LONDON — For the second day running, Britain had another record increase in coronavirus-related deaths. The government says another 1,820 people died in the 28 days after testing positive for the coronavirus. That takes the confirmed total to 93,290, which is Europe’s highest virus-related death toll and fifth highest in the world. The lockdown restrictions across the U.K. have helped reduce the number of people contracting the virus, although the U.K. is still recording high levels of infections when compared with other nations in Europe, such as France or Germany. On Wednesday, the U.K.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Biden says duty of all Americans, especially elected leaders, is 'to defend the truth and defeat the lies.'

WASHINGTON (AP) — Biden calls on Americans to overcome divisions, declaring that 'without unity, there is no peace.'

WASHINGTON (AP) — Biden in first remarks as president says 'This is America's day' and 'Democracy has prevailed.'

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden sworn in as 46th president of the United States, takes office amid pandemic, economic woes, deep divisions.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kamala Harris sworn in as vice president, breaking historic gender and racial barriers in American politics.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inauguration ceremony for Joe Biden gets underway at US Capitol, 2 weeks after violent siege.

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) — Donald Trump lands in Florida in final hour of presidency, rejecting tradition by skipping Joe Biden's swearing-in.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden, Kamala Harris arrive at US Capitol for inaugural ceremony and swearing-in.

MADRID (AP) — Madrid's mayor says at least 2 people have died in a blast after an apparent gas leak.

LISBON, Portugal — Portugal has the highest seven-day average rate of new cases per capita and the second-highest rate of new deaths in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University. The daily new cases per 100,000 population rose from 51 on Jan. 5 to 98 on Tuesday. The average daily deaths per capita rose from 0.75 to 1.63 during the same period. Portugal is in lockdown, but the government is reluctant to close schools. Authorities have launched a program of rapid coronavirus tests at schools in the hardest-hit areas of the country. They say if schools close, some children won’t get

MADRID (AP) — Madrid emergency services say they have rushed to a building in the city center following an explosion.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump departs White House for final time as president, will travel to Florida instead of Biden's inauguration.

ROME — Italy’s virus czar is pressing ahead with plans to take legal action against Pfizer after the U.S. pharmaceutical company announced delays in delivering pre-ordered COVID-19 vaccines to Europe. Domenico Arcuri said he had secured unanimous backing from Italy’s regional governors to take civil or criminal action, where possible. In a statement late Tuesday, he said: “It was unanimously decided that such action will be taken in the coming days.” Pfizer confirmed last week it would temporarily reduce deliveries to Europe and Canada while it upgrades production capacity to 2 billion doses

HONOLULU — Hawaii’s leaders say limited supply is the main thing constraining distribution of the coronavirus vaccine in the state. Hawaii received 59,000 doses of the vaccine last week, but expects to get only about 32,000 this week. Still, Lt. Gov. Josh Green says the state expects to be able to vaccinate everyone in the top priority category by the end of February. That category includes health care workers, long-term care facility residents, people over 75, and teachers and other front-line essential workers. The federal government is distributing vaccine to each state in accordance

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Vaccine scarcity is continuing to plague California even as other indicators seem to show a slowing in the holiday-driven surge that led the state to be the first to top 3 million confirmed coronavirus infections. San Francisco’s public health department is likely to run out of vaccine Thursday, in part because the state pulled back on administering a batch of Moderna vaccine. Sacramento County is also running short. Los Angeles County is starting to inoculate those 65 and older despite the scarcity. But infection indicators are starting to show what the state’s top

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s speedy coronavirus vaccination drive is facing a roadblock, with state leaders saying they didn’t receive an expected increase in doses this week. With 99.6% of first doses delivered already administered, officials are clamoring for the federal government to send more vaccine. Noting that other states have doses unused, Gov. Jim Justice said Tuesday: “We’ve got them all in people’s arms and we’ve done exactly what we should have done. … I think performance ought to be rewarded.” He says the state hasn’t received a promised 25,000 additional doses this

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — U.S. Rep. David Kustoff of Tennessee is under self-quarantine after coming into close contact with someone who tested positive for the new coronavirus. Kustoff said in a statement Tuesday that he tested negative for the virus a day earlier but was still advised to quarantine. He said he is working remotely. His office did not identify the person he came into contact with. Kustoff won a third term representing the 8th District in west Tennessee in November. His district includes suburban Memphis and parts of more than a dozen mostly rural counties. ___ THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma on Tuesday surpassed 3,000 total deaths due to COVID-19 and the U.S. death toll topped 400,000 since the coronavirus pandemic began. The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported that there was an increase of 43 deaths in Oklahoma for a total of 3,037 who have died due to the illness caused by the virus. The department reported 358,374 total cases, up from 2,994 deaths and 356,816 cases on Monday. A tally by Johns Hopkins University reports that Oklahoma had the fourth highest number of new cases per capita in the nation with 1,269.19 per 100,000 residents during

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte wins confidence vote in Senate, keeping his wobbly government afloat.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus has eclipsed 400,000 in the waning hours in office for President Donald Trump, whose handling of the crisis has been judged by public health experts to be a singular failure. The running total of lives lost reported Tuesday by Johns Hopkins University is nearly equal to the number of Americans killed in World II. It is about the population of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Tampa, Florida; or New Orleans. It is equivalent to the sea of humanity that was at Woodstock in 1969. It is just short of the estimated 409,000 Americans who died in 2019 of

