Hanukkah, Judaism’s eight-day Festival of Lights, begins this year on Christmas Day. That’s only happened four times since 1900. For some rabbis, that intersection of the two religious holidays provides an auspicious occasion for interfaith engagement. One example of togetherness: a Chicanukah party hosted by several Jewish organizations in Houston, bringing together members of the…… MORE
Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has rushed through final passage of a bipartisan plan to fund federal operations and prevent a government shutdown. It now goes to President Joe Biden, who is expected to quickly sign it into law. The House passed the package late Friday in an overwhelming vote. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer…… MORE
MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Authorities in the German city of Magdeburg say at least two people were killed and dozens were injured after a car plowed into a busy Christmas market what officials called a deliberate attack. Authorities say an adult and toddler were killed in Friday’s violence. At least 60 other people were were…… MORE
TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s chances of staying on in power have become more tenuous after the opposition party that backed his government for years said it’ll vote no confidence in the government when Parliament resumes. An embattled Trudeau reshuffled his Cabinet on Friday but whether he will step aside in the…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) — An inflation gauge that is closely watched by the Federal Reserve barely rose last month in a sign that price pressures cooled after two months of sharp gains. Prices rose just 0.1% from October to November. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, prices also ticked up just 0.1%, after two months…… MORE
Workers at U.S. Starbucks stores have begun a five-day strike to protest a lack of progress in contract negotiations with the company. The strikes began in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle and could spread to hundreds of stores across the country by Christmas Eve. Workers at 535 of the 10,000 company-owned Starbucks stores in the…… MORE
Amazon workers affiliated with the Teamsters union are on strike for a second day at seven of the company’s delivery hubs just days before Christmas. At midnight on Saturday, the Teamsters say workers at a prominent unionized warehouse in New York will also join. The union has not indicated how many employees were participating in…… MORE
A federal regulator has sued JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says the banks failed to protect hundreds of thousands of consumers from rampant fraud on the popular payments network Zelle, in violation of consumer financial laws. In the federal civil complaint, the agency asserts that banks rushed…… MORE
Clayton and Sybil speak with Retired Lt. Randy Sutton about school shootings in America in the wake of the killings of a student, teacher, and shooter in Madison, WI.… MORE
