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Los Angeles County residents will no longer be required to wear masks at restaurants, bars, gyms, shops, and other businesses starting today, the Associated Press reports, while the National Football League (NFL) has dropped all COVID-19 measures.

The estimated effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine against infection in US adolescents was 91%, with 93% protection against symptomatic illness and 85% against asymptomatic disease amid the Delta SARS-CoV-2 surge in Connecticut, finds a study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open.The retrospective case-control study, by Yale School of Medicine

WASHINGTON - Trucker convoys from across the U.S. are expected to arrive in the D.C.

NEW JERSEY - Outraged by the invasion of Ukraine, lawmakers in New Jersey's largest city lashed out at one of the closest symbols of Russia they could find — a pair of Lukoil gas stations.The Newark City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to ask the city’s business administrator to suspend the service stations' operating licenses, citing Lukoil's base in Moscow.In doing so, however, they may have predominantly been hurting Americans.The stations are franchises owned by locals, not Russians. They employ mostly New Jersey residents.

FILE A pump nozzle labeled "Super 95" is stuck in the tank opening of a vehicle at a gas station. (Photo by Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images) WASHINGTON - Gas prices in the U.S.

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden has been pushing for more U.S. factory jobs — and he'll be joined Friday by the CEO of technology company Siemens USA to announce a $54 million investment in producing equipment for the electrical infrastructure.The investment will lead to 300 additional jobs at locations that include California and Texas, according to senior Biden administration officials who insisted on anonymity to preview the event on the White House campus.

WASHINGTON - U.S. employers added a robust 678,000 jobs in February, another gain that underscored the economy’s solid health as the omicron wave fades and more Americans venture out to spend at restaurants, shops and hotels despite surging inflation.The Labor Department’s report Friday also showed that the unemployment rate dropped from 4% to 3.8%, extending a sharp drop in joblessness as the economy has rebounded from the pandemic recession.The latest jobs data follows recent reports that have shown an economy maintaining strength as new COVID infections have plummeted since late January.

Airbnb is responding to Russia's invasion of Ukraine by suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus.The decision was tweeted by Chief Executive Officer Brian Chesky late Thursday.On Monday, the company announced its nonprofit arm Airbnb.org would offer free, temporary housing for up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine.Chesky and Joe Gebbia, chairman of Airbnb.org, sent letters to leaders of Poland, Romania, Germany and Hungary offering help to house the refugees, according to Reuters.Except for Germany, the countries share borders with Ukraine.FILE - In this photo illustration the American online marketplace and hospitality service Airbnb logo seen displayed on a smartphone with an economic stock exchange index graph in the background.

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court decided to dismiss all the petitions filed seeking to quash the Cabinet’s decision to transfer 40% of the government-owned shares of the Kerawalapitiya Yugadanavi Power Plant to U.S. Company New Fortress Energy.The Supreme Court had made the decision to dismiss all the petitions without taking them up for examination as well.The petitions were dismissed by a five-judge bench led by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya and comprising Justices Buwaneka Aluvihare, Priyantha Jayawardena, Vijith Malalgoda, LTB Dehideniya.Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya had noted that the five-judge bench had no intention to examine these applications, and the decision to dismiss them was made after considering all the facts that were presented in favor and against the applications.Venerable Elle Gunawansa Thero, His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, General-Secretary of the Samagi Jana Balavegaya Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Sunil Handunnetti and Wasantha Samarasinghe from the JPV, Trade Unions, and multiple other groups filed the five petitions with the Supreme Court.Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Cabinet of Ministers, West Coast Power Pvt.

COLOMBO (News 1st); Former Sri Lankan Minister Udaya Gammanpila on Friday (3) announced that the battle to free Sri Lanka from the US has begun.Speaking to reporters for the first time since he was stripped of his ministerial position by the President on Thursday (3), Gammanpila said that the country is moving towards an abyss as the economy is managed by a person who has no understanding of economics.Udaya Gammanpila and Wimal Weerwansa were removed from their ministerial portfolios with effect from Thursday (3) evening, said the President’s Media Division.Gammanpila said calls were made to solve the crisis from within and outside of the cabinet of ministers, however, as those calls fell on deaf ears, the launch of a resolution ‘Taking The Nation On The Correct Path’ to solve the economic crisis suffered by Sri Lanka, was implemented.He said rather the looking at this resolution as a solution to the crisis, the administration decided to move out both him and Wimal Weerawansa.Gammanpila said while in government there were restrictions when it came to criticizing the government, however, today he has the freedom to reveal those who are responsible for the destruction caused to the economy.He also went on to note that ‘The Ugly American’, 1958 political novel by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer that depicts the failures of the U.S.

