Moderna begins clinical trials for booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine to combat South Africa variant

Moderna says it has sent its new COVID-19 vaccine candidate designed specifically to combat the highly transmissible South Africa coronavirus variant to the National Institutes of Health for a Phase 1 clinical trial.

Senate confirms Linda Thomas-Greenfield as UN ambassador

The Senate has confirmed President Joe Biden’s choice to lead U.S. diplomacy at the United Nations on Tuesday.

Prince Philip has infection and will stay in hospital for several days, Palace says

The palace said Tuesday that the 99-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II is responding to treatment for an infection but is not expected to leave the hospital for several days.

Cloud 9: Djokovic wins 9th Australian Open, 18th Slam title

Djokovic used improved serving, along with his usual relentless returning and baseline excellence to grab 11 of 13 games in one stretch and beat Medvedev 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 for a third consecutive Australian Open trophy.

US officially rejoins Paris climate accord as Biden administration works on new 2030 emissions goal

World leaders welcomed the United States' official return to the Paris climate accord Friday, but politically trickier steps lie just ahead for President Joe Biden, including setting a tough national target in coming months for cutting damaging fossil fuel emissions.

Japan’s government says it has identified new, more contagious coronavirus variant

Japan’s government says it has confirmed a new, more contagious COVID-19 strain days after the country began administering the Pfizer vaccine, the first approved for use in the country.

Huge societal changes needed to keep nature, make Earth livable for humans, UN says

Humans are making Earth a broken and increasingly unlivable planet through climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. So the world must make dramatic changes to society, economics and daily life, a new United Nations report says.

False COVID-19 information convinces mom, 4 kids to drink urine for 4 days

For four days, the British woman and her four children gulped down their own urine, believing it would protect them from COVID-19, according to a report by the City of Westminster.

Seiko Hashimoto named president of Tokyo's Olympic organizing committee

A woman has been named president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee. Seiko Hashimoto had been serving as Olympic minister and replaces 83-year-old Yoshiro Mori.

FBI: North Korean hackers targeted banks, Sony movie studio

The Justice Department has charged three North Korean computer programmers in a broad range of global and destructive hacks, including targeting banks and a movie studio.

‘Major breakdown’ of polar vortex blamed for unusual winter weather around the world

Texas and Oklahoma are seeing record subzero temperatures. Greenland is warmer than normal. Snow fell in Greece and Turkey. Meteorologists call this one of the biggest, nastiest and longest-lasting polar vortex breakdowns they've seen.

Price for one Bitcoin surpasses $50K for first time

The seemingly unstoppable rise of Bitcoin continued Tuesday with the cost of a single unit of the digital currency rising above $50,000 for the first time.

Fauci awarded $1M prize from Israeli foundation for ‘defending science in the face of uninformed criticism’

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, was awarded $1 million by the Dan David Foundation for “defending science in the face of uninformed criticism” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

WHO greenlights AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, opening door for use in the UN

The World Health Organization has granted an emergency authorization to the COVID-19 vaccine made by AstraZeneca, likely allowing the U.N. health agency's partners to ship millions of doses to countries worldwide.

New Zealand finds no new COVID-19 cases after largest city goes on lockdown for 1st time in 6 months

As people in Auckland adjust to a new lockdown, health officials say they’ve found no evidence the coronavirus has spread further in the community, raising hopes the restrictions might be short-lived.

New Zealand enters first lockdown in 6 months after unexplained COVID-19 cases found

The lockdown in Auckland, which extends through Wednesday, is the first in New Zealand in six months and represents a significant setback in the nation's largely successful efforts to control the virus.