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LONDON (AP) — Air travelers faced possible delays at U.K. airports Friday as government employees who check passports went on strike in the latest of a spate of walkouts over pay amid a cost-of-living crisis. France braced for similar Christmas travel disruption, with a weekend rail strike starting to bite on Friday. The strike by Border Force staff was due to continue through the end of the year, with the […]

VAVUNIYA, Sri Lanka (AP) — Rasarathnam Anushiya once had a mission: She awaited orders to blow herself up as a suicide bomber during Sri Lanka’s civil war. Years on, her struggle now is to feed her three children during the country’s unprecedented economic crisis. Anushiya, 36, was arrested in 2009 when government troops defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels, who had sought to create an independent homeland for minority Tamils. She […]

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police shot dead an Arab assailant who allegedly rammed them with his car after trying to shoot an officer in central Israel on Friday, authorities and medics said, an attack that left three policemen wounded. The incident took place in the Arab Israeli town of Kfar Qassem, an unusual site for what police suspected was a “nationalistic” militant attack. The Arab community in Israel is also […]

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Thousands of flights were canceled and homeless shelters were overflowing Thursday amid one of the most treacherous holiday travel seasons the U.S. has seen in decades, with temperatures plummeting 50 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas and forecasters warning of an impending “bomb cyclone” that could make conditions even worse before Christmas. The frigid air was moving through the central United States to the east, with windchill […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Alexei Ratmansky, one of the most acclaimed choreographers in the world, is stepping down from his perch at American Ballet Theatre, the company announced on Thursday. Ratmansky, who has held the title of artist in residence at ABT for 13 years, will leave at the end of his contract in June 2023. The company hailed his many contributions but said it did not have word on […]

CAIRO (AP) — The Central Bank of Egypt raised interest rates Thursday as the country continues to battle double-digit inflation amid a sharp currency devaluation. In a statement, the bank’s monetary policy committee announced that the most basic lending rate, the overnight deposit rate, was increased from 13.25% to 16.25%. Egypt’s economy has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, years of government austerity measures, and fallout fromf the war […]

PHOENIX (AP) — An expert testifying at Republican Kari Lake’s trial challenging her defeat in Arizona governor’s race said Thursday that her claims about the impact of Election Day lines and voter disenfranchisement on the outcome weren’t backed by evidence. Kenneth Mayer, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, also criticized a claim by a pollster who testified on Lake’s behalf that technical problems at polling places had […]

TORONTO (AP) — Goals from Calle Jarnkrok and Mitchell Marner ignited the Toronto Maple Leafs late in the second period. They then survived a late-game scare to score a 4-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday afternoon. In their final outing before the Christmas break, the Maple Leafs (21-7-6) increased their victory string at Scotiabank Arena to six games and a perfect 5-0 in December. Only the Boston Bruins, […]

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — In a major political move, Pakistani authorities before dawn Friday removed Pervez Elahi as the top elected official in the country’s populous eastern Punjab province, following his failure to win a vote of confidence from the provincial legislature. The move was a setback for former Prime Minister Imran Khan, whose Tehreek-e-Insaf party was allied with Elahi in the Punjab Assembly. A government statement said Punjab governor […]