WASHINGTON (AP) – Food banks across the U.S. are experiencing a critical shortage of volunteers as the omicron variant frightens people away from their usual shifts, and companies and schools that regularly supply large groups of volunteers are canceling their participation over virus fears. The end result in many cases has been a serious increase in spending by the food banks at a time when they are already dealing with higher food costs due to inflation and supply chain issues. “Food banks rely on volunteers. That’s how we keep the costs low,” said Shirley Schofield, CEO of the Food Bank of North Alabama. “The work still gets done but at a much higher expense.” The extent of the problem was highlighted this past week during the national holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, when many food banks have traditionally organized mass volunteer drives as part of a day of service. Michael Altfest, director of community engagement for the Alameda County Community Food Bank in Oakland, California, called it “without fail, our biggest volunteer event of the year.” But many food banks chose to cancel their plans this year or continued with radically lower numbers than pre-pandemic years. Altfest said his food bank’s King Day event drew 73 people spread out over two shifts, when previous years had drawn more than 200 people with all volunteer slots booked up before New Year’s Day. The food bank did not attempt an event last year.

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LONDON (The Guardian) – Hundreds of people have been stripped of their British citizenship in the last 15 years, according to research, including one man who was stateless for almost five years. Research carried out by Free Movement, a website run by lawyers to provide information for those affected by immigration control, has found that at least 464 people have had their citizenship removed since the law permitting this practice was relaxed 15 years ago. The UK government does not routinely publish the total number of people it strips of British citizenship. CJ McKinney, of Free Movement, said the lack of figures from the Home Office was frustrating, “This is an extremely serious punishment that amounts to being banished from the UK in many cases. Saying how often existing citizenship deprivation powers are used is the bare minimum of transparency that parliament and the public should expect.” McKinney found that since 2006, 175 people have been deprived of their citizenship on national security grounds, and 289 because of fraud. Prior to 2006 the power had not been used since 1973.

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STOCKHOLM AFP) – Thousands of protesters demonstrated in Sweden’s two biggest cities on Saturday against the use of vaccine passes, in marches that unfolded calmly after police had warned of possible clashes. Security police Sapo had expressed concern that neo-Nazi groups and opponents could face off at the demonstration in Stockholm. Around 9,000 people marched through the streets of the capital Stockholm to the Sergels Torg square chanting “No to Vaccine Passes, Yes to Freedom”, in a protest organized by a group calling itself the Freedom Movement. One of the marchers, 30-year-old Julia Johansson, said vaccine passes “discriminate against a lot of people”. The Scandinavian country introduced vaccine passes on December 1. They have been mandatory since January 12 for indoor events of more than 50 people, as the country battles an unprecedented surge of infections with around 40,000 cases reported per day in the past week.

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NEW DELHI (AP) – A major fire in a 19-story residential building killed at least six people and injured 15 others on Saturday in Mumbai, India’s financial and entertainment capital, officials said. The fire was caused by a short-circuit in an air conditioner in one of the apartments, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said. Residents said the fire started on the 15th floor and a big column of black smoke soon enveloped the building. More than 90 people escaped the building on their own or helped by neighbors, they said. Ganesh Purnaik, a spokesman for the city government, said the fire left six people dead and 15 hospitalized with injuries. Four of the injured were in critical condition, said police officer Saurabh Tripathi. Nearly two dozen fire engines extinguished the blaze and controlled the smoke after a two-hour effort, media reports said. Firefighters rushed the injured to two nearby hospitals. Pednekar said some of the injured needed oxygen support because they had inhaled smoke. Fires are common in India, where building laws and safety norms are often flouted by builders and residents. In August, a fire killed eight coronavirus patients at a hospital in Ahmedabad, a major city in Gujarat state. In December 2018, a late-night fire in a Mumbai restaurant killed 15 people.

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BERLIN (AFP) – Germany’s center right opposition Christian Democrats on Saturday elected Friedrich Merz, a critic of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, as their new leader by a huge majority. Merkel left office in 2021 after 16 years in power and was succeeded by Social Democrat Olaf Scholz at the helm of a three-way coalition with the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats. Electoral defeat left the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) having to regroup and members gave their strong backing to Merz, a 66-year-old on the traditional right of the party, after twice rejecting him in recent years. Merz, the only candidate standing, received the backing of 95 percent of 980 delegates at a virtual party congress and declared himself “deeply moved” to see the extent of their support. The CDU are licking their wounds after a defeat to Scholz’s Social Democrats in September elections which saw Merz’s predecessor Armin Laschet lead the party to the worst showing in its history.

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TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo recorded its fourth record number of daily COVID-19 infections on Saturday, breaking above 10,000, while Japan’s exceeded 50,000 for the first time as the omicron variant continues to spread rapidly. The capital had 11,227 new coronavirus cases, the local government said a day after it reinstated curbs on mobility and business activity through Feb. 13. Tokyo’s case count, exceeding Friday’s 9,699, were more than double the 4,561 logged a week earlier. Three people in Tokyo died of COVID-19 and 12 were in serious condition on Saturday, the Tokyo government said. Some 34.3 percent of hospital beds in the capital were being used by coronavirus patients. A rise in the occupancy rate to 50 percent would warrant a state of emergency with more severe restrictions, local officials have said. Infections nationwide totaled at least 50,200 as nearly 30 of Japan’s 47 prefectures set records, broadcaster FNN reported.