It's that most wonderful time of the year: Black Friday is upon us! And Hulu

DETROIT (AP) — Alex DeBrincat scored three goals for his fifth career hat trick and the Detroit Red Wings beat the road-weary Calgary Flames 6-2 Sunday for their fifth straight win.

US pending home sales unexpectedly rose in June for the first time in four months, despite ongoing supply

Warzone's new Night Terror skin is drawing comparisons to the Roze skin for its camouflage abilities, and some players say it makes the game pay-to-win.

The latest MLB rumors include an inevitable fire sale for the White Sox, the Mets trying to spend their way out of trouble and concern over Aroldis Chapman.MLB rumors: White Sox fire sale comingThe White Sox are kidding themselves if they think they won't be selling at the MLB trade deadlin...

Ruixin Liu is the leader after one round of the Kroger Queen City Championship on the LPGA Tour

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is preparing to pass a new budget

New England Patriots defensive back Jack Jones pleaded not guilty to nine counts of weapons violations in connection with his arrest at a Logan Airport security checkpoint with two loaded guns in his carry-on bag

Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey spoke candidly about James Harden's trade request and his approach to the new season.

WASHINGTON U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to nominate his top White House Asia aide Kurt Campbell to

Fernando Almeyda Rodriguez and Remy Hernandez are two friends from Cuba, bound by a joint struggle for democracy in their country. But that comes at a price. The two men — Rodriguez is 31 and Hernandez 27 — were forced to flee Cuba in the aftermath of mass protests in 2021 to avoid persecution for their activism. An unlikely migration route brought them to Serbia — on the Balkan peninsula, at Europe's southeastern edge — where they sought political asylum. Rodriguez and Hernandez chose Serbia because it was among the few countries in the world that did not require entry visas for Cubans. But Belgrade has since revoked the open travel regime, closing down a passage into Europe used by fleeing Cubans for decades. Serbia made the decision under pressure from the European Union, which it wants to join. Belgrade was also forced to impose visas for the citizens of countries such as Burundi, India or Tunisia which have become a source of migration into the 27-nation bloc. For Rodriguez, however, the decision only meant that Cubans like him will now have fewer options if they wish to flee to avoid pressure from the Communist regime or escape crippling poverty. “Cuba resembles more or less some kind of a concentration camp in which your only option is to die in silence and not complain,” he said. “A lot of these (people) are humanitarian cases or refugee cases and you close the door to them. What about these people?” Friendly relations between Cuba and Serbia date back to the era when Serbia was part of the former Communist-run Yugoslavia, resulting in a small Cuban community here. Last month, Belgrade hosted Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel, at a time when Serbia's populist President Aleksandar Vucic has been facing weeks of street protests against his increasingly autocratic rule. Rodriguez said he had been forced to hide for months in Cuba to avoid arrest before he finally flew to Belgrade via Frankfurt, Germany, in Feb. 2022. It was "jail or leaving,” he told the Associated Press in an interview. “I spent more than six months playing hide and seek with the security ... the police,” said Rodriguez. “I would not stop struggling for human rights in my country.” Rodriguez has since been granted asylum in Serbia while the procedure for Hernandez’s application is still underway. Serbian lawyer Nikola Kovacevic, who represented Rodriguez in the asylum procedure, also said the changes in Serbia’s visa policies would expose many refugees from Cuba, Africa and Asia to much longer, dangerous and more complicated ways to reach Europe. “It was the safest route to protection” said Kovacevic. “And now it does not exist any more, it was cancelled. The options for these people have narrowed down.” Migration activists have repeatedly criticized EU countries over the reported illegal pushbacks of migrants and efforts to keep the borders closed even as hundreds die while traversing dangerous routes over the seas or in the hands of people smugglers. Last month, EU countries agreed on a reform of asylum laws and a shared responsibility for migrants entering Europe without authorization. Hungary and Poland opposed the deal, reflecting disunity in the bloc over migration. Both Rodriguez, who is a well-known human rights lawyer and activist in Cuba, and Hernandez, an artist and art teacher, say they had no other option but to flee the government crackdown. The protests in July 2021 were the biggest in Cuba in decades. Scores of people were jailed after the mass rallies that first erupted because of blackouts and shortages that soared during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rodriguez was a prominent member of the Archipelago group that was active on social networks. Hernandez says he lost his job as an art teacher in a Havana high school because he published cartoons in a satirical magazine critical of the Communist authorities. “They expelled me from the school where I worked, from the profession that I studied all my life,” he said. Hernandez said most his friends and family members had also fled as part of a major exodus in recent years. In Cuba, he said, “there is no food, there is no electricity, there is no medicine.” The majority of fleeing Cubans still head for the United States while Europe, primarily Spain, had been an option via Moscow or Serbia. So far, 56 Cubans expressed their intention to seek asylum in Serbia in the first half of 2023, a number that is expected to fall because of the change in the visa regime. Lawyer Kovacevic says that the numbers of Cubans who have used Serbia as a gateway to Europe represent merely a trickle compared to other nationalities migrating along the so-called Western Balkan land route. Serbia’s relaxed visa policies in the past had saved lives, he said. “Any refugee escape is not dignified,” added Kovacevic. “But at least you come directly to safety and then apply for asylum, (which) is way better than to jump over 15 borders where you are going to be beaten up 20 times, pushed back, extorted, humiliated. “This is the way people should be provided with safe routes,” he said. ”And this is not the case now.” —- Follow AP's coverage of migration at: Migration ' AP News Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Kosovo to partially withdraw special police officers from northern Serb-majority municipalities Presidents of Serbia, Montenegro agree to patch up strained relations between historic allies Jews and Muslims come together at Srebrenica anniversary of Europe's only post-World War II genocide

