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☆ Serbian nationalists march in protest against Kosovo talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Many Serbs view Kosovo, home to the Serbian Orthodox faith's main churches and monasteries, as the heartland of the Serb nation. Serbian nationalists who also want closer ties with Russia, Serbia's longtime ally, criticise President Aleksandar Vucic for his role in talks over a Western-backed deal with Kosovo. "The people of Serbia which soiled this land with blood will not give away Serbian Kosovo, because Kosovo is sacred," said Zorica Mojsic from Belgrade as he walked with other marchers. The Serbian Orthodox Church organised its own prayers for Kosovo, set to last until Easter, but did not endorse the march and its clergy did not participate. On Friday, the Serbian Orthodox church's Patriarch Porfirije said in a sermon "no one should teach the church ... what is Kosovo... Liberating Kosovo with words is easy."

☆ Denmark to abolish springtime public holiday to help meet NATO spending goal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Denmark's 179-seat parliament voted by 95 to 68 to approve the government's proposal to scrap Great Prayer Day, a religious holiday that falls on the fourth Friday after Easter. Danish lawmakers voted to abolish a springtime public holiday from the national calendar and plan to use the savings to boost military spending. Denmark's 179-seat Parliament on Tuesday voted by 95 to 68 to approve the centrist coalition government's proposal to scrap Store Bededag, or Great Prayer Day, from next year. Great Prayer Day is a religious holiday that falls on the fourth Friday after Easter. The newly formed government said the cancellation of the public holiday would provide an additional 3 billion Danish krone (roughly $430 million).

☆ How NYC's oldest chocolate house survived a century
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Caroline Mishelle Aghajanian | Amelia Kosciulek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The company still makes chocolate following the founder's original recipes and techniques. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyLi-Lac Chocolates is Manhattan's oldest chocolate shop, having survived decades of change in New York City. Since Li-Lac opened in 1923, owners have stuck to the founder's original chocolate recipes while adding new confections along the way. Today, Li-Lac makes its legendary fudge, butter crunch, and truffles, as well as over 1,000 specialty molds for occasions like Easter and Thanksgiving. The company has six locations in New York City, with all of its ingredients made inside its Brooklyn factory.

☆ Jordan hosting Israeli-Palestinian talks to avert escalation in violence
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The meeting is aimed at giving Palestinians hope for a political future, a senior Jordanian official told Reuters. In addition to averting violence, it is hoped Sunday's meeting will halt unilateral measures by Israel, the Jordanian official said. Jordan has been concerned about stepped-up Jewish settlement building, and has accused Israel of trying to change the status quo in Jerusalem's holy sites. Most world powers view as illegal the settlements Israel has built on land it captured in a 1967 war with Arab powers. Israel disputes that and cites biblical, historical and political links to the West Bank, as well as security interests.

☆ Explainer: What is the Good Friday Agreement and when was it signed?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Feb 23 (Reuters) - The Good Friday Agreement largely ended the "Troubles", three decades of violence that had racked Northern Ireland since the late 1960s. It was signed on April 10, 1998 - which fell that year on Good Friday in the Christian Easter holiday. The deal was formally two interlinked agreements: a treaty between the British and Irish governments and an agreement between the Northern Irish parties. "North-south" bodies were created to encourage cooperation between Northern Ireland and Ireland, while "east-west" institutions linked Britain and Ireland. Overall, Northern Ireland has enjoyed peace for much of the 25 years since the agreement was signed, with only a small number of splinter groups involved in sporadic attacks.

☆ London is handing out free meals for all primary school children
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —London’s mayor has announced an emergency program to provide free meals for all children attending state primary schools in the capital, adding to a string of fresh evidence that Brits are struggling to afford necessities. “The cost-of-living crisis means families and children across our city are in desperate need of additional support,” Sadiq Khan, who himself received free school meals as a child, said in a statement Monday. A quarter of all London pupils, including those in high school, already qualify for free school meals according to national criteria largely based on household income, according to official data. This number tallies with an estimate by the Child Poverty Action Group that about 210,000 children living in poverty in London don’t qualify for free school meals because the eligibility criteria are “so restrictive.”Children eat lunch at St Mary's RC Primary School in Battersea, south London, on November 29, 2022. Daniel Leal/AFP/Getty Images/FILEThere was further evidence Monday that more and more Brits are struggling to afford food and electricity as inflation, which is near its highest level in four decades, erodes wages and welfare payments.

