Year: 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 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

By DON BABWIN and SARA BURNETT Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett has testified that claims he staged an anti-gay, racist attack on himself are “100% false.” Smollett took the stand Monday at his trial on charges that he lied to Chicago police about the January 2019 attack in downtown Chicago.

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

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis says there are plans for a possible second meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. That would come after their historic 2016 encounter in Cuba became a landmark in mending relations severed by the 1,000-year-old schism that divided Christianity. Speaking

BERLIN (AP) — Karl Nehammer has been sworn in as Austria’s third chancellor in two months. Monday’s ceremony capped a round of upheaval triggered by the decision last week of Sebastian Kurz to bow out of politics. The 49-year-old Nehammer has been Austria’s interior minister since early 2020. He also is taking over as leader

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says attacks on Muslim houses of worship on Cyprus would “not go unanswered” following reports of an attempted arson attack on a mosque on the southern, internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot part of the divided island. Turkey’s pro-government Daily Sabah newspaper said at least one suspect was detained

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Thousands of Sudanese have taken to the streets in the capital of Khartoum and other cities. They are the latest protests against the October military coup and subsequent deal that reinstated Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. Footage circulated on social media purportedly showed demonstrators marching Monday in different