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Ukraine and Russia carry out largest prisoner exchange since beginning of the war

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 17:14:51 GMT

(CNN) — Ukraine and Russia have each exchanged over 200 prisoners of war in what Kyiv called the largest prisoner swap between the two countries since the war began in February 2022.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the news in a social media post Wednesday, heralding the return of over 200 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians from Russian captivity.The two sides have exchanged prisoners throughout the conflict but this is the first major swap since August.Among the group are seven soldiers who defended Snake Island, a rocky island in the Black Sea which became an evocative symbol of Ukrainian resistance in February 2022 when Ukrainian defenders managed to fend off a takeover from Russian soldiers.Soldiers who defended the besieged southern city of Mariupol and its Azovstal steel plant were also exchanged alongside POWs detained in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, according to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine,&nb...

TGI Fridays abruptly closes 36 ‘underperforming’ restaurants

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 17:14:51 GMT

New York (CNN) — Some fans of TGI Fridays were likely surprised this week when they found their local restaurant permanently closed because the chain abruptly shut down dozens of locations around the US.The chain said in a release that it closed 36 “underperforming” restaurants as part of its “ongoing growth strategy,” which also includes also a shakeup of its executive ranks and selling some restaurants back to its former CEO.TGI Fridays didn’t release a list of closed locations, but local media reports indicate that New Jersey was most affected with seven locations closed, six in Massachusetts shuttered and five in New York also gone. Some locations in California, Colorado, Florida, Texas and Pennsylvania were also reportedly closed.Prior to the closures, TGI Fridays had about 270 US locations — a footprint that has dwindled in recent years. About 80% of “total impacted employees” were offered transfer opportunities, the company said.“Our top priority has alway...

‘I have plenty of time’: Novak Djokovic plays down injury concerns ahead of the Australian Open

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 17:14:51 GMT

(CNN) — Novak Djokovic says he has “plenty of time” to fully recover from the wrist injury that hampered him during his surprise defeat to Australia’s Alex de Minaur in the United Cup on Wednesday.The world No. 1 was beaten 6-4 6-4 – his first defeat on Australian soil since 2018, a run stretching 43 matches – and received treatment from the trainer on his right wrist for the second straight match.Australia won the tie 3-0 to advance to the United Cup semifinals.“I knew that probably [I was] not going to be at 100% physically, emotionally, mentally game-wise in the opening week of a season,” Djokovic told reporters, per Reuters. “Neither did I expect that.“I was not on my level, but it was just one of these days where I didn’t feel my best on the court and [my] opponent played very well.“I think I’ll be okay, to be honest,” Djokovic added. “[The wrist injury] did have quite an impact, particularly on the forehand and serve. I have plenty of time, I think enough t...

Iowa voter’s question at a town hall shows how GOP candidates have avoided taking on Trump

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 17:14:51 GMT

Waukee, Iowa (CNN) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies have hammered former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on the campaign trail and the airwaves – and she has fired back – as the two seek to emerge as the strongest alternative to former President Donald Trump.But at least one Iowa voter wanted to know — why isn’t more of that energy being directed at the front-runner?“Why haven’t you gone directly after him?” Chris Garcia, a voter who plans to caucus for DeSantis, asked during a town hall here on Wednesday. “In my viewpoint, you’re going pretty soft on him.”The question sparked an extended back and forth between Garcia and DeSantis, who argued that he has made an effort to explain the differences between himself and the front-runner, but refuses to “smear him personally.”The exchange highlighted how a potential race for second place, intensifying for months, has left Trump largely unscathed and in a lane of his own – mu...

What is the Epiphany? Why is it also called Three Kings Day? And when do Christians celebrate it?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 17:14:51 GMT

Christians around the world will mark the Epiphany on Jan. 6 with a series of celebrations that go from parades and gift-giving for children to the blessing of water. The holiday is also called the Feast of Epiphany, Three Kings Day and Theophany.Why is it known with different names?Some Western Christian churches know the feast day as Three Kings Day. It recalls the visit of three Magi, or wise men, to the infant Jesus, and their sense of wonder at the encounter. It is the 12th day after Christmas and closes the Christmas season. Eastern traditions call it Theophany, and they focus on the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. Orthodox Christians also know it as the Baptism of Christ. What does Epiphany mean?The Greek word “epiphaneia” means “appearance” or “manifestation,” and it refers to the manifestation of Jesus to the world, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. How is it celebrated?The day is often celebrated by Catholics in Spain with parades that include decorative floats c...

