AP National News

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Scores of opposition supporters in Kyrgyzstan have rallied to challenge the results of a parliamentary election that was swept by parties loyal to the country’s president. Sunday’s election came just over just over a year after a forceful change of government in the ex-Soviet Central Asian nation

MILAN (AP) — The carmaker Stellantis says it’s secured a five-year supply of battery-grade lithium hydroxide in Europe supporting its plans to convert to 98% electrified vehicles by 2025. The car company that combined PSA Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler said Monday that is signed a binding agreement with Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd. in Germany. It

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s prime minister is calling on world powers not to “give in to Iran’s nuclear blackmail” as talks commenced in Vienna. Naftali Bennett said in a video statement obtained by The Associated Press that was delivered to representatives of nations opening negotiations with Iran on Monday that Tehran seeks “to end sanctions

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Actress Lindsay Lohan has told her followers on Instagram that she’s engaged. Lohan announced her engagement to boyfriend Bader Shammas and showed off a traditional oval diamond ring with a photo of the couple looking happy and locked in an embrace. The 35-year-old “Mean Girls” star has been based

By RAF CASERT and MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Nations around the world sought to keep the new omicron variant at bay with travel bans and further restrictions, even as it remains unclear what it means for the COVID-19 pandemic. Japan announced Monday it would suspend entry of all foreign visitors. New cases

By RIAZ KHAN Associated Press PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani authorities say a mob has burned a police station and four police posts in the northwest overnight as officers detained a mentally unstable man accused of blasphemy. Police said Monday the demonstrators wanted to lynch the man on charges that he desecrated the Quran, Islam’s

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization is pushing for an international accord to help prevent and fight future pandemics amid the emergence of a worrying new omicron COVID-19 variant. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said Monday that many uncertainties remain about just how transmissible and severe infection by

YORK, England (AP) — A top snooker player fell asleep in the middle of his match in one of the most prestigious events in the sport. Mark Williams recently returned to action after contracting the coronavirus and he says he is still feeling the effects. Williams says after his loss to Anthony Hamilton in the

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s president has arrived in Qatar to attend the opening ceremony of an Arab soccer tournament amid an unprecedented diplomatic crisis between Beirut and oil-rich Gulf nations. Discussions are expected over tense relations in the region during meetings with Qatari officials in Doha that began on Monday. Saudi Arabia, traditionally an ally

LONDON (AP) — Dozens of customers who stopped for a drink at Britain’s highest pub are getting a longer stay than they bargained for after the building was cut off by a blizzard. Sixty-one people woke up Monday after their third night at the Tan Hill Inn in the Yorkshire Dales about 270 miles (435

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch military police have arrested a husband and wife who left a hotel where they were being quarantined after testing positive for COVID-19 and boarded a plane bound for Spain. A spokeswoman for the local security region that covers Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport said Monday that an investigation was underway into

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — “Gifts from the Heart” is the theme of President Joe Biden’s first White House Christmas. First lady Jill Biden plans on Monday to unveil Christmas decorations that match the theme. The first lady’s office says more than 100 volunteers spent the past week decorating the mansion using

By KRUTIKA PATHI Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian lawmakers have repealed agricultural legislation that provoked a year of nationwide protests from farmers, in a move that was seen as a major reversal and rare climbdown for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. The Farm Laws Repeal bill on Monday passed Indian Parliament ten days

By ARITZ PARRA and HELENA ALVES Associated Press LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portuguese health authorities have identified 13 cases of the omicron coronavirus variant among members of a top soccer club, and were investigating possible local transmission of the virus outside of southern Africa. The Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute said that one of those

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The independent body advising the British government on the rollout of coronavirus vaccines will decide whether to expand the booster program to younger age groups following the discovery of the new omicron variant. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization has been asked by the British government

By MARI YAMAGUCHI and FOSTER KLUG Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Portuguese health authorities say they have identified 13 cases of omicron, the new coronavirus variant believed to be more contagious, among team members of a professional soccer club. The Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute said Monday that one of those who tested positive is

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization is opening a long-planned special session of member states to discuss ways to strengthen the global fight against pandemics like the coronavirus, just as the worrying new omicron variant has sparked immediate concerns worldwide. In the wake of diplomatic wrangling, a draft resolution for the special World Health

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates has eased some penalties for travelers arriving in the country with products containing THC, the main intoxicating chemical in cannabis. The new law, published Sunday in the UAE’s official gazette, says those who carry food, drinks and other items with cannabis into the country will

PARIS (AP) — French authorities are waiting for laboratory confirmation of eight suspected cases of the new version of the coronavirus, involving people who traveled recently to southern Africa. Testing already conducted determined that the travelers were positive for the virus but not for one of its previous variants. Follow-up genetic testing is being done