AP National News

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan authorities on Tuesday brought criminal charges against an author critical of the government whose ongoing detention has sparked concern at home and abroad. Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, who has been detained since Dec. 28, was charged with two counts of “offensive communication” for his alleged efforts on

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — The leader of the Portuguese Communist Party is temporarily dropping out of campaigning for his country’s Jan. 30 general election for an urgent heart procedure. The party said in a statement Tuesday that the 74-year-old Jerónimo de Sousa requires a coronary angioplasty and stent insertion that can’t be postponed until after

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Danish court has revealed that the man who has headed both of Denmark’s intelligence agencies at different times has been detained for over a month on suspicion of “disclosing highly classified information from the intelligence services.” There is speculation that Lars Findsen was considered

By SARA RATHNER of NerdWallet The holidays are a popular time to get engaged, and that means many couples are diving into 2022 by touring wedding venues, researching vendors and carefully crafting guest lists. Planning a wedding can be a time that’s filled with emotions, expectations and the pressure to create a perfect event —

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — The Albanian government says it will hire a U.S. company to bolster its cybersecurity. Prime Minister Edi Rama said Tuesday that the country signed a memorandum of understanding with the Virginia-based Jones Group International. The infrastructure minister says Jones Group will make a “full scanning of our systems to check how

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s new climate minister said Tuesday that the country faces a “gigantic” task if it wants to achieve its goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while ensuring sufficient energy for its energy-hungry industry. Robert Habeck told reporters in Berlin that Germany is currently on track to halve

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s only electricity distribution company says it is restoring power to parts of the country after a widespread blackout in East Africa’s economic hub after towers collapsed on a major transmission line. Kenya Power in a statement on Tuesday said the collapse occurred on the Kiambere-Embakasi power line. The statement did

BERLIN (AP) — Police in western Germany have raided offices and homes in connection with floods last summer in which more than 180 people died and hundreds more were injured. The Cologne public prosecutor’s office coordinated Tuesday’s searches which were executed by 140 police officers. German news agency dpa reported investigations were allegedly focusing on

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s health authorities say the country’s top leaders are self-isolating after being in contact with the parliamentary speaker who tested positive for the coronavirus. Officials said Tuesday that Speaker Nikola Minchev felt unwell and later tested positive for COVID-19. Minchev was present at a six-hour meeting of the country’s National Security

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin says it sees “no significant reason for optimism” following the highly anticipated Russia-U.S. talks over Ukraine and other security issues. The talks aimed at defusing tensions over Ukraine took place in Geneva on Monday and offered no sign of immediate progress. Moscow went in insisting

By KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — A third Chinese city has locked down its residents because of a COVID-19 outbreak, raising the number confined to their homes in China to about 20 million people. It wasn’t clear how long the lockdown of Anyang, home to 5.5 million people, would last. Another 13 million

CAIRO (AP) — Authorities in Egypt say at least two people died and eight are still missing after a small truck they were riding in slid off a rickety ferry and plunged into the Nile River, just outside the capital of Cairo. The accident happened on Monday in Giza province. A local government statement says

By AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has announced $308 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan. The new aid comes as Afghanistan edges toward a humanitarian crisis since the Taliban takeover nearly five months ago. White House spokesperson Emily Horne says in a statement issued Tuesday the new aid from

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — There were more than 7 million new cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19 across Europe in the first week of January, more than doubling in just two weeks, the World Health Organization. In a press briefing on Tuesday, WHO’s Europe director Dr. Hans Kluge said 26 countries in its region

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE, COLLEEN LONG and JEFF AMY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will use a speech in Georgia to endorse changing Senate filibuster rules that have stalled voting rights legislation, saying it’s time to choose “democracy over autocracy.” But some civil rights groups won’t be there, in protest of what they

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations is making what it calls a record $5 billion appeal to help Afghanistan and its neighboring countries. The world body warns that half of the country faces acute hunger, millions of children are out of school and farmers are struggling against drought even as Afghanistan stabilizes from decades of

MADRID (AP) — A spat over factory farming is causing tension in Spain’s left-of-center coalition government. The farm minister on Tuesday described the consumer minister’s criticism of the country’s livestock industry as “very unfortunate.” Consumer Minister Alberto Garzón told British newspaper The Guardian in an interview last month that intensive cattle production is “unsustainable,” damages

By CARA ANNA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Local authorities say an Ethiopian drone strike has killed 17 civilians in the country’s Tigray region on the day that President Joe Biden during a call with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed expressed concern about such attacks in the ongoing war. A report by the zonal administration

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — The World Economic Forum says cyberthreats and the growing space race are emerging risks to the global economy, on top of existing challenges posed by climate change and the coronavirus pandemic. The Global Risks Report released Tuesday usually comes out ahead of the annual elite winter

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing more allegations that he and his staff flouted lockdown rules, this time by holding a garden party in 2020 while Britons were barred by law from mingling outside the home. Opposition politicians called for a police investigation after broadcaster ITV