USA

NEW YORK (AP) — Flight cancellations that disrupted holiday travel, stretched into Monday as airlines called off more than 1,000 U.S. flights because crews were sick with COVID-19 during one of the year’s busiest travel periods, and storm fronts added to the havoc.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials on Monday cut isolation restrictions for asymptomatic Americans who catch the coronavirus from 10 to five days, and similarly shortened the time that close contacts need to quarantine.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said the guidance is in keeping with growing evidence that people with the coronavirus are most infectious in the two days before and three days after symptoms develop.

The decision also was driven by a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, propelled by the omicron variant.

WASHINGTON, December 26. / TASS /: Moscow has a significant military advantage over Kiev in the Sea of Azov, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba told The Washington Post media outlet on Sunday.

"In terms of security, the Sea of Azov is dominated by Russia," the top diplomat stated. "And in case of war, it will be heavily used by them to put pressure on our southern cities on the Azov shore." According to Kuleba, "of course, Russia dictates the situation in the Azov and basically uses it as a war theater."

Dec 23 (Reuters) - Healthcare workers in the United States who test positive for COVID-19 but are asymptomatic can return to work after seven days in isolation, provided they test negative, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.

The new guidance cuts the quarantine time from a previously recommended 10 days, which the CDC said was in preparation for an anticipated increase in Omicron cases. Omicron now accounts for 73% of coronavirus infections in the United States, the CDC said on Monday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Airlines continued to cancel hundreds of flights Saturday because of staffing issues tied to COVID-19, disrupting holiday celebrations during one of the busiest travel times of the year.

FlightAware, a flight-tracking website, noted nearly 1,000 canceled flights entering, leaving or inside the U.S. Saturday, up from 690 flights scrapped on Friday. Over 250 more flights were already canceled for Sunday. FlightAware does not say why flights are canceled.

WASHINGTON, Dec 24 (Reuters) - A current spokesman for former U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said in a court filing that he has cooperated extensively with the congressional committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The spokesman, Taylor Budowich, said in a lawsuit, filed in federal court in the District of Columbia, that he has produced more than 1,700 pages of documents and provided about four hours of sworn testimony to the House of Representatives panel.

NEW YORK (AP) — Airlines canceled hundreds of flights as the omicron variant jumbled schedules and drew down staffing levels at some carriers during the busy holiday travel season.

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York judge has upheld an order preventing The New York Times from publishing documents between conservative group Project Veritas and its lawyer and ruled that the newspaper must immediately relinquish confidential legal memos it obtained.

The decision Thursday by State Supreme Court Justice Charles D. Wood in Westchester County, released Friday, comes in a defamation lawsuit Project Veritas filed against the Times in 2020.

Dec 23 (Reuters) - The United States will allow its consular officers to waive in-person interviews for H-1B and other certain non-immigrant visa applicants through next year to help reduce visa wait times, the State Department said on Thursday.

"The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in profound reductions in the department’s visa processing capacity," it said in a statement. "As global travel rebounds, we are taking these temporary steps to further our commitment to safely and efficiently reduce visa wait times while maintaining national security as our priority."

Dec 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. government has paused the distribution of COVID-19 antibody treatments from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN.O) and Eli Lilly (LLY.N), saying the therapies were unlikely to be effective against the Omicron coronavirus variant.

The variant has become the dominant strain in the United States with lightning speed, resurrecting restrictions and stretching the country's testing infrastructure.