EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — Visitors to the Edinburgh Zoo had their final chance to see and bid farewell to a pair of popular giant pandas who are returning home to China after more than a decade in Scotland. Yang Guang and Tian Tian are leaving in early December after a 12-year stay. They have been
Continue ReadingBy MATT OTT AP Business Writer Slightly more Americans filed for jobless claims last week, but the overall number of people in the U.S. collecting unemployment benefits rose to its highest level in two years. The Labor Department reported Thursday that applications for unemployment benefits rose by 7,000 to 218,000 for the week ending Nov.
Continue ReadingLONDON (AP) — British ex-Treasury chief Alistair Darling has died at age 70. Darling was a central figure in the U.K.’s response to the 2008 financial crisis who later helped organize the campaign against Scottish independence. Darling’s family said in a statement Thursday that he had been treated for cancer. Darling served as Britain’s treasury
Continue ReadingBy JILL LAWLESS and DAVE BRYAN Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Shane MacGowan, the boozy, rabble-rousing singer and chief songwriter of The Pogues, who infused traditional Irish music with the energy and spirit of punk, died Thursday, his family said. He was 65. MacGowan’s songwriting and persona made him an iconic figure in contemporary Irish
Continue ReadingBy Angela Dewan, Ella Nilsen and Rachel Ramirez, CNN (CNN) — Global delegates at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai formally adopted a damage fund that was decades in the making, and several countries pledged millions of dollars to it to help nations hit hardest by the climate crisis – an early success on the
Continue ReadingBy Ibrahim Dahman and Eyad Kourdi, CNN (CNN) — Hamas said the attackers behind a Jerusalem bus stop shooting that killed three people on Thursday were members of its military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades. Seven people were also injured after the two attackers, identified by Hamas as two brothers, opened fire on a group of people
Continue ReadingBy JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The chief of staff to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán says Hungary will not support any European Union proposal to begin talks on making Ukraine a member of the bloc. Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Gergely Gulyas, said it was premature to begin formal
Continue ReadingBy JERRY HARMER Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Seventeen Thai workers released from captivity by the militant Hamas group have been greeted by family and friends, officials and journalists in an emotional homecoming at Bangkok’s international airport. The 17 arrived home on Thursday. They are among 23 Thais freed by Hamas so far. Six are
Continue ReadingBy CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure cooled last month, the latest sign that price pressures are waning in the face of high interest rates and moderating economic growth. Prices were unchanged from September to October, down from a 0.4% rise the previous month. Compared with a
Continue ReadingBy MATT OTT AP Business Writer Slightly more Americans filed for jobless claims last week, but the overall number of people in the U.S. collecting unemployment benefits rose to its highest level in two years. The Labor Department reported Thursday that applications for unemployment benefits rose by 7,000 to 218,000 for the week ending Nov.
Continue ReadingBy KONSTANTIN TESTORIDES and DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has faced Western critics while attending international security talks in Northern Macedonia. Lavrov arrived in Skopje to attend meetings hosted by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The diplomats of several OSCE member nations, including
Continue ReadingBy SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Former British health secretary Matt Hancock is defending his record at the U.K.’s COVID-19 inquiry, contesting widespread accusations of incompetence in leading the response to the biggest public health crisis Britain faced in a century. The inquiry is questioning government officials about their political decision-making during the
Continue ReadingBy ELAINE KURTENBACH and MATT OTT AP Business Writers Wall Street ticked higher early Thursday ahead of the most recent data release on U.S. consumer inflation and a meeting of oil producers in Vienna. Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.3% before the bell and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.5% higher.
Continue ReadingBy RIAZ KHAN Associated Press PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Police in Pakistan have arrested four people who allegedly killed an 18-year-old woman in the purported name of honor after a picture of her sitting with a boyfriend went viral on social media. Authorities said Thursday that the woman’s father and three other men were detained
Continue ReadingBy Jalen Beckford and Shania Shelton, CNN (CNN) — The US Department of Education added Harvard University and the New York City Department of Education to a growing list of universities and school districts that are being investigated over alleged incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia following the October 7 attacks by Hamas against Israel. The announcement
Continue ReadingBy JAMEY KEATEN and SIBI ARASU Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Nearly all the world’s nations finalized the creation of a fund to help compensate countries struggling to cope with loss and damage caused by climate change, seen as a major first-day breakthrough at this year’s U.N. climate conference as early cash
Continue ReadingBy GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO Associated Press Hanukkah — also spelled Chanukah or other transliterations from Hebrew — is Judaism’s “festival of lights.” On eight consecutive nightfalls, Jews gather with family and friends to light one additional candle in the menorah — a multibranched candelabra. In Hebrew, Hanukkah means “dedication,” and the holiday marks the rededication of
Continue ReadingBy MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Something is different on the comics pages this week. In the panels of “Mutts,” there’s the long-delayed sight of freedom. Patrick McDonnell, the cartoonist who draws the popular strip, is freeing his character Guard Dog, liberating an animal who has become for decades a symbol
Continue ReadingBy DAVID KLEPPER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Someone in China created thousands of fake social media accounts designed to appear to be from Americans and used them to spread polarizing political content in an apparent effort to divide the U.S. ahead of next year’s elections, Meta said Thursday. The network of nearly 4,800 fake
Continue ReadingBy DAVID KLEPPER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Someone in China created thousands of fake social media accounts designed to appear to be from Americans and used them to spread polarizing political content in an apparent effort to divide the U.S. ahead of next year’s elections, Meta said Thursday. The network of nearly 4,800 fake
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