Cape Girardeau County Commission 9 a.m. today 1 Barton Square, Jackson Communications/reports -- other elected officials n COVID-19 Update: In an effort to keep Cape Girardeau County residents safe and aware regarding the status of the virus, Emergency Management Agency (EMA) director Mark Winkler will be issuing an update at County Commission meetings. ...

NEW YORK -- Stocks sank Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly falling more than 1,000 points, as a new coronavirus variant first detected in South Africa appeared to be spreading across the globe. Investors were uncertain whether the variant could potentially reverse months of progress at getting the COVID-19 pandemic under control...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Cadell Walker rushed to get her 9-year-old daughter Solome vaccinated against COVID-19 -- not just to protect her but to help stop the coronavirus from spreading and spawning even more dangerous variants. "Love thy neighbor is something that we really do believe, and we want to be good community members and want to model that thinking for our daughter," said the 40-year-old Louisville mom, who recently took Solome to a local middle school for her shot. ...

WASHINGTON -- More than 90% of federal workers received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Monday's deadline set by President Joe Biden. Biden announced in September more than 3.5 million federal workers were required to undergo vaccination, with no option to get regularly tested instead, unless they secured an approved medical or religious exemption. ...

LE GOSIER, Guadeloupe -- Schools closed across the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe on Monday and France's prime minister appealed for calm and dialogue after protests against COVID-19 rules and vaccinations descended into days of rioting and looting...

VIENNA -- Austrians savored one last mulled wine in packed Christmas markets before the curtain came down on the holiday season that was just getting underway, plunging the country that gave the world "Silent Night" into its fourth lockdown of this pandemic Monday...