U.S. Holiday Sales Were Up in 2022, Despite Inflation

Holiday sales rose this year as American spending remained resilient during the critical shopping season despite surging prices on everything from food to rent, according to one measure. Holiday sales rose 7.6%, a slower pace than the 8.5% increase from a year earlier when shoppers began spending the money they had saved during the early […]

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Syrian Democratic Forces say 6 fighters killed in IS attack

Comment on this story Comment QAMISHLI, Syria — An attack by Islamic State militants in the city of Raqqa on Monday killed six members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which has played a prominent role in the fight against the group, SDF officials said. SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said in a statement that an […]

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Kurds hold march of mourning after Paris shooting kills 3

Comment on this story Comment PARIS — Members of France’s Kurdish community and others held a silent march Monday to honor three people killed in a shooting at a Kurdish cultural center in Paris that prosecutors say was motivated by racism. Turkey summoned France’s ambassador Monday over what it called “black propaganda” by Kurdish activists […]

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Israeli air force veterans say incoming government a danger

Comment on this story Comment JERUSALEM — Over 1,000 senior Israeli air force veterans, including a former Israeli chief of staff, on Monday urged the country’s top legal officials to stand tough against the incoming government. In a letter to the chief of Israel’s Supreme Court and other top officials, they said the alliance of […]

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South Korea Scrambles Jets After North Korea Flies Drones

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military fired warning shots, scrambled fighter jets and flew surveillance assets across the heavily fortified border with North Korea on Monday, after North Korean drones violated its airspace for the first time in five years in a fresh escalation of tensions. South Korea’s military detected five drones from […]

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China Races To Vaccinate a Reluctant Elderly Population

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities are going door to door and paying people older than 60 to get vaccinated against COVID-19. But even as cases surge, 64-year-old Li Liansheng said his friends are alarmed by stories of fevers, blood clots and other side effects. “When people hear about such incidents, they may not be willing […]

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More Rohingya refugees reach Indonesia after weeks at sea

Comment on this story Comment PIDIE, Indonesia — A second group in two days of weak and exhausted Rohingya Muslims landed on a beach in Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh on Monday after weeks at sea, officials said. At least 185 men, women and children disembarked from a rickety wooden boat at dusk on Ujong […]

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Bomb Cyclone Updates: Extreme Cold, Travel Chaos Continues

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The deep freeze from a deadly winter storm that walloped much of the United States will continue into the week as people in western New York deal with massive snow drifts that snarled emergency vehicles and travelers across the country see canceled flights and dangerous roads. The massive storm has killed […]

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UN official, Taliban minister meet on Afghan women NGO ban

Comment on this story Comment KABUL, Afghanistan — The top U.N. official in Kabul met with a Taliban government minister in Afghanistan’s capital on Monday, following a decision by the country’s new rulers to bar women from working for non-governmental organizations, the U.N. mission said. The ban has already prompted four major international aid agencies […]

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7th body discovered after bus plunged into Spanish river

Comment on this story Comment MADRID — Spanish authorities announced Monday that they had recovered another body after a bus plunged 30 meters (100 feet) from a bridge into a river on Christmas Eve, raising the toll of the fatal crash to seven dead and two injured. The search was resumed when a surviving passenger […]

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