AP National News

By CARLEY PETESCH and BABACAR DIONE Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal has recorded its first cases of the coronavirus omicron variant. The Institute for Health Research, Epidemiological Surveillance and Training, a laboratory approved by Senegal for COVID-19 testing, said the first case was detected Friday. Hours later the Institut Pasteur announced the detection

By SYLVIE CORBET The Associated Press VILLEPINTE, France (AP) — Some anti-racist activists were beaten up as far-right former French TV pundit Eric Zemmour held his first campaign rally near Paris. Zemmour formally declared his candidacy for April’s presidential election in a video relaying his anti-migrants, anti Islam views. The 63-year-old with multiple hate-speech convictions

By ASHRAF KHALIL and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Kennedy Center Honors is returning to tradition this year. The lifetime achievement awards for artistic excellence will be presented Sunday night in a gala at the Kennedy Center’s main opera house after the coronavirus pandemic forced delays and major changes to last year’s

BERLIN (AP) — German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle says it is suspending cooperation with a Jordanian partner, Roya TV, because of concerns about anti-Israeli and antisemitic content and caricatures on its social media. Deutsche Welle said Sunday it had entered a partnership with Roya TV because the broadcaster addressed issues such as gender equality, the

By NICOLE WINFIELD, TRISHA THOMAS and DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press LESBOS, Greece (AP) — Pope Francis has offered comfort to migrants at a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. He blasted what he said is the indifference and self-interest shown by Europe “that condemns to death those on the fringes.” Francis visited the

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Insurance companies operating in Louisiana will be charged at least $100 million to pay claims of two failed property insurers who went belly up in Hurricane Ida’s aftermath. But the cost of dealing with the insolvent insurers ultimately will fall on the state after insurance companies recoup the dollars through

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer Leftovers were on the menu for moviegoers in North America this weekend. According to studio estimates on Sunday, “Encanto,” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” and “House of Gucci” repeated in the top three spots. All three films are playing exclusively in theaters. The weekend after Thanksgiving is usually pretty quiet at the

PHOENIX (AP) — Authorities have identified a man who jumped out of a jetliner’s galley door to the tarmac as the plane was taxiing to a gate at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Phoenix police said 30-year-old Daniel Ramirez was booked into jail Saturday night on suspicion of two felony counts of trespassing. Ramirez’s

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Belarus has protested what it said was a Ukrainian helicopter’s intrusion into its airspace amid rising tensions between the two neighbors. Urkraine’s Border Service, however, has rejected the claim as false. The Belarusian Defense Ministry said Sunday that it summoned a Ukrainian military attache to lodge

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — A string of shootings involving teenagers has placed renewed attention on a long-running problem of gun violence and gangs in Aurora just outside Denver. Activists and officials say easy access to guns is contributing to the problem in Colorado’s third largest city. But they also say it’s

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — A prisoner rights group says Israel has released a prominent Palestinian prisoner, two weeks after striking a deal that ended his marathon 131-day hunger strike. Kayed Fasfous was the symbolic figurehead of six hunger strikers protesting Israel’s controversial policy of “administrative detention.” The policy allows suspects to be held indefinitely

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse some rowdy protesters in Brussels after most marched peacefully through the city to protest tightened COVID-19 restrictions. Thousands came to protest the new measures that were announced Friday, the third week in a row that the government has tightened its rules as

Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Women’s rights activists in the Afghan capital of Kabul insist they will continue fighting for their right to education, employment and participation in Afghan political and social life, and said a recent Taliban decree banning forced marriage was not enough to address the issue of women’s rights. The decree,

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s pro-business Free Democrats have approved a deal to form a new government with two center-left parties. Sunday’s decision moves Chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz a step closer to taking office as the country’s new leader this week. The Free Democrats reached an agreement last month to form a

By WASBIR HUSSAIN Associated Press GAUHATI, India (AP) — Angry villagers have burned army vehicles in protest after more than a dozen people were killed by soldiers who mistakenly believed some of them were militants in India’s remote northeast region along the border with Myanmar. Nagaland state’s top elected official ordered a probe into the

By NINIEK KARMINI and AGOES BASOEKI Associated Press LUMAJANG, Indonesia (AP) — Rescuers are sifting through smoldering debris and thick mud in search of survivors a day after the highest volcano on Java island erupted with fury, killing at least 14 people with searing gas and ash. Mount Semeru spewed thick columns of ash after

VILLEPINTE, France (AP) — Far-right former French TV pundit Eric Zemmour is holding his first campaign rally near Paris, a few days after he formally declared his candidacy for April’s presidential election in a video relaying his anti-migrants, anti Islam views. The 63-year-old with multiple hate-speech convictions has unveiled his campaign’s slogan: “Impossible is not

By DON BABWIN Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — After two brothers spent hours telling a jury how Jussie Smollett paid them to carry out a fake racist and anti-gay attack on himself, the big question when the actor’s trial resumes is whether he will tell his side of the story. The choice is risky, but