News

CNN Business reports: 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 …

The Guardian reports: Numerous documents identifying associates of notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein have been made public on Wednesday. These associates’ just-unsealed names were contained in court documents filed as part of Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell. Prior to the unsealing, the names were listed in court papers as variants of J Doe. Many of the names …

ABC News reports: Saturday night and Sunday evening, the storm will bring precipitation chances to the Northeast with a mix of rain and snow along the coasts and snow farther inland. For the New York City area, confidence in accumulating snow is highest across the Lower Hudson Valley and southern Connecticut. In New York City, it has been a record …

NewsNation reports: The release of more than 150 names mentioned in court documents from a civil case filed by one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims was postponed. The documents won’t be made public until at least Jan. 22, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed to NewsNation. The delay comes after a judge granted a 30-day …

The Times Of Israel reports: The “voluntary” resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza is slowly becoming a key official policy of the government, with a senior official saying that Israel has held talks with several countries for their potential absorption. Zman Israel, The Times of Israel’s Hebrew sister site, has learned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition is conducting secret contacts …

NBC News reports: No Labels founder Joe Lieberman is open to scrapping his bipartisan, third-party presidential ticket if the nonprofit political group cannot nail down the right candidates within the next few months. No Labels has so far secured ballot access in 12 states for its potential “Unity Ticket,” which would feature a Democrat and a Republican to try to …

New York City’s ABC affiliate reports: Officials say a 1.7 magnitude earthquake is believed to have shaken residents awake in Roosevelt Island and knocking out power on Tuesday morning. The United States Geological Survey reported the earthquake near Astoria, Queens. There were no reports of damage of injuries in New York City. The earthquake was reported at 5:45 a.m., the …

The Hill reports: The price to ship your letters and packages is going up in the new year. Starting Jan. 21, 2024, the price for a First-Class Forever U.S. Postage Stamp will increase from 66 cents to 68 cents, according to the U.S. Postal Service. In addition to stamp prices increasing, the price to send priority mail and other postal …

The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reports: Rochester police are investigating the fatal fiery crash that killed two people and wounded five others outside the Kodak Center on West Ridge Road in Rochester early Monday morning. The New Year’s Day crash occurred within the first hour of 2024, shortly before 1 a.m. A large sport utility vehicle traveling east on West …

Reuters reports: South Korean opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck during a visit to the southern city of Busan on Tuesday and was airlifted to Seoul after receiving emergency treatment, party and emergency officials said. The suspect, wearing a paper crown with Lee’s name on it, approached and asked for an autograph as Lee spoke …

The New York Times reports: The Israeli military announced on Monday that it will begin withdrawing several thousand troops from Gaza at least temporarily, in what would be the most significant publicly announced pullback since the war began. The military cited a growing toll on the Israeli economy following nearly three months of wartime mobilization with little end in sight …

The Washington Post reports: Japan issued tsunami warnings for several regions after an earthquake with an estimated 7.6 magnitude erupted off the country’s western coast around 4:10 p.m. local time Monday, prompting authorities to urge those in vulnerable areas to evacuate or run to higher ground. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued tsunami warnings or advisories for almost all of its …

Bloomberg News reports: Artificial intelligence will change how US courts do business, though human judges will be around “for a while” yet, Chief Justice John Roberts said. AI tools will change how judges do their jobs and how they understand “the role that AI plays in the cases that come before them,” Roberts said in his end-of-year report. There’s been …

Miami’s ABC affiliate reports: According to a source, the passenger was set to board American Airlines flight 9948 at 10 p.m. Friday from Rio de Janeiro to arrive at Miami International Airport early Saturday morning when he was heard screaming for “help” and “they’re killing me” in Spanish. Exclusive video obtained by Local 10 News shows that the man was …

The Associated Press reports: As the clock struck midnight in Australia, tons of explosives erupted in a 12-minute display that focused on the Sydney Harbor Bridge. More than 1 million people — a number equivalent to one in five of the city’s residents — watched from the shore and from boats in the harbor. “It’s total madness,” said German tourist …

The Hill reports: Michael Cohen, former President Trump’s ex-fixer and personal lawyer, said in newly unsealed court filings that he accidentally gave his lawyer fake legal citations concocted by the artificial intelligence program Google Bard. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman called three case citations into question earlier this month after they were used in a motion to end Cohen’s supervised …

The Associated Press reports: The world population grew by 75 million people over the past year and on New Year’s Day it will stand at more than 8 billion people, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday. The worldwide growth rate in the past year was just under 1%. At the start of 2024, 4.3 births …

Jacksonville’s NBC affiliate reports: Before first light on Wednesday, construction crews began the process of removing a Confederate statue in Springfield Park that has long been the subject of debate in Jacksonville. By 11 a.m., the monument had been taken down. Following a similar process undertaken in 2020 to remove a Confederate statue from what was then known as Hemming …

Just in via press release: Comedian Tom Smothers, one half of the legendary Smothers Brothers comedy team, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, December 26, 2023, at the age of 86, following a recent battle with cancer. Dick Smothers, Tom’s brother and co-star of the celebrated and groundbreaking Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, announced that Tom was at home with his family …

The Hill reports: Israel expects the war in Gaza will go on for “many more months,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi said. “The war will continue for many more months, and we will operate in various ways – so that the achievement will be preserved over time,” Halevi said in a press conference Tuesday. …