AP National News

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland and several other countries in Central and Eastern Europe are facing the emergence of the omicron variant while already dealing with surging coronavirus cases and deaths. COVID-19 deaths recently peaked in Russia and Ukraine, and more than 1,00 people in Russia are dying with the

By NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian court has sentenced an Islamic militant who eluded capture for 16 years to life in prison after finding him guilty of making bombs used in a 2005 market attack that killed 22 people. Upik Lawanga, known as “professor,” is a key member of the

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — The European diplomat chairing nuclear talks between Iran and world powers says negotiations in Vienna will resume Thursday. Enrique Mora tweeted Wednesday that the parties to the 2015 Vienna accord will meet in the Austrian capital after consulting with their governments in recent days. European diplomats had

Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations says fighting between troops loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognized government and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels displaced over 25,000 people around a key port city last month. The fighting in Hodeida flared up when rebels rushed in to areas abandoned by government forces, followed by a counterstrike by pro-government

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Stocks are mostly higher in Europe and Asia after another broad rally on Wall Street as investors wager that the new variant of the COVID-19 virus won’t pose a big threat to the economy. Oil prices fell back. Shares rose in Paris, London, Tokyo and Shanghai

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Olaf Scholz has become Germany’s ninth post-World War II chancellor, opening a new era for the European Union’s most populous nation and largest economy after Angela Merkel’s 16-year tenure. Scholz’s government takes office with high hopes of modernizing Germany and combating climate change but faces the immediate

By THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press PARIS (AP) — French authorities are racing to verify the identity of a suspect in the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was arrested at an airport near Paris. A judicial official told The Associated Press that the suspect can be held until Thursday morning, 48 hours after

By GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Facebook’s parent company Meta has announced a new ban on postings linked to Myanmar’s military to include all pages, groups, and accounts representing military-controlled businesses. It had already banned advertising from such businesses in February. The February action, which also banned military and military-controlled state and media

By AGOES BASOEKI Associated Press LUMAJANG, Indonesia (AP) — Heavy rains and torrents of hot lava and mud sliding down an erupting volcano on Indonesia’s Java island have put search and rescue operations for more than a dozen missing on hold. Mount Semeru blew its top on Saturday, killing at least 34 people with searing

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi media says that authorities have conducted their biggest-ever crackdown on camel beauty contestants that received Botox injections and other artificial touch-ups. State-run Saudi Press Agency reported Wednesday that over 40 camels were caught and disqualified from the annual pageant. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, which kicked off

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s parliament has elected Olaf Scholz as the country’s ninth post-World War II chancellor, opening a new era for the European Union’s most populous nation and largest economy after Angela Merkel’s 16-year tenure. Scholz’s government takes office with high hopes of modernizing Germany and combating climate change,

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s air force says an army helicopter carrying the country’s military chief has crashed in southern Tamil Nadu state. The air force did not say whether Chief of Defense Staff Bipin Rawat was injured in the accident. Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati says four people were killed and three others were injured and

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Australia’s prime minister says his country will join the U.S. in a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights concerns. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it should come as no surprise that Australian officials would boycott the event after the nation’s relationship

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A leaked video that shows staff members in British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office joking about holding a lockdown-breaching Christmas party last year is adding fuel to allegations that government officials flouted coronavirus rules they imposed on everyone else. The prime minister’s office has been trying for

TOKYO (AP) — Japan has downgraded its growth estimate for the last quarter, saying weaker consumer spending and trade resulted in a 3.6% contraction. The government’s revised estimate Tuesday compared with an earlier estimate of minus 3.0% growth. The world’s third-largest economy has been mired in recession and struggling to recover from the impact of

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — German police and customs officers have conducted dozens of raids and arrested at least nine people in a crackdown on the alleged human trafficking of temporary workers from outside the European Union. Authorities say they are investigating around 20 suspects for suspected involvement in allegedly forging EU

MOSCOW (AP) — A Japanese billionaire and his producer have rocketed to space for a 12-day mission at the International Space Station. Fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa and producer Yozo Hirano, who plans to film his mission, blasted off Wednesday for the International Space Station in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft along with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin.

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV and YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — When the leaders of the Soviet Union’s three Slavic republics met at a secluded hunting lodge near the Polish border on Dec. 8, 1991, they delivered a death blow to the USSR. Their agreement that day triggered shockwaves that are still reverberating three decades