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Fall is the best time to think about cooking soup. Here’s 5 recipes you’ll want to try
Retailers coax Black Friday shoppers into stores with big discounts and giveaways NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers in the U.S. have used giveaways and bigger-than expected discounts to reward shoppers who ventured out on Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving still reigns for now as the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season even if it’s lost some luster. Analysts reported seeing the biggest crowds at stores that offered real savings. They say many shoppers are being cautious with their discretionary spending despite the easing of inflation. Stores are even more under the gun to get shoppers in to buy early and in bulk since there are five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Online sales figures from Thanksgiving Day gave retailers a reason to remain hopeful for a lucrative end to the year. Trump and Republicans in Congress eye an ambitious 100-day agenda, starting with tax cuts WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans swept to power on Election Day and now control the House, the Senate and the White House, with plans for an ambitious 100-day agenda come January. Their to-do list includes extending tax breaks, cutting social programs, building the border wall to stop immigration and rolling back President Joe Biden's green energy policies. Atop that list is a plan to renew some $4 trillion in expiring tax cuts that were a signature domestic achievement of Republican Donald Trump’s first term as president. It's an issue that may define his return to the White House. The ruble's in a slump. For the Kremlin, that's a two-edged sword Russia’s ruble is sagging against other currencies, complicating the Kremlin’s efforts to keep consumer inflation under control with one hand even as it overheats the economy with spending on the war against Ukraine with the other. Over time a weaker ruble could mean higher prices for imports from China, Russia's main trade partner these days. President Vladimir Putin says things are under control. One wild card is sanctions against a key Russian bank that have disrupted foreign trade payments. If Russia finds a workaround for that, the ruble could regain some of its recent losses. Why your favorite catalogs are smaller this holiday season PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — While retailers hope to go big this holiday season, customers may notice that the catalogs arriving in their mailboxes are smaller. Many of the millions of catalogs getting sent to U.S. homes were scaled down to save on postage and paper. Some gift purveyors are sending out postcards. In a sign of the times, the American Catalog Mailers Association rebranded itself in May as the American Commerce Marketing Association. Despite no longer carrying an extended inventory of goods, industry experts say catalogs help retailers cut through the noise and still hold their own in value because of growing digital advertising costs. Massachusetts lawmakers push for an effort to ban all tobacco sales over time BOSTON (AP) — A handful of Massachusetts lawmakers are hoping to persuade their colleagues to support a proposal that would make the state the first to adopt a ban meant to eliminate the use of tobacco products over time. Other locations have weighed similar “generational tobacco bans.” The bans phase out the use of tobacco products based not just on a person's age but on birth year. Lawmakers plan to file the proposal next year. If approved, the bill would set a date and ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born after that date forever, eventually banning all sales. Vietnam approves $67 billion high-speed railway project between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam has approved the construction of a high-speed railway connecting the capital Hanoi in the north with the financial capital of Ho Chi Minh in the south. It is expected to cost $67 billion and will stretch 1,541 kilometers (957 miles). The new train is expected to travel at speeds of up to 350 kph (217 mph), reducing the journey from the current 30 hours to just five hours. The decision was taken by Vietnam’s National Assembly on Saturday. Construction is expected to begin in 2027 and Vietnam hopes that the first trains will start operating by 2035. But the country has been beleaguered by delays to its previous infrastructure projects. Inflation rose to 2.3% in Europe. That won't stop the central bank from cutting interest rates FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Inflation in the 20 countries that use the euro currency rose in November — but that likely won’t stop the European Central Bank from cutting interest rates as the prospect of new U.S. tariffs from the incoming Trump administration adds to the gloom over weak growth. The European Union’s harmonized index of consumer prices rose 2.3 percent, up from 2.0% in October, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat. However, worries about growth mean the Dec. 12 ECB meeting is not about whether to cut rates, but by how much. Market buzz says there could be a larger than usual half-point cut in the benchmark rate, currently 3.25%. Stock market today: S&P 500 and Dow post gains and close out best month of 2024 NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed with solid gains as Wall Street put the finishing touches on one of its best months of the year. