AP National News

By MOSHE EDRI Associated Press HEBRON, West Bank (AP) — Israel’s president has visited one of the most contentious spots in the occupied West Bank to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Sunday’s visit by Isaac Herzog to the West Bank city of Hebron sparked scuffles between Israeli security forces and protesters. Herzog said he

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and ANDREW MELDRUM Associated Press PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — The overcast, drizzly skies match the somber mood at the Tshwane University of Technology, a hot spot in South Africa’s latest surge of COVID-19 cases, apparently driven by the new omicron variant. The world is racing to contain that variant. It was

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press AMSTERDAM (AP) — The Netherlands has moved into a tougher lockdown that was announced amid spiking infection rates even before the country recorded its first confirmed cases of the new, more highly transmissible omicron variant. Bars, restaurants, non-essential stores, cinemas and theaters were among the public places forced to shut

By JOHN FLESHER AP Environmental Writer MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — As demand for renewable energy surges, “community solar” installations are popping up around the U.S. They’re larger than home rooftop systems but smaller than utility-scale complexes. Community solar gardens are located atop buildings, or on abandoned factory grounds and farms. Customers subscribe to portions of energy

By SALAR SALIM and SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Snow globes, teddy bears and makeup brushes. These were the trinkets left behind in northern Iraq by Maryam Nouri who perished this week along with at least 26 others in an ill-fated voyage with dreams of reaching Britain. A wake for Nouri, called

HIRAM, Ga. (AP) — A freight train has derailed in Atlanta’s northwest suburbs, blocking roads and slightly injuring two crew members. Local news outlets report a Norfolk Southern Railway locomotive and seven freight cars overturned in Hiram late Saturday. They were part of a 88-car train. Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern says two crew members were taken

LONDON (AP) — Tens of thousands of people in Scotland and northern England remain without power after a storm brought sleet, subzero temperatures and disruptions across much of the U.K. Icy gusts caused power cuts around the border between Scotland and England, with Northern Powergrid saying it recorded 1,100 instances of damage requiring significant repairs.

BERLIN (AP) — Swiss voters have given clear backing to legislation that introduced special COVID-19 certificates under which only people who have been vaccinated, recovered or tested negative can attend public events and gatherings. Final results Sunday showed 62% of voters supporting the legislation, which is already in force. The referendum offered a rare bellwether

CAIRO (AP) — Sudan’s armed forces says that six of its forces were killed in fighting in the country’s border region with Ethiopia. It comes a day after the military claimed that Ethiopian military and militia forces attacked the border area of al-Fashaqa, a disputed agricultural area that straddles the two countries. The fighting is

By HOLLY MEYER Associated Press Catholic bishops and evangelical pastors are prominent leaders in the anti-abortion movement, but not all believers think abortion should be illegal. Religious supporters of abortion rights say they are fighting for access because of their faith — not in spite of it. But they are worried for the future of

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Thousands of people have rallied in Belgrade to demand an end to alarming levels of air pollution in Serbia due to the use of coal-fired power plants and other factors The environmental protest comes a day after other environmental demonstrators blocked bridges and roads in several locations in Serbia, and scuffled

LONDON (AP) — Frank Williams, the founder and former team principal of Formula One’s Williams Racing, has died. He was 79. Williams took his motor racing team from an empty carpet warehouse to the summit of Formula One, overseeing 114 victories, a combined 16 drivers’ and constructors’ world championships, while becoming the longest-serving team boss

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors will try to prove that a white suburban Minneapolis police officer, Kim Potter, committed manslaughter when she fatally shot Daunte Wright, a Black man, during an attempted arrest in April. Potter, who resigned two days after the shooting, says she meant to use her Taser but

MADRID (AP) — Several new volcanic vents have opened up on the Spanish island of La Palma, releasing new lava that is speeding down a ridge and threatening to widen the damages on evacuated land, roads and homes. Authorities said the molten rock coming out from the main new vent was very fluid and was

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jury selection begins Tuesday for a white former suburban Minneapolis police officer, Kim Potter, who says she meant to grab her Taser instead of her handgun when she shot and killed motorist Daunte Wright, who was Black. The Brooklyn Center officer’s reaction on body-camera video seemed to

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and ANDREW MELDRUM Associated Press PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — The overcast, drizzly skies match the somber mood at the Tshwane University of Technology, a hot spot in South Africa’s latest surge of COVID-19 cases, apparently driven by the new omicron variant. The world is racing to contain that variant. It was

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan says 27 Chinese aircraft entered its air defense buffer zone in the latest in a long series of incursions as part of Beijing’s pressure on the self-ruled island. The Defense Ministry says Taiwan scrambled combat aircraft to warn the Chinese planes to leave. It also deployed missile systems to monitor

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Morocco is suspending all incoming air travel from around the world starting Monday for two weeks because of the rapid spread of the new omicron variant of the virus. The government’s committee in charge of monitoring COVID-19 announced the move Sunday, tweeting that the decision was taken to “preserve the achievements

By JOSEF FEDERMAN Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Can the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers be restored? As Iran and six global powers gather in Vienna Monday to discuss the tattered treaty, the answer appears to be no. Since then-President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018, Iran has raced