Fog in Denver causes delays, diversions
DENVER – Fog and wind caused delays at the Denver airport on Sunday, and 46 incoming flights were diverted to other cities on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
Most of the diverted flights landed in Colorado Springs, about 90 miles south, Denver International Airport spokeswoman Laura Coale said.
Incoming flights were delayed by about an hour Sunday afternoon, down from two hours earlier in the day. Departures were also delayed, but times weren’t available.
Weather prevented the use of three of the airport’s six runways, Coale said.
Shopping moderated before Cyber Monday
NEW YORK – After a busy holiday weekend in shopping malls, millions of Americans are expected to log on and keep shopping on the day dubbed Cyber Monday.
That day – the Monday after Thanksgiving – has been the biggest online shopping day of the year since 2010. The day could take on added importance after a Thanksgiving weekend that saw fewer shoppers and lower spending than last year, according to some estimates.
Retailers have been pushing deals all month and particularly the past week, hoping to spur customers to spend. That may have taken away some spending from Thanksgiving weekend.
Research firm comScore expects people to spend about $2.5 billion on Cyber Monday.
There’s reason to think a lot of dollars are migrating online.
PayPal said its global mobile payment volume jumped 47 percent Thanksgiving Day compared with last year. Walmart said it had more than 500 million page views on Thanksgiving, and eBay says it sold 2,000 iPad Air 2 tablets for $399 at a rate of one a second.
Pope, patriarch call for end of IS attacks
ISTANBUL – Pope Francis and the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians demanded an end to the persecution of religious minorities in Syria and Iraq on Sunday and called for a “constructive dialogue” with Muslims, capping the pontiff’s three-day visit to Turkey with a strong show of Christian unity in the face of suffering and violence.
Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I issued a joint declaration, urging leaders in the region to intensify assistance to victims of the Islamic State group and especially allowing Christians who have had a presence in the region for 2,000 years to remain on their native lands.
“The terrible situation of Christians and all those who are suffering in the Middle East calls not only for our constant prayer, but also for an appropriate response on the part of the international community,” they wrote.
Specifically, Francis told reporters on the way home from Istanbul that all Islamic leaders – political, religious, academic – should clearly condemn terrorism, so that their people hear it directly from their mouths.
3 South Africans killed in Kabul
KABUL, Afghanistan – Taliban suicide attackers killed the South African leader of a foreign aid group, his son and daughter and an Afghan worker in an assault on the agency’s Kabul offices, authorities said Sunday, as the city’s police chief resigned in the wake of the latest insurgent attack there.
Police chief Gen. Mohammed Zahir told reporters before his resignation that the attack Saturday actually killed four people, raising the death toll in the assault near the Afghan parliament. He offered no other details about the victims and did not name the aid group.
A Redlands, California-based group called Partnership in Academics and Development later posted a notice on its website saying several of its staffers died during an attack Saturday in Kabul.
“We are caring for all staff and their families as they grieve the loss of their friends and co-workers and nurse the wounded,” the statement read. “Our thoughts are with the survivors and their families as they grieve the loss of life. Their selfless sacrifice for the people of Afghanistan is an inspiration to all.”
A message left at a phone number listed for the group was not immediately returned Sunday. Clayson Monyela, a spokesman for South Africa’s foreign affairs department, said Sunday that he had no information about the slain South Africans.
Associated Press