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 188 points, or 0.4%. The Nasdaq added 0.8%. Friday was an abbreviated trading day, with stocks closing at 1 p.m. ET and the bond market an hour later. Investors were looking to see how much shoppers are willing to spend on gifts for the holidays. Black Friday unofficially kicked off the holiday shopping season, although retailers had been offering early deals for weeks. Macy’s and Best Buy each gained around 2%. From T-shirts to thongs, how indie film merchandise became a hot commodity LOS ANGELES (AP) — Merchandise is nothing new. But in recent years, movie-inspired streetwear has exploded in popularity among film buffs, thanks in part to viral marketing campaigns put on by independent film studios. Take the hourslong line for one-day-only “Anora” pop-up in Los Angeles, for instance. Clothes are promoted as trendy and in limited supply and are often made in collaboration with popular brands. The experience of watching movies has become a less collective one in recent years. For many fans, repping their favorite films in public is a way to combat that. Santa's annual train visit delivers hope and magic to one corner of coal country ON BOARD THE SANTA TRAIN (AP) — Since 1943, the people of Appalachian Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee have looked forward to Santa’s arrival. Not in a sleigh on their rooftops, but on a train. At each stop of the CSX Santa Train there are dozens to hundreds of people. Many crowd around the back, where Santa and his helpers toss stuffed animals. Meanwhile groups of volunteer “elves” fan out with gifts, making sure every child goes home with something. Many of the children who line the tracks on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, waiting for Santa, are the third, fourth or fifth generation to do so. Sandra Owens has been coming for 43 years and now brings her grandchildren. She says, “The faces of the kids, that’s what makes me happy. You can’t see anything better.”
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Kurtenbach: Do the 49ers have any pride? We’re about to find out
(Reuters) – Dell Technologies missed Wall Street expectations for third-quarter revenue on Tuesday, weighed down by weaker demand for its traditional PCs and stiff competition from rival server makers. The company’s shares fell more than 5% to $134 in extended trading. Dell reported revenue of $24.37 billion in the quarter, compared with the average analyst estimate of $24.67 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Despite booming demand for Dell’s AI-optimized servers used to handle large AI workloads, its traditional PC segment has been facing stiff competition from rivals such as HP and weaker consumer spending amid an uncertain economy. Revenue from Dell’s client solutions group, which houses its PC business, came in at $12.13 billion, below expectations of $12.43 billion. “Interest in our portfolio is at an all-time high, driving record AI server orders demand of $3.6 billion in Q3 and a pipeline that grew more than 50%,” Dell’s Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said on Tuesday. As Dell’s server revenue grows, investors are keenly eyeing the company’s costs after it flagged in May that higher expenses to build AI-heavy servers and competitive pricing would hurt its margins. The company is also betting on new AI PCs to boost its traditional computer business. Revenue from Dell’s infrastructure solutions group, which includes its AI servers, rose 34% to $11.37 billion, compared with estimates of $11.35 billion. The company’s servers and networking revenue for the third quarter jumped 58% to $7.36 billion, but missed estimates of $7.64 billion. (Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta) Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content. var ytflag = 0;var myListener = function() {document.removeEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);lazyloadmyframes();};document.addEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);window.addEventListener('scroll', function() {if (ytflag == 0) {lazyloadmyframes();ytflag = 1;}});function lazyloadmyframes() {var ytv = document.getElementsByClassName("klazyiframe");for (var i = 0; i < ytv.length; i++) {ytv[i].src = ytv[i].getAttribute('data-src');}} Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );Polish-Hungarian relations have reached an all-time low after Hungary granted asylum to a wanted Polish ex-minister as a "political refugee." Prime Minister Viktor Orban has indicated he is open to further cases. For more than 150 years, Poland and Hungary have been linked in a remarkable way. Both nations supported each other in their efforts for independence. Freedom fighters from both countries rushed to help each other in existential historical moments, such as during the anti-Habsburg revolution of 1848. In 1956, when Hungary underwent an anti-communist revolution, Poles spontaneously organized blood drives for the victims of the Soviet invasion. "Pole and Hungarian brothers be" is a well-known proverb in both countries. Since 2007, there has even been an official day dedicated to Polish-Hungarian friendship, March 23. