AP National News

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo has confirmed its first case of the omicron variant of the coronavirus in a traveler from the United States during her home isolation. Her friend whom she saw immediately after arrival has since tested positive after going to a soccer game. Separately, the Health Ministry announced

By DANICA KIRKA and MIKE CORDER Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Spiraling infections in Britain driven in part by the new omicron variant of the coronavirus rattled many in Europe, fueling a familiar dread that tighter restrictions will scuttle holiday plans again this year. Much remains unknown about omicron, but it appears more transmissible than

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England has raised interest rates to combat surging consumer prices. The move Thursday makes it the first central bank among the world’s leading economies to do so since the coronavirus pandemic began. The increase in the bank’s main rate to 0.25% from the record

By CARA ANNA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — New witness accounts allege that thousands of ethnic Tigrayans have been forcibly expelled, detained or killed in one of the most inaccessible areas of Ethiopia’s yearlong war in the latest wave of abuses carried out with machetes, guns and knives. Thursday’s joint statement by Human Rights

By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s Central Bank has again cut interest rates despite soaring consumer prices that are making it difficult for people to buy food and other basic goods. The move Thursday sent the country’s currency to record lows against the U.S. dollar. The bank cut a key rate

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A powerful typhoon has slammed into the southeastern Philippines and toppled trees, blasted away tin roofs and knocked down power while blowing across island provinces where nearly 100,000 people have been evacuated. Coast guard personnel have been rescuing residents stranded by chest-deep waters in a southern

By MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Oversight Committee is demanding the Justice Department provide answers about whether Biden administration officials plan to procure the drug used in federal executions despite an ongoing moratorium on capital punishment. The demand was made late Wednesday in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland by

BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors have closed an investigation into a racist attack last year after finding no evidence that the gunman who killed nine people with immigrant backgrounds had any accomplices. The attacker, Tobias Rathjen, shot the victims in cafes and bars in the town of Hanau on Feb. 19, 2020, before killing his

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin says Russia has submitted draft documents outlining security arrangements it wants to negotiate with the United States and its NATO allies. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that a senior Russian envoy stood ready to depart for talks in a neutral country. Peskov says Russian

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The former Facebook manager who startled the world this fall by leaking tens of thousands of internal documents and accusing her former employer of caring more about money than about public safety has a book deal. Little, Brown and Company announced Thursday that it had

By EDNA TARIGAN Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo has called on people and government officials to refrain from traveling abroad after the country detected its first case of the omicron variant of the coronavirus in a hospital cleaning worker. The patient has no symptoms and is being quarantined at the

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway’s central bank has raised its key policy interest rate from 0.25% to 0.5%, citing the upswing in the economy that it said likely will continue. If the growth continues, the bank’s leader said Thursday that while there’s uncertainty about the coronavirus pandemic, if growth continues, the bank is expected to

BERLIN (AP) — A court in Germany has convicted a 31-year-old man of 89 counts of attempted murder for driving his car into a crowd celebrating Carnival last year. A regional court in the central town of Kassel sentenced the German man to life in prison on Thursday. The defendant drove a car through a

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Swedish authorities say citizens from fellow Nordic countries will have to show a valid COVID-19 vaccination certificate when entering Sweden starting next week. As of Dec. 21, people from Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland no long will have an exemption to the certificate requirement and must also show their passes to

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Bosnian police have arrested eight former Bosnian Serb army commanders and soldiers in the 1992 wartime killing of around 100 Bosniaks. The victims included women, children and older people. Bosnian security agency SIPA said Thursday the eight are facing charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes against war prisoners. The

By BUSABA SIVASOMBOON Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand has a positive international image when it comes to the rights and lifestyles of LGBTQ communities, but a new report by Human Rights Watch says the reality may be more precarious. It says the absence of a procedure for transgender people in Thailand to change their

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — A summit of European Union leaders is trying to coordinate action to tackle the surge of coronavirus infections across the continent and the emergence of the new omicron variant while keeping borders open. The bloc’s leaders want to avoid a confusing mixture of rules with the festive

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England faces a difficult dilemma over whether to increase interest rates. Though consumer prices are rising at their fastest rate in a decade, the emergence of the omicron variant of the coronavirus has stoked concerns over the economic recovery. As a result, the central

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A fashion studio in Hungary is challenging the centuries-old stereotypes faced by the country’s Roma minority and asserting a place at the table of high culture for the historically marginalized group. The Romani Design studio was co-founded by sisters Erika and Helena Varga. It reutilizes the