AP National News

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Gunshots rang out on Black Friday inside a packed Washington state mall, injuring one person as hundreds of other shoppers hid inside stores. KOMO reports that officers working in the mall saw a small group that got into a dispute and escalated with gunfire. The suspects fled the mall. As of

DAISY NGUYEN Associated Press OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A security guard has died after he was shot while protecting a San Francisco Bay Area television news crew. KRON-TV said Saturday that the station was devastated by the loss of Kevin Nishita. The former police officer was an armed guard who provided security for many reporters

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — More than $1.4 million has been raised for a man who spent 43 years behind bars before a judge overturned his conviction in a triple killing. The GoFundMe fundraiser to benefit Kevin Strickland had raised nearly $1.5 million as of Saturday evening. The Midwest Innocence Project set up the online

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The U.K. has tightened up rules on mask-wearing and on testing of international arrivals after finding two cases of the new potentially more contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus that was identified just a few days ago in South Africa. New cases also have been confirmed in

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government say that it’s planning new measures to combat the omicron COVID-19 variant, including mandatory PCR tests for all arriving international travelers and ramping up the use of face masks. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the measures at a news conference alongside his chief medical

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian court has ordered five people to remain in pre-trial detention for two months pending an investigation into a devastating blast in a coal mine in Siberia that resulted in dozens of deaths. Authorities reported 51 deaths after a methane explosion rocked the Listvyazhnaya mine in

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s health minister says he hopes that the sight of air force planes transferring patients across the country will act as a “wake-up call” to millions who are still holding out on getting vaccinated against COVID-19. Health Minister Jens Spahn said Saturday that there has been a welcome increase over the past

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech President Miloš Zeman has been discharged from the capital’s military hospital after testing positive for the coronavirus. The 77-year-old Zeman had already been discharged following more than a month’s treatment for an unspecified illness on Thursday. But he was readmitted only hours later after testing positive for the coronavirus. The president

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Bob Dylan has been telling stories through songs for 60 years. But recently America’s master lyricist has also captured moments in a new series of paintings that, just like his songs, are intimate and a bit of a mystery. The most comprehensive exhibition of the Nobel

By ALICIA LEON and JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Tens of thousands of Spanish police officers and their supporters have marched in Madrid to protest against government plans to reform a controversial security law known by critics as the “gag law.” Critics of the Citizens Security Law passed by the previous conservative government

BERLIN (AP) — Austrian authorities say they have arrested 15 people suspected of smuggling Syrian, Lebanese and Egyptian migrants into the country and seized 14 vehicles that were used to transport them. Police in Lower Austria province said Saturday they opened an investigation last month into the group that smuggled migrants from the Serbian-Hungarian border

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch government has publicly apologized for a now discredited and scrapped law that required transgender people to undergo surgery and sterilization if they wanted to change their gender on their birth certificate. Dutch Minister for Education, Culture and Science Ingrid van Engelshoven said at a ceremony Saturday that “nobody

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain has become the latest country to report cases of the new potentially more contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus as world governments sought to shore up their defenses by slapping restrictions on travel from nations in southern Africa. U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid confirmed Saturday that

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Skirmishes have erupted in Serbia between police and anti-government demonstrators who briefly blocked roads and bridges in the Balkan country in protest against new laws they say favor interests of foreign investors who are devastating the environment. Hundreds of people on Saturday appeared simultaneously in the capital Belgrade, the northern city

Italy is reopening its slopes to recreational skiers after one season lost and another abbreviated by the pandemic. Here is a glance at how the season is proceeding in Europe’s Alpine nations. 

By ACACIA CORONADO Report for America/Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — California and Colorado this year banned state agencies from using the word “alien” to refer to immigrants who entered the U.S. without permission. Supporters of the change say the word is demeaning and dehumanizing, and can have an impact on the treatment of immigrants.

By GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO Associated Press CASS LAKE, Minnesota (AP) — Several members of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in northern Minnesota are working to address animal neglect on their tribal lands — and in doing so bringing their community closer to its spiritual roots. Kids are helping their elders in animal rescues, pet food

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — The Dayton Board of Zoning Appeals has approved the city’s request to demolish a 129-year-old historic building that once was the site of the Wright brothers’ first bike shop. The city wants to tear down the site because the building has deteriorated to a point where it can no longer be

By LORI HINNANT and DANICA KIRKA Associated Press CALAIS, France (AP) — Migrant smuggling networks organizing English Channel crossings have reaped tens of millions of euros this year. 2021 has been the busiest and deadliest ever recorded. Police and aid workers say the price per person varies depending on the network between 3,000 and 7,000

By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation is soaring, businesses are struggling to hire and President Joe Biden’s poll numbers have been in free-fall. The White House sees a common culprit for it all, namely COVID-19. Biden’s team views the pandemic as the root cause of both the nation’s malaise and his own