AP News Summary at 6:13 pm EST

Crowd annoyed by lockdowns calls for China’s Xi to step down

SHANGHAI (AP) — Protesters angry by strict anti-virus measures have called for China’s powerful leader to resign. That’s an unprecedented rebuke. It came as authorities in at least eight cities struggled to suppress Sunday demonstrations that represent a rare direct challenge to the ruling Communist Party. Police using pepper spray drove away demonstrators in Shanghai who called for Xi Jinping to step down and an end to one-party rule. Hours later, people rallied again in the same spot. Police again broke up the demonstration, and a reporter saw protesters under arrest being driven away in a bus. The protests began Friday and have spread to cities including the capital, Beijing, and dozens of university campuses. They are the most widespread show of opposition to the ruling party in decades.

Ga. Senate runoff between Warnock, Walker has bitter closing

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. (AP) — The extended Senate campaign in Georgia between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger, football legend Herschel Walker, has grown increasingly bitter ahead as their Dec. 6 runoff nears. With Democrats already assured control of the Senate, it’s a striking contrast from two years ago, when the state’s twin Senate runoffs were mostly about which party would control the chamber in Washington. Warnock casts Walker as unqualified and unfit for office. Walker mocks Warnock as a hypocrite helden to President Joe Biden. The broadsides reflect the candidates’ furious push in the four weeks between the Nov. 8 general election and runoff to persuade their supporters to cast another ballot.

Pockets of shelling across Ukraine as wintry warfare looms

KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Officials say shelling by Russian forces has hit several areas in eastern and southern Ukraine overnight as utility crews scramble to restore power, water and heating from widespread strikes. With persistent snowfall blanketing the capital, Kyiv, on Sunday, analysts predicted that wintry weather could have an increasing impact on the conflict that has been raging since Russian forces invaded Ukraine more than nine months ago. State power grid Ukrenergo said electricity producers are now supplying about 80% of demand, up from 75% a day prior. Russian rockets hit unspecified railroad facilities in Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown, on Sunday. No injuries were immediately reported.

US Soccer briefly scrubs emblem from Iran flag at World Cup

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The US Soccer Federation briefly displayed Iran’s national flag on social media without the emblem of the Islamic Republic. The federation described the move as a show of support for protesters in Iran ahead of the two nations’ World Cup match Tuesday. The federation says in a statement Sunday that it decided to forego the official flag on social media accounts to show “support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights.” The move comes as nationwide protests challenging Tehran’s theocratic government continue in Iran.

Riots in Belgium, Netherlands after Morocco win at World Cup

BRUSSELS (AP) — Violence ran riot in several Belgian and Dutch cities after Morocco’s 2-0 upset win over Belgium at the World Cup. Police detained about a dozen people after they deployed water cannons and fire tear gas to disperse crowds in Brussels. Dozens of rioters overturned and torched cars, set electric scooters on fire and pelted cars with bricks. Police moved in after one person suffered facial injuries.

Newborn among 7 dead in landslide on Italy’s Ischia island

MILAN (AP) — Search teams have recovered seven dead, including a three week-old infant, buried in mud and debris that hurtled down a mountainside and through a densely populated port city on the resort island of Ischia, officials said Sunday. The Naples prefect confirmed that five people remained missing, and feared buried under the debris of an enormous landslide that struck Casamicciola before dawn on Saturday. Its force collapsed buildings and pushed vehicles into the sea. Luca Cari, the spokesman for Italian firefighters told RAI state TV that the risks of landslides remained in the highest part of the town, near where heavy rainfall loosened a chunk of mountainside, requiring search teams to enter by foot.

Asian faiths try to save swastika symbol corrupted by Hitler

In much of the world, the swastika is often equated to Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany – a symbol of hate that evokes the trauma of the Holocaust and the horrors of Nazi rule. White supremacists, neo-Nazi groups and vandals have continued to use Hitler’s hooked cross to Stoke fear and hate. Yet in other variations, the swastika is a millennia-old sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, representing peace and good fortune. In recent years, as the Asian diaspora grew in North America, the call to reclaim the swastika as a sacred symbol has become louder. Some Jewish leaders empathize with the campaign; others say the swastika is beyond redemption.

Colorado shooting victim ‘wanted to save the family I found’

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A member of the US Navy who was injured while helping subdue a man who shot and killed five people at a gay nightclub in Colorado said he simply wanted to save the family that he had found. US Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Thomas James issued a statement Sunday through Centura Penrose hospital in Colorado Springs, where is recovering from undisclosed injuries suffered in the attack. James urged bravery among the young in the LGBTQ community. Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez said that James was one of two men who helped to stop the shooter who walked into Club Q late on Nov. 19 with multiple firearms, including a semiautomatic rifle, and killed five people.

AP Top 25: Michigan up to No. 2 behind top-ranked Georgia

Michigan moved up to No. 2 in The Associated Press college football poll, with TCU at No. 3 and Southern California at No. 4 behind top-ranked Georgia after four top-10 teams lost on the final day of regular-season games. The Bulldogs are No. 1 for the eighth straight week and 11th time this season in the AP Top 25. Georgia received 58 first-place votes and Michigan received the other five. The Wolverines reached a season-high No. 2 after beating Ohio State, which dropped the Buckeyes three spots to No. 5.