Bears are waiving DT Khyiris Tonga

Reuters
Turkey could be a vital partner as Europe, Ukraine seek new security framework
Turkey has emerged as a key potential partner in restructuring European security, diplomats and analysts say, as Europe scrambles to bolster its defence and find guarantees for Ukraine under any forthcoming ceasefire deal urged by the United States. European countries have been unsettled by U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end the Ukraine war, which has upended Washington's policy, halted Russia's isolation with possibility of rapprochement, piled pressure on Kyiv after disastrous talks with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and endangered transatlantic ties.
AFP
Australia tells US influencer: 'leave baby wombat alone'
Australia's top diplomat urged a visiting American influencer on Thursday to "leave the baby wombat alone", after a video appeared to show the woman pestering a young marsupial."I think everyone who would have seen that would have thought, look, leave the baby wombat alone."
Associated Press
Syria flashes signs of peril and promise in a week of violence and diplomacy
After Syria’s longtime autocratic ruler was toppled late last year, the man who led rebel groups to victory immediately faced a new challenge: unifying the country after more than a decade of civil war. The peril and promise of Syria under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa — the former leader of an Islamist insurgent group — were on dramatic display over the past week. After days of deadly sectarian violence, a diplomatic triumph united a powerful force in the country’s northeast with the new national army.
Associated Press
Asian shares decline despite rebound on Wall St as investors await next steps in trade wars
Asian shares were mostly lower on Thursday despite a rebound on Wall Street fueled by an encouraging update on U.S. consumer prices. U.S. futures fell and oil prices were little changed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 0.7% to 23,426.80, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.4% to 3,357.02.
AFP
Doubts over climate funding as donors squeeze aid
There are growing doubts about a pledge by rich nations to provide more climate finance to poorer nations, as foreign aid budgets are slashed and the US guts environmental spending."Climate finance for developing countries was already insufficient, but the recent cuts to foreign aid budgets represent a renewed challenge," the COP30 presidency said in a written statement to AFP. - 'Not looking good' - Donors have struggled to meet their climate finance pledges at the best of times, even for commi
Associated Press
Vaccinating poultry could help cut soaring egg prices but US remains hesitant
Vaccines could be a key means of suppressing bird flu and avoiding the slaughter of millions of chickens, which is blamed for egg prices averaging nearly $6 a dozen. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced plans to spend $100 million to study bird flu vaccines to fight the disease in concert with meat chicken, egg and turkey groups. Chicken meat producers remain the most resistant to vaccines because of concerns they could harm meat exports, which totaled nearly $4.7 billion last year.
CNN
How Duterte went from boasting about killing drug dealers to facing trial for crimes against humanity
An elected leader once dubbed “The Punisher” was handed to The Hague to face trial for crimes against humanity over his brutal war on drugs, in a breathtaking reversal of fortune for a politician who once openly boasted about killing people and placing opponents on hit lists.
Associated Press
Communal sweating in saunas is the hottest wellness trend taking over the UK
It may be winter and there may be a biting chill in the air, but the dozen men and women who have packed this small sauna room in east London are happily sweating away in their swimwear. As ice blocks infused with lavender oil melt over sizzling hot stones, releasing fragrant steam, “sauna master” Oliver Beryl turns on some ambient music and starts to vigorously wave a towel in a circular motion above his head to spread overpowering waves of dry heat around the room. Sauna-bathing has taken London and the rest of the U.K. by storm, particularly among trendy 20- and 30-somethings interested in trying a new pastime that's healthier than nights out in pubs and bars.
Associated Press
A government program made tax filing free and more efficient. Musk and DOGE may get rid of it anyway
Mia Francis, a 22-year-old barista from Boston, filed her taxes on her own this year for the first time, using a free government tax filing program that made it easy because it did most of the work for her. Francis said it took 45 minutes to finish her taxes with the IRS Direct File program, an electronic tax return filing system that the IRS made permanent last year and that has rolled out to 25 states. Despite its popularity with Francis and other members of the American public, the IRS Direct File’s fate remains unclear as Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency cleave their way through the federal bureaucracy.
Associated Press
FEMA launches review of migrant shelter aid, suggesting smuggling laws were violated
The Trump administration has launched a review of organizations that provide temporary housing and other aid to migrants, suggesting they may have violated a law used to prosecute smugglers. The Department of Homeland Security has “significant concerns” that federal grants used to address a surge of migration under former President Joe Biden were used for illegal activities, wrote Cameron Hamilton, acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Associated Press
Immigrants fuel growth in major US urban counties
Immigrants kept the largest urban counties in the U.S. growing last year. Core counties in the Houston, Miami and Phoenix metropolitan areas grew more than any others in the country primarily because of people moving in from outside the United States, according to population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday. Without the international migration, Harris County, Texas, Miami-Dade County, Florida, and Maricopa County, Arizona, would have had nobody moving there last year.
Associated Press
Rubio could face an unfriendly reception from close G7 allies over Trump's policies
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio may be walking into unusually unfriendly territory this week when he meets his counterparts from the Group of 7 industrialized democracies — strong American allies stunned by President Donald Trump’s actions against them. Just hours after Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs kicked in — prompting responses from the European Union and Canada and threatening to ignite full-scale trade wars with close U.S. partners — Rubio arrived at the scenic Quebec town of La Malbaie on the St. Lawrence River for two days of talks with the top diplomats of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Rubio will likely be hearing a litany of complaints about Trump’s decisions from once-friendly, like-minded countries in the G7 — notably host Canada, to which Trump has arguably been most antagonistic with persistent talk of it becoming the 51st U.S. state, additional tariffs and repeated insults against its leadership.
CNN
Democrats’ first big chance to check Trump may make them look even weaker
Washington Democrats finally have a first point of leverage against President Donald Trump — but it comes with a dilemma that could leave them looking even more hapless than they have so far in his second term.
USA TODAY
Apparent 'swatting call' directed at Southern California hospital prompts large response
According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, the Loma Linda Hospital was cleared and the incident appeared to be a swatting call.
CNN
‘Ghost Adventures’ star Aaron Goodwin’s wife arrested on suspicion of soliciting his murder
The wife of “Ghost Adventures” star Aaron Goodwin was arrested on suspicion of solicitation to commit murder and conspiracy murder after police uncovered she had been involved in a “murder for hire” plot with her husband as the intended target.
CBS News
Delay in launch for replacement crew keeps Starliner astronauts waiting
NASA will wait at least another two days to launch its next space station crew, delaying the return of Starliner astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams a bit longer.
AFP
Trump optimistic about potential Ukraine ceasefire
President Donald Trump expressed optimism Wednesday that US negotiators could secure a ceasefire in the Ukraine war, with officials saying the United States wants Russia to agree to an unconditional halt to hostilities.In Kyiv, Zelensky said the United States would pile pressure on Moscow if it did not accept a ceasefire.
AFP
On the Mongolian steppe, climate change pushes herders to the brink
Over a year after a devastating winter wiped out virtually his entire sheep flock, herder Zandan Lkhamsuren is still reckoning with the damage wrought by Mongolia's increasingly erratic extreme weather."Like many other herder men, I always look at the sky and try to predict the weather," Zandan told AFP. "But it's been getting difficult," he said.
CBS News
"Guitar shark" among the 866 new marine species discovered in ocean
New species of shark, sea butterfly, mud dragon, bamboo coral, water bear, octocoral, and shrimp were just some of the marine life findings.
Reuters
Sister of US Supreme Court's Barrett target of bomb threat, police say
(Reuters) -A sister of conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett was the target of a bomb threat at her home in Charleston, South Carolina, earlier this month, local police said on Wednesday. Charleston police responded on Monday morning to an emailed bomb threat concerning Amanda Coney Williams, a lawyer whose sister is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority, according to a police report.