Here's what's happening Tuesday with the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.: THREE THINGS TO KNOW TODAY — The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus has topped 400,000 in the final hours of Donald Trump’s presidency. The milestone comes almost exactly a year after health officials diagnosed the nation’s first case of the virus, and after months of efforts by Trump to downplay the threat and his administration’s responsibility to confront it. The number of dead is about equal to the population of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Tampa, Florida; or New Orleans. It is just short of the estimated 409,000 Americans

BALTIMORE (AP) — US death toll from the coronavirus tops 400,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

TORONTO — Canadian officials say the country won’t be getting any Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine next week and 50% less than expected over the next month. Maj. Gen. Dany Fortin says it is a major reduction but says things will return to normal after that. Fortin is leading Canada’s logistical rollout and distribution of vaccines. He says the deliveries over the first two weeks of February have yet to be confirmed, but Pfizer is still expected to meet its contractual obligation to ship four million doses to Canada by the end of March. U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer confirmed last week

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia certifies victories of Democratic US Senate candidates, closing the book on a long, contentious election cycle.

COOLBAUGH TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) — A series of shootings in a community in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains that left four people wounded led to charges against five people, authorities said. The shootings occurred Monday night in different areas of Coolbaugh Township, and authorities said some of the people injured apparently were victims of mistaken identity. All four victims remain hospitalized in stable condition. “We do not feel that the community is in any further danger, and we believe that we have all the suspects in custody at this time,” Pocono Mountain Regional Police Chief Chris

LONDON — The U.K. has recorded more than 90,000 coronavirus-related deaths, just ten days after it passed the 80,000 threshold. Government figures Tuesday show that another 1,610 people were reported to have died in the 28 days after testing positive for COVID-19, taking the total to 91,470. The daily increase is the highest daily figure reported since the pandemic took root in the U.K. Figures released Tuesday have invariably been higher throughout the pandemic because of weekend reporting lag effects. Though the number of people dying is rising on a 7-day average, the number of people

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin’s plan for the next phase of coronavirus vaccinations covers essential workers, including teachers, child care providers, law enforcement officers and hospital staff who aren’t on the front lines. In Wisconsin, it doesn’t include grocery store employees, as recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the states’ second phase of COVID-19 vaccinations. Grocery store owners, who thought their employees would be included in the next phase, are upset. Tim Metcalfe owns three Metcalfe’s Market stores, one in Wauwatosa and two in Madison,

BERLIN — Swiss authorities have started mass testing residents and visitors in St. Moritz after a new variant of the coronavirus was detected in the upscale skiing resort. People were asked to register online and come in for free tests to a local gym and a beverage store on Tuesday, after two luxury hotels were put under quarantine Monday. All schools, kindergartens and skiing schools were closed. Officials said at least two dozen cases were detected in the two hotels, which local media identified as the Palace and the Kempinski hotel. The Kempinski said late Monday that health authorities

BEIJING — China is now dealing with coronavirus outbreaks across its frigid northeast, prompting additional lockdowns and travel bans. The country reported a total of 118 newly confirmed cases Tuesday — most of them in Jilin province, the Hebei region just outside Beijing and Heilongjiang province bordering Russia. A fourth northern province, Liaoning, has also imposed quarantines and travel restrictions to prevent the virus from further spreading, part of measures being imposed across much of the country to prevent new outbreaks during during February’s Lunar New Year holiday. Authorities

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Travelers to New Zealand from most other nations will need to show negative coronavirus test results before boarding as of next Monday. New Zealand recently imposed the test requirement for travelers from the U.S. and Britain, and authorities said Tuesday that it is being extending to all other countries, with the exception of Australia and a handful of Pacific Island nations. Travelers returning from Antarctica are also exempt. COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says New Zealand has some of the strictest border measures in the world. There is currently no

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — USGS says magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes northwestern Argentina near border with Chile.

PHOENIX (AP) — WASHINGOTN — President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming White House press secretary says his administration does not intend to lift coronavirus travel restrictions for Europe, the U.K., Ireland and Brazil. The message from Jen Psaki came Monday evening after the White House said President Donald Trump had lifted the restrictions for those countries, effective Jan. 26. Psaki then tweeted: “On the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26.” She added, “In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international

PHOENIX (AP) — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is lifting pandemic travel restrictions for Europe and Brazil, but he is leaving them in place on China and Iran. Trump imposed the restrictions early in the pandemic to slow the spread of the coronavirus to the U.S. They prevented most people without American citizenship or residency from traveling to the U.S. from the affected regions. The restrictions end Jan. 26, when a new CDC requirement that all international travelers to the United States obtain a negative virus test result within three days of flying to the U.S. Trump says he is

PHOENIX (AP) — OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has announced a plan to set up coronavirus vaccination sites statewide with help from the National Guard and others as part of an overall goal to vaccinate 45,000 people a day. Inslee said Monday that while the goal is currently higher than the current allotment of vaccine the state is receiving from the federal government, the state is working to get the infrastructure in place now for when the supply increases. He says the state is now vaccinating between 13,000 and 15,000 people a day. The governor also announced a public-private

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California becomes first state to top 3 million coronavirus infections.