Pfizer announced Wednesday that its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and strongly protective in kids as young as 12, a step toward possibly beginning shots in this age group before they head back to school in the fall.

The Conference Board said Tuesday its consumer confidence index rose to 109.7 in March, the best showing since it stood at 118.8 in March of last year as the pandemic was beginning to hit the United States. The index stood at 90.4 in February.

The IRS said it has received complaints about the scam aimed at students at both public and private, profit and non-profit institutions.

Team owners on Tuesday approved the 17th game as expected, marking the first time in 43 years the regular season has been increased. It went from 14 to 16 games in 1978.

Syrian President Bashar Assad and his wife have recovered from COVID-19 and returned to their regular duties on Tuesday, three weeks after they had tested positive for the coronavirus, the president’s office said.

Some Alaska Costco shoppers said they’ve had their groceries stolen by ravens in the store parking lot.

Turkey is re-introducing weekend lockdowns in most of its provinces and will also impose restrictions over the Muslim holy month of Ramadan following a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases

For the 2nd year in a row, the National Cherry Blossom Festival is discouraging people from coming to see the Spring event in-person and are instead pushing people to participate in online activities as a way to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Japan’s favorite flower, called “sakura,” used to reach their peak bloom in April, just as the country celebrates the start of its new school and business year. Yet that date has been creeping earlier and now most years the blossoms are largely gone before the first day of school.

Story by Rivet Smart Audio.