Month: December 2021

By MEAD GRUVER Associated Press CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A recent Wyoming school board meeting was yet again packed with opponents of mask mandates when things took an abrupt turn and a parent started reading out sexually explicit passages from a book available in school libraries. Conservatives across the U.S. have taken a renewed interest

BRUSSELS (AP) — Thousands of peaceful protesters have demonstrated in Brussels for a third time against reinforced COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the Belgian government to counter a spike in infections as the omicron variant sweeps across Europe. A strong police presence was deployed on streets in anticipation of the crowds but only 13 arrests were

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 12,000 military service members refusing the COVID-19 vaccine are seeking religious exemptions, and so far they’re having zero success. Not a single request has been granted. The services are urgently trying to keep the pandemic in check by getting virtually all troops vaccinated. And

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates says that it will no longer censor films released in cinemas, the country’s latest effort to boost its brand as a liberal hub attractive to foreigners. Instead of cutting sensitive scenes that could offend traditional Islamic sensibilities, the Emirati media regulatory authority announced it will

By GRANT SCHULTE Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska has held one of the nation’s lowest unemployment rates for years, with fewer than two million people and plenty of jobs to go around. That rate has hit new lows thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, with the state announcing the lowest-ever recorded unemployment of 1.8%

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The rapidly-spreading omicron variant may soon leave U.S. doctors without two of the standard treatments they’ve used to fight COVID-19. Antibody drugs from Regeneron and Eli Lilly have been the go-to drugs to keep patients out of the hospital. But the drugmakers have warned that their

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Richard Rogers, the lauded British architect who was one of the forces behind the Pompidou Center in Paris and later designed London’s Millennium Dome, has died. He was 88. Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, the company he founded, confirmed his death Sunday. It described him as “a

By JEFF AMY and RUSS BYNUM Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Former Georgia Republican U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson has died. He was 76. His son John Isakson says the former senator died in his sleep before dawn Sunday at his home in Atlanta. Isakson rose from the ranks of the state legislature to become a

MOORHEAD, Minn. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the deaths of several people whose bodies were discovered inside a twin home in a northwestern Minnesota city. The bodies were discovered in the Moorhead residence just before 8 p.m. Saturday by family members conducting a welfare check. Those family members called police. Moorhead police have not said

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The White House’s top medical adviser says the COVID-19 omicron variant is “just raging around the world.” And President Joe Biden is planning on Tuesday to give what his press secretary says is “a stark warning of what the winter will look like” for unvaccinated Americans.