NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week

A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts: ___ Faulty comparisons...

Court blocks COVID-19 vaccine mandate for US gov't workers

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — President Joe Biden’s order that federal employees get vaccinated against COVID-19 has been blocked by a federal appeals court. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, in a decision Thursday, rejected arguments that Biden, as the nation’s chief...

In reversal for Biden, US appeals court rules against COVID-19 vaccination requirement for federal employees

Georgia House approves blocking COVID-19 vaccine mandates

ATLANTA (AP) — Any COVID-19 vaccine requirement by public schools, state agencies or local governments would be blocked under legislation given final approval by the Georgia House on Thursday. The House voted 99-69 in favor of Senate Bill 1, which would make permanent what had...

South Africa's Ramaphosa welcomes Belgium's King Philippe

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed Belgium's King Philippe and Queen Mathilda to the capital Pretoria, lauded the European country for its assistance to Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ramaphosa emphasized the role played by Belgium in...

Senators press Moderna CEO on COVID-19 vaccine price hike

Moderna’s CEO on Wednesday defended a plan to more than quadruple the company’s COVID-19 vaccine price, but he also said the drugmaker will work to ensure patients continue paying nothing at drugstores or clinics. Stephane Bancel told the Senate Committee on Health, Education,...

North Carolina House advances ban on COVID vaccine mandates

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina's public schools, colleges and universities would be prohibited from requiring a student to prove they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 under a bill that advanced Tuesday in the state House. Promoted by Republican sponsors to protect free...

Editorial Roundup: United States

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: March 15 The Washington Post on voter fraud: A 59-year-old man was arrested last week for allegedly double voting in the 2020 presidential election. Florida authorities brought the felony...

Anthony Fauci documentary on PBS covers a career of crises

NEW YORK (AP) — There's a moment in the new PBS documentary about Dr. Anthony Fauci when a protester holds up a handmade sign reading, “Dr. Fauci, You Are Killing Us." It says something about Fauci that it's not initially clear when that sign was waved in anger — in the 1980s...

Burundi officials detect polio outbreak linked to vaccine

LONDON (AP) — Health officials in Burundi have declared an outbreak of polio linked to the vaccine, the first time the paralytic disease has been detected in the East African country for more than three decades. Polio has been diagnosed in an unvaccinated four-year-old child in the...