US applications for unemployment benefits fall again as job market continues to show strength

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 17:14:51 GMT

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week as the labor market continues to show resilience despite elevated interest rates.Jobless claims fell to 202,000 for the week ending Dec. 30, down by 18,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility, fell by 4,750 to 207,750.Overall, 1.86 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits during the week that ended Dec. 23, a decrease of 31,000 from the previous week and the fewest in two months.Weekly unemployment claims are a proxy for layoffs. They have remained at extraordinarily low levels in the face of high interest rates.In an effort to extinguish the four-decade high inflation that took hold after an unusually strong economic rebound from the COVID-19 recession of 2020, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate 11 times since March of 2022.Inflation has eased considerably during the past year,...

Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard reflect on the gray areas of ‘Memory’

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 17:14:51 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — When Jessica Chastain first read the script for “Memory,” she was struck by the flurry of unanswered questions left swirling around in her head about issues pertaining to love, sex and consent — which might be antithetical to what some audiences expect from a movie.“Sometimes I think films can be seen as like lectures of the right way of being,” she says.But the Oscar winner does not subscribe to that philosophy of cinema. And it was writer and director Michel Franco’s willingness to probe gray areas and leave questions unanswered that ultimately persuaded Chastain to star in “Memory,” in select theaters now with a nationwide release set for Friday.“Memory” follows Sylvia (Chastain), who is hired by the family of a man named Saul ( Peter Sarsgaard ) to keep him company as he navigates early onset dementia. Although her background in caretaking is a plus, Saul’s family mostly wants someone to spend time with him — until Sylvia is suspected of developing romantic fe...

Parents of Cyprus school volleyball team players killed in Turkish quake testify against hotel owner

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 17:14:51 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Parents of school volleyball team players who perished when their hotel crumbled in last year’s powerful earthquake testified in the trial against the hotel’s owner Thursday, with one father describing how hopes of finding his two children alive quickly turned to despair.The hotel owner and 10 other people are standing trial accused of negligence over the deaths of 72 people, including members of the team who had traveled from the breakaway north of ethnically divided Cyprus to attend a competition. A total of 39 students, their teachers and parents were staying in the Isias Grand Hotel in the city of Adiyaman when the region was hit by a 7.8-magnitude quake and an equally strong aftershock. Thirty-five of them died. A group of tourist guides were also guests at the hotel.The trial, which opened on Wednesday, is the first relating to the Feb. 6, 2022 earthquake that hit Adiyaman and 10 other provinces in southern Turkey, leaving more than 50,000 dead and hundre...

Alice Hoffman’s novel about Anne Frank will be published in September

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 17:14:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — With the cooperation of the Anne Frank House, a novel based on Frank’s life immediately before she began keeping a diary will be released in September by the children’s publisher Scholastic.“When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary,” written by bestselling author Alice Hoffman, is scheduled for Sept. 17. The project was initiated by Scholastic editors Lisa Sandell and Miriam Farbey, who thought Hoffman ideal for telling the story. Hoffman is known for “Practical Magic” and other fiction about sorcery, but she also has written books for young people and a novel, “The World That We Knew,” about the Nazis’ persecution of the Jews.“In the year when I was 12, I discovered many of the books that have meant the most to me, books that changed my life,” Hoffman said in a statement issued Thursday by Scholastic.“The book that affected me more than any other was ‘The Diary of a Young Girl,’ by Anne Frank. It changed the way I looked at t...

A German who served time for a high-profile kidnapping is convicted over armed robberies

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 17:14:51 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A German man who served prison time for a high-profile 1996 kidnapping was convicted of robbery and attempted murder on Thursday for his alleged role in a string of armed robberies in Germany in 2018 and 2019.The Cologne state court sentenced Thomas Drach to 15 years in prison, German news agency dpa reported. It also ruled that he should be kept in preventive detention after serving the sentence.The court found that Drach participated in three robberies of cash transporters in Cologne and Frankfurt and in two of those cases fired at the cash carriers, wounding them. His participation in another robbery, in Limburg, couldn’t be proved. Drach rejected the accusations during the trial, which opened nearly two years ago. The 63-year-old told the court before the verdict that he expected a “crystal-clear acquittal.”Drach was convicted and sentenced to 14 1/2 years for extortionate kidnapping in 2001 for the abduction of cigarette heir Jan Philipp Reemtsma, who was he...