CANBERRA, Australia — Australia is advancing the start of its coronavirus vaccination program to mid-February, with plans to inoculate 15% of the population by late March. The government had argued there was no reason for an emergency rollout that cut short usual regulatory processes as has occurred in the...
KALOFER, Bulgaria (AP) — Christians on Wednesday marked Epiphany in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, which constrained celebrations in many places but didn't stop some defying warnings to keep to traditions. Orthodox Christians celebrate Jesus’ baptism during Epiphany. In Bulgaria, thousands...
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Thousands of Orthodox Christian worshippers in Bulgaria on Wednesday ignored warnings issued by health authorities to abstain from mass gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic and kept instead to their centuries-old Epiphany traditions. Young men plunged into the icy waters of...
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Defying U.S. calls to reduce its dependency on energy supplies from Russia, Serbia on Friday officially launched a new gas link that will bring additional Russian gas to the Balkan country via Bulgaria and Turkey. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic attended a ceremony Friday for the...
TOKYO — Japan’s government will temporarily ban entry of all nonresident foreign nationals as a precaution against a new and potentially more contagious coronavirus variant that has spread across Britain. The entry ban will start Monday and last through Jan. 31 for the time being, the Foreign...
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil has become the latest country to bar flights from the United Kingdom in a bid to prevent contagion from a new strain of the coronavirus. The government announced in an extra edition of the country’s official gazette released late Wednesday that it is temporarily prohibiting...
BERLIN (AP) — A growing list of European Union nations and Canada barred travel from the U.K. on Sunday and others were considering similar action, in a bid to block a new strain of coronavirus sweeping across southern England from spreading to the continent. France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands,...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has announced new social gathering restrictions while still refusing to implement a mask mandate despite pleas from front-line healthcare workers in a state experiencing the highest new cases per capita in the country. Instead of a mask mandate, the Republican on...
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria's foreign ministry said on Friday that a Russian diplomat had 72 hours to leave the country after prosecutors accused him of spying and gathering military information including the number of U.S. troops deployed to Bulgaria for military drills. Foreign Minister Ekaterina...
WASHINGTON — The justices on the U.S. Supreme Court are being provided with doses of the coronavirus vaccine. That is according to a letter by Capitol Physician Brian Monahan, which says the court, along with Congress and executive branch agencies are being given a limited supply of doses “for...