Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland announced on Monday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, despite being fully vaccinated and having received a booster shot. “This morning, as part of my regular testing routine, I received a positive rapid test for Covid-19,” Mr. Hogan, a Republican, wrote on Twitter. “I have been vaccinated and […]
Israel on Monday added the United States and Canada to its “red list,” barring its citizens from traveling to those countries without a special exemption, as Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s government attempts to slow the spread of the Omicron variant. Israel’s red list, which now includes 58 countries, has rapidly expanded since late November, when […]
Peng Shuai, the Chinese tennis star whose account of sexual coercion by a former Communist Party leader ignited weeks of tensions and galvanized calls for boycotts of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, has reversed her assertion that she had been sexually assaulted by the official. Ms. Peng made the comments in an interview that was […]
Election Day was a subdued affair, despite the government’s extensive efforts to gin up enthusiasm. Volunteers and candidates made last-minute pitches at street stands outside subway stations, handing out fliers as loudspeakers blared prerecorded slogans, but most passers-by ignored them. Understand the Hong Kong Elections Hong Kong’s legislative election on Dec. 19 will be the […]
“Saturday Night Live” announced, just hours before showtime, that there would be no live audience on Saturday night “out of an abundance of caution” amid the surge of coronavirus cases in New York tied to the Omicron variant. The show also wrote on Twitter that there would be “limited cast and crew,” but it did […]
LONDON — In the pre-dawn hours of Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson learned that his Conservative Party had crashed to defeat in a district it had represented for more than a century. Twelve hours later, Britain reported more than 90,000 new cases of Covid-19 as the Omicron variant engulfed the country. Each of those events […]
It may have seemed like an obscure United Nations conclave, but a meeting this week in Geneva was followed intently by experts in artificial intelligence, military strategy, disarmament and humanitarian law. The reason for the interest? Killer robots — drones, guns and bombs that decide on their own, with artificial brains, whether to attack and […]
MANILA — Typhoon Rai slammed into the southeastern part of the Philippines on Thursday, bringing heavy rains and flooding that displaced thousands over a large area. At least 17 people were killed, but the death toll was expected to rise. The typhoon, the 15th major weather disturbance to hit the country this year, intensified rapidly […]
MELBOURNE, Australia — Thursday was the last day of the school year for most children in the Australian island state of Tasmania. A primary school in the small city of Devonport wanted to celebrate with dancing, games and, out on the big field behind the building, a bouncy castle and giant inflatable Zorb balls. By […]
LONDON — Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked Britons on Wednesday to think twice about holiday socializing as the Omicron variant rampages through the country. A day later, Queen Elizabeth II canceled her annual pre-Christmas lunch for the royal family, according to people with connections to Buckingham Palace. The queen’s decision to call off the lunch […]
