AP National News

By ANDREW MELDRUM Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The new omicron variant appears to be driving a dramatic surge in South Africa, providing the world a glimpse of where the pandemic might be headed. New cases in South Africa have burgeoned from about 200 a day in mid-November to more than 11,500 on Thursday. Health

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are churning lower on Wall Street Friday after a mixed reading on U.S. jobs led to zig-zag trading, the latest abrupt U-turns for markets following an already dizzying week. The S&P 500 fell 1% in morning trading after giving up an early gain of

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS and NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Pope Francis has denounced the “indifference” that the West shows migrants as the Vatican confirmed at least a dozen asylum-seekers would be transferred from Cyprus to Italy. The Vatican said the Rome-based Sant’Egidio Community had arranged to bring the would-be refugees to Italy in

By The Associated Press This week’s new entertainment releases include a double album from Alicia Keys and a posthumous one from Juice Wrld, Sandra Bullock playing an ex-con in the Netflix film “The Unforgivable” and Will Smith testing himself in a wildlife documentary series. If a comedy sequel for grown-ups is more your taste, consider

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka has confirmed its first case of the omicron variant of the coronavirus in an unvaccinated person who returned from Nigeria. The health ministry says the 25-year-old Sri Lankan woman returned on Nov. 24, four days before the government banned travelers from six African

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Growth in the services sector, where most Americans work, hit an all-time high in November, surpassing the previous record set in October. The Institute for Supply Management reported Friday that its monthly survey of service industries increased by 2.4 percentage points in November from October record

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — South African scientists are warning that the new omicron variant may be causing more reinfections among COVID-19 survivors than earlier virus mutants. A research group has been tracking reinfections in South Africa. They spotted a jump with the arrival of omicron, saying the timing suggests

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press The Census Bureau is working to increase the public’s confidence in the numbers it gathered during the 2020 census. It plans to fix problems caused by the unprecedented challenges of conducting a U.S. head count during a pandemic, natural disasters and Trump administration efforts to politicize the process. The Census

By JACK JEFFERY and MAHMOUD ILLEAN Associated Press UMM AL-FAHM, Israel (AP) — Police have shot and killed a man in an Arab town in northern Israel who had allegedly been involved in a car-ramming attack that wounded two officers. Police say two officers were wounded in the attack early on Friday. The chaos in

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration will not designate any country as a currency manipulator, but it did name China, Vietnam and Taiwan among the nations that have failed to live up to global agreements not to use their currencies to gain unfair trade advantages. In a report to

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities have arrested a 29-year-old man on suspicion of being part of a Libyan extremist group and extorting money through kidnappings. Federal prosecutors said that the man, a Libyan citizen, was detained in the eastern German city of Dresden on Thursday. Prosecutors said Friday the man is suspected of having joined

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are churning in mixed trading on Wall Street Friday following a tough-to-parse report on U.S. jobs, as markets continue to swirl at the tail end of a dizzying week. The S&P 500 was 0.1% lower after an early 0.7% gain quickly vanished. It’s coming

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV and YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin says President Vladimir Putin will seek binding guarantees precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine during a planned call with U.S. President Joe Biden. Earlier Friday, the Ukrainian defense minister warned that Russia could invade his country next month. Russia-West tensions have escalated with

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Stocks are moving tentatively higher in early trading on Wall Street Friday as traders struggle to parse data from a report on the U.S. job market. The S&P 500 was up 0.3% in the early going, capping a volatile week of trading during which markets absorbed

By SABINA NIKSIC Associated Press VISOKO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — In Bosnia, a poor, Balkan country which habitually marginalizes people with disabilities, a soon-to-be-14-year-old girl, born without her lower left arm, pursues her dream of becoming an internationally recognized rhythmic gymnast. Sara Becarevic says she got enchanted with the demanding sport as a toddler, while watching

By BEN FINLEY Associated Press VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Election officials in Virginia have resumed their painstaking recount of votes in one of two unresolved races that will settle whether Virginia Republicans have reclaimed the majority in the House of Delegates. Elections officials in Virginia Beach continued on Friday with the secondary counting of

By LAURA UNGAR AP Science Writer Scientists are using human stem cells to create a structure that mimics a pre-embryo and can serve as a research alternative to a real one. They’re called “blastoids.” Researchers say they provide an efficient, ethical way to study human development and pursue biomedical discoveries in fertility and contraception. The