The US has authorized a Pfizer pill that can be taken at home to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19. The Food and Drug Administration announcement comes as America braces for a wave of new infections from the Omicron variant that is threatening already-strained hospitals. Pfizer's prescription pill is the first U-S medication that doesn't require an injection or an I-V. The drug was authorized for high-risk patients who are most likely to get severe illness.

Madagascar's police minister and an air force mechanic succeeded in swimming for 12 hours to safety after their helicopter crashed in the Indian Ocean. Officials said Gen. Serge Gelle, 57, the Secretary of State for the Gendarmerie, was discovered in the water by a fisherman in a canoe who brought him to shore. Another passenger, Chief Warrant Officer Jimmy Laitsara, also swam to the beach at Mahambo. Gelle described his swim to safety in a short video posted to Twitter by Madagascar's defense ministry. Gelle appeared on a lounge chair, still in his military camouflage, his hands pale and wri

Rescue workers arriving at a road accident in southern Mexico found a truck jammed with as many as 200 migrants crashed into the base of a steel pedestrian bridge, killing 55 and injuring dozens. The migrants inside the tractor trailer were tossed and crushed in a pile of both the living and the dead. In addition to the 55 killed Thursday evening, at least 52 were injured. It was one of the deadliest days for migrants in Mexico since the 2010 massacre of 72 people by the Zetas drug cartel in the northern state of Tamaulipas. First-arriving rescuers said some people who had been on the truck h

Chicago Blackhawks forward Jujhar Khaira spent the night in a hospital after he was leveled by Jacob Trouba during a 6-2 loss to the New York Rangers. Team physician Michael Terry said Khaira was released Wednesday morning after undergoing ``extensive testing.'' ``Despite the significant injury, his prognosis is excellent, and we expect a full recovery,'' Terry said in a news release. ``At this point, it is too early to put a timeline on return to play.'' Khaira's head was down as he gathered the puck in 6:10 into the second period Tuesday night. He looked up right as Trouba appeared to drive

The White House says the U.S. will stage a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing to protest Chinese human rights abuses. It's a move China has vowed to greet with ``firm countermeasures.'' White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday that U.S. athletes will continue to compete and will ``have our full support.'' The administration, however, won't dispatch U.S. dignitaries to attend the games. Psaki says the U.S. has a ''fundamental commitment to promoting human rights" and says the U.S. ``will not be contributing to the fanfare of the games.''

Pakistan's military says one of its helicopters has crashed in bad weather in the Pakistan-administered section of disputed Kashmir, killing the two pilots on board. The military says the helicopter went down on Monday on the Siachen glacier. It's one of the world's longest mountain glaciers, located in the Karakoram Range, and often referred to as the ``highest battleground on earth'' because of the wars that Pakistan and India have fought over the Himalayan region of Kashmir. The military says rescue helicopters and troops have been dispatched to Siachen. No further details on the crash wer

One of the scientists behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is warning that the next pandemic may be more contagious and more lethal unless more money is devoted to research and preparations to fight emerging viral threats. Professor Sarah Gilbert says scientific advances made in fighting deadly viruses must not be lost because of the cost of fighting the current pandemic. Gilbert is calling on governments to redouble their commitment to scientific research and pandemic preparedness.

The parents of a teen accused of killing four students at a Michigan high school have been charged with involuntary manslaughter. A prosecutor described chilling moments that day when a teacher found a drawing of a gun, a person bleeding and the words ``help me'' at the boy's desk. Prosecutor Karen McDonald says Jennifer and James Crumbley committed ``egregious'' acts, from buying the gun for Ethan Crumbley and failing to intervene when they were summoned to the school and confronted with the drawing. Police say he returned to class and later emerged from a bathroom with a gun, firing at stud

By early next week, Canadians and all other foreign visitors who travel to the United States by air will need to get a COVID-19 test no later than the day before their departure. U.S. President Joe Biden is slashing the current 72-hour testing window for fully vaccinated travellers as part of a suite of public health measures aimed at slowing the spread of the highly mutated Omicron variant. A White House background briefing on the plan late Wednesday made no mention of land borders, or whether fully vaccinated Canadians who drive south would be required to show a test result.