AP National News

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has paid her respects to Jewish and Polish victims of World World II. Her gestures came the day before she is to attend a gathering in Warsaw of right-wing European party leaders. The summit appears to be the latest effort by right-wing nationalist parties to consolidate the European right.

PRAGUE (AP) — The outgoing Czech government is planning a vaccine mandate for the elderly and some groups of professionals. Health Minister Adam Vojtech says his ministry will issue the order next week. It will make vaccination mandatory for all aged 60 and over, medical personnel, police officers, firefighters and medical students. The order is

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Health Ministry says it has confirmed seven cases of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus, stoking fears of a pending surge in infections. Four of the confirmed cases are unvaccinated individuals who had recently returned from South Africa. The other three include two people who returned from South Africa and

NEW YORK (AP) — Police say a Columbia University graduate student was fatally stabbed and another man was wounded in separate attacks near the university’s upper Manhattan campus. Authorities say the stabbing suspect was arrested in Central Park while menacing a man with a knife. The attacks started just before 11 p.m. Thursday when 30-year-old

By DAVID A. LIEB and GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press Tens of millions of workers across the U.S. are in limbo as federal courts have issued different rulings related to President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates for larger private companies, certain health care workers and federal government contractors. A federal appeals court panel has allowed a

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Officials say diplomats negotiating in Vienna to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers have paused after five days of talks to consult with their governments, and will reconvene next week. The European Union official chairing the meeting said there had been some progress but further

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump appeared before a federal appeals court to argue that the U.S. government should take his place as the defendant in a defamation lawsuit filed by a writer who accused him of rape. The Republican’s attorneys told the judges Friday he

By DAVID PITT Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two Iowa teenagers charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of their high school Spanish teacher will remain in jail after a judge decided to keep their bail bond at $1 million cash only. Attorneys for Willard Noble Chaiden Miller

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The head of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One racing team has apologized for the way the team announced its partnership with a company involved in a London high-rise where a fire killed 72 people. The team announced a sponsorship deal this week allowing building products maker Kingspan

By MARK PRATT Associated Press A clergy sex abuse survivor whose courage to go public and resolve to hold abusers and their enablers accountable was remembered by his brother as someone who inspired and strengthened survivors from around the world. Phil Saviano died Sunday at age 69 after a battle with gallbladder cancer and was

By THOMAS PEIPERT and BRITTANY PETERSON Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Denver’s winter has started with a whimper, and the parched mountains to the west aren’t faring much better. The Mile High City has already shattered its 87-year-old record for the latest measurable snowfall. It’s also a little more than a week away from breaking

By AAMER MADHANI and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is vowing to make it “very, very difficult” for Russian President Vladimir Putin to take military action in Ukraine, saying his administration is putting together a comprehensive set of initiatives to curb Russian aggression. The president offered the measured warning to

By KANTELE FRANKO Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A judge won’t dismiss the 25-count murder indictment against a doctor accused of ordering excessive painkillers for hospital patients in central Ohio’s Mount Carmel Health System. That means one of the biggest cases of its kind ever brought against a U.S. health care professional will proceed

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man has been convicted in the fatal shooting of two teens he found smoking marijuana inside a vehicle in his garage. Victor Santana of Dayton will be sentenced later this month after being convicted of murder and felonious assault on Thursday. Authorities say Santana shot the two 17-year-olds when

CARLISLE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say an Iowa high school basketball player has been arrested following an apparent assault on an opposing player at the end of a game as the two teams lined up to shake hands. The attack reportedly followed a boys’ high school basketball game between Nevada High School and Carlisle High

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s interior minister says Serbia and Russia have pledged to jointly combat popular revolts known as “color revolutions.” Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin met Friday in Moscow with the powerful secretary of the Kremlin’s Security Council. The meeting came amid growing public discontent in Serbia with

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — A troubled Chinese developer struggling under $310 billion in debt has warned it may run out of money to “perform its financial obligations.” Regulators rushed to reassure investors that China’s financial markets can be protected from a possible impact. Evergrande Group’s struggle to comply with official

By ANDREW MELDRUM Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The new omicron variant appears to be driving a dramatic surge in South Africa, providing the world a glimpse of where the pandemic might be headed. New cases in South Africa have burgeoned from about 200 a day in mid-November to more than 16,000 on Friday. That

By EDGAR H. CLEMENTE, FÉLIX MÁRQUEZ and MARÍA VERZA Associated Press TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — Benjamín Villalta, a 39-year-old Nicaraguan, couldn’t believe that a Mexican immigration office would open in the middle of the night to give him and some 40 other migrants humanitarian visas that would allow them to move about Mexico and work.

NEW YORK (AP) — Jurors at the sex-abuse trial of Ghislaine Maxwell are expected to see a law enforcement videotape of the interior of a Florida estate where prosecutors say she and financier Jeffrey Epstein exploited underage victims when the pair lived there together. The video was shot during a 2005 raid a Palm Beach