Philadelphia’s 105th Thanksgiving Day parade left folks wet but delighted (2024)

Police and protesters have clashed in Georgia after the country’s ruling party suspended negotiations to join the European Union until 2028. Police used water cannons, pepper spray and tear gas to disperse protesters after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze made the announcement. He also said Georgia would take no budgetary money from the EU until 2028. Georgian Dream claimed victory in last month’s parliamentary election, which the opposition in the South Caucasus nation dismissed as fraudulent. The election on Oct. 26 was widely seen as a referendum on the country’s aspirations to join the EU and the ruling party indicated to voters that it would continue to seek membership of the bloc.

Chad’s government is ending a defense cooperation agreement with France to redefine the nation's sovereignty from its former colonial ruler. A foreign ministry spokesperson said the decision was a turning point since the Central African nation gained independence more than six decades ago. It said the decision would allow Chad to redefine its strategic partnerships in line with national priorities. Chad was one of the last countries in the region where the French maintained a military presence, having been ousted in recent years from Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, after years of fighting Islamic extremists alongside regional troops.

Lucas Herbert again led the way after the second round of the Australian Open while South Korean amateur Hyojin Yang birdied her final hole to take the lead at the Women’s Australian Open being played concurrently at two courses on the famed Melbourne sand belt. The tournaments are using alternating tee times — and with level prize money for the second consecutive year — at the par-72 Kingston Heath (par-73 for the Women’s Open) and par-71 Victoria Golf Club. Herbert shot 66 Friday at Kingston Heath for a two-round total of 14-under 129 and had a four-stroke stroke lead heading into the weekend. American Ryggs Johnston was in second place after a 68 at Victoria.

A game after shutting out Atlanta United 1-0, Orlando City faces the New York Red Bulls.

The LA Galaxy look for their 20th win of the season when they face the Seattle Sounders.

British Transport Minister Louise Haigh has resigned over a decade-old fraud conviction for claiming her cellphone was stolen. In a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Haigh said the issue “will inevitably be a distraction from delivering on the work of this government.” The resignation came hours after Sky News and The Times newspaper reported that Haigh had been charged with fraud after she reported that a work cellphone had been stolen after she was mugged in 2013. She later said she had mistakenly listed it among the stolen items. She pleaded guilty to fraud by misrepresentation and was given a conditional discharge.

Workers at one of Ukraine's thermal power plants struggle to repair damage and keep electricity flowing as Russia continues its campaign of attacks targeting the country's power grid. In the latest large-scale strike, damage to the energy infrastructure caused power disruption for more that a million Ukrainians. Despite the ongoing risks, workers at a power plant operated by Ukraine's biggest private energy operator, say they feel compelled to do their best to keep the lights on and heat homes through the winter months. “Who’ll do it, if not us?" said Oleksandr, head of the Production Management Department.

Basheer Jihad scored 20 points, Joson Sanon added 19 and Arizona State blew a 13-point point lead before the Sun Devils beat New Mexico 85-82 at the Acrisure Classic. BJ Freeman scored 16 points for Arizona State (6-1). Alston Mason made 4 of 4 from the free-throw line in the final 23 seconds and finished with 11 points. Donovan Dent had a season-best 30 points and seven assists for New Mexico (5-2) and Mustapha Amzil scored a career-high 28 points. Jihad hit a 3-pointer and, after a New Mexico turnover, Freeman made another 3 to give Arizona State a five-point lead with 1:25 to play. Arizona State plays Saint Mary’s in the championship game. New Mexico takes on Southern California in the consolation game.

Milwaukee plays Washington looking to prolong its five-game win streak. The teams square off Saturday for the first time this season. Milwaukee is 7-8 against the Eastern Conference, and Washington is 2-10 against conference opponents.

Golden State looks to stop its three-game slide with a victory against Phoenix. The teams square off Saturday for the first time this season. Phoenix is 4-3 against the Pacific Division, and Golden State is 0-2 against division opponents.

Dallas visits Utah for a Western Conference matchup Saturday. The teams meet Saturday for the first time this season. Utah is 2-13 against the Western Conference, and Dallas is 7-6 against conference opponents.

Polls open in election to choose Ireland's next government after A campaign dominated by housing and immigration.

