Health

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand removed most of its remaining COVID-19 restrictions Monday as the government signaled a return to normalcy for the first time since the pandemic began.

VANCOUVER — Regional officials say air quality is expected to worsen in parts of the Vancouver area as smoky skies persisted Sunday due to wildfires in the province and the United States.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Some leaders in states with strict abortion bans say exceptions for rape or incest victims aren’t needed because emergency contraceptives can be used instead.

On Christmas Eve 2020, Rev. John Lemire got ready for work: two funerals and three masses. The Catholic priest in Timmins, Ont.

OTTAWA — Canada’s military ombudsman says his office has received fewer than a dozen complaints from service members about the Armed Forces’ vaccine requirement, and that he has not found any issues with how it is being enforced.

BEIJING (AP) — Almost 500 students at China’s premier college for broadcast journalists have been sent to a quarantine center after a handful of COVID-19 cases were detected in their dormitory.

SURREY, B.C. — British Columbia's Liberal Party has retained a seat in the riding of Surrey South following a byelection to replace a longtime member of the legislature.

VANCOUVER — An air quality advisory has been issued for Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley because of "high concentrations of fine particulate matter" from wildfire smoke in British Columbia and the United States.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana health officials on Friday made permanent a rule that blocks transgender people from changing their birth certificates even if they undergo gender-confirmation surgery. The move by Republican Gov.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Most people in Santa Clara Pueblo in northern New Mexico know each other.