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban admired the Poles' deep desire for freedom and their anti-communist struggle so much that he wrote his thesis as law student in 1987 on "Polish social self-organization using the example of the Solidarity trade union." However, Orban of all people has now caused an all-time low in the countries' relations. On December 19, he granted asylum to the former Polish Deputy Justice Minister Marcin Romanowski, who is wanted on a European arrest warrant. Political collision This decision promptly led to a political head-on clash between Poland and Hungary, whose relations have already been dire since the change of power in Poland in December 2023. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski described the move as "an action contrary to the fundamental principle of loyal cooperation" as laid out in the EU treaties. He also recalled the Polish ambassador to Hungary for "indefinite consultations" and summoned the Hungarian ambassador in Warsaw to give him a protest note. This kind of diplomatic escalation is extremely rare between EU countries . Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk also compared Orban's Hungary to the regime of dictator Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus. In May 2024, a Polish judge who is under investigation for abuse of office and leaking state secrets had fled to Belarus . "I did not expect corrupt politicians escaping justice would be able to choose between [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko and Orban," Tusk said. 'Liberal rainbow coalition' The Hungarian Prime Minister had already indicated on December 19 that he would grant asylum to "Polish political refugees". In an interview with the conservative pro-government Hungarian news portal Mandiner, he also called the current Polish government a "liberal rainbow coalition" that "uses the rule of law and legal means to get even with its political opponents." Polish-Hungarian relations are "at a low point because the liberal Polish rainbow coalition is unable to distinguish between party and state politics," Orban said. In reality, however, the governing coalition of the liberal-conservative Polish Prime Minister Tusk is trying to do exactly the opposite. It wants to untangle the nexus of party and state politics that existed under the previous national-conservative government and to investigate its corruption scandals. One of the people at the center of the investigation is the former Deputy Justice Minister Marcin Romanowski. Lifting immunity Between 2019 and 2023, Romanowski used to be in charge of the Justice Fund which was designed to support victims of crime. However, the public prosecutor has charged the politician with 11 criminal offenses, including membership of a criminal organization, embezzlement and manipulation in the allocation of money from the fund. The sum of the disputed funds amounts to around 112 million Polish zloty (approx. €25 million/$27.3 million). The 48-year-old MP from the former ruling and now opposition Law and Justice party (PiS) was briefly arrested in July, but was later released. As a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, he enjoyed immunity. However, this immunity was lifted by the body in October. On December 9, a court in Warsaw ordered Romanowski to be remanded in custody for three months. Only, by then, he had already gone into hiding and fled to Hungary . On December 20, Romanowski posted on social media that asylum for a member of the Polish opposition was a "strong warning signal for Tusk's regime." He said he wanted to continue working from Budapest for a "sovereign, Christian and strong Poland." His goal is to "abolish the Tusk regime." More asylum cases The affair exemplifies the severe level of problems the Tusk government faces in restoring the rule of law in Poland. Poland's judiciary, including the Constitutional Court, remain heavily dominated by PiS supporters. Moreover, also President Andrzej Duda, who is close to the PiS, continues to delay all government reforms as much as possible. This could give an idea on the problems Hungary will face after a possible change of power. Moreover, it is not the first time that a prominent corruption suspect has been granted asylum in Hungary. In 2018, the former Macedonian head of government Nikola Gruevski had fled to Hungary where he received asylum. In the more recent years, the Hungarian government has also granted temporary refuge to several politicians from the Hungarian minority in Romania. For Poland, however, the escape of a member of parliament is a precedent, comments the conservative Polish daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita. "Romanowski has asked an ally of Putin for help. It is a disgrace to be an ally of Putin's ally ," the paper writes. In Hungary, the left-wing portal Merce ran the headline "The Hungarian government is using refugee protection to save political allies." Open for more Polish politicians Both Polish and Hungarian media outlets are now speculating which PiS politician will be the next to leave for Hungary. It may well be MEP Daniel Obajtek, former head of the Polish oil company Orlen. For years, Obajtek has been involved in numerous corruption scandals. Among other charges, he is facing prosecution for manipulating Orlen tenders. Hungary's Orban vows to defy ICC's Netanyahu arrest warrant