Ireland is voting in a parliamentary election that will decide the next government. It also will show whether Ireland bucks the global trend of incumbents being ousted by disgruntled voters. Polls opened Friday at 7 a.m. (0700GMT), and Ireland’s 3.8 million voters are selecting 174 lawmakers to sit in the Dail, the lower house of parliament. The campaign has been dominated by housing and immigration, a major issue in the country of 5.4 million. Analysts say a coalition of the outgoing center-right ruling parties Fine Gael and Fianna Fail is the most likely outcome, but there are many variables.

Japan’s embattled Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who survived as leader after a major election loss by his governing coalition, is promising to work closely with the long-ignored opposition that is now the only way his minority government can stay in power. Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner Komeito together lost a majority in the 465-seat lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two-house parliament, in the Oct. 27 elections. He needs support from opposition parties to keep his fragile government alive. The election loss was blamed on voter anger over his party’s financial misconduct, and he is trying to quickly tackle reforms.

The UNLV men’s basketball team walked away from Mullett Arena on Thursday on the receiving end of insult added to injury.

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te will stop over in Hawaii and Guam on his trip to the South Pacific, in a move expected to draw objection from China. Lai is due to depart Taiwan on Saturday for a weeklong trip to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau — three diplomatic allies of the self-ruled island. Taiwan’s Central News Agency quoted an unnamed official in reporting the stopovers, and Lai's office later confirmed to The Associated Press that the report was accurate. Under pressure from China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, the island has just 12 formal diplomatic allies. But it retains strong contacts with the U.S., its main source of diplomatic and military support.

Tua Tagovailoa had spoken about how the Miami Dolphins had an opportunity this week to change the narratives suggesting they couldn’t play well in freezing temperatures. But the Dolphins ultimately came up short in the cold once again in a 30-17 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night amid light flurries. The Dolphins (5-7) have lost their last 12 regular-season or postseason games in which the kickoff temperature was at 40 degrees (4.4 Celsius) or lower. The kickoff temperature at Lambeau Field was 27 degrees (-2.7 Celsius) with 10-mph winds and a wind chill of 18.

Paraguay’s foreign minister says his country is committed to its relationship with Taiwan and has no plans to break off their diplomatic relationship in favor of China as he visited the increasingly isolated island. Paraguay is the only country in South America and one of 12 worldwide that recognizes Taiwan as a country, but it also has a trade relationship with China worth about $5 billion. Foreign Minister Ruben Dario Ramirez Lezcano said Friday that Paraguay was open to establish diplomatic relations with China “without conditions.” Paraguay's stance would buck a trend. Taiwan’s allies have dwindled as China has poached governments to its side. Last year, Honduras cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

Malaysia prepared for its worst floods in a decade after heavier-than-expected monsoon rains caused severe flooding that killed three people and displaced more than 80,000. The National Disaster Command Center online portal said Friday that 84,597 people, from more than 25,000 families, across seven states have been evacuated to 488 temporary shelters. The northeastern state of Kelantan, bordering Thailand, was the worst hit with 56,029 people evacuated followed by neighboring Terengganu with 21,264. Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Thursday that floods this year were expected to be worse than 2014, where over 250,000 people were displaced and 21 killed. He was quoted by local media as saying that government agencies were prepared.

Love connects with Reed on 2 TDs as Packers use fast start to beat Dolphins 30-17

Russian defense minister has arrived in North Korea for talks with military and political leaders, ministry says.

Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov is in North Korea for talks with its military and political leaders. The TASS news agency report Friday didn’t specify who Belousov would be meeting or the purpose of the talks. North Korean state media didn’t immediately confirm the visit. The visit came days after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with a Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and called for the two countries to formulate unspecified countermeasures in response to North Korea’s dispatch of thousands of troops to Russia in support of its war fighting against Ukraine.

Hundreds of Nicaraguan religious leaders, students, activists, dissidents and journalists are ‘stateless.’ President Daniel Ortega's government stripped them of their citizenship, homes and government pensions. The United Nations says they’re among 4.4 million stateless people worldwide struggling to find jobs, education and healthcare, even open bank accounts and marry without valid ID documents. The Nicaraguans are scattered across the United States, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico and Spain in limbo as they struggle to recover from physical and psychological trauma. It’s something groups working with exiles have described as an extension of the torture many suffered in Nicaragua.