CHICAGO - A lawsuit was filed against the City of Chicago and Mayor Lori Lightfoot Wednesday, claiming she used obscene language and defamed a former Chicago Park District lawyer who was involved in the Christopher Columbus statue controversy in 2021.George Smyrniotis, who served as First Deputy General Counsel for the district, alleged that Lightfoot berated him over a Zoom call, damaging his reputation and leading to the loss of his job as well as causing him emotional distress.The Columbus statue was removed from Arrigo Park in Little Italy in the summer of 2020 after it had become the target of protests and unrest after the murder of George Floyd.DOWNLOAD THE FOX 32 NEWS APPOn behalf of the Chicago Park District, Smyrniotis penned a letter of agreement with the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans (JCCIA), allowing them to briefly display the statue at the 2021 Christopher Columbus Day parade.Lightfoot allegedly took umbrage to the agreement, telling an Italian-American leader she would pull the permit for the parade if the statue made an appearance, according to the lawsuit.An Italian American group is suing the city of Chicago to restore the Christopher Columbus statue that was removed during protests last year.She then berated Smyrniotis and his General Counsel Timothy King in a Zoom call on the night of the parade, the lawsuit claims."You d****, what the f*** were you thinking? You make some kind of secret agreement with Italians, what you are doing, you are out there measuring your d**** with the Italians seeing whose got the biggest d***, you are out there stroking your d**** over the Columbus statue, I am trying to keep Chicago Police officers from being shot and you are trying to get them shot.

California boys who were reported missing in 2020 have been charged with killing the children, although their bodies have not been found, authorities said Wednesday.Trezell West and Jacqueline West were arrested Tuesday night on murder and other charges in an indictment returned by a grand jury, Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer told a news conference in Bakersfield.Orrin West, 4, and his brother Orson, 3, were reported missing from their family’s backyard in the desert town of California City on Dec. 21, 2020.

Americans living in rural areas are less likely to be vaccinated against COVID-19 than their urban counterparts, and the gap between the two groups did not close during the Delta and Omicron surges, according to research published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

In the latest global COVID-19 developments, some recent hot spots reported new daily record cases, as US officials announced the transfer of some technology to an international effort to speed and share new pandemic tools.

PHILADELPHIA - The ocean is now rising much faster and in the next 30 years, the ocean will rise about a foot, according to a recently released report from NOAA. For scale, it took the last 100 years for the ocean to rise a foot. The rising ocean is already costing New Jersey millions, as FOX29’s Chris O’Connell recently explained. It turns out the ocean is rising more along New Jersey and Delaware than the rest of the United States for a unique reason: the Earth’s icy past.Thousands of years ago, ice covered Canada, New England, and even northern PA and northern NJ. The weight of all that ice pushed down the ground in those regions. Once the ice melted, the ground there started rising back up.  As this happens, nearby spots, like the Mid-Atlantic states, sink.

A new poll suggests almost two-thirds of Canadians believe the Russian invasion of Ukraine has the potential to develop into a world war.

Russia has been accused of using thermobaric vacuum bombs during its invasion of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials."They used the vacuum bomb today," Ukraine's ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova told reporters after meeting with U.S. lawmakers Monday. "...The devastation that Russia is trying to inflict on Ukraine is large."Thermobaric explosives, also called fuel-air explosives (FAE), use oxygen around them to generate a high-temperature blast.

FILE - A 2022 Ford Mustang Mach-E electric sports utility vehicle (SUV) on a demonstration course at AutoMobility LA ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, on Nov. 18, 2021.

FILE - The American Flag is held on the field as the American national anthem is performed before the 2022 NFL Pro Bowl at Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 6, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol says it believes Donald Trump committed criminal acts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, in his attempts to block the certification of the 2020 election he lost.Lawyers for the select committee made the claims in a court filing late Wednesday challenging conservative lawyer John Eastman’s refusal to turn over documents the panel has requested, which relate to his role in trying to persuade then-vice president Mike Pence to reject electors from states won by President Joe Biden.Eastman, who has said he was acting as a lawyer and advisor for Trump’s re-election campaign, cited attorney-client privilege in a reason for not turning over the documents.

