World News

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand's largest city of Auckland has begun a three-day lockdown following the discovery of three unexplained coronavirus cases in the community.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The pro-union Socialist Party appeared set to claim a narrow win in regional elections in Catalonia late Sunday, but the bloc of parties supporting secession by Spain’s northeastern corner were widening their control of the regional parliament.

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo’s main opposition party appeared headed to a landslide victory in Sunday’s early election of a new parliament held amid the coronavirus pandemic, an economic downturn and stalled negotiations with wartime foe Serbia.

ROME (AP) — The Italian government on Sunday abruptly delayed opening Italy's beloved ski season because a coronavirus variant was detected in a good portion of recently infected persons in the country.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Supergirl came out of the dressing room ready for action as usual.

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech government on Sunday re-declared a state of emergency for next two weeks to tackle the coronavirus pandemic in one of the European Union's hardest-hit nations.

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. announced Sunday that it had reached its goal of giving at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot to the most vulnerable people in the country, increasing pressure on ministers to clarify when they will ease a lockdown imposed in early January.

PARIS (AP) — Activists rallied Sunday in Paris to demand that the French government abandon a bill aimed at rooting out Islamist extremism that the protesters say could trample on religious freedom and make all Muslims into potential suspects.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia on Sunday donated a first batch of 8,000 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to North Macedonia, which is yet to deliver its first jabs.

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County officials say that the Northridge Hospital Medical Center violated county rules when it provided coronavirus vaccines to teachers and staff at the Wesley School in North Hollywood. Teachers and school employees are not currently authorized to receive doses for the vaccine.

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Far-right nationalists gathered in Bulgaria's capital Saturday to honor a late World War II general known for his anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi activities.

Japan's Meteorological Agency says it considers Saturday's earthquake off the east coast to be an aftershock of the deadly 9.0-magnitude earthquake that struck the same area almost 10 years ago.

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus police used a water cannon and stun grenades to disperse several hundred demonstrators who gathered in downtown Nicosia on Saturday to protest what they said was rampant corruption among the east Mediterranean island nation’s governing elites.

NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans’ annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

ROME (AP) — Mario Draghi, the man largely credited with saving the euro currency, took the helm as Italy's premier Saturday after assembling a government of economic experts and other technocrats along with career politicians from across the spectrum to guide the pandemic-devastated nation toward recovery.