Customers at this Starbucks can sip coffee and observe a quiet North Korean mountain village

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos says impeaching the vice president, who is facing a legal storm after publicly threatening to have him killed, would be a waste of time for Congress. It is unclear whether Marcos’ remark on Friday would stop plans by several groups to file impeachment complaints against Duterte over a number of issues, including her alleged misuse of confidential government funds and her recent public threat to have the president, his wife and the speaker of the House of Representatives killed if she herself were killed in a plot she has not detailed.

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The thing about narratives, sometimes they’re just true.

Day 2 of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire sees Israeli airstrike on Lebanon and scattered attacks

Desertion is starving the Ukrainian army of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia. Soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials tell The Associated Press that tens of thousands of tired and bereft Ukrainian troops have walked away from combat and front-line positions. According to military commanders and soldiers, entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses. Some take medical leave and never return. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes during firefights. The war has largely been going Russia's way, and the desertions could put Kyiv at a clear disadvantage in future ceasefire talks.

After weeks of pushing early deals, retailers in the United States and some other countries are promising bigger discounts on Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving still reigns as the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season even if it’s lost some luster. In the U.S., analysts envision solid sales, though perhaps not as robust as last year’s. Despite the easing of inflation, many shoppers are being cautious with their discretionary spending, according to analysts. Retailers 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.

One of the Middle East and North Africa’s largest film festivals is openiong in Morocco, drawing actors and directors from throughout the world to present 70 features from 32 countries. The Marrakech International Film Festival, now in its 21st year, will showcase Oscar contenders and screen films for members of the public. But unlike larger festivals in Venice, Cannes or Toronto, the festival places unique emphasis on emerging directors and films from the Middle East and Africa.

It was an alarming, even sickening, suggestion: Farmers in Zimbabwe hit hard by drought should farm maggots to feed their animals and boost their household incomes. But the smelly solution has been embraced after some convincing in a country where people have traditionally associated flies with diseases such as cholera. The larvae of the black soldier fly don’t spread disease, and they are a rich source of affordable protein. The collection of food waste for maggot farming also helps limit trash and greenhouse gas emissions. One local woman now celebrates the "sweet smell of food for the maggots, and for us, the farmers.”

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.”

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.

President-elect Donald Trump is creating a National Energy Council that he says will establish U.S. “energy dominance” around the world. The energy council will be led by Doug Burgum, Trump’s choice to head the Interior Department. It will be key in Trump’s pledge to sell more oil to allies and his intent to move away from President Joe Biden’s focus on climate change. But the president-elect’s energy wishes are likely to run into real-world limits. For one, U.S. oil production under Biden is already at record levels.

Led by VonCameron Davis' 18 points, the Kent State Golden Flashes defeated the Towson Tigers 65-54 at the Western Slam. The Golden Flashes moved to 5-1 with the victory and the Tigers dropped to 4-3. Dylan Williamson led Towson with 21 points.

There's relief over a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, but Lebanese are now facing the realization of the challenges that lie ahead. The U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement raises multiple questions. Will Hezbollah fully remove its fighters and arsenals from southern Lebanon? Can the Lebanese army ensure that it does so? Who will foot the bill for rebuilding Lebanon? The World Bank estimates that Lebanon has suffered some $8.5 billion in damage from the war. At the same time, Lebanon faces its own internal tensions — a long financial crisis and anger among Hezbollah's opponents who blame it for the war.

Mexican president says she is confident that a tariff war with the US can be averted

NBC Sports and Peacock will present an alternate broadcast featuring elements of the EA Sports Madden 25 video game during a Dec. 21 matchup between the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs. The announcement of the Madden NFL Cast was made during halftime of Thursday night’s game between the Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers. It is the first time NBC has done an alternate broadcast of an NFL game. CBS has done at least one game on Nickelodeon for the past five seasons, while ESPN/ABC have the “ManningCast” as well as animated presentations featuring “The Simpsons” and “Toy Story.”

DETROIT (AP) — Jared Goff threw two touchdown passes to Sam LaPorta, Jake Bates made three field goals in the first half and the Detroit Lions held off the Chicago Bears 23-20 on Thursday to extend their winning streak to 10 games.

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Khalif Battle led a balanced attack with 16 points, Ryan Nembhard had a double-double and No. 3 Gonzaga used a first-half blitz to beat No. 14 Indiana 89-73 in the consolation round of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Thursday.