Ordinary Russians faced the prospect of higher prices and crimped foreign travel as Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine sent the ruble plummeting, leading uneasy depositors to line up at banks and ATMs on Monday in a country that has seen more than one currency disaster in the post-Soviet era.

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 02: James Harden #1 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on against the New York Knicks in the second half at the Wells Fargo Center on March 2, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 76ers defeated the Knicks 123-108.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko hold a press conference following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on September 9, 2021. WASHINGTON - The White House released a fresh round of sanctions on Russia Wednesday as well as its ally, Belarus, for supporting Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Export restrictions on technology and software that are currently in place for Russia will be extended to Belarus, in a move that will "significantly degrade both countries’ ability to sustain their military aggression and project power," the White House said. Russian forces started invading Ukraine from the north through Belarus last week.

President Donald Trump greets the crowd at the "Stop The Steal" Rally on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. WASHINGTON (AP) - The House Committee investigating the U.S.

Signage at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Alphabet Inc.

COVID-19 surges continue to intensify in locations such as Hong Kong, where Omicron variant activity got a later foothold, but cases and deaths continue to fall in most regions, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its latest weekly update yesterday.

Today members of the Biden COVID-19 preparedness team addressed the nation unmasked and from the same room as they spoke about the country's move to a "new normal" stage of the pandemic, where COVID-19 is no longer a national emergency.

TAMPA, Fla. - As the Florida governor approached the lectern for a press conference in Tampa, there were a few students waiting while wearing masks.A handful of students from Middleton High School were in attendance for Gov. Ron DeSantis' announcement.

Adult COVID-19 patients who had an in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) were 35% less likely to receive potentially life-saving defibrillation without delay and survive to hospital release, according to a study today in JAMA Network Open.

At least five superyachts owned by Russian billionaires were anchored or cruising on Wednesday in Maldives, an Indian Ocean island nation that does not have an extradition treaty with the United States, ship tracking data showed.

Joe Biden announced Tuesday night in his State of the Union address that the U.S. is banning Russian flights from its airspace in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.The move follows similar action by Canada and the European Union this week.

File photo. (Credit: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images) President Joe Biden says Americans will be able to order more free COVID-19 tests starting next week."If you already ordered free tests, tonight, I am announcing you can order another group of tests," Biden said during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

KYIV, Ukraine - As Day 7 of the Russia-Ukraine conflict dawned, Russia continued its attacks on crowded Ukrainian cities and a lengthy convoy of Russian tanks and other vehicles advanced slowly toward the capital of Kyiv.Russia's escalation Wednesday came as President Joe Biden, in his State of the Union speech to Americans on Tuesday night, warned that if the Russian leader didn’t "pay a price" for the invasion, the aggression wouldn’t stop with one country.Here's a look at key things to know about the conflict:A Kremlin spokesman said a Russian delegation will be ready Wednesday evening to resume talks with Ukrainian officials about the war in Ukraine.Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "in the second half of the day, closer to evening, our delegation will be in place to await Ukrainian negotiators."There was no immediate word from the Ukrainian authorities about their plans.Police officers stand guard at the site of yesterday's airstrike that hit Kyiv's main television tower in Kyiv on March 2, 2022. (Photo by DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images) A 40-mile convoy of hundreds of Russian tanks and other vehicles advanced slowly on Kyiv, a city of nearly 3 million people.

The burning cargo ship Felicity Ace was floating south of the Azores off the coast of Portugal, as seen in footage posted by the Portuguese Navy on February 18.

The United States has advised citizens against travelling to Hong Kong, citing strict coronavirus curbs and the risk of children being separated from parents as the Chinese city battles a wave of infections.

PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia non-profit has received an outpouring of donations from locals who were inspired to help the Ukrainian people during the ongoing Russian invasion. The United Ukrainian-American Relief Committee said its building on Cottman Avenue is overflowing with donations including medical supplies, clothing, sleeping bags and hygiene items. "I mean it's amazing how people are coming in who have no ties to Ukraine, but responding in a humanitarian way," Executive Director Motraj Watters said. The donations will be packaged and shipped in two large box trucks, then airlifted overseas to Poland where they will cross over into Ukraine for distribution. Iryna Mazur, the Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Philadelphia, watched hopefully as President Biden promised more relief in his first State of the Union address."I just want to help any way I can," Ustyna Danylovych said. "My parents immigrated from Ukraine in the late 90s and my entire family is still there.

