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France making "COVID pass" mandatory for most leisure activities
CBSN
Paris — France is in a fourth wave of coronavirus infections and is still scrambling to get the population vaccinated. With the number of new cases soaring, the French will now have to present a "COVID pass" if they want any kind of social life.
Prime Minister Jean Castex confirmed on Wednesday that the country's new COVID Certificate would now be required for any leisure activity where more than 50 people are gathered. It must be presented for entry to museums, cinemas and swimming pools, as well as festivals, theme parks and concerts. The pass confirms that the holder is either fully vaccinated or has recently tested negative for COVID-19 with a PCR or antigen test.
Concern over a man who'd exhibited "fixated behavior" caused Emma Raducanu to approach the chair umpire in tears and take an unscheduled break in her second-round match at the Dubai Championships, the Women's Tennis Association said Wednesday. The incident unfolded three years after a man in Britain was convicted of stalking the star player at her family home.
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Rio de Janeiro — Brazil's prosecutor-general on Tuesday formally charged former President Jair Bolsonaro with attempting a coup to stay in office after his 2022 election defeat, in a plot that included a plan to poison his successor and current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and kill a Supreme Court judge.
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Russia has freed a U.S. citizen arrested earlier this month on drug smuggling charges, according to Russian media reports and a U.S. official who spoke with The Associated Press. The move appeared to be an effort to ease tension between Moscow and Washington ahead of talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, which are expected to focus on the war in Ukraine and the fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.
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Beijing — China's Foreign Ministry took issue Monday with a revised U.S. government fact sheet that removed a line on American opposition to independence for Taiwan. The United States "gravely backpedaled" on its position on Taiwan and sent the wrong message to "separatist forces" on the island, ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.