Month: December 2021

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland has registered the highest rate of COVID-19-related deaths since April amid a continuing high rate of new infections. There were 669 deaths reported Wednesday and 24,266 new infection cases. Restrictions also took effect that closed discos and nightclubs. The measures also cut the limit of unvaccinated people in restaurants, eateries,

BRUSSELS (AP) — The young adult daughter of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny received a standing ovation from European Union lawmakers as she accepted the EU’s top human rights prize on her father’s behalf. The European Parliament named Navalny in October as the winner of this year’s Sakharov Prize. Navalny narrowly survived an August

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine health department says it has detected the country’s first cases of the omicron strain of the coronavirus in two travelers who arrived from Japan and Nigeria in recent weeks. Health officials said Wednesday the travelers tested positive for the coronavirus after arrival and the results of additional tests showed

Police in Germany’s Bavaria region say they have destroyed some 1.5 metric tons (1.65 U.S. tons) of cocaine with a street value of about 270 million euros ($304 million) — their biggest such operation yet. Bavaria’s criminal police office said the drugs were incinerated Tuesday under heavy security at a facility at an undisclosed location

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) — Two zebras running loose since they escaped a Maryland farm about four months ago have been caught. The Washington Post reports that Prince George’s County Animal Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture weren’t involved in the capture, but were told Monday that the animals returned to their herd last

LONDON (AP) — A British activist has lost a legal challenge at the U.K.‘s highest court to the government’s policy of not allowing gender-neutral passports. Christie Elan-Cane argued that the requirement for passport applicants to indicate whether they are male or female breaches human rights laws. Elan-Cane said there should be an “X” option for

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Health officials in Cambodia say the country has confirmed its first case of the omicron variant in a 23-year-old Cambodian woman who returned Sunday from the African country of Ghana, where she had been working. A Health Ministry statement said the infected woman, who returned via Dubai and Bangkok, received

Associated Press KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A positive COVID-19 test among U.S. Secretary of State Blinken’s traveling party has cut short the top diplomat’s first official tour of Southeast Asia. A member of the press corps accompanying Blinken on what was to have been a three-nation visit to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand tested positive

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Swedish prosecutors say a Croatian national has been released because the suspicion against him of being drunk on the British freighter that collided with a Danish freighter off southern Sweden had “weakened.” But prosecutors said Wednesday that he remains a suspect. A British citizen was still detained. Monday’s pre-dawn collision with

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin says Chinese President Xi Jinping is supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin in his push to get Western security guarantees precluding NATO’s eastward expansion. Putin and Xi spoke on Wednesday as Moscow faces heightened tensions with the West over a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine’s border.