Greece's health minister said Wednesday that music will be banned at all commercial venues for New Year's celebrations as part of new restrictions announced in response to a surge in COVID-19 infections fueled by the omicron variant.

Qatar wants to attract 1.2 million people to the World Cup but will struggle to accommodate many of them.

With ticket sales beginning in January, supporters are in for a shock when they look for somewhere to stay: Qatar already looks sold out.

Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the ATP Cup in Australia ahead of the first Grand Slam tournament of the season, organizers said Wednesday.

No reason was given but the top-ranked Serb has declined to comment on his vaccination status in recent months and Australia's strict regulations require all players, officials and fans to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Losses for Liverpool are about as rare as penalty misses by Mohamed Salah.

Both happened on Tuesday and, even at the halfway stage of the season, it could cost Jürgen Klopp's team the Premier League title.

The dozens of Type 90, or "Kyumaru," tanks rumbling through recent shooting drills on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido exemplify the challenge its arms makers face both at home and overseas as the country fortifies its defenses against strategic threats.

The Self Defense Force needs the more advanced aircraft and weaponry sold by U.S. arms manufacturers as Japan's strategic focus shifts from Russia in the north to the south, where it faces incursions by Chinese fighter jets and naval vessels and North Korean missile launches.

China is calling on the United States to protect a Chinese space station and its three-member crew after Beijing complained that satellites launched by Elon Musk's SpaceX nearly struck the station.

A foreign ministry spokesman accused Washington on Tuesday of ignoring its treaty obligations to protect the safety of the Tiangong station's three-member crew following the July 1 and Oct. 21 incidents.

Indonesia said Wednesday it is lifting its ban on Boeing's 737 Max aircraft, three years after one crashed into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff killing all 189 people on board.

The Transportation Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that the aircraft will be permitted to fly in Indonesia, but only after airlines carry out airworthiness directives.

European benchmarks opened mixed, with London's FTSE 100 at nearly a two-year high, after Asian shares mostly finished lower Wednesday.

France's CAC 40 edged up 0.1% in early trading to 7,190.22, while Germany's DAX slipped 0.2% to 15,935.45. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.1% to 7,449.16 — its highest level since February 2020, amid optimism that the omicron coronavirus variant may prove to be milder than earlier versions of the virus.

President Joe Biden's new puppy, Commander, got his moment under the flashing lights of the Washington press corps — and some time frolicking on the beach — on Tuesday.

Biden and first lady Jill Biden took the German shepherd on a walk near their second home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

The Pacific Northwest and Sierra Nevada have grappled with another day of snow, ice and unseasonable cold that has disrupted traffic, caused closures and forced people to find refuge in emergency warming shelters.

Across western Washington and Oregon, officials and private groups opened emergency spaces for people as forecasters said the extreme cold from an arctic blast that blew in Sunday could last until the weekend.