Category: World

(AP): Officials across the U.S. are again weighing how and whether to impose mask mandates as COVID-19 infections soar and the American public grows ever wearier of pandemic-related restrictions. Much of the debate centers around the nation’s schools, some of which have closed due to infection-related staffing issues. In a variety of places, mask mandates… Continue reading Soaring COVID-19 cases renew US debate over mask mandates

BEIJING (AP): A third Chinese city has locked down its residents because of a COVID-19 outbreak, raising the number confined to their homes in China to about 20 million people. It wasn’t clear how long the lockdown of Anyang, home to 5.5 million people, would last. Mass testing was being enforced, standard procedure whenever outbreaks… Continue reading China locks down third city, raising affected to 20 million

NEW YORK (AP): A malfunctioning space heater sparked a fire that filled a high-rise Bronx apartment building with thick smoke Sunday morning, killing 19 people including nine children in New York City’s deadliest blaze in three decades. Trapped residents broke windows for air and stuffed wet towels under doors as smoke rose from a lower-floor… Continue reading Bronx apartment fire kills 19, including 9 children

MOSCOW (AP): Dozens of protesters and 12 police died during extraordinarily violent demonstrations in Kazakhstan that saw government buildings stormed and set ablaze, authorities said Thursday. One police officer was found beheaded in escalating unrest that poses a growing challenge to authoritarian rule in the Central Asian nation. After breaking into the presidential residence and… Continue reading Dozens of protesters, 12 police dead in Kazakhstan protests

(Al Jazeera): Authorities in India’s capital, New Delhi, have ordered people to stay indoors over the coming weekends in an attempt to contain a fresh surge in COVID-19 cases. The announcement on Tuesday came as the country reported another 37,379 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, its highest total since early September. Among… Continue reading India’s New Delhi imposes weekend curfew as COVID cases jump

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP): China on Wednesday reported a major drop in COVID-19 infections in the northern city of Xi’an, which has been under a tight lockdown for the past two weeks that has sharply disrupted the lives of its 13 million residents. The National Health Commission announced just 35 new cases in Xi’an, home to… Continue reading China reports major drop in virus cases in locked-down Xi’an

(BBC): Airport staff in Mauritius have found a newborn baby boy abandoned in the rubbish bin toilet of a plane’s toilet. A 20-year-old woman from Madagascar, suspected of having given birth on the flight, was arrested. The Air Mauritius plane, which arrived from Madagascar, landed at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport on 1 January. Airport… Continue reading Newborn baby found in toilet bin of Air Mauritius plane

(AP): For air travelers, the new year picked up where the old one left off – with lots of frustration. By late Saturday afternoon on the East Coast, more than 2,600 U.S. flights and nearly 4,600 worldwide had been canceled, according to tracking service FlightAware. That is the highest single-day U.S. toll yet since just… Continue reading New year brings more canceled flights for air travelers

(BBC): At least 12 people were killed and several others injured after a stampede at a religious shrine in India. Pilgrims were visiting the shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi in Indian-administered Kashmir on Saturday when the tragedy unfolded. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “saddened” by the loss of life. Tens of thousands of… Continue reading India: At least 12 dead in New Year temple stampede

PARIS (AP): Sorrow for the dead and dying, fear of more infections to come and hopes for an end to the coronavirus pandemic were — again — the bittersweet cocktail with which the world said good riddance to 2021 and ushered in 2022. New Year’s Eve, which used to be celebrated globally with a free-spirited… Continue reading Omicron’s New Year’s cocktail: Sorrow, fear, hope for 2022