INSIDER
The crystal-covered ball that descends down a pole in Times Square to ring in the new year was taken for a test run, as New York City officials laid out their plans for the iconic New Year’s Eve event.
A trailblazing former “Sports Illustrated” model who pushed back against age discrimination has died in a Pennsylvania home from what authorities believe was carbon monoxide poisoning.
If you’re planning on ringing in the new year quietly at home, you’re not alone.
The last of the crystal triangles that make up this year’s Times Square New Year’s Eve ball have been installed, marking the first time in 10 years that all 2,688 were replaced at once.
As the calendar changes to 2025, you might be thinking about how to approach your relationship with money in the new year.
A survey shows small business owners are feeling more optimistic about the economy following the election.
Researchers and watchdog groups say the emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools that allow people to efficiently produce detailed and novel online reviews has put merchants, service providers and consumers in uncharted territory.
Bluesky has seen its user base soar since the U.S. presidential election, boosted by people seeking refuge from Elon Musk’s X, or wanting an alternative to Meta’s Threads and its algorithms.
Nebraska's third-largest high school decided not to play varsity girls basketball this year after no juniors or seniors went out for the sport.
Amazon delivery drivers and Starbucks baristas are on strike in a handful of U.S. cities as they seek to exert pressure on the two major companies to recognize them as unionized employees or to meet demands for an inaugural labor contract.
Two little piggies will not become Christmas Eve roast pork thanks to a holiday pardon they received from a Florida mayor.
The long-awaited second season of “Squid Game” on Netflix and singing superstar Andrea Bocelli's Christmas TV special are some of this week’s new streaming entertainment releases.
Artificial intelligence holds the promise of helping countless other students with a range of visual, speech, language and hearing impairments to execute tasks that come easily to others.
Whether dressed in black, mimicking bare branches or decked out with enough bows for a Taylor Swift concert, the Christmas trees in some U.S. homes this year display an unconventional streak.
President Joe Biden’s administration has started to withdraw pending regulations that won’t be finalized by the time he leaves office.
Drivers and airline passengers without reindeer and sleighs better make a dash for it: it’s beginning to look like another record for holiday travel in the U.S. The auto club AAA predicts that more than 119 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between Saturday and New Year’s Day.
Immigration in 2024 drove U.S. population growth to its fastest rate in 23 years as the nation surpassed 340 million residents.
A British YouTuber and rapper known as Yung Filly has admitted in an Australian court to reckless driving while he was awaiting trial on charges of raping a woman three months ago.
Macao has grown from a monopoly-driven gambling enclave into the world's biggest gaming hub, packed with Chinese tourists, since Beijing took control of the former Portuguese colony 25 years ago.
The Federal Trade Commission says it will soon require hotels, vacation rental platforms and live event promoters to disclose any fees up front when they list prices.
Moravian missionaries named the Pennsylvania city of Bethlehem after the biblical birthplace of Jesus on Christmas Eve in 1741.
Nobody puts baby in a corner, but they’re putting her in the National Film Registry.
It's about as American an idea as it gets -the hunger to make your own path, to find your own way, make your voice heard.
Starting in September of 2027, all new passenger vehicles in the U.S. will have to sound a warning if rear-seat passengers don’t buckle up.
Reliance on school buses has been waning for years as districts struggle to find drivers and more students attend schools far outside their neighborhoods.
More than 100 kids have been treated to an airplane flight and visit to a hangar at Denver International Airport that was transformed into the North Pole.
With a late Thanksgiving, the holiday shopping season is five days shorter than last year, and owners of small retail shops say that people have been quick to snap up holiday décor early, along with gifts for others and themselves.
The griping Vatican-based movie thriller “Conclave” about picking a new pope and Stephanie Hsu starring in the dark comedy series “Laid” as a woman whose former lovers keep unexpectedly dying are some of this week’s new streaming entertainment releases.
Nearly half of American teenagers say they are online “constantly,” despite concerns about the effects of social media and smartphones on their mental health.
Fewer grandparents were taking care of grandchildren, there was a decline in the number of preschoolers and more people were staying put in their homes in the first part of the 2020s compared with the last part of the 2010s.
More than 600,000 people annually visit Santa Claus Village, a winter-themed amusement park in the small town of Rovaniemi in Finland.
Regional supermarket chain Stop & Shop is installing kiosks in all of its stores in the Northeast U.S. to make digital-only coupons more accessible.
U.S. consumers who were tricked into purchases they didn’t want from Fortnite maker Epic Games are now starting to receive refund checks, the Federal Trade Commission said this week.
OpenAI has publicly released its new artificial intelligence video generator Sora but won’t let most users depict people as it monitors for patterns of misuse.
The holiday shopping season is underway, and this year small businesses have less time to capitalize on the busy shopping period.
Brenda Lee's memories of recording “Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree” are a little hazy now.
It was 1906 when U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt designated the first national monument — Devils Tower in Wyoming.
France’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral has formally reopened its doors for the first time since a devastating fire nearly destroyed the 861-year-old landmark in 2019.
Angelina Jolie portraying opera singer Maria Callas in the movie “Maria” and Jamie Foxx's Netflix comedy special called “Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was.
The Princess of Wales is taking another step in her return to public life following cancer treatment as she hosts her annual Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey.
The reopening this weekend of Notre Dame is a succession of ceremonies to breathe life back into the iconic cathedral and celebrate the recovery from its devastating fire in 2019.
The day after an inferno struck Notre Dame cathedral in 2019, its chief architect, Philippe Villeneuve, walked despondently into its remains.
A U.S. Senate subcommittee has held a hearing to question the growing use of airline fees to charge passengers for things like early boarding and better seats.
The global phenomenon that is Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is coming to an end after the popstar performed more than 150 shows across five continents over nearly two years.
For the artistic and cultural elites of the West African nation of Senegal, the monthlong Dakar Biennale of Contemporary African Arts is a celebratory moment.
Pop superstar Taylor Swift tops a list of 2024's most notable quotations compiled by Yale University, with her declaration that she's a “childless cat lady" while endorsing Kamala Harris for president.
The Princess of Wales helped kick off the emir of Qatar’s trip to Britain as the U.K. government enlists one of the most popular royals to ensure the success of a state visit by the leader of a key ally.
The lake-effect snow that has fallen in parts of upstate New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan is the result of cold, moist air that blew over the Great Lakes region.
Established nonprofits, everyday individuals and mutual aid groups all want your dollars to make a difference.
