World News

LONDON — Britain became the first country to authorize AstraZeneca’s inexpensive, easy-to-handle COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday, gaining another weapon against the virus amid a resurgence so severe that the government extended lockdowns to three-quarters

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It’s 1966 and a thunderstorm illuminates the night sky in Memphis, Tennessee.

BARCELONA, Spain — The organizers of an indoor music festival in Barcelona to test the effectiveness of same-day coronavirus screening said Wednesday that preliminary results indicate there was zero transmission inside the venue.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes declined last month, but was still a record high for November when a seasonal slowdown traditionally seeps into the real estate market.

LONDON — Britain’s House of Commons voted resoundingly on Wednesday to approve a trade deal with the European Union, paving the way for an orderly break with the bloc that will finally complete the U.K.’s years-long Brexit journey.

PARIS — Superstar DJ David Guetta has been brought back to Earth by the coronavirus pandemic and says his music has benefitted as a result.

GAINESVILLE, Fla.

BEIJING — China is encouraging tens of millions of migrant workers not to travel home during next February’s Lunar New Year holiday to prevent further spread of the coronavirus, disrupting its most important time for family gatherings.

JERUSALEM — Jonathan Pollard, who spent 30 years in U.S.

HONG KONG — A Chinese court on Wednesday sentenced 10 pro-democracy activists and protesters who sought to flee Hong Kong by speedboat to between seven months and three years in prison, in a case with major political overtones for the territory.