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Palestinian families rejoice over release of minors and women in wartime prisoner swap

BEITUNIA, West Bank (AP) – Over three dozen Palestinian prisoners returned home to a hero’s welcome in the occupied West Bank on Friday following their release from Israeli prisons as part of a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas.

The procession of freed prisoners, some accused of minor offenses and others convicted in attacks, at a checkpoint outside of Jerusalem stoked massive crowds of Palestinians into a chanting, clapping, hand-waving, screaming frenzy.

Fifteen dazed young men, all in stained grey prison sweatsuits and looking gaunt with exhaustion, glided through the streets on the shoulders of their teary-eyed fathers as fireworks turned the night sky to blazing color and patriotic Palestinian pop music blared.

Some of those released were draped in Palestinian flags, others in the green flags of Hamas. They flashed victory signs as they crowd-surfed.

“I have no words, I have no words,” said newly released 17-year-old Jamal Brahma, searching for something to say to the hordes of jostling journalists and thousands of chanting Palestinians, many in national dress. “Thank God.”

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On Day One of Gaza cease-fire, Hamas and Israel carry out first swap of hostages and prisoners

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) – Hamas on Friday released 24 hostages it held captive in Gaza for weeks, and Israel freed 39 Palestinians from prison in the first stage of a swap under a four-day cease-fire that offered a small glimmer of relief to both sides.

Israel – wrenched by the abduction of nearly 240 people in Hamas´ Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war – cheered as 13 Israeli women and children emerged free from Gaza. Most were in their 70s or 80s, and the youngest was a 2-year-old. Also released were 10 people from Thailand and one from the Philippines.

In Gaza, the truce´s start Friday morning brought the first quiet for 2.3 million Palestinians reeling and desperate from relentless Israeli bombardment that has killed thousands, driven three-quarters of the population from their homes and leveled residential areas. Rocket fire from Gaza militants into Israel went silent as well.

Increased supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel promised under the deal began to roll into Gaza, where U.N. officials had warned that Israel´s seal on the territory threatened to push it to starvation.

But relief has been tempered – among Israelis by the fact that not all hostages will be freed and among Palestinians by the briefness of the pause. The short truce leaves Gaza mired in humanitarian crisis and under the threat that fighting could soon resume.

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Ex-officer Derek Chauvin, convicted in George Floyd’s killing, stabbed in prison, AP source says

Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, was stabbed by another inmate and seriously injured Friday at a federal prison in Arizona, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

The attack happened at the Federal Correctional Institution, Tucson, a medium-security prison that has been plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the attack and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.

The Bureau of Prisons confirmed that an incarcerated person was assaulted at FCI Tucson at around 12:30 p.m. local time Friday. In a statement, the agency said responding employees contained the incident and performed “life-saving measures” before the inmate, who it did not name, was taken to a hospital for further treatment and evaluation.

No employees were injured and the FBI was notified, the Bureau of Prisons said. Visiting at the facility, which has about 380 inmates, has been suspended.

Messages seeking comment were left with Chauvin´s lawyers and the FBI.

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Retailers offer bigger Black Friday discounts to lure hesitant shoppers hunting for the best deals

NEW YORK (AP) – Shoppers venturing out to malls and stores on Black Friday found perks from champagne to virtual reality experiences and old-fashioned doorbusters, as retailers tried to entice customers who are resisting splurges and impulse buying this year.

Consumers are under pressure as their savings dwindle and their credit card debt grows. Inflation has eased but many goods and services like meat and rent are still far higher than they were three years ago.

Yvonne Carey, 72, was among the first shoppers at Macy’s Herald Square store in Manhattan where she snapped up discounted Michael Kors slippers and Ugg boots for herself. But Carey said she plans to stick to the same $1,000 budget as last year as she shops for gifts for her six grandchildren and her husband.

“The prices are crazy on everything food, clothes,” Carey said.

Many retailers ordered fewer goods for this holiday season and pushed holiday sales earlier in October than last year to help shoppers spread out their spending, a trend that accelerated during the pandemic when clogs in the supply network. But this year, retailers said more shoppers were willing to wait until the last minute in hopes of finding better deals.

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Gaza shrinks for Palestinians seeking refuge. 4 stories offer a glimpse into a diminished world

BEIRUT (AP) – Gaza has always been a small, crowded space with hardly any exits. Now the world for Palestinians there has shrunk to the size of whatever refuge they can find: a jammed shelter, a car, the walls of a shared apartment, or floors and benches in hospital corridors.

The strip is 25 miles (40 kilometers) long by some 7 miles (11 kilometers) wide, and Israeli troops are spread throughout the northern third. More than 2 million people, the majority of Gaza´s population, cram into what´s left.

Beginning in mid-October, The Associated Press has followed four people trying to survive and communicate from that diminished world, using texts, voice messages and video clips and the rare phone call from a balky 2G network whose fate also hangs in the balance. Explosions and the buzz of drones pierce some of nearly 80 recordings.

One lawyer, determined to stay in Gaza City, carries her paralyzed father from place to place to escape bombs. A U.N. worker shelters with tens of thousands of displaced, retreating to his car for a sliver of privacy. A writer is trapped between four walls and is urged by his family to stop documenting the war for their safety.