To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The speculation about Obajtek was fueled by Orban on December 22 during his annual end-of-year press conference. After a female journalist specifically asked about the former head of Orlen, Hungary's prime minister — who is known for his misogynistic remarks — said: "I don't know if we're thinking of the same man because you never know which man is in a woman's head." However, as Obajtek is a Member of the European Parliament, there is no need to deal with him, Orban said, referring to the man's immunity. The prime minister added, "Generally speaking, we have to be prepared for the fact that there will and could be more cases like this." This article was originally written in German.The scenarios for the 49ers to make the playoffs are . What I’m asking the 49ers to do in Sunday’s game with the Bears is simple and achievable: This might not be a team that can compete for the championship (or even make the tournament) but that doesn’t mean anyone should roll over. This isn’t the NBA, after all. No, in the NFL, there is still plenty to play for, even if the season’s original goals have gone up in smoke. Sunday is the perfect spot for San Francisco to get right. They’re facing a Chicago team with a rookie quarterback, a head coach in his first game, and the general stench of chaos around them. Don’t get me wrong, the Bears have many admirable qualities, and they can absolutely win Sunday’s game, which should be called the . But surely the Niners — for all their faults and fumbles — aren’t as bad as these guys. Right? Say what you will about the Niners (I’ve said it all by now), but at least they’re not possibly starting former Seahawk special teamer Travis Homer at running back Sunday—no, they’ll have rookie Issac Guerendo in the backfield. And while Bears fans wondered if interim head coach Thomas Brown (who was promoted to offensive coordinator 17 days prior) would fulfill his new gig from the booth, the Niners haven’t dealt with coaching-from-the-booth issues for over a year. And instead of wondering if their quarterback is “the guy” to stake the franchise, like the Bears with rookie Caleb Williams, the Niners are trying to figure out how much to pay the quarterback on whom they’ll stake the franchise. That’s totally different! But, hey, the Niners will be at home on Sunday. That has to count for something. Ok, the margins between these two teams might be tighter than initially expected, but this Niners’ season still matters. If not the quixotic quest for the playoffs, then as a testament to quality for players and coaches and a momentum starter for the 2025 season. “Just flush the things that have happened. Don’t worry about what has happened in the past,” George Kittle said this week. “Flush it, try to be your best self, and just move forward because we still have a lot of great players on this team that can all make really special plays. And all it takes is a spark to get the boys going, and then after that, we’ll see what can happen.” This is the beauty of the NFL — every game has meaning, even if neither team should have any interest in actually playing the game. And for all the conversation around the Niners tanking for a good draft pick, wouldn’t it be better to pull it together and play — for the first time all season — some solid football final weeks, making the Seahawks and Cardinals — who need a playoff berth more than the Niners — sweat until the very end, and put a dent in the notion that this team’s stock is in a tailspin? This is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league, after all. Lesser teams have earned more reputation from less than what is being asked of the Niners. Draft picks? That can all be sorted out in the spring. And it’s not like the Niners need to position themselves for a quarterback at the top of the first round. (We saw how that worked out last time.) No, the Niners need both quality and quantity this upcoming offseason. They’ll need to build up both lines and their defense with young and cheap players. But this team isn’t tearing things down to the foundation—this isn’t a full-on rebuild. No, call it a restructuring. It’s one part a penance for trying to run back the same team that went to the Super Bowl in 2023, another, the natural autophagy of a football team. It’s a crucial offseason, no doubt, and wouldn’t it be better if the Niners entered it with a reason to believe they are still a team to beat in the NFC? The Niners built a stars-and-scrubs roster and were decimated by bad injuries to those stars. They played with fire and were burned. After a season as disappointing as this one, the Niners have to prove that their window of contention for that long-sought sixth Lombardi Trophy is still open. That this team isn’t done, even if this season is. Beating the Bears won’t reverse this campaign’s trend or give the Niners a leg up in 2025, but losing to Chicago certainly wouldn’t help the cause. Whatever lie the 49ers need to tell themselves to get up for this game needs to be said. The Niners’ best might not be all that great anymore, but it’s time for that best to show itself. Great players and teams are self-motivated, after all. Consider this the 2025 preseason, folks. What the Niners do on Sunday and in the final four games of the season will give us a great hint as to what we can expect next year.