Doing yoga may help reduce frequency of seizures in people with epilepsy and lower their anxiety, a new study found. The practice may also improve patients’ overall quality of life by reducing the stigma they feel from having the disease, according to the research, published last week in the medical journal Neurology. “People with epilepsy often face stigma that can cause them to feel different than others due to their own health condition and that can have a significant impact on their quality of life,” study author Manjari Tripathi from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi said. “This stigma can affect a person’s life in many ways including treatment, emergency department visits and poor mental health,” Dr Tripathi explained. In the study, researchers assessed people with epilepsy with an average age of 30 in India. They measured stigma among participants based on their answers to questions such as: “Do you feel other people discriminate against you?” “Do you feel you cannot contribute anything in society?” and “Do you feel different from other people?” About 160 people who met the criteria for experiencing stigma were then identified. These patients had an average of one seizure per week and on average took at least two anti-seizure medications, researchers said. One set of patients were then randomly assigned to receive yoga therapy, which included exercises in loosening muscles, breathing, meditation and positive affirmations. Another set of patients received a sham therapy that mimicked the same exercises, but these participants were not given instructions on two key components of yoga – slow and synchronized breathing, and attention to the body movements and sensations. Both the groups received seven supervised group sessions of 45 to 60 minutes over three months. They were also asked to practice sessions at home at least five times a week for 30 minutes and track their seizures and yoga sessions in a journal. Participants were then followed for an additional three months after their first three months of therapy. People who did yoga were more than four times as likely to have their seizure frequency more than halved after six months than the people who did sham yoga, the study found. Compared to those who did the sham practice, participants who did yoga were more likely to reduce their perceived stigma of the disease, researchers say. People who did yoga were also over seven times more likely to no longer have seizures than those who did the sham practice, according to the study. Researchers also reported a significant decrease in anxiety symptoms among those who did yoga versus people who did not. “The intervention group showed significant improvement in symptoms of anxiety, cognitive impairment, mindfulness and quality of life relative to the control group at the end of follow-up period,” researchers wrote. “Yoga may not only help reduce stigma, but also improve quality of life and mindfulness. Plus, yoga can be easily prerecorded and shared with patients online using minimal resources and costs,” Dr Tripathi said. Citing the main limitation of the study, researchers said the participants self-reported their seizure frequency and they may not have remembered all the information accurately. However, they say the findings “elevate the need to consider alternative therapies and activities for people with epilepsy facing stigma”. Read More Jonnie Irwin says he ‘never thought’ he’d be alive to see his 50th birthday Billy Connolly shares health update on Parkinson’s disease: ‘Every day gets stranger’ What are the symptoms of Parkinson's disease and how can it be treated? Jonnie Irwin says he ‘never thought’ he’d be alive to see his 50th birthday Billy Connolly shares health update on Parkinson’s disease: ‘Every day gets stranger’ What are the symptoms of Parkinson's disease and how can it be treated?