America’s third year of dealing with the pandemic is likely to start as bleak as ever, with a devastating Omicron surge for the first couple of months. Yes, but: Experts are hopeful that once the wave of cases, hospitalizations and deaths caused by the Omicron variant ebbs, life will finally be able to more closely…Continue Reading
Space science next year will be rocketed forward with missions to the Moon, asteroids, Mars and the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope coming online. Why it matters: The data sent back to Earth from these upcoming missions will help scientists learn more than ever before about objects in the solar system and far beyond…Continue Reading
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday he would ponder a slew of options if the West fails to meet his push for security guarantees over neighboring Ukraine.Earlier this month, Moscow submitted draft security documents demanding that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back its military deployments in…Continue Reading
I was born on Jan. 11, 1973, 11 days before Roe v. Wade decriminalized abortion across the United States. As a self-described politically aware, adopted teenage girl, this was a chilling factoid for me. Phew, I always thought. Made it. Of course, it was also insignificant, because I was born, adopted and raised in New…Continue Reading
Aid group Save the Children said it was suspending operations in Myanmar’s strife-torn Kayah state after two staff members went missing in an attack that left at least 30 people dead, including women and children, with many bodies burnt.The two staff were travelling to their home villages for the year-end holidays when they were caught…Continue Reading
HONG KONG — A Taiwanese American star known as the King of Chinese Pop is in career freefall amid a messy public divorce that is the talk of the Chinese-speaking world.Wang Leehom, 45, was born in Rochester, New York, to Taiwanese parents and grew into a hugely popular singer-songwriter and actor in Asia. He had been…Continue Reading
As the omicron surge pummels a pandemic-weary nation, the first antiviral pills for Covid-19 promise desperately needed protection for people at risk of severe disease. However, many people prescribed Pfizer’s or Merck’s new medications will require careful monitoring by doctors and pharmacists, and the antivirals may not be safe for everyone, experts caution.Paxlovid, Pfizer’s Covid-19 pill,…Continue Reading
When litigants angered Michael F. McGuire, the county judge in New York state’s Catskills region, he might hit them with “judicial contempt” and order them handcuffed, or in extreme cases, jailed for 30 days.McGuire, elected in Sullivan County in 2011, did it on several occasions over the years without warning: to a man who asked…Continue Reading
Since the pandemic began, a vocal subset of extreme-right conservatives have demanded that they need religious exemptions from many Covid-19 precautions — from emergency public health orders to mask mandates to vaccine mandates. They claim that the principle of religious freedom means they should be exempt from following lifesaving measures.That claim may soon be tested.We…Continue Reading
I remember coming home from school to the heavenly smells of my mother’s fresh baked cookies and pies most every day leading up to Christmas. She baked not only for us but also for friends, creating beautifully packaged, homemade treats that always looked as wonderful as they tasted. I remain in awe of how in an instant…Continue Reading