Jan. 16 (UPI) -- The Kentucky candle factory that was destroyed by a tornado in December, Mayfield Consumer Products, revealed in a filing that about 250 employees are expected to be laid off, with the rest transferred to a nearby plant.

Jan. 15 (UPI) -- New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signaled Saturday that the Empire State was making progress in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent surge of the Omicron variant.

Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Lawyers for Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic appeared virtually in an Australian federal court Sunday in an eleventh-hour bid to save his chances to compete in the Australian Open after refusing to be vaccinated.

Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Russian authorities on Friday arrested the hacker behind last year's ransomware attack which forced Colonial Pipeline to halt operations for days and caused a temporary fuel shortage in the United States.

Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Glenn Youngkin was sworn in Saturday as Virginia's first Republican governor in over a decade.

Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Marlon Bundo, the pet rabbit belonging to the family of former Vice President Mike Pence, has died, according to a post to his Instagram account on Saturday.

Jan. 15 (UPI) -- All hostages held by a man at a Jewish synagogue, including reportedly a rabbi, during an hours ours-long standoff near Dallas were released unharmed, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a tweet late Saturday night.

Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Officials in Beijing said Saturday that the Chinese capital has recorded its first case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 ahead of the Lunar New Year and the opening of the Winter Olympics.

Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Norwegian Cruise Line canceled port destinations on a 10-day cruise from New York to the Caribbean mid-sailing due to COVID-19 and continued at-sea days for the rest of the trip.

Jan. 15 (UPI) -- A woman was killed after being pushed in front of a moving subway train in New York City's Times Square on Saturday, police said.