AP National News

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Artist Wayne Thiebaud, who was known for his colorful and luscious paintings of cakes, gum ball machines and other everyday objects, has died. He was 101. Thiebaud was often linked to the pop art movement but said he never felt much a part of it. He also painted landscapes, with views

By DEMETRIS NELLAS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Two tremors with a magnitude of 5.2 and 5.4, respectively, have jolted Greece’s southern islands, but no damage or casualties have been reported so far. The first tremor, a 5.2-magnitude, struck at 5:15 p.m. (1515 GMT) east of the island of Crete and at a depth

By TASSANEE VEJPONGSA Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Photos of the aftermath of the Christmas Eve killings in Mo So village in Kayah state spread on social media and fueled outrage against the military that took power in February after ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The international aid group Save the

By BRYAN GALLION and PAUL WISEMAN Associated Press NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The latest COVID-19 variant is upending holiday plans for tens of thousands of travelers — but it didn’t do much damage to holiday shopping. Airlines canceled hundreds more flights Sunday, citing staffing problems tied to COVID-19, as the nation’s travel woes extended beyond

By AL-HADJI KUDRA MALIRO Associated Press BENI, Congo (AP) — Authorities in eastern Congo have announced an evening curfew and new security checkpoints. They are also urging churches, restaurants and hotels to step up in security in the wake of the region’s first deadly suicide bombing. The attacker killed five others Saturday night as patrons

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Nobel Peace Prize laureate and retired Archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu is being lauded around the world after his death Sunday at 90. When South Africa was gripped by anti-apartheid violence in the 1980s and a state of emergency gave police sweeping powers, Tutu was one of the most prominent Black

By ANDREW MELDRUM Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist for racial justice, has died at 90. Tutu was an uncompromising foe of apartheid, South Africa’s brutal regime of oppression against its Black majority. The buoyant, blunt-spoken clergyman used his pulpit as the first Black bishop of Johannesburg and

By BRYAN GALLION and PAUL WISEMAN Associated Press The latest COVID-19 variant is upending holiday plans for tens of thousands of travelers — but it didn’t do much damage to holiday shopping. Airlines canceled hundreds more flights Sunday, citing staffing problems tied to COVID-19, as the nation’s travel woes extended beyond Christmas. There was no

COLFAX, Calif. (AP) — A major Christmas weekend storm caused whiteout conditions and closed key highways amid blowing snow in mountains of Northern California and Nevada, with forecasters warning that travel in the Sierra Nevada could be difficult for several days. Authorities near Reno reported a 20-car pileup on a snow-blow highway where drivers described

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer Even with some mighty competition from new Matrix and Sing movies and rising concerns over the omicron variant, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” stayed in the No. 1 spot, with $81.5 million according to studio estimates Sunday. It also became 2021’s top-grossing film and crossed the $1 billion mark globally

By BRYAN GALLION and PAUL WISEMAN Associated Press Airlines canceled hundreds more flights because of staffing shortages tied to COVID-19 as the nation’s travel woes extended beyond Christmas. There was no clear indication when normal schedules would resume. More than 700 flights entering, leaving or flying within the U.S. were called off. That’s according to

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A 5.2-magnitude earthquake has jolted Greece’s southern islands, but no damage or casualties have been reported so far. The Institute of Geodynamics in Athen said the tremor struck at 5:15 p.m. (1515 GMT) east of the island of Crete and at the depth of 9 kilometers. The earthquake was felt in

By ARSENE KABORE and SAM MEDNICK Associated Press OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Burkina Faso’s government says 41 people were killed last week after an ambush in the country’s north blamed on Islamic extremists. Among those killed was Soumaila Ganame, who led a group of volunteer fighters helping the army battle jihadis. In announcing the

By AL-HADJI KUDRA MALIRO Associated Press BENI, Congo (AP) — Authorities in eastern Congo are urging churches, restaurants and hotels to step up in security in the wake of the region’s first deadly suicide bombing. The attacker killed five others Saturday night as patrons dined at a restaurant in Beni on Christmas. Beni Mayor Narcisse

By PAUL WISEMAN and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Business Writers Holiday sales rose at the fastest pace in 17 years, even as shoppers grappled with higher prices, product shortages and a raging new COVID-19 variant in the last few weeks of the season, according to one spending measure. Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks all kinds of payments

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Nobel Peace Prize laureate and retired Archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu is being lauded around the world after his death Sunday at age 90. Throughout the 1980s — when South Africa was gripped by anti-apartheid violence and a state of emergency gave police and the military sweeping powers — Tutu was

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany’s health minister says the government has reached its goal of 30 million additional immunizations against COVID-19 by year’s end. The renewed push aimed to re-energize Germany’s vaccination campaign and counter a resurgence in COVID-19 infections. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said the 30-million mark was passed on Sunday, the dpa news