Month: December 2021

By LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer To protect yourself against the omicron variant, experts say to do what you would against any other variant. That means getting vaccinated if you haven’t already, getting a booster if you’re eligible and stepping up other precautions you may have relaxed, like wearing a mask. For all the attention

MIAMI (AP) — A wake and funeral services in Florida are being prepared for former Congresswoman Carrie Meek, who died last week at 95 following a long illness. Meek was the grandchild of a slave and a sharecropper’s daughter who became one of the first Black Floridians elected to Congress since Reconstruction. Her family plans

By KATIE WORKMAN Associated Press Looking for that perfect little thinking-of-you gift for people who made your life better this year? Great stocking stuffers begin in the kitchen. AP food writer Katie Workman has a range of suggestions from specialty or nostalgic chocolate bars to infused maple syrups to a cheery new kitchen utensil. Perhaps

By MICHELLE L. PRICE and KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York Mayor Bill de Blasio says all private employers big and small in the city will have to require their workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by Dec. 27. It is the most sweeping vaccine mandate of any state or big

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A Nigerian official has criticized a travel ban imposed on the West African nation by the British government amid fears about the new omicron variant as “punitive, indefensible and discriminatory.” U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid on Saturday added Nigeria to the U.K.’s travel “red list,” which

NEW YORK (AP) — Mayor Bill de Blasio says all New York City employers will have to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for their workers by Dec. 22. De Blasio said Monday that the new mandate is aimed at preventing a spike in coronavirus infections during the holiday season and the colder months. He called it a

By DON BABWIN and SARA BURNETT Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — The big question when Jussie Smollett’s trial resumes will be whether the actor will tell his side of the story. Two brothers spent hours telling a jury last week how Smollett paid them to carry out a fake racist and anti-gay attack on himself

By GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi was convicted of incitement and another charge and sentenced to four years in prison. The civilian leader was ousted in a de facto coup this year. Her trial has been widely criticized as a further effort by the country’s military rulers to

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis says he accepted the resignation of the archbishop of Paris because the monsignor could no longer govern effectively thanks to the “gossip” about his relationship with a woman a decade ago. Francis was asked en route home from Greece about the surprise

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Police in Slovenia say body of a man from Bangladesh has been found near the border with Croatia. The remains were discovered in an area where migrants cross the border illegally while trying to reach Western Europe.  Police in the coastal town of Koper said Monday the 31-year-old man’s body was