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The secret life of gift cards: Here’s what happens to the billions that go unspent each year
Gift cards make great stocking stuffers — just as long as you don’t stuff them in a drawer and forget about them after the holidays. Americans are expected to spend nearly $30 billion on gift cards this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation. Restaurant gift cards are the most popular, making up one-third…
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King Charles III’s Christmas message reflects a coronation theme and calls for planet’s protection
King Charles III reflected his coronation theme of public service Monday in a Christmas message that he connected to the health of the planet and wars that are raging. In a prerecorded video shot with him standing beside a Christmas tree in Buckingham Palace, the king spoke of the message of Jesus’ life in serving…
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Pope Francis denounces the weapons industry as he makes a Christmas appeal for peace in the world
Pope Francis on Monday blasted the weapons industry and its “instruments of death” that fuel wars as he made a Christmas Day appeal for peace in the world and in particular between Israel and the Palestinians. Speaking from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica to the throngs of people below, Francis said he grieved the…
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ICE conducts removal flights to Caribbean
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency on Friday said it has collaborated with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in facilitating removal flights, including single adults and family units, to several Caribbean countries. ICE said removal flights were made, from December 18 – 22…
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For years, he couldn’t donate at the blood center where he worked. Under new FDA rules, now he can
Over the last six years, blood center employee Dylan Smith was often asked how frequently he gave blood himself. His answer was always the same: As a gay man, he couldn’t. That changed this month. Thanks to new federal guidelines finalized in May, gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships can now donate at many…
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Iran hangs ‘child bride’ for murder of husband: rights groups
Iran on Wednesday hanged a woman convicted of murdering her husband, whom she married while still a child, defying an international campaign for clemency, rights groups said. Samira Sabzian, who had been in prison for the past decade, was executed at dawn in Ghezel Hesar prison in the Tehran satellite city of Karaj, the Norway-based…
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More than 120 killed in China’s deadliest quake in years
At least 126 people have been killed in north-west China in the country’s deadliest earthquake for years. The 6.2 magnitude quake hit mountainous Gansu province around midnight on Monday (16:00 GMT), also shaking neighbouring Qinghai. Fatalities may rise with more than 700 reported injured in icy conditions. Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered thousands of…
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Pope says Roman Catholic priests can bless same-sex couples
Pope Francis has allowed priests to bless same-sex couples, a significant advance for LGBT people in the Roman Catholic Church. The leader of the Roman Catholic Church said priests should be permitted to bless same-sex and “irregular” couples, under certain circumstances. But the Vatican said blessings should not be part of regular Church rituals or…
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Black student suspended over hair likely won’t return to his class anytime soon
A Texas high school black student who has been disciplined and kept away from his classroom for months for refusing to change his hairstyle is not likely to be back with his regular classmates anytime soon. Efforts by Darryl George’s attorney to ask a judge to pause his punishment by his Houston-area school district over…
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A JetBlue captain took off quickly to avoid an incoming plane last year: report
United States federal investigators say the tail of a JetBlue plane struck a Colorado runway during takeoff last year when the captain quickly pointed the jet’s nose upward to get airborne and avoid a head-on crash with a plane preparing to land on the same runway. The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that the…
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Prince Harry challenges UK gov’ts decision to strip him of security detail after move to US
(AP) — A lawyer for Prince Harry on Tuesday challenged the British government’s decision to strip him of his security detail after he gave up his status as a working member of the royal family and moved to the United States. The Duke of Sussex wants protection when he visits home and has claimed it’s…