Month: January 2021

For weeks, Britain has reported alarming coronavirus death numbers, hospitals have continued to fill up, and fears have risen that it will take months to control the spread of a more transmissible variant first detected in the Kent region of Englandlast year.

On Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at a news conference the new variant may also be associated with a slightly higher chance of death, even as he acknowledged it was too soon to be sure, and his own scientific advisers urged restraint in interpreting preliminary evidence.

Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said that the data

OTTAWA — The woman who represented Queen Elizabeth as Canada’s official head of state, a high-profile but largely ceremonial role, resigned on Thursday after a report submitted to the government harshly criticized her treatment of employees.

Julie Payette, whose title was governor general, stepped down after months of media reports that she and a top adviser had belittled and publicly humiliated employees, often to the point of tears. In response, the government commissioned an independent review that several Canadian news outlets said had blamed her for creating a toxic work environment.

“For the good of our country and of our

The Trump administration cast its barrage of moves against Beijing, in its waning days, as necessary to stand up to China’s authoritarian leadership.

Among its final acts, the administration declared that Beijing was committing genocide against Uighurs and other Muslims in a far western region. It held a video conference between a senior United States envoy and the president of Taiwan, the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing. And it jettisoned longstanding guidelines limiting exchanges with Taiwanese officials.

But the decision to push through significant foreign policy measures so quickly — and during a time of turmoil in Washington — risks

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Good morning. It’s Donald Trump’s final day as president — and Joe Biden’s first.

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s arrival in the White House may signal the start of a less congenial American relationship with Saudi Arabia, but the kingdom could point to recent progress on a number of issues that have caused longstanding friction with the United States.

Long one of the world’s most prodigious executioners, Saudi Arabia announced on Monday that executions declined by 85 percent in 2020 because of legal reforms. Groups that have chronicled incitement against non-Muslims in Saudi textbooks say that the most offensive examples have been excised. And the sentences for two high-profile Saudis widely seen