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The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell markedly last week following a big increase the week before. Jobless claim applications declined by 22,000 to 220,000 for the week of Dec. 14, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The American economy grew at a healthy 3.1% annual clip from July through September, propelled by vigorous consumer spending and an uptick in exports, the government said in an upgrade to its previous estimate.

CALGARY — Vermilion Energy Inc. raised its dividend as it outlined a capital spending plan of $600 million to $625 million for 2025. The company says it will pay a quarterly dividend of 13 cents per share, up a penny from 12 cents per share.

MONTREAL — The Lion Electric Co. says it has been granted protection from creditors under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act by the Superior Court of Quebec.

LONDON (AP) — The U.K.’s central bank warned Thursday of “heightened uncertainty" as it kept interest rates on hold after inflation moved further above target, even at a time when the British economy is flatlining at best.

SEATAC, Washington (AP) — Background music is no longer an afterthought at many airports, which are hiring local musicians and carefully curating playlists to help lighten travelers’ moods .

MONTREAL — The Luddites were a 19th-century group of British textile workers who destroyed the mechanized looms and knitting frames they saw as a threat to their livelihoods.

PERTH, Australia (AP) — A British YouTuber and rapper known as Yung Filly admitted in an Australian court on Thursday to reckless driving while he was awaiting trial on charges of raping a woman three months ago.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A series of intense Israeli airstrikes shook Yemen's rebel-held capital and a port city early Thursday and killed at least nine people, officials said, shortly after a Houthi missile targeted central Israel.

MACAO (AP) — When Portugal returned its colony Macao to China in 1999, coffee shop owner Daniel Chao was a first grader living in a different world.