The European Medicine Agency (EMA) on Friday authorized the US' Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for use in children aged 12-17.

The EMA "has recommended granting an extension of indication for the COVID-19 vaccine Spikevax (previously COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna) to include use in children aged 12 to 17 years," the agency said in a statement.

Moderna's vaccine is already authorized for use in people aged 18 and above.

"The study showed that Spikevax produced a comparable antibody response in 12- to 17-year-olds to that seen in young adults aged 18 to 25 years," it said.

The side effects, including pain and swelling at the injection site, tiredness, and headache, were similar to the ones young adults experienced after vaccination.

"These effects are usually mild or moderate and improve within a few days from the vaccination," the EMA said.

The application of the jab will be the same with two injections that are four weeks apart.

Based on the decision, the EU states will be free to decide whether to extend their vaccination programs to young adolescents.

The Moderna vaccine was the second COVID-19 shot authorized in the EU after Pfizer/BioNTech.

In late May, the EMA authorized the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine for children aged 12-15./aa

A new nationwide poll finds 64% of Americans believe that racism against Blacks is widespread in the US.

"It is the highest in the trend of five total readings since 2008, the three most recent of which are 60% or higher," according to Gallup's 2021 update on minority rights and relations.

Americans' satisfaction with the treatment of Black people remains near its historical low, it finds.

Eighty-four percent of Black Americans feel racism against Blacks is widespread, while 72% of Hispanics agree, and 59% of Whites agree.

On the question of whether civil rights have improved in their lifetimes, the Gallup results were mixed. 69% of Americans felt like civil rights had improved during their lives, a jump of 10% from 2020. But that is still far below the 89% who felt civil rights had improved in 2011, during Barack Obama's first term in office.

And when broken down by race, 70% of White Americans feel like civil rights have improved in the past year, up from 65% from the year before. Blacks feel civil rights have improved a bit more modestly, from 52% last year to 57% this year.

And on the question of police and race, 55% of those asked feel Blacks are treated less fairly than Whites in their community, although, again, Blacks were far more likely to agree than Whites.

The mixed feelings may reflect current circumstances. High profile police killings of unarmed Black people, including George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky have horrified many across the country, and convinced them that racism is widespread. But those killings have also led to a national reckoning on race that has spurred societal and law enforcement changes, although not as quickly or thoroughly for many.

And civil rights leaders marveled how, after the killing of George Floyd, the majority of people demonstrating in major cities were white, a significant change from demonstrations in years past.

"Overall, Americans remain much more likely to say they are dissatisfied (61%) than satisfied (38%) with the way Black people are treated in society," the poll finds./aa

The Olympic Games started with the opening ceremony in a near-empty National Stadium in the Japanese capital Tokyo in the shadow of COVID-19 on Friday. https://cdnuploads.aa.com.tr/uploads/PhotoGallery/2021/07/23/thumbs_b2_47adbfa97db754257865f5315d4f850b.jpg%22%20title=%22Tokyo%202020%20Olympic%20Games%22%20style=%22width:100%;display:block;%22%20%3E%3Cimg%20class=%22mySlides%22%20src=%22https://cdnuploads.aa.com.tr/uploads/PhotoGallery/2021/07/23/thumbs_b2_79e2b18700171ab9ce3c6524d0e07b7b.jpg%22%20title=%22Tokyo%202020%20Olympic%20Games%22%20style=%22width:100%;display:none;%22%20%3E%3Cimg%20class=%22mySlides%22%20src=%22https://cdnuploads.aa.com.tr/uploads/PhotoGallery/2021/07/23/thumbs_b2_43bd180ffaa24c76da3f6005898bbf4f.jpg%22%20title=%22Tokyo%202020%20Olympic%20Games%22%20style=%22width:100%;display:none;%22%20%3E%3Cimg%20class=%22mySlides%22%20src=%22https://cdnuploads.aa.com.tr/uploads/PhotoGallery/2021/07/23/thumbs_b2_372cf3461c33bc7437e098b38ae4df7e.jpg%22%20title=%22Tokyo%202020%20Olympic%20Games%22%20style=%22width:100%;display:none;%22%20%3E%3Cimg%20class=%22mySlides%22%20src=%22https://cdnuploads.aa.com.tr/uploads/PhotoGallery/2021/07/23/thumbs_b2_98905e0cd484f000faa1cf7ebef796ce.jpg%22%20title=%22Tokyo%202020%20O">
Athletes from 205 participating countries and the refugee team marched into the stadium with their flags in front of the empty stands due to the coronavirus.

