Year: 2021

Pfizer says it will expand testing of its COVID-19 vaccine to children younger than 12.  The drug company, along with its German partner BioNTech, will enroll 4,500 children volunteers at more than 90 places in the U.S., Finland, Poland and Spain.  The children, ages 5…

The annual peak of global heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the air has reached another dangerous milestone: 50% higher than when the industrial age began.And the average rate of increase is faster than ever, scientists reported Monday.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the average carbon…

The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations met Monday with the head of the U.N. Population Fund in the first such high-level engagement in more than four years.The U.S. Mission to the United Nations said Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield highlighted the resumption of extensive support to…

In a nationwide address Monday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the federal government would take a larger role in obtaining vaccines for Indian states.“Government of India itself will buy 75% of the total vaccine production from vaccine manufacturers and give it free to the…

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced Monday that he and his brother will be on board the first manned spaceflight from his aerospace company Blue Origin when it launches a rocket ship into space on July 20. Bezos made the announcement from his Instagram account which…

Government health officials on Monday approved the first new drug for Alzheimer's disease in nearly 20 years, disregarding warnings from independent advisers that the much-debated treatment hasn't been shown to help slow the brain-destroying disease.The Food and Drug Administration said it approved the drug from…

Health professionals continue to see heart disease in some young people who have had COVID-19, those who have been vaccinated against the virus, and among student athletes, in general.Cardiomyopathy is an inflammation and weakening in the walls of the heart.  The Centers for Disease Control…

Authorities on Greece’s most popular tourist island, Mykonos, will deploy more than a dozen drones to spot those who defy safety protocols aimed at preventing the spread and resurgence of COVID-19.    The decision, known as “Operation Mykonos,” comes after a string of local so-called…

Environmentalists, for decades, have had mixed feelings about nuclear power. Now, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has decided to cautiously embrace the energy resource — despite lingering safety concerns — to help achieve its goal of a net zero carbon economy for America by the year 2050. VOA’s White House bureau chief Steve Herman reports from the…

Turkey's environment minister pledged on Sunday to defeat a plague of "sea snot" threatening the Sea of Marmara, using a disaster management plan he said would secure its future.A thick, slimy layer of the organic matter, known as marine mucilage, has spread through the sea…

In advance of World Food Safety Day, U.N. agencies are calling for concerted action to ensure food is free of the toxins that every year cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.A U.N. report on global food security finds nearly 690 million people…

A bipartisan delegation of three United States senators landed in Taiwan on Sunday and announced that Washington would donate 750,000 coronavirus vaccine doses to its ally.The high-profile delegation and gift comes as Taiwan accuses China of hampering its efforts to secure enough doses as part…

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Sunday that the global count of COVID-19 cases has reached 173 million, while the death toll is approaching 4 million.India which has the second-highest number of cases reported early Sunday that it had recorded 114,460 new infections…

Analysts say there is increasing interest in determining whether the coronavirus leaked from a research lab in Wuhan, China, where the deadly virus was first detected in humans, as the U.S. intelligence community acts on President Joe Biden's directive to "redouble" efforts to investigate the…

When the leaders of the world’s industrialized nations meet next week in Cornwall, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will ask them to commit to “vaccinate the entire world against coronavirus by the end of 2022,” according to a statement Saturday."Vaccinating the world by the end…

President Joe Biden turned to his old boss, former President Barack Obama, on Saturday to help him encourage Americans to sign up for "Obamacare" health care coverage during an expanded special enrollment period in the pandemic.Biden used his weekly address for a brief Zoom chat…

China’s Guangzhou city, a port city of more than 13 million people, on Saturday ordered more restrictions due to a rise in COVID-19 cases that began in late May.Of the 24 new cases of COVID-19 reported in China on Saturday, 11 were transmitted in Guangzhou…

Chinese state media report that scientists are developing an inhalable, fine-mist COVID-19 vaccine. The Chinese Food and Drug Administration has approved the vaccine for expanded clinical trials and is applying for emergency use of the vaccine.Also in China, Sinovac Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine has been approved…