☆ This Ukrainian woman refused to let the Russian invasion destroy her small business
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Before Russia's invasion, her retail business It's Craft operated out of a warehouse in Nova Kakhovka — a small, strategically-significant city in the Kherson region of Ukraine. In April, Viktoria fled her home in Nova Kakhovka and reestablished herself — and her online store — in a new city. Now, she told Insider, business is booming — and sales have even outstripped pre-war figures. It all happened very fastIt was only after a lot of hesitation that Viktoria and Pavlo finally decided to flee Nova Kakhovka. Hardened resolveBefore escaping Nova Kakhovka, Viktoria had applied to the Ukrainian Social Venture Fund to seek financial support for relaunching and relocating It's Craft.

☆ U.K. Man Stole Nearly 200,000 Cadbury Creme Eggs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Joseph Pisani | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Police said nearly 200,000 Cadbury Creme Eggs were stolen Saturday in England. A man in Britain pleaded guilty to stealing nearly 200,000 Cadbury Creme Eggs, in what police are calling an “eggs-travagent theft.”“West Mercia Police has helped save Easter for Crème Egg fans,” the police department, which covers an area west of Birmingham, said in a series of tweets crackling with egg puns.

☆ Man arrested for stealing truck filled with $48,000 worth of Cadbury Creme Eggs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A man was convicted in England for stealing a truck filled with 200,000 Cadbury eggs. Prosecutors say he broke into an industrial park and took the truck. According to prosecutors, Joby Pool used a metal grinder to break into an industrial park in Telford, England on February 11, the Associated Press reported. Once inside, prosecutors said he made off in a stolen truck containing more than $48,000 worth of Cadbury Creme Eggs, according to the AP. "Given the shrinkflation of Cadbury eggs over the years, I'd argue it's the moral thing to do," one person tweeted.

☆ Sweet-toothed Poles shrug off inflation bellyache on 'Fat Thursday'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Doughnuts are displayed during Fat Thursday, traditional celebrations when Poles eat doughnuts marking the last Thursday before the start of Lent, at a bakery in Warsaw, Poland February 11, 2021. REUTERS/Kacper PempelWARSAW, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Poles formed long queues to buy doughnuts on their "Fat Thursday", piling in for the sugary treats even though double-digit inflation has taken a bite out of their income. On the last Thursday before Lent, the period when Christians traditionally fast before Easter, Poles stuff their faces with doughnuts in a festival of calorific indulgence. "Last Fat Thursday, doughnuts cost 3.50 zlotys ($0.78) each," said Syliwa Tomaszkiewicz, 45, owner of the Zagozdzinski Confectionery Workshop. For 73-year-old pensioner Jadwiga Staniewska, it was important to keep the tradition of Fat Thursday alive.

☆ My family owned a Chinese takeout restaurant. Here are 9 things we wished customers knew to avoid being offensive or inconsiderate.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Su-Jit Lin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Food writer Su-Jit Lin grew up working in her parents' American Chinese kitchen. Double meat is paid for unflinchingly at the likes of Chipotle; why should Chinese takeout be any different? Plus, the Chinese takeout restaurant industry is competitive, and offering good bang for your buck is often what the owners are convinced help them survive. This is a common formula for Chinese takeout across America. Don't order too close to opening or closing timeA lot of American Chinese food depends on our prep being hot and ready.

☆ Cheaper hotels, shorter trips: Trivago CEO on how inflation is reshaping travel
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

But as inflation has jumped, many tourists are hunting for ways to keep costs down, from opting for shorter trips to steering clear of higher-end hotels. “You have real wage contractions in quite a lot of markets,” Axel Hefer, CEO of search platform Trivago, told CNN. Meanwhile, domestic travel remains strong in countries like the United Kingdom, which has seen big swings in the pound in recent months. “People still do want to travel and do travel, but they’re still trying to compensate for the increase in prices,” Hefer said. For now, bookings for air travel still lag pre-pandemic levels.

