Belmar celebrates 50th anniversary of its St. Patrick's Day parade

Associated Press
A Pakistani court indicts imprisoned former PM Imran Khan and his wife for corruption
A Pakistani court on Thursday indicted imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife in one of several graft cases they face, officials and his party said. Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi pleaded not guilty when a judge in the garrison city of Rawalpindi read them the charges. The couple is accused of keeping and selling state gifts including jewelry they received when Khan was in office, at a value less than their market price.
Associated Press
UN drug experts say opium production has leveled off in Myanmar, but instability may trigger a rise
There has been a slight drop in the production of opium in Myanmar, the world’s biggest source of the illicit drug from which heroin is derived, experts from the United Nations said Thursday, while warning of strong prospects for future expansion of the deadly trade. The Myanmar Opium Survey 2024 issued by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says that after three consecutive years of growth, the area where opium is cultivated fell by 4% to 45,200 hectares (111,700 acres) and production decreased by 8% to 995 metric tons due to a 4% decline in opium yield.
AFP
Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 33
Gaza's civil defence agency reported that Israeli air strikes on Thursday killed at least 33 people, including 12 guards securing aid trucks in southern parts of the Palestinian territory.Israeli air strikes on two homes near Nuseirat refugee camp and Gaza City killed 21 more people, including children, the civil defence agency said.
NBC News
South Korean president vows to ‘fight to the end’ in defiant speech
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed Thursday to “fight to the end” as he faces calls to step down over his failed attempt to impose martial law.
AFP
Biden grants clemency to nearly 1,500 people: White House
Outgoing President Joe Biden said Thursday he had commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoned 39 others, in what the White House called the largest single-day act of clemency in US history.The White House said the nearly 1,500 people granted commuted sentences -- "the most ever in a single day" -- had been serving them at home for at least one year.
NBC News
Syria's new leadership blames Assad for anguish of Austin Tice's family as search continues
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria's new leadership says it holds ousted President Bashar al-Assad responsible for the "pain inflicted" for years on the family of Austin Tice, as the search goes on for the American journalist who went missing in the country more than a decade ago while reporting on the Syrian civil war.
Associated Press
China ends planning meeting with vows to stabilize its economy, but gives no details on stimulus
Chinese leaders wrapped up a two-day planning meeting in Beijing on Thursday with pledges to take a more proactive approach in pepping up the world's second-largest economy, but gave no details on new stimulus measures. A state-run CCTV report on the annual meeting mainly reiterated a strategy outlined earlier in the week after a session of the ruling Communist Party’s powerful Politburo at which leaders pledged to loosen monetary policy and adopt a more proactive fiscal approach. Markets in China have climbed recently on renewed hopes for a stronger dose of stimulus to help counter weak consumer spending that has kept the economy growing this year at a rate slightly slower than the government's official target of about 5%.
Associated Press
At least 110 people have died in 7 weeks of post-election protests in Mozambique, rights groups say
More than 100 people including children have been killed by security forces in post-election protests in Mozambique that have lasted nearly two months, rights and civil society groups said. The main opposition leader called Thursday for more demonstrations against what he says was a rigged vote by the governing party. The southern African nation, which endured a 15-year civil war from 1977 to 1992, has been beset by unrest and street protests since two prominent opposition officials were fatally shot in their car by unknown gunmen on Oct. 18.
AFP
Swiss central bank announces big rate cut to boost economy
The Swiss central bank announced an unexpectedly large interest-rate cut on Thursday, citing rising "uncertainty" about the economic outlook due to the potential impact of Donald Trump's policies and political turmoil in Europe.In particular, the future course of economic policy in the US is still uncertain, and political uncertainty has also risen in Europe," it said.
Reuters
Meta donates $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news, said the donation was a departure from past practice by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Meta. Zuckerberg had declined to endorse either Donald Trump or Joe Biden for this year's election, in a media interview that took place before Biden stepped down as the Democratic nominee and was replaced by Kamala Harris.
Associated Press
Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what's next for those who oppose Trump
She’s an Iraq War combat veteran and sexual assault survivor who has advocated for years to improve how the military handles claims of sexual misconduct. “The American people spoke,” said Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of the Family Leader and a conservative activist in Ernst’s home state. It underscores the power Trump is expected to wield on Capitol Hill in a second term and serves as a warning to other lawmakers who may be harboring their own concerns about other Trump selections, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary and Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence.
Time
Donald Trump Is Time's 2024 Person of the Year
If what comes next is anything like what he promises, Trump will reshape the nation and the world
Associated Press
Pope calls for debt reduction for poorer countries to mark the Vatican's 2025 Jubilee Year
Pope Francis on Thursday called on wealthy countries and institutions to substantially reduce if not outright cancel debt as a matter of justice on the occasion of the Vatican's 2025 Jubilee Year. In a message for world peace, Francis referred to St. John Paul II’s admonition in Jubilee Year 2000 that debt “threatens the future of many nations.”
Associated Press
What Americans think about Hegseth, Gabbard and key Trump Cabinet picks AP-NORC poll
As several of President-elect Donald Trump’s choices for high-level positions in his incoming administration face scrutiny on Capitol Hill, a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that Americans have their own doubts. Relatively few Americans overall approve of Pete Hegseth, Trump's choice to lead the Department of Defense, or Tulsi Gabbard, his pick for intelligence chief, although a substantial share doesn’t know who those figures are. The other selections who were included in the poll, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
CBS News
CBS News speaks with man who says he's just been freed from Syrian prison
A man identifying himself as Missourian Travis Timmerman tells CBS News he was liberated from a Syrian prison upon dictator Bashar al-Assad's ouster.
USA TODAY
President Joe Biden commutes nearly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people
Biden said he will "take more steps in the weeks ahead" and continue to review clemency petitions to advance "equal justice under the law."
CNN
Eric Adams goes from the ‘Biden of Brooklyn’ to cozying up to Trump
The victor of a cutthroat primary for mayor in 2021, New York City’s Eric Adams rushed to embrace national political stardom.
NBC News
DNC chair candidates say the party needs to do a post-mortem of the 2024 election
How Kamala Harris’ campaign burned through more than $1.4 billion in 15 weeks dominated the storyline of vice president’s devastating loss to Donald Trump on Nov. 5.
NBC News
Brain injuries often go unrecognized among domestic violence victims
The dangers of concussion are known but the brain injuries of survivors of domestic violence often go undiagnosed and untreated. Doctors are trying to change that.
NBC News
U.S. dietary guidelines should emphasize beans and lentils as protein, new proposal says
A report on proposed changes to U.S. dietary guidelines suggests encouraging Americans to eat more beans and lentils for protein and less red meat.

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