Hamas on Friday freed 24 hostages — including 13 Israeli women and children, 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino — and Israel released 39 Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons on the first day the pause in fighting in Gaza.
The big picture: Hamas agreed to free at least 50 women and children over the four-day pause, while Israel is set to release 150 Palestinians, primarily women and children, held in Israeli prisons.
Dublin, Ireland, on Thursday saw the worst violence in decades, following a knife attack that injured three children and two adults, including the suspect.
The big picture: Police said hordes of rioters, who set fire to vehicles and damaged stores, were driven by online misinformation about the attack.
A swelling population of feral "super pigs" in Canada is threatening to spread across the border into northern U.S. states, wildlife experts warn.
Threat level: States including Minnesota and Montana are taking preventative measures in case this crossbreed of wild boar and domestic swine that University of Saskatchewanprofessor Ryan Brook calls "the most invasive animal on the planet" crosses the border, per AP.
The four-day pause in fighting between Hamas and Israel in Gaza will begin at 7 am local time on Friday, with the first group of hostages set to be released later that day, a Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.
Driving the news: The announcement of the timeline for the Qatar-mediated deal came after a brief delay in the implementation of the agreement, which will see Hamas free at least 50 Israeli women and children in exchange for a multi-day pause in the fighting in Gaza and the release of 150 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons.
Investigators of Wednesday's deadly car explosion at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing between the U.S. and Canada have not uncovered links to terrorism, the FBI and New York's governor say.
The big picture: The incident on the U.S. side of the bridge killed two people and injured a booth agent, and prompted the closure of multiple border crossings, the suspension of border train services and heightened security at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport on the eve of Thanksgiving — one of the busiest travel days of the year.
President Biden's persistent pressure on Middle East leaders was a key factor in sealing the deal between Israel and Hamas for the release of 50 hostages who were captured during Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel, U.S., Israeli and Qatari officials say.
Why it matters: Interviews with the officials reveal how Biden's team shaped the agreement during six weeks of often-tense negotiations, how he was driven by "gut-wrenching" meetings with hostages' family members, and his aggressive push to seal the deal.
Most Americans are hoping politics won't be served with Thanksgiving dinner.
Driving the news: More than 60% of people said they want to avoid discussing politics while visiting friends and family this Thanksgiving, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released this week.
Dutch populist leader Geert Wilders, whose far-right party ran on an anti-Islam, anti-immigrant platform that also called for the Netherlands to leave the EU, won the most seats in the country's parliamentary elections.
Why it matters: The surprise win by Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV) will be another boost for U.S. conservatives who saw Sunday's Argentina presidential election win of self-described "anarcho-capitalist" Javier Milei as evidence that Trumpian populism is alive and well, per Axios' Zachary Basu.