☆ Here are 7 fun details that you might miss in the trailer for 'Air,' the Ben Affleck and Matt Damon movie about Nike signing Michael Jordan
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The movie stars Ben Affleck as Nike cofounder Phil Knight and Matt Damon as Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro. In the trailer, Knight's character, played by Ben Affleck, responds to hearing the "Air Jordan" name for Michael Jordan's line of footwear and apparel. Knight's office is filled with booksIn the trailer, there are numerous books on the shelves in Knight's office. Phil Knight's 'rumpled' clothesIn three scenes in the trailer, Knight's character wears a wrinkled suit with the necktie pulled loose. He had a garage full of raw rubber, got some and put it on his wife's waffle iron," Knight said.

☆ Valentine's Day spending boosts British retail sales in February - BRC
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A woman photographs a Valentines Day floral display attached to the facade of a restaurant in London, Britain, February 13, 2023. REUTERS/Peter NichollsLONDON, March 7 (Reuters) - Valentine's Day helped to boost British retail sales in February but volumes remained down on last year as households cut back on non-essential items, a survey published on Tuesday showed. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said spending in store chains increased 5.2% in annual terms last month, well below the 6.7% rise in February 2022. The BRC figures are not adjusted for inflation, meaning the rise in sales masked a much larger drop in volumes. "Popular trends this month include buying 'dupes' of popular products, shopping at discount stores, and limiting Easter spending."

☆ Wholesale egg prices have ‘collapsed.’ Why consumers may soon see relief
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesWholesale egg prices have cratered in recent weeks from record highs, meaning consumers may soon see relief at the grocery store. Its Midwest Large White Egg price benchmark is a widely cited barometer in the egg industry. On average, it takes about four weeks for retail prices to reflect wholesale price trends, Rubio said. Retail prices tend to be less volatile than those at the wholesale level. For every 10% decrease or increase in wholesale egg price, consumers can expect retail prices to shift about 2%, on average, Rubio said.

☆ Ukraine's main Catholic church moves Christmas to Dec. 25 in pivot to West
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Ukraine's main Catholic church said on Monday it would move to a new calendar that would see Christmas celebrated on Dec. 25 rather than Jan. 7, amid an effort by Ukrainian institutions to break cultural links to Russia. The move by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), which counts just under a tenth of Ukrainians as worshippers, was welcomed by culture minister Oleksandr Tkachenko. That poll, held in December 2022, showed 59% of over 1.5 million respondents supported moving Christmas celebrations to Dec. 25, when the feast is celebrated in Western Europe. Last month, Tkachenko expressed hope that all of Ukraine's churches would agree to celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25. Until now, all major churches in majority-Orthodox Ukraine followed the Julian calendar, which celebrates Christmas on Jan. 7.

☆ Thousands of Danes protest cancelling of public holiday
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Johannes Birkebaek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] People take part in a protest outside of Danish Parliament building in Copenhagen, Denmark, February 5, 2023. REUTERS/Johannes BirkebaekCOPENHAGEN, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Thousands of people gathered in Copenhagen on Sunday to protest a bill put forward by the government to scrap a public holiday to help finance increased defence spending. Unions organising the protest estimated at least 50,000 people took part, which would make it Denmark's biggest demonstration in more than a decade. The government has proposed moving forward by three years to 2030 a goal of meeting a NATO defence spending target of 2% of GDP. It says most of the extra 4.5 billion Danish crowns ($654 million) needed to meet the target could be covered by the higher tax revenues it anticipates from abolishing the holiday.

LISBON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Europe was entering an "inevitable" post-pandemic period of airline consolidation as legacy flag-carriers struggle to navigate through a competitive landscape, the chief executive of low-cost carrier Ryanair (RYA.I) said on Wednesday. "We are definitely, post-COVID, entering a four or five-year period of consolidation," Ryanair's Michael O'Leary told Reuters on the sidelines of a news briefing in Portugal's capital Lisbon. Many of Europe's legacy airlines are finding it tough to effectively compete with budget carriers, hampered by weak balance sheets that could be made more robust by merging with rivals, analysts have said. Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and British Airways owner IAG are potential buyers, according to analysts. O'Leary said he believed the sector in Europe would move towards having four large airlines: Lufthansa, Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA), IAG and and Ryanair.

