CDC warns against cruises, regardless of vaccination status
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned people on Thursday not to go on cruises, regardless of their vaccination status, because of onboard outbreaks fueled by the omicron variant. The CDC said it has more than 90 cruise ships under investigation or observation as a result of covid-19...
Do at-home covid-19 tests detect the omicron variant?
Yes, but U.S. health officials say early data suggests they may be less sensitive at picking it up. Government recommendations for using at-home tests haven’t changed. People should continue to use them when a quick result is important. “The bottom line is the tests still detect covid-19 whether it is...
Israel to offer 4th vaccine dose to most vulnerable
JERUSALEM — Israel has approved a fourth vaccine dose for people most vulnerable to covid-19, becoming the first country to do so as it braces for a wave of infections fueled by the omicron variant. Nachman Ash, the director general of the Health Ministry, announced the decision at a press...
Why are so many flights being canceled?
The forces that have scrambled thousands of flights since Christmas Eve could ease in January, but that’s cold comfort to the millions of flyers with New Year’s plans. And if 2021 has taught us anything, it’s that 2022 will likely be just as unpredictable. Here’s a look at what has...
Iran launches rocket into space amid Vienna nuclear talks
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran launched a rocket with a satellite carrier bearing three devices into space, authorities announced Thursday, without saying whether any of the objects had entered Earth’s orbit. It was not clear when the launch happened or what devices the carrier brought with it. Iran aired footage of...
U.S. children hospitalized with covid in near-record numbers
SEATTLE — The omicron-fueled surge that is sending covid-19 cases rocketing in the U.S. is putting children in the hospital in close to record numbers, and experts lament that most of the youngsters are not vaccinated. “It’s just so heartbreaking,” said Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious-disease expert at Children’s Hospital...
Mom: Daughter mistaken for intruder by father, fatally shot
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The mother of a 16-year-old girl who was fatally shot in her family’s Columbus home has told authorities that the teen’s father accidentally killed her because he mistook the girl for an intruder. The shooting on the city’s Southeast side was reported around 4:30 a.m., authorities said....
Times Square show will go on despite virus surge, mayor says
NEW YORK — New York City will ring in 2022 in Times Square as planned despite record numbers of covid-19 infections in the city and around the nation, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday. “We want to show that we’re moving forward, and we want to show the world that...
Tiger fatally shot after biting arm of man near enclosure
NAPLES, Fla. — A sheriff’s deputy shot a Malayan tiger that grabbed the arm of a man who was either feeding or petting the animal at a zoo in southwest Florida, authorities said. The Collier County Sheriff’s Office said the man, believed to be in his 20s, was seriously injured...
U.S. Navy seizes $4 million worth of heroin in Arabian Sea
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — U.S. Navy vessels seized 385 kilograms (849 pounds) of heroin in the Arabian Sea worth some $4 million, in a major bust by the international maritime operation in the region, officials said Thursday. The USS Tempest and USS Typhoon seized the drugs hidden aboard a...
Suspect in Denver shootings wrote books previewing attacksVideo
DENVER — A man accused of killing five people in a rampage in Denver is believed to have written fictional books self-published online that named some of his real-life victims and described similar attacks. The writings are part of the investigation into what led Lyndon James McLeod to carry out...
Coroner finds 3 siblings at Johnstown home died of covid
JOHNSTOWN — A Pennsylvania coroner said Wednesday that three siblings found dead at a home near Johnstown two months ago all died from covid-19. Cambria County Coroner Jeff Lees said he drew that conclusion after autopsies, toxicology tests and microbiology examinations. “They were positive for covid-19, the lungs were heavy...
Children coming from border get attention in Pennsylvania governor’s race
HARRISBURG — Lou Barletta, an illegal-immigration hawk and former congressman running for governor, said Wednesday he would take a harder line against the federal government’s yearslong practice of bringing unaccompanied minors found by the Border Patrol to various facilities in Pennsylvania and other states. Some Republican governors have protested the...
Federal judge rejects Oklahoma’s lawsuit over Guard vaccine mandate
OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge in Oklahoma ruled against the state in its lawsuit challenging the vaccine mandates for members of the Oklahoma National Guard in a dispute that is the first critical test of the military’s authority to require National Guard troops to get the shot. U.S. District...
Lebanon County Commissioner William Ames dies at 81 of covid-19 complications
Lebanon County Commissioner William Ames, described by friends and colleagues as a good solid citizen and strong advocate for the county, died on Tuesday morning at Good Samaritan Hospital. Ames, 81, was in his third four-year term as a county commissioner, serving alongside fellow Republican Robert Phillips and Democrat Jo...
Ghislaine Maxwell convicted in Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse case
NEW YORK — The British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted Wednesday of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by the American millionaire Jeffrey Epstein. The verdict capped a monthlong trial featuring sordid accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14, told by four women who described...
Virus postpones Westminster Kennel Club’s annual dog show
NEW YORK — The Westminster Kennel Club’s annual dog show has become the latest event to be postponed or canceled in New York as the number of coronavirus cases surges. The club’s board of governors announced Wednesday it was postponing its 2022 event, scheduled for late January, to later in...
Another round of snow before thaw comes to frigid NorthwestVideo
SEATTLE — A thaw-out is coming for frozen Seattle and Portland, Oregon, but not before another round of snow that could compound problems for a region more accustomed to winter rain than arctic blasts. More snow and rain fell on California on Wednesday, causing travel disruptions on mountain routes and...
Israel strikes Gaza after gunfire wounds civilian near fence
JERUSALEM — An Israeli and three Palestinians were wounded on Wednesday in the first exchange of fire in months on the Gaza frontier. The violence came as Israel announced measures aimed at improving living conditions in the occupied West Bank after a rare meeting of top officials. Israel has announced...
Biden, Putin to hold call over stepped up security demands
REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — President Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will speak Thursday as the Russian leader has stepped up his demands for security guarantees in Eastern Europe. The two leaders will discuss “a range of topics, including upcoming diplomatic engagements,” National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said in a...
Lawsuit: Missouri shooting range made Muslim woman remove hijab
A firearms store and gun range in suburban Kansas City refused to let a Muslim woman use the range unless she removed her hijab, a Muslim civil rights organization alleged in a federal lawsuit. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the law firm of Baldwin...
Oprah comments on Dr. Oz running for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, but doesn’t endorse him
Oprah Winfrey issued a short, noncommittal statement about Dr. Mehmet Oz running for a Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat as a Republican. “One of the great things about our democracy is that every citizen can decide to run for public office. Mehmet Oz has made that decision,” Oprah told New York...
Widespread flight cancellations continue as omicron spreads
NEW YORK — Hundreds of flights were canceled Wednesday as the omicron variant creates havoc both for travelers and for airlines that are having to cobble together flight crews as pilots, flight attendants and ground crews become infected or are exposed to others who have been. More than 850 flights...
China urges U.S. to protect its space station from satellites
China is calling on the United States to protect a Chinese space station and its three-member crew after Beijing complained that satellites launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX nearly struck the station. A foreign ministry spokesman accused Washington on Tuesday of ignoring its treaty obligations to protect the safety of the...
New covid-19 cases in U.S. soar to highest levels on recordVideo
More than a year after the vaccine was rolled out, new cases of covid-19 in the U.S. have soared to their highest level on record at over 265,000 per day on average, a surge driven largely by the highly contagious omicron variant. New cases per day have more than doubled...