COVID-19 need no longer controls the lives of the Americans.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Addressing a concerned nation and anxious world, President Joe Biden vowed in his first State of the Union address Tuesday night to check Russian aggression in Ukraine, tame soaring U.S. inflation and deal with the fading but still dangerous coronavirus.Biden declared that he and all members of Congress, whatever political differences there may be, were joined "with an unwavering resolve that freedom will always triumph over tyranny." He asked the lawmakers crowding the House chamber to stand and salute the Ukrainians as he began his speech. They stood and cheered.Biden highlighted the bravery of Ukrainian defenders and the commitment of a newly reinvigorated Western alliance that has worked to rearm the Ukrainian military and cripple Russia’s economy through sanctions.

WASHINGTON - Madam Speaker, Madam Vice President, our First Lady and Second Gentleman. Members of Congress and the Cabinet. Justices of the Supreme Court.

WASHINGTON - During President Biden's State of the Union address, many members of Congress chose to show a sign of solidarity with the people of Ukraine by wearing the embattled country's colors: blue and yellow. Some lawmakers could be seen wearing blue and yellow pocket squares in their suit jackets or holding small Ukrainian flags. And others, like House Speaker Nanci Pelosi, wore a Ukrainian flag or ribbon brooch pinned to their left lapel.Several legislators took to Twitter to share their sartorial choices with their followers. RELATED: Russia-Ukraine updates: Russian convoy nears Kyiv on day 6 of assault"Today, I'm wearing blue and yellow to President Biden's #StateOfTheUnion to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Addressing a concerned nation and anxious world, President Joe Biden vowed in his first State of the Union address Tuesday night to check Russian aggression in Ukraine, tame soaring U.S. inflation and deal with the fading but still dangerous coronavirus.Biden declared that he and all members of Congress, whatever political differences there may be, were joined "with an unwavering resolve that freedom will always triumph over tyranny." He asked the lawmakers crowding the House chamber to stand and salute the Ukrainians as he began his speech. They stood and cheered.Biden highlighted the bravery of Ukrainian defenders and the commitment of a newly reinvigorated Western alliance that has worked to rearm the Ukrainian military and cripple Russia’s economy through sanctions.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Joe Biden will vow to make Vladimir Putin "pay a price" for Russia's invasion of Ukraine in his first State of the Union address, rallying allies abroad while also outlining his plans at home to fight inflation and the fading but still dangerous coronavirus.In addition to recounting U.S. and allied economic sanctions against Russia, Biden planned to announce that the U.S.

Passengers stand in line at the Air France ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, on February 28, 2022. (Photo by Daniel SLIM / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images) CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The American Automobile Association reported the 2022 travel season is off to a much stronger start compared to a year ago as bookings have increased. The agency said a new quarterly survey showed that traveler confidence is on the rise. Sixty-three percent of Floridians reported feeling comfortable traveling now – a significant increase from 40% in early 2021, according to the agency. RELATED: Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Carnival cruise lines to ease mask mandatesBased on the responses, AAA cites the boost in travel confidence is due to the COVID-19 vaccine, belief that the risk of contracting the virus is the same wherever they go, people are more knowledgeable and less afraid about the virus, the implementation of enhanced safety measures and reports that COVID-19 cases and deaths are declining.Aviation photographer Ryan Patterson talks with FOX Television Stations about how we captured the striking difference between air travel in 2020 and 2021."While some of this is the excitement of getting back to traveling, there are those who have more money to spend after traveling less in recent years.

Covid-19 Ag Rapid Tests.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) - When Volodymyr Zelenskyy was growing up in southeastern Ukraine, his Jewish family spoke Russian and his father once forbade the younger Zelenskyy from going abroad to study in Israel. Instead, Zelenskyy studied law at home.

Two new polls offer a glimpse into how Americans are thinking about the COVID-19 pandemic as the Omicron surge continues to recede across the country, as new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) demonstrate moderate vaccine protection in young children against serious COVID illness.

Fewer than half of US states requiring COVID-19 vaccination or routine testing of schoolteachers included childcare professionals in their mandates, leaving some young children vulnerable to infection by  unvaccinated caregivers, according to a study yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics.Yale University researchers reviewed official archives of COVID-rela

NEW YORK - A new study shows that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine is less effective in 5- to 11-year-old children compared to its efficacy in older kids and adults. This new data could be concerning to a lot of parents, especially as we're seeing mask mandates lifted across the country and in the New York area.New York state health officials collected this large set of data that finds the Pfizer vaccine still prevents hospitalization in children 5 to 11 but offers virtually no protection against infection, even just a month after full immunization.