Bears are waiving DT Khyiris Tonga

List

Chicago Bears' 2022 practice squad tracker

Latest Stories

Turkey could be a vital partner as Europe, Ukraine seek new security framework

Australia tells US influencer: 'leave baby wombat alone'

Syria flashes signs of peril and promise in a week of violence and diplomacy

Asian shares decline despite rebound on Wall St as investors await next steps in trade wars

Doubts over climate funding as donors squeeze aid

Vaccinating poultry could help cut soaring egg prices but US remains hesitant

How Duterte went from boasting about killing drug dealers to facing trial for crimes against humanity

Communal sweating in saunas is the hottest wellness trend taking over the UK

A government program made tax filing free and more efficient. Musk and DOGE may get rid of it anyway

FEMA launches review of migrant shelter aid, suggesting smuggling laws were violated

Immigrants fuel growth in major US urban counties

Rubio could face an unfriendly reception from close G7 allies over Trump's policies

Democrats’ first big chance to check Trump may make them look even weaker

Apparent 'swatting call' directed at Southern California hospital prompts large response

‘Ghost Adventures’ star Aaron Goodwin’s wife arrested on suspicion of soliciting his murder

Delay in launch for replacement crew keeps Starliner astronauts waiting

Trump optimistic about potential Ukraine ceasefire

On the Mongolian steppe, climate change pushes herders to the brink

"Guitar shark" among the 866 new marine species discovered in ocean

Sister of US Supreme Court's Barrett target of bomb threat, police say