Lifestyle

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — In a state where Confederate monuments have stood for more than a century and have recently become a flashpoint in the national debate over racial injustice, Virginians remain about evenly divided on whether the statues should stay or go, according to a new poll. The poll conducted this month by […]

How can I volunteer for a COVID-19 vaccine study? Governments and companies are setting up websites where people can sign up. Enthusiasm is high: More than 400,000 people have signed a registry of possible volunteers that’s part of a vaccine network set up by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. But before raising your hand, […]

ROME (AP) — The Vatican on Tuesday answered its critics and defended its pursuit of an extended agreement with China on bishop nominations, acknowledging difficulties but insisting the effort had achieved limited, positive results. The Holy See articulated its position on the eve of a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who this […]

GABORONE, Botswana (AP) — Botswana has extended its state of emergency for a further six months to combat the spread of COVID-19. The southern African country will maintain several restrictions, including limits to international travelers and tourism, in contrast to neighboring South Africa and Zimbabwe, which are opening up their economies. Botswana, a diamond-rich, landlocked […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of schoolteachers will receive $500 grants from author James Patterson to help students build reading skills, especially as schools struggle to adapt to the coronavirus pandemic. “Whether students are learning virtually at home or in the classroom, the importance of keeping them reading cannot be underscored enough,” Patterson said in […]

If you’re looking for a self-improvement task in this pandemic era, try teaching yourself to use contactless payments with your phone or “tap-to-pay” credit and debit cards. Any germaphobe will tell you that the surfaces of bills and coins have always been gross. And handing your credit card to a cashier who has the sniffles […]

BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel and the governors of Germany’s 16 states agreed Tuesday on plans meant to keep the country’s coronavirus infection figures from accelerating to levels being seen in other European countries, while keeping schools and businesses open if possible. New infections in Germany have hit the highest levels since April in […]

PARIS (AP) — France’s environment minister has announced a gradual ban on using wild animals in traveling circuses, on keeping dolphins and killer whales in captivity in marine parks and on raising mink on fur farms. Barbara Pompili, France’s minister of ecological transition, said in a news conference Tuesday that bears, tigers, lions, elephants and […]

NEW DELHI (AP) — Human rights watchdog Amnesty International said Tuesday that it is halting its operation in India, citing reprisals by the government and the freezing of its bank accounts by Indian authorities. Amnesty International India said it has laid off its staff and paused all its ongoing campaign and research work on human […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Elementary school students went back to classrooms across New York City on Tuesday in a high-stakes test for the nation’s biggest public school system even as the mayor warned that a recent rise in coronavirus cases was “cause for real concern.” With children wearing masks and undergoing temperature checks at schoolhouse […]