Israel says it is dismantling Hamas, the group that unleashed a surprise attack on Oct. 7 that killed around 1,200 people in Israel. Weeks of Israeli bombardment have killed more than 13,000 Palestinians, 70% of them women and children. That’s more than the number of civilians killed in 18 months of war in Ukraine.

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Families of hostages not slated for release from Gaza during current truce face enduring nightmare

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) – Ofri Bibas Levy has been haunted by nightmares since Oct. 7, when her brother, sister-in-law and their two young children were snatched by Hamas militants from their homes and dragged into the Gaza Strip.

In those dreams she sees her captive relatives, all except for her brother Yarden. That subconscious omission may reflect her ordeal: Only women and children are expected to be among the 50 hostages released during a four-day cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that started Friday.

All of the men, and many women, will remain captive in Gaza for now. It was not clear if all children were expected to be freed. Hamas on Friday freed 24 people, including 13 Israeli women and children, 10 people from Thailand and one Filipino.

“It’s a deal that puts the families in a situation that is inhuman. Who will come out and who won’t?” Bibas Levy asked. “The children come out, but my brother and many other people stay?” Her relatives were not among those freed in the first release.

The deal will bring relief to dozens whose relatives are captive – as well as to Palestinians in Gaza who have endured weeks of bombardment and dire conditions.

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Daryl Hall is suing John Oates over plan to sell stake in joint venture. A judge has paused the sale

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Daryl Hall has sued his longtime music partner John Oates, arguing that his plan to sell off his share of a joint venture would violate the terms of a business agreement the Hall & Oates duo had forged.

The move quickly prompted a judge to temporarily block the sale while legal proceedings and a previously initiated arbitration continue.

A Nashville chancery court judge issued the temporary restraining order on Nov. 16, writing that Oates and others involved in his trust can’t move to close the sale of their share of Whole Oats Enterprises LLP to Primary Wave IP Investment Management LLC until an arbitrator in a separately filed case weighs in on the deal, or until the judge’s order expires – typically within 15 days, unless a judge extends the deadline.

Chancellor Russell Perkins issued the order the same day Hall filed his lawsuit, which was largely brought forth under seal, obscuring most details. An order Wednesday by the judge allowed more filings to be made public, though many details about the pair’s business agreement and the proposed sale remain under wraps.

cv writing service in favor of sealing certain filings, Hall’s attorneys reasoned that it’s a private dispute under an agreement with confidential terms, concerning a confidential arbitration process.

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Bird flu still taking toll on industry as 1.35 million chickens are being killed on an Ohio egg farm

More than 1.3 million chickens are being slaughtered on an Ohio egg farm as the bird flu continues to take a toll on the industry.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said all 1.35 million chickens on the farm in Ohio’s Union County will be slaughtered to help limit the spread of the highly contagious virus after a case was confirmed in the flock this week.

The outbreak that began in early 2022 has been much less severe this year as fewer cases of the virus are being found among the wild birds that spread it. But there have still been 8.1 million birds killed this year to help control the spread of the disease and 5.8 million of those have come just this month as several large egg farms have been struck. That includes 1.2 million birds at one Iowa egg farm and another 940,000 chickens at one Minnesota egg farm that had to be killed.

Egg farms tend to be much larger than turkey or chicken farms, sometimes with millions of birds. That’s a big part of why Iowa – the nation’s largest egg producing state – has been hit the hardest in this outbreak with nearly 17.3 million birds killed. Ohio is also one of the top egg producing states but it has seen only 5.1 million birds killed because of bird flu.

This week, there have also been sizeable bird flu cases confirmed on farms in Minnesota, Maryland, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Georgia and California. But the biggest one of those cases was the Maryland chicken farm where 198,200 birds were killed.

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Missouri governor granting pardons at pace not seen since WWII era

Distraught by a romantic breakup, 16-year-old Kenny Batson vented his hurt by stomping out the windshields of cars on a for-sale lot. He landed in juvenile detention, but that was only the beginning of his trouble.

Over the ensuing years, Batson stole cigarettes, booze and cars for drunken joyrides while bouncing in and out of prison and substance abuse treatment programs. At age 20, he beat a man nearly to death, stopping only when friends pulled him away.

Now 50, Batson is a Christian pastor, a reformed man who has been pardoned for his crimes.

The governor who pardoned him knows a bit about transformations.

For a dozen years as a rural sheriff, Mike Parson was the face of justice, the man ultimately responsible for catching and locking up local lawbreakers. Now governor, Parson also has become the face of mercy by pardoning more than 600 people in the past three years, more than any Missouri governor since the 1940s.

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Maui residents wonder if their burned town can be made safe. The answer? No one knows

When Daniel Skousen scrubs at the ash and soot covering his Maui home, he worries about the smell.

What chemicals created the burning-trash-barrel scent that has lingered since a deadly wildfire tore through Lahaina in August? Should he believe government agencies’ assessment of when the air, land and water will be safe enough for his family to return?

Or will political and economic pressures to rebuild and restore Maui´s robust tourism industry – where visitors normally spend $14 million per day – lead officials to look at any testing results through rose-colored glasses?

“It appears very important to them to get that tourism tax revenue back,” said Skousen. “It makes you wonder if the testing will be biased.”

The fire blew out Skousen´s windows and filled his home with ash, but the building is still standing, and he hopes someday to move back in. The home next door burned to the ground.