NoneDow, stocks close higher despite initial Trump tariff worryChargers focused on avoiding a letdown and not a potential playoff berth in matchup with Patriots
Guy Ritchie’s big-budget TV set robbed by daring thieves who stole camera equipmentCLEVELAND (AP) — Alyssa Nakken, the first woman to coach in a Major League Baseball game, is leaving the San Francisco Giants to join the Cleveland Guardians. Nakken made history in 2022 when she took over as first-base coach following an ejection. A former college softball star at Sacramento State, Nakken joined the Giants in 2014 and was promoted to a spot on manager Gabe Kapler's staff in 2020, becoming the majors' first full-time female coach. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, obituaries, sports, and more.Alyssa Nakken, first full-time female coach in MLB history, leaving Giants to join Guardians
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. stock underperforms Tuesday when compared to competitorsFour years pass since liberation of Azerbaijan’s Lachin from Armenian occupation
WASHINGTON (AP) — A lead organization monitoring for food crises around the world withdrew a new report this week warning of imminent famine in north Gaza under what it called Israel's “near-total blockade,” after the U.S. asked for its retraction, U.S. officials told the Associated Press. The move follows public criticism of the report from the U.S. ambassador to Israel. The rare public dispute drew accusations from prominent aid and human-rights figures that the work of the U.S.-funded Famine Early Warning System Network , meant to reflect the data-driven analysis of unbiased international experts, has been tainted by politics. A declaration of famine would be a great embarrassment for Israel, which has insisted that its 15-month war in Gaza is aimed against the Hamas militant group and not against its civilian population. U.S. ambassador to Israel Jacob Lew earlier this week called the warning by the internationally recognized group inaccurate and “irresponsible ." Lew and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which funds the monitoring group, both said the findings failed to properly account for rapidly changing circumstances in north Gaza. Humanitarian and human rights officials expressed fear of U.S. political interference in the world's monitoring system for famines. The U.S. Embassy in Israel and the State Department declined comment. FEWS officials did not respond to questions. “We work day and night with the U.N. and our Israeli partners to meet humanitarian needs — which are great — and relying on inaccurate data is irresponsible,” Lew said Tuesday. USAID confirmed to the AP that it had asked the famine-monitoring organization to withdraw its stepped-up warning issued in a report dated Monday. The report did not appear among the top updates on the group's website Thursday, but the link to it remained active . The dispute points in part to the difficulty of assessing the extent of starvation in largely isolated northern Gaza. Thousands in recent weeks have fled an intensified Israeli military crackdown that aid groups say has allowed delivery of only a dozen trucks of food and water since roughly October. FEWS Net said in its withdrawn report that unless Israel changes its policy, it expects the number of people dying of starvation and related ailments in north Gaza to reach between two and 15 per day sometime between January and March. The internationally recognized mortality threshold for famine is two or more deaths a day per 10,000 people. FEWS was created by the U.S. development agency in the 1980s and is still funded by it. But it is intended to provide independent, neutral and data-driven assessments of hunger crises, including in war zones. Its findings help guide decisions on aid by the U.S. and other governments and agencies around the world. A spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry, Oren Marmorstein, welcomed the U.S. ambassador's public challenge of the famine warning. “FEWS NET - Stop spreading these lies!” Marmorstein said on X . In challenging the findings publicly, the U.S. ambassador "leveraged his political power to undermine the work of this expert agency,” said Scott Paul, a senior manager at the Oxfam America humanitarian nonprofit. Paul stressed that he was not weighing in on the accuracy of the data or methodology of