AP National News

By DAVID KEYTON Associated Press STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden’s government says it has earmarked some 6 billion kronor ($661 million) for a temporary scheme to help the most affected households across the Scandinavian country cope with high electricity bills this winter. Some 1.8 million households will likely get help footing soaring bills. Finance Minister Mikkel

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing a high-stakes showdown in Parliament that could help defuse a crisis over claims that he and his staff have broken coronavirus lockdown rules or fan the flames even further. Opponents and allies alike want Johnson to come clean about whether

By SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A land mine-detecting rat in Cambodia who received a prestigious award for his life-saving duty has died in retirement. APOPO, a Belgium-headquartered non-profit group, says the African giant pouched rat passed away last weekend. The organization trains rats and dogs to sniff out land mines

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER and FRANK JORDANS BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s president has called for a debate over plans for compulsory coronavirus vaccinations in the country, saying such a drastic measure needs to be thoroughly justified. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has backed calls for a vaccine mandate and lawmakers are expected to begin debating a bill later

By MARIA CHENG and CARLA K. JOHNSON Associated Press Scientists are seeing signals that COVID-19′s alarming omicron wave may have peaked in Britain and is about to do the same in the U.S., at which point cases may start dropping off dramatically. The reason: The variant has proved so wildly contagious that it may already

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A large explosion has occurred outside the international airport in Somalia’s capital and an emergency responder is reporting deaths and injuries. The founder of the Aamin ambulance service, Abdulkadir Adan, tweeted that he was “deeply saddened by the loss of life and injuries” in Mogadishu. He posted a photo from the

By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is increasing federal support for COVID-19 testing for schools in a bid to keep them open amid the omicron surge. The White House said Wednesday the administration is making a dedicated stream of 5 million rapid tests and 5 million lab-based PCR tests available

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization says the number of new coronavirus infections in the last week globally jumped by about 55% although the number of deaths remained stable. In its latest weekly pandemic report issued on Tuesday, the U.N. health agency said there were about 15 million new COVID-19 cases last week and

BEIJING (AP) — The northern Chinese city of Tianjin has ordered a second round of COVID-19 testing of all 14 million residents after dozens of cases of the omicron strain were found during initial screenings. The official Xinhua News Agency says authorities have carried out almost 12 million tests so far. Infections were first reported

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin has reiterated warnings that Russia is facing a new surge of coronavirus infections because of the highly contagious omicron variant. He said Wednesday that “it’s obvious that we are in a very difficult situation today in a situation on the verge of possible new

By ALICE FUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s legislature has convened for the first time since elections last month that were held under new legislation ensuring that only “patriots” who have proven their loyalty to Beijing could run as candidates. The 90-seat Legislative Council is now completely dominated by Beijing’s allies. Leading

By KRISTEN GELINEAU Associated Press SYDNEY (AP) — The omicron variant of the coronavirus has swept across Australia despite its high vaccination rate and strict border policies that kept the country largely sealed off from the world for almost two years. Those measures turned Australia into a virtually COVID-19-free utopia at the start of the

BEIRUT (AP) — Austria’s foreign minister says the European Union wants to help Lebanon escape its economic meltdown – but only if the country’s leaders clean up Beirut’s affairs. Alexander Schallenberg listed some of those reforms Wednesday after meeting his Lebanese counterpart in Beirut. He says Lebanon should reach a deal with the International Monetary

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Global stocks and Wall Street futures have advanced after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said U.S. interest rates might be raised earlier than planned. London and Frankfurt opened higher. Shanghai and Tokyo also advanced. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.9% after Powell said policy

MOSCOW (AP) — Kazakh authorities say they detained 1,678 more people in the past 24 hours over their alleged participation in the unrest that rocked the former Soviet nation last week. It was the worst violence since Kazakhstan gained independence three decades ago. The additional detentions announced Wednesday brought the total number of arrests to

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Victims of torture in Syria and human rights activists say they hope the upcoming verdict in a landmark trial will be a first step toward justice for countless Syrians who suffered abuse in the country’s long-running conflict. A court in the German city of Koblenz is scheduled

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman says that any European country should have the right to join NATO if it wants to, despite Russia’s insistence that the military organization stop inviting new members in, particularly Ukraine. Sherman says she told NATO partners and Russia Wednesday that

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s fragile governing coalition is facing a crisis over tree-planting on disputed land in the Negev desert. Bedouin residents on Tuesday protested the planting by a quasi-governmental organization. Some protesters hurled stones at vehicles on a highway near Beersheba, blocked the railway line and torched a vehicle. Police said two officers were

By ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s top court says it will take up a petition seeking prosecution of several saffron-robed Hindu religious leaders for allegedly making highly provocative speeches against Muslims at a closed-door meeting last month. Three Supreme Court judges issued a notice to the Uttarakhand state government that they

By KRISTEN GELINEAU Associated Press SYDNEY (AP) — The omicron variant of the coronavirus has swept across Australia despite its high vaccination rate and strict border policies that kept the country largely sealed off from the world for almost two years. Those measures turned Australia into a virtually COVID-19-free utopia at the start of the