Month: December 2021

Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A teacher in South Florida has been fired for repeatedly refusing to wear a mask. The school board in Broward County on Tuesday unanimously voted to fire John C. Alvarez, a science teacher at Piper High School for gross insubordination. Alvarez plans to appeal the decision to an

Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A South Florida school district will pay more than $26 million to the families of 17 people killed in the 2018 shooting massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Money also will go to some survivors of the shooting. The Broward County school board approved the settlements on

CAIRO (AP) — The U.N. migration agency says it has launched a coronavirus vaccination campaign for stranded migrants in war-torn Yemen. It says the campaign aims to inoculate around 7,500 migrants in its centers in the provinces of Aden and Marib. Yemen has been engulfed in civil war since 2014, when the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The multimillionaire businessman who forced South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster into a GOP runoff has started a Bitcoin mining company. John Warren announced his investment in the GEM Mining company on Wednesday. He says they’ve raised more than $200 million from banks, hedge funds, pension funds

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

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

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 MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The leaders of four political parties set to join forces in the next Dutch ruling coalition have pledged to tackle thorny problems including climate change and housing shortages and to strengthen education and a health care system that has been stretched almost to breaking point

By SALLY FRENCH of NerdWallet Rerouting, rebooking, diverting, you name it. Making last-minute flight changes can be an enormous stressor amid an already stressful holiday travel season. Whether a massive snowstorm halts flights, or you need to postpone because of a COVID-related delay, here’s what you need to know about making last-minute flight changes, both

By AMIR VAHDAT and JON GAMBRELL Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog and Iran have reached a deal to reinstall cameras damaged at a site that manufactures centrifuge parts. However, inspectors remain limited on what footage they can access. The agreement Wednesday will see cameras put back at Karaj, which

PARIS (AP) — Human rights activists with Amnesty International have urged the French soccer federation to pay attention to rights violations of migrant workers in Qatar a year before the World Cup. They have unveiled a giant banner on the French soccer federation’s building. It says “Thousands have died in Qatar and the soccer federation

By RONALD MONTOYA Edmunds Edmunds Top Rated Awards are bestowed annually upon the best vehicles of the year. The winners aced their Edmunds track tests and distinguished themselves as class leaders in extensive real-world evaluations. 

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s military says pirates are suspected of taking six hostages from a container ship in international waters in the Gulf of Guinea earlier this week. While sailing off West Africa on an international anti-piracy mission, the Danish navy frigate HDMS Esbern Snare responded Monday to information that a container ship was

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The European Union drugs regulator said Wednesday that people 18 and older can receive a booster shot for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at least two months after their initial shot of the one-dose vaccine. The European Medicines Agency also said the J&J vaccine can be used as a

By ARITZ PARRA and BARRY HATTON Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Residents on the Spanish island of La Palma are daring to hope that a volcanic eruption is over after almost three months. Islanders have endured unnerving daily explosions, earthquakes, rivers of molten rock and a huge ash plume containing toxic gases. The Cumbre Vieja

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers seeking government-subsidized health insurance for next year have through Wednesday to sign up if they want their new plan to start Jan. 1. It’s the first of two deadlines for HealthCare.gov coverage, with increased financial assistance available through President Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief legislation. The last

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway’s data privacy watchdog fined gay dating app Grindr $7.16 million for sending sensitive personal data to hundreds of potential advertising partners without users’ consent. The Norwegian Data Protection Authority said Wednesday that it imposed its highest fine to date because the California-based company didn’t comply with the European Union’s strict

Associated Press IDI, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian court has handed down prison sentences for five men accused of being involved in killing a Sumatran elephant and illegally trading its ivory, as local conservation authorities look to protect the endangered species. The court in Aceh on Wednesday sentenced the men for violating Indonesian laws protecting

By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greenpeace has renewed calls against proposed deep-sea oil and gas exploration off southwest Greece, warning of “unbearable” consequences to endangered Mediterranean whales and dolphins. A Greenpeace Greece official said Wednesday the project should be scrapped before “it starts to wreck the Mediterranean.” The appeal came as

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — A United Nations report says the prolonged pandemic and surging prices are undermining food security for millions of people in Asia. The report by the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization released Wednesday says access to food worsened in 2020, with more than 375 million people facing

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.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Officials say a small fire at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom started in a tree and may have been caused by fireworks debris. Disney workers quickly extinguished the flames from the fire Tuesday. WESH-TV quotes Reedy Creek Fire Association president Jon Shirey as saying that the only injury involved