the report. “The whole point of creating FEWS is to have a group of experts make assessments about imminent famine that are untainted by political considerations,” said Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch and now a visiting professor in international affairs at Princeton University . “It sure looks like USAID is allowing political considerations -- the Biden administration’s worry about funding Israel’s starvation strategy -- to interfere." Israel says it has been operating in recent months against Hamas militants still active in northern Gaza. It says the vast majority of the area’s residents have fled and relocated to Gaza City, where most aid destined for the north is delivered. But some critics, including a former defense minister, have accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Gaza’s far north, near the Israeli border. North Gaza has been one of the areas hardest-hit by fighting and Israel’s restrictions on aid throughout its war with Hamas militants. Global famine monitors and U.N. and U.S. officials have warned repeatedly of the imminent risk of malnutrition and deaths from starvation hitting famine levels. International officials say Israel last summer increased the amount of aid it was admitting there, under U.S. pressure. The U.S. and U.N. have said Gaza’s people as a whole need between 350 and 500 trucks a day of food and other vital needs. But the U.N. and aid groups say Israel recently has again blocked almost all aid to that part of Gaza. Cindy McCain , the American head of the U.N. World Food Program, called earlier this month for political pressure to get food flowing to Palestinians there. Israel says it places no restrictions on aid entering Gaza and that hundreds of truckloads of goods are piled up at Gaza’s crossings and accused international aid agencies of failing to deliver the supplies. The U.N. and other aid groups say Israeli restrictions, ongoing combat, looting and insufficient security by Israeli troops make it impossible to deliver aid effectively. Lew, the U.S. ambassador, said the famine warning was based on “outdated and inaccurate” data. He pointed to uncertainty over how many of the 65,000-75,000 people remaining in northern Gaza had fled in recent weeks, saying that skewed the findings. FEWS said in its report that its famine assessment holds even if as few as 10,000 people remain. USAID in its statement to AP said it had reviewed the report before it became public, and noted “discrepancies” in population estimates and some other data. The U.S. agency had asked the famine warning group to address those uncertainties and be clear in its final report to reflect how those uncertainties affected its predictions of famine, it said. “This was relayed before Ambassador Lew’s statement,” USAID said in a statement. “FEWS NET did not resolve any of these concerns and published in spite of these technical comments and a request for substantive engagement before publication. As such, USAID asked to retract the report.” Roth criticized the U.S. challenge of the report in light of the gravity of the crisis there. “This quibbling over the number of people desperate for food seems a politicized diversion from the fact that the Israeli government is blocking virtually all food from getting in,” he said, adding that “the Biden administration seems to be closing its eyes to that reality, but putting its head in the sand won’t feed anyone.” The U.S., Israel’s main backer, provided a record amount of military support in the first year of the war. At the same time, the Biden administration repeatedly urged Israel to allow more access to aid deliveries in Gaza overall, and warned that failing to do so could trigger U.S. restrictions on military support. The administration recently said Israel was making improvements and declined to carry out its threat of restrictions. Military support for Israel’s war in Gaza is politically charged in the U.S., with Republicans and some Democrats staunchly opposed any effort to limit U.S. support over the suffering of Palestinian civilians trapped in the conflict. The Biden administration’s reluctance to do more to press Israel for improved treatment of civilians undercut support for Democrats in last month’s elections. ___ Sam Mednick and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.None
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