Turkey's flag was carried by swimmers Merve Tuncel and Berke Saka.

The ceremony began with a firework display, while a moment of silence was held for people who lost their lives due to the disease.

Featured in the field, were the Olympic Rings, made of wood grown from trees that were planted by athletes of the participated countries who competed in the 1964 Tokyo Games.

Turkey's journey in Tokyo will start on Saturday with the participation of 16 athletes.

The Olympics were officially opened by Japanese Emperor Naruhito: "I declare open the Games of Tokyo," he said.

The postponed 2020 Olympics will end on Aug. 8./aa

The coronavirus situation in Russia remains tense because many regions do not follow the recommendations of the chief sanitary officer, the country's prime minister said on Friday.

Speaking at a government meeting in the capital Moscow, Mikhail Mishustin urged regional health authorities to take a more active position in countering the virus's spread and stick to the recommendations of the federal authorities.

"Not all regions follow the recommendations of the chief sanitary officer (on preventing the spread of the coronavirus), and yet they are aimed at preserving people's lives and health. It is necessary to adhere to them, and, accordingly, (regional) sanitary officers should take a more active position," he said.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry should work closely with regions on the issues of vaccination so that it would be easy to get immunized against COVID-19 everywhere in Russia, Mishustin noted.

"Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 should be simple so that people do not have to wait in queues and sign up for a month," he also said.

In general, the pace of vaccination in Russia has sped up twice in recent weeks, however, the level of vaccination depends on the region, some have a high level of demand for vaccination, others do not, Mishustin added.

According to Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, 35 million people in Russia have so far got the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

For her part, Anna Popova, Russia's chief sanitary officer, announced that mandatory vaccination for separate categories will be introduced in four more regions.

She added that on Friday, 57 of 85 Russian regions recorded further growth in COVID-19 cases, while 18 regions saw stabilization and 10 of them registered drops.

Russia's coronavirus emergency task force reported on Friday 23,811 new cases, 795 more deaths, and 22,547 additional recoveries, and at least 476,222 patients are under treatment across the country.

​​​​​​​Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 4.13 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 192.72 million cases reported, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University.​​​​​​​/aa

A Palestinian military adviser was killed on Friday at his home in the occupied West Bank by unidentified assailants, according to the Palestinian Authority.

Talal Dwaikat, a spokesman for the Palestinian security services, said that "unidentified persons shot the legal adviser for the military treasury, Ikrima Muhanna, 44, killing him on the spot," the official Wafa news agency said.

Preliminary information suggested that the attackers killed Muhanna while he was inside his home in Deir al-Ghusun town in Tulkarem.

"The military prosecution and the competent authorities have launched an investigation to find out the circumstances of the crime, and to detect the perpetrators and bring them to justice as soon as possible," Dwaikat said./aa

At least 37 people have been rescued after a boat carrying 45 Syrian refugees capsized southeast of the Greek island of Crete, Turkish authorities said on Friday.

The boat sank at 9.10 p.m. local time (1800GMT) on Thursday in the search and rescue area of Turkey due to severe weather conditions, the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry said in a statement.

The boat was sailing to Italy before it ran out of fuel, the statement also said.

The Turkish National Defense Ministry said search and rescue efforts are ongoing to find eight people missing.

Two frigates and maritime patrol aircraft belonging to the Turkish Naval Forces Command are joining the efforts./aa