☆ Bob Born, the ‘Father of Peeps,’ has died
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Ira “Bob” Born, known as the “Father of Peeps,” died on Sunday. Just Born Quality Confections, the Pennsylvania-based company that makes various candies, including the chick-shaped marshmallows, confirmed Born’s death in a statement. That helped him earn the nickname “Father of Peeps.”Originally created for Easter, Peeps makes themed candy for other holidays, too, including Valentine’s Day and Halloween. His father, Sam, a Russian immigrant, founded Just Born a year prior. Ross Born told the Lehigh Valley News said his father was a “real mensch,” adding that he was a “kind person, he was generous with his talents, sharing his abilities.”“The candy business was kind of catchy … it was interesting to him,” Ross Born told the newspaper.

☆ Ryanair posts record Christmas quarter, sees 'very robust' summer demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Ryanair on Monday posted its largest after-tax profit for the October-December quarter and said bookings for Easter and summer flights in recent weeks were "very robust", boosted by demand from Asian travelers and a strong U.S. dollar. "We had record bookings in week two and week three of January, very robust demand into Easter and the summer without fare stimulation," he said. The Irish airline, Europe's largest by passenger numbers, said it had earned 211 million euros ($229.40 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31, the third quarter of its financial year. "With Asian tourists now returning and a strong U.S. dollar encouraging Americans to explore Europe, we're seeing robust demand," Chief Executive Officer Michael O'Leary said in a statement. Last week, rivals Wizz Air and EasyJet reported strong summer bookings.

☆ Ryanair is making record profits as booming demand sends airfares soaring
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The low-cost European carrier told customers in an earnings statement on Monday to “book early” before cheaper tickets sell out. It reported record profit for the three months to December 31, increasing airfares by 14% compared to their pre-pandemic level. Passenger numbers for the quarter through December climbed to a record 38.4 million. Fares for the quarter were higher than in 2019 “because of a very strong Christmas and New Year period,” according to O’Leary. It expects that number to grow to 185 million passengers over the 12 months to March 2024.

☆ This one side hustle for introverts can bring in thousands of dollars in passive income per month
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Gili Malinsky | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

These are pretty social hustles, though, and if you're more of an introvert, spending your off-time interacting with others can be draining. Rachel Jiminez opened her Etsy store in 2019 and sells hundreds of printables ranging from Christmas scavenger hunts to digital planners. February might be a good time for Valentine's ideas, April might be a good month for Easter-based ideas, and so on. Jiminez perfected her Etsy-selling skills after taking Julie Berninger's course about opening an Etsy store for printables. She herself brings in about $1,000 per month in passive income from the site.

☆ A Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate and her husband want to open an indoor gun range to host weddings, 'high-end meetings' and 'easter egg hunts'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Sarah Al-Arshani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Waukesha County Judge Jennifer Dorow is running for the state's Supreme Court in November. Dorow and her husband, Brian, have also applied to open an indoor gun range, Jezebel reported. The gun range would host weddings and holiday events and serve alcohol, city documents show. Dorow announced her candidacy for the Wisconsin Supreme Court in late November 2022. He also defended the proposal request for a liquor license in the same space as the gun range.

☆ Typing 'The Last of Us' into Google gives you an eerie Easter egg surprise — take a look
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Google has an Easter egg surprise for fans who search for HBO's apocalyptic show, "The Last of Us." The show's fungus is based on the parasitic Cordyceps fungus that takes over the body of its host. Typing "The Last of Us" into Google's search bar on desktop or mobile brings up a mushroom button at the bottom of the page. The fungus in the show is based off the parasitic Cordyceps fungus, which mainly infects insects like ants and moths. Searching for "Cordyceps" on Google also gives you a mushroom button.

☆ Egg prices rose 60% in 2022. One farm group claims it's a 'collusive scheme' by suppliers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

These industry figures don't seem to square with a two- or three-digit percentage spike in egg prices last year, Farm Action claims. Bird flu's significant impact on hen supply has been the most notable driver, while egg demand has remained strong, Bowman said in a written statement. In this case, that means there's generally not a 1:1 relationship between egg or hen supply and egg prices. Amy Smith vice president at Advanced Economic SolutionsThe dynamic is largely due to a "compounding effect" of demand, Rubio said. Once a farm suffers a flu outbreak, it likely won't produce eggs again for at least six months, Rubio said.

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