BOGOTÁ, Colombia—A four-day lockdown began Friday amid a surge in Covid-19 cases that the mayor of this capital city attributed to the new virus strain from the U.K., though national health authorities denied the contagious variant was in the country. Mayor Claudia López ordered all nonessential businesses shut until Tuesday. […]

Photograph: Angel Colmenares/EPA While the crystal-encrusted New Year’s Eve ball will drop in Times Square at midnight on 31 December, its descent will diverge from tradition: this sparkling, 12-foot sphere will be greeted by empty streets due to Covid-19, and not hundreds of thousands of revelers. New York City authorities […]

For their swearing-in session on Monday, Assembly leaders moved their house from the state Capitol to the Golden 1 Center to make sure lawmakers were appropriately spaced. COVID-19 safety concerns meant that families and guests were excluded from the event. Just hours later, however, five California state Assembly members dined […]

New York City will reopen elementary schools on December 7 and offer in-person classes for special-needs students of all ages despite a recent surge in coronavirus cases, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Sunday. © Kena Betancur Parents of New York students are seen protesting in that city on November 20, […]

Millions of Americans took to the skies and the roads ahead of Thanksgiving at the risk of pouring petrol on the coronavirus fire, disregarding increasingly dire warnings that they stay home and limit their holiday gatherings to members of their own household. © John Minchillo Travellrs arrive at Terminal C […]

Monday’s positive news of the success of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine trial has given a boost to the struggling travel industry, with tour companies and online travel agents reporting an immediate surge in enquiries and bookings for next year. Flight and accommodation website Skyscanner reported an “immediate spike” in online traffic, […]

There’s a glimmer of positivity amid Australia’s beleaguered arts industries: with Covid-19 restrictions limiting our ability to attend live shows or go to cinemas, book sales across the country have surged – with many readers returning to familiar authors, and the escapist comforts of fiction. According to Nielsen Book Australia, […]

A COVID-19 patient is being tended to prior to being airlifted with the helicopter from FlevoZiekenhuis, or FlevoHospital, in Almere, Netherlands, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020. In the latest sign of the scale of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping across Europe, a helicopter started airlifting COVID-19 patients from the Netherlands to an […]

PARIS (Reuters) – Birkin handbag maker Hermes’ comparable sales picked up again in the third quarter, rising 7%, and the group said this positive momentum had extended into October after a rebound in Asia and other regions as some coronavirus restrictions eased. Luxury goods groups were hit hard by store […]