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NEW YORK (AP) — Say goodbye to virtual wine tastings, and bust out the karaoke. Love them or hate them, company holiday parties are back — in a toned-down kind of way. After more than two years of working in pajama bottoms and clinking glasses over Zoom, many office workers seem to be yearning for a bit of glamour. The same is true for some front-line workers who saw festivities […]

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo’s leaders on Wednesday signed a formal application seeking the status of candidate for membership in the European Union amid a long-lasting dispute with neighboring Serbia, which immediately called on the bloc to cancel the process. Kosovo’s president, speaker and prime minister formally signed the application letter which which they intend to hand over Thursday to Czechia, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency. “This is the […]

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s parliament on Wednesday failed to elect a government proposed by the center-right GERB party to resolve the years-long political impasse that has gripped the European Union’s poorest member country. Prime Minister-designate Nikolay Gabrovski, 51, a renowned neurosurgeon who had proposed a technocratic Cabinet, failed to secure a majority in the 240-seat National Assembly, where only 113 legislators voted for his proposed government and 125 rejected […]

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Two Ethiopians have filed a lawsuit against Facebook’s parent company, Meta, over hate speech they say was allowed and even promoted on the social media platform amid heated rhetoric over their country’s deadly Tigray conflict. Former Amnesty International human rights researcher Fisseha Tekle is one petitioner in the case filed Wednesday and the other is the son of university professor Meareg Amare, who was killed weeks […]

They’ll have what she’s having. The 1989 rom-com “When Harry Met Sally” is one of 25 films chosen this year to enter the National Film Registry, a list that ranges from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” to a 1898 silent documentary, long thought lost, about the Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans. Also chosen this year for preservation: Marvel’s “Iron Man,” John Waters’ “Hairspray,” Brian de Palma’s “Carrie” and the 1950 […]

LONDON (AP) — Helicopters and lifeboats have been dispatched to the English Channel off the coast of Kent in southern England to rescue a small boat in distress, authorities said Wednesday. Britain’s coastguard is coordinating a rescue operation involving the navy, border officers, and Kent police. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution has also dispatched boats. South East Coast Ambulance Service said they sent help at about 3:40 a.m. local time […]

HELSINKI (AP) — Three Latvian parties signed a deal Wednesday to form a coalition government more than two months after a general election in the Baltic country that was shaped by neighboring Russia’s war in Ukraine and economic woes. The new Cabinet will be led by Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins’ ruling center-right New Unity party, which won the most votes, 19%, in the Oct. 1 general election. The junior partners […]

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis called Wednesday for a “humble” Christmas this year, with savings from reduced spending on gifts donated to help the “suffering people of Ukraine.” Francis called for “concrete gestures” of charity for Ukrainians this holiday season during his weekly general audience. “It’s nice to celebrate Christmas and have parties, but let’s lower the level of Christmas spending a bit,” he said. “Let’s make a more humble […]

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Police in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou have detained at least four people for more than a week after they attended protests against COVID-19 restrictions in late November, according to activists, family members and friends of the detained. While many who attended protests in cities across China last month were released after being held for 24 hours — the legal limit on detention before police […]