AP Business Writer The holiday shopping season is underway, and this year small businesses have less time to capitalize on the busy shopping period. Only 27 days separate Thanksgiving and Christmas — five fewer than last year. But there are still ways to make the most of a shorter season. One key strategy is for
Continue Reading BRUSSELS (AP) — The International Federation of Journalists says that 104 journalists and media workers have been killed so far in 2024, with more than half of them perishing during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The group said that since the Oct. 7, 2023 start of the war, at least 138 had been
Continue Reading WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says negotiations over the war in neighboring Ukraine could start “in the winter” as his country prepares to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union on Jan. 1. He told his Cabinet on Tuesday that Poland’s EU presidency will have some responsibility for the
Continue Reading AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Even through a year of nonstop news about elections, climate change, protests and the price of eggs, Americans still found time to read. Sales held steady according to Circana, which tracks around 85% of the print market. Many chose the release of romance, fantasy and romantasy. Some picked
Continue Reading TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the witness stand for the first time in his long-running trial on corruption charges. Long before these charges emerged, Netanyahu has been vexed by a flurry of embarrassing scandals and allegations. Netanyahu vehemently denies wrongdoing. He has denied wrongdoing, and assailed investigations into his
Continue Reading LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — Zambia’s Constitutional Court has ruled that former President Edgar Lungu is barred from contesting an election in 2026 because he has already served the maximum two terms. The crux of the ruling delivered by a panel of judges on Tuesday was that Lungu’s period as president between 2015 and 2016 after
Continue Reading Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s military says a retired army general who served as the spy chief in the government of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been indicted by a military court for indulging in politics and abusing power. Tuesday’s announcement comes three months after the military said it arrested Faiz Hamid
Continue Reading Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić says he isn’t like ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad and has no intention of fleeing the country despite spreading protests against his increasingly autocratic rule. Assad has fled to Moscow and received asylum from his longtime ally Russia hours after a stunning rebel advance seized control of
Continue Reading Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — George Soros’ philanthropy, Open Society Foundations, will continue to fund human rights movements around the world. Its president Binaifer Nowrojee said Tuesday, which is Human Rights Day, that she wanted to reiterate the commitments after years of internal changes at the philanthropy. Open Society is now led by one
Continue Reading CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian authorities say at least eight people have been killed when an apartment building collapsed Cairo. They say the collapse of the six-story building on Tuesday also injured three others. Authorities ordered the evacuation of neighboring houses as a precautionary measure. Building collapses are common in Egypt. Shoddy construction and a lack
Continue Reading PARIS (AP) — The French military says it has flown out the two Mirage fighter jets it had stationed in Chad, signaling the beginning of its withdrawal of military forces from the central African country. A French military spokesman said negotiations with Chadian authorities continue on how and when France might withdraw other members of
Continue Reading NEW YORK (AP) — Staffers at Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama, San Francisco’s City Lights Books and The Nook in Cedar Falls, Iowa, are among 600 booksellers receiving $500 holiday bonuses from James Patterson. The bestselling novelist has been awarding independent store employees since 2015. “Booksellers save lives. Period,” Patterson says in a statement
Continue Reading TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s state TV says authorities have ordered the closure of all governmental offices, universities and schools in the province of Tehran for two days because of poor air quality. The capital city of Tehran — home to over 10 million people — saw the closure of schools on Saturday and Sunday,
Continue Reading THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch police say they have arrested three suspects who might have been involved in the explosion and fire that killed six people in an apartment building in The Hague over the weekend. Authorities said Tuesday that they were investigating “all possibilities” that could have caused the disaster and the arrests
Continue Reading AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Brenda Lee’s memories of recording “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” are a little hazy now. But that’s to be expected, since she was 13-years-old when it was made in 1958 and this month is celebrating her 80th birthday. The song has lived a remarkable life, and even unseated
Continue Reading BEIJING (AP) — Chinese official broadcaster CCTV says a former chairman of the state-owned bank China Everbright Group has been jailed 12 years for embezzlement and bribery. Tang Shuangning, who had also held senior posts at the People’s Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission, was arrested in January, part of a wider
Continue Reading Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The U.K. and Germany have pledged to share intelligence and expertise against the people-smuggling gangs that send migrants across the English Channel in small boats. It’s the latest effort by European countries to stop the dangerous journeys. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and German counterpart Nancy Faeser signed a “joint action
Continue Reading Associated Press MONROE, Mich. (AP) — In a packed union hall outside Detroit, a worker shifts the conversation from policy to the personal, quizzing Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on his knowledge of Michigan, the state he only recently started calling home. “Mayor Pete — Secretary Pete, I apologize,” one auto worker yelled from the crowd.
Continue Reading Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Police in Kenya’s capital have hurled tear gas canisters at hundreds of protesters angry about gender-based violence and femicide or the killing of women. Police arrested an unknown number of people on Tuesday. Protesters who were chanting “Stop Femicide” were dispersed by police at a public park in Nairobi
Continue Reading BERLIN (AP) — Two young men who sympathized with the Islamic State group and a suspected accomplice have been arrested in Germany for allegedly making preparations for an attack. Prosecutors and police say they were arrested on Sunday. They said Tuesday that two of them are accused of preparing for an attack motivated by their
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