NEW YORK - Giant balloons, floats, marching bands and clowns with confetti brought smiles to hundreds of thousands of revelers eager to catch a glimpse of a parade as steeped in Thanksgiving Day tradition as turkey and pumpkin pie.
SAN SALVADOR, EL Salvador - A strong earthquake struck off El Salvador's Pacific coast Thursday, sending people running from buildings in this Central American nation and in neighboring Guatemala.
SAN SALVADOR, EL Salvador - A strong earthquake has rocked El Salvador and parts of Guatemala, but no there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in either country.
SALT LAKE CITY - The brother of a man who died early Thursday trapped 700-feet inside a Utah cave said his family is remarkably strong but struggles to make sense of what happened.
NEW DELHI - One swine flu death was reported Thursday from Punjab, taking the total toll in India to 561, health authorities said here.
BANGKOK - Thailand has issued rules making sex change surgery more difficult - including a requirement that potential candidates cross-dress for a year - over fears that some patients are rushing into the operation, a medical association said Thursday.
NEW DELHI - Eighty-two new swine flu cases were confirmed here Thursday, taking the total number of people affected by the influenza A (H1N1) virus in the national capital to 4,593, health officials said.
NEW YORK - The comedy-drama "Superior Donuts" is closing up shop on Broadway.
VIENNA - A media watchdog is warning that government-influenced TV in Russia and many post-Soviet states is hampering democracy and could endanger international peace and security if misused as a propaganda tool.
LONDON - American rapper Eminem wants to be a judge on British reality show "The X Factor".
NEW YORK - Hollywood actress Charlize Theron is helping build soccer fields in her native South Africa in honour of the upcoming World Cup.
SAN FRANCISCO - Online retailers hope the convenience of the Web, plus discounts and deals, spur still-nervous shoppers to spend more online this holiday season - even as traditional retailers brace for mediocre sales.
MILWAUKEE - RedPrairie Holding Inc., a business software provider, said Thursday it filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering.
San Francisco- Black Friday being less than 24 hours away, the stores are offering great rebates and gifts on a number of items.
Time Warner Cable Inc. is asking the public for help as it tries to curtail increases in the programming fees it has to pay to carry cable channels and broadcast stations on its systems.
BRUSSELS - Rom Houben's mother remembers her son's amazement when he finally started communicating again after spending 23 years locked in a paralyzed body that was misdiagnosed as vegetative.
PORTLAND, Maine - Beneath the cold ocean waters off the coast of Maine, the nation's lobster breadbasket, lie hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of old wire lobster "ghost traps." Lost over the years to storms, boats - even the knives of fishermen who've cut them from their buoys to settle scores - many of the traps continue catching lobsters.
MANAUS, Brasil - Brazil's foreign minister acknowledges differences with the U.S.
WASHINGTON - The couple who crashed a White House dinner shouldn't need legal help, an attorney who knows them said Thursday, as the Secret Service remained quiet publicly about the eye-catching security breach.
TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian authorities have confiscated Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi's medal, her lawyer and Norway's government said Thursday, in a sign of the increasingly drastic steps they are taking against any dissent.
GSTAAD, Switzerland - After two months in a Swiss jail, Roman Polanski prepared Thursday for the splendid captivity of his $1.6 million chalet in one of world's most luxurious winter resorts.
HAVANA - Cuba's armed forces launched three days of intense military exercises across the island Thursday, a mobilization that state-controlled media says is designed to guard against an American invasion.
ORLANDO, Fla. - Manny Harris had 20 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds to lead No.
BOISE, Idaho - Edward Stimpson, an aviation advocate who pushed to rejuvenate struggling small aircraft manufacturers in the 1990s by limiting lawsuits against them, died Wednesday after an extended illness.
DALLAS - While the U.S.
COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. - The money goes where the medals are - one of those Darwinian truths that often undercuts the oft-told Olympic fairy tale about the journey being as important as the result.
LONDON - London Olympic organizers will avoid building a $66 million temporary arena after reaching an "agreement in principle" with two sports to move to an existing venue for the 2012 Games.
BOULDER, Colo. - Colorado coach Dan Hawkins will get a fifth season in Boulder instead of a pink slip and a $3.1 million buyout.
PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia 76ers guard Lou Williams will miss eight weeks after having surgery on his jaw Thursday morning.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - Buffalo Bills starting cornerback Terrence McGee is practicing for the first time in more than three weeks since having surgery on his right knee, and could play against Miami this weekend.
LONDON - Andy Murray wasted 12 of 13 break points before overcoming Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3) Thursday to close in on a semifinal spot at the ATP World Tour Finals.
NEW YORK - The 83rd annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has kicked off in New York City with a 60-foot-tall Kermit the frog hovering over holiday revelers.
LYON, France, November 26 - Following the decision by a Swiss federal court to release Roman Polanski on bail, INTERPOL has issued an alert reminding all 188 member countries that he remains the subject of a valid Red Notice, an international wanted persons notice, issued at the request of US authorities.
Mobile Phones or Cell Phones are a marvel of their own.
