol, testified that he never thought his videos would be taken seriously and they were often created while he was impaired from smoking pot and drinking beer.
I'm Mike Gracia.
Satellites show the world's glaciers are melting faster than ever. AP's Shelley Adler details.
"It's the same story. It's ... glaciers are melting. It's, it's global phenomena.”
World Glacier Monitoring Service Director Michael Zemp: "10 years ago, we were saying that the glaciers are the indicator of climate change, but now actually they've become a memorial of the climate crisis.”
And Zemp points out that the world's glaciers should react differently to climate change depending on where they are but that's not happening.
"What is really surprising actually is that a vast majority is basically showing the same signal and this is a strong indication that there must be a common global forcing that is doing that.”
Half the world's glacial loss is coming from the United States and Canada.
I'm Shelly Adler.
The U.S. Space Agency NASA says astronaut Michael Collins, one of the three men who flew on the first manned mission to land on the moon, has died of cancer. He was 90. We get details from AP's Ed Donahue.
Collins made history on Apollo 11. “That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Neil Armstrong was the first to set foot on the moon. Buzz Aldrin was with him. Michael Collins was back in the Command Module.
Speaking in 2019, Collins says he'd always been asked. "Wasn't I the loneliest person in the whole lonely history of the whole lonely solar system when I was by myself in that lonely orbit and the answer was no.”
Michael Collins liked going to the moon but "I wanna go direct to Mars.”
His family says Michael Collins had been fighting cancer.
I'm Ed Donahue.
A down day on Wall Street with all three major indices closing in negative territory. The Dow Jones dropped .48 percent, the S&P dropped by .08 percent, the NASDAQ fell .28 percent.
For more on these stories and the rest of the day's news, visit our website. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd, VOA News.

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