As Britain’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign began Tuesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told parliament that “the start of the fight back against our common enemy, coronavirus,” had begun, adding there is still “much work to be done.”A 90-year-old retired British shop clerk received the first shot in the country’s COVID-19 vaccination …

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is introducing his top health care officials on Tuesday, all of whom will quickly face the country’s grim world-leading coronavirus statistics: nearly 15 million infections and more than 283,000 deaths.Biden, FILE – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra speaks during a news conference in Sacramento, California, March …

Morocco is gearing up for an ambitious COVID-19 vaccination program, aiming to vaccinate 80% of its adults in an operation starting this month that’s relying initially on a Chinese vaccine that has not yet completed advanced trials to prove it is safe and effective. The first injections could come within …

The Trump administration opted last summer not to lock in a chance to buy millions of additional doses of one of the leading coronavirus vaccine contenders, a decision that could delay the delivery of a second batch of doses until manufacturer Pfizer fulfills other international contracts. The revelation, confirmed Monday by …

The Trump administration is aiming to instill public confidence as well as claim major credit for the forthcoming coronavirus vaccines with a White House summit Tuesday featuring experts who will outline distribution plans in detail. Officials from President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team are not invited, even though they will oversee the …

The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday the agency will maintain an air quality standard governing soot pollution for five years rather than tighten it as agency scientists had recommended, a move that will harm low-income communities that tend to be most exposed to the pollutant.The agency …

Britain is on the eve of launching a COVID-19 vaccination campaign.   Staffers with the nation’s National Health Service, nursing home residents and their caregivers on Tuesday will begin to receive the first of two doses of a vaccine jointly developed by U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech.  The initiative …

At least one person has died and 200 others have been hospitalized due to an unidentified illness in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, reports said Monday. The illness was detected Saturday evening in Eluru, an ancient city famous for its hand-woven products. Since then, patients have experienced symptoms …

President-elect Joe Biden has picked California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be his health secretary, putting a defender of the Affordable Care Act in a leading role to oversee his administration’s coronavirus response.  Separately, Biden picked a Harvard infectious disease expert, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, to head the Centers for Disease …

Wood and charcoal burning account for 50% of household energy consumption in Senegal, contributing to air pollution and deforestation. To reduce ecological damage, an association called Nebeday, which means “tree” in Wolof, the predominant local language in Senegal, hires villagers to produce biochar. Estelle Ndjandjo reports from Dakar.Camera: Estelle Ndjandjo …

The Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine against the coronavirus must be stored at extremely cold temperatures, raising some concerns about the difficult task of moving it across the United States for inoculations. But dry ice companies across the U.S. say they’re up for the challenge. Esha Sarai spoke with one such company in …

Wood and charcoal burning account for 50% of household energy consumption in Senegal, contributing to air pollution and deforestation. To reduce ecological damage, an association called Nebeday, which means “tree” in Wolof, the predominant local language in Senegal , hires villagers to produce biochar. Estelle Ndjandjo reports from Dakar.Camera: Estelle Ndjandjo …

Wood and charcoal burning account for 50% of Senegal’s household energy consumption, contributing to air pollution and deforestation. To reduce ecological damage, an association called Nebeday, which means “tree” in Wolof, the predominant local language in Senegal, hires villagers to produce an innovative energy alternative. Half of Senegal’s households rely …

When children and teens are overwhelmed with anxiety, depression or thoughts of self-harm, they often wait days in emergency rooms because there aren’t enough psychiatric beds in the U.S.The problem has only grown worse during the pandemic, reports from parents and professionals suggest.With schools closed, routines disrupted and parents anxious …

Coronavirus infections across the U.S. continue to rise as the country moves deeper into a holiday season when eagerly anticipated gatherings of family and friends could push the numbers even higher and overwhelm hospitals.Vast swaths of southern and inland California imposed new restrictions on businesses and activities Saturday as hospitals …

Scientists are seeing promising early results from the first studies testing gene editing for painful, inherited blood disorders that plague millions worldwide, especially Black people.Doctors hope the one-time treatment, which involves permanently altering DNA in blood cells with a tool called CRISPR, may treat and possibly cure sickle cell disease …

Japan’s space agency said its helicopter search team has spotted a capsule carrying asteroid samples that could explain the origin of life. It landed on a remote area in southern Australia as planned Sunday.Hayabusa2 successfully released the small capsule Saturday and sent it toward Earth to deliver samples from the …

A Nigerian yellow fever outbreak detected early last month is worsening and causing many cases and deaths across five of the country’s 36 states.  The World Health Organization says 530 suspected cases, including 172 deaths, have been reported in Delta, Enugu, Benue and Ebonyi states in southern Nigeria and Bauchi …

Japan’s space agency said the Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully separated a capsule and sent it toward Earth to deliver samples from a distant asteroid that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on our planet.The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the capsule successfully detached Saturday afternoon …

The California city of San Francisco and several Bay Area counties said Friday that they will begin imposing stay-at-home orders this weekend as part of their battle against the coronavirus.California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday that the state was on the verge of imposing stay-at-home orders on a regional basis …

U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law Friday a bill that lets U.S. justice officials pursue criminal penalties against those involved in doping conspiracies at international events involving American athletes, sponsors or broadcasters.The Rodchenkov Act, named after the whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov who helped expose Russia’s state-sponsored doping, empowers prosecutors to …

Officials with the World Health Organization cautioned Friday that approval of a vaccine for use in Britain this week does not mean the COVID-19 pandemic is over.Speaking at the organization’s regular briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said many places around the world are facing very high transmission …

The head of the World Health Organization said Friday that with a COVID-19 vaccine on the horizon, nations must start investing and preparing for the next pandemic.“Despite years of warnings, many countries were simply not ready for COVID-19,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a special session of the U.N. …

More than 14 million people in the U.S. have been infected and more than 275,000 have died of COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University.U.S. President-elect Joe Biden said Thursday he will ask Americans to wear masks for 100 days when he assumes office January 20.In an interview with CNN’s Jake …

A powerful new telescope in Australia has mapped vast areas of the universe in record time. The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder was able to chart about 3 million galaxies in just 300 hours – 1 million of which have never been seen before.Galaxies are the building blocks of the …