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The world population grew by 75 million people over the past year and on New Year's Day it will stand at more than 8 billion people, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday. The worldwide growth rate in the past year was just under 1%. At the start of 2024, 4.3 births and two deaths are expected worldwide every second, according to the Census Bureau figures.

Southern states continued to get the lion's share of new residents this year as Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina added almost 1.2 million people among them. The South was the only region that drew net new residents from other states. Meanwhile, the national population grew by 1.6 million people from births and immigrants, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released Tuesday. South Carolina had the largest percentage

NEW YORK (AP) - A new study adds to evidence that severe obesity is becoming more common in young U.S. children. There was some hope that children in a government food program might be bucking a trend in obesity rates - earlier research found rates were dropping a little about a decade ago for those kids. But an update released Monday in the journal Pediatrics shows the rate bounced back up a bit by

LAS VEGAS (AP) - For better or for worse, a wave of couples saying "I do" in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve could set a record for the city's busiest wedding day ever. That's because 12/31/23 is known in the massive Las Vegas wedding industry as a "specialty date," thanks to the repeating 1-2-3 1-2-3 pattern, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. The icing on the cake? This specialty date falls on a

(AP) - A civil rights leader was escorted by police out of a North Carolina movie theater after he insisted on using his own chair for medical reasons, prompting an apology from the nation’s largest movie theater chain.  The incident occurred Tuesday in Greenville during a showing of “The Color Purple.” The Rev. William Barber II said he needs the chair because he suffers from ankylosing spondylitis, a disabling bone

SEATTLE (AP) - The U.S. online retailer Zulily is closing down, surprising customers and laying off hundreds of workers after efforts to salvage the business failed. The Seattle-based company said in a notice on its website that it had tried to fill all pending orders and expected to manage that within the coming two weeks. Zulily said it was trying to ensure that orders that could not be filled were canceled

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) - A 6-year-old boy who left on a flight for the Christmas holiday to visit his grandmother in southwest Florida instead was put on the wrong plane and ended up 160 miles away in Orlando, Florida. When the grandmother, Maria Ramos, showed up on Thursday at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers to greet her grandson who was flying for the first time from Philadelphia,

All photos are credited to Photographer Cecil Williams and AP News. ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) - Much of how South Carolina has seen its civil rights history has been through the lens of photographer Cecil Williams. From sit-ins to prayer protests to portraits of African Americans integrating universities and rising to federal judges, Williams has snapped it. After years of work, Williams' millions of photographs are being digitized and categorized and

By: JORDAN MEADOWS, STAFF WRITER In the heart of Conetoe, North Carolina, where access to fresh, nutritious food is challenging, Reverend Richard Joyner embarked on a transformative journey in 2007. Facing the reality of being situated in one of the country's "food deserts," with the nearest grocery store 10 miles away, Joyner envisioned a holistic solution that would address the immediate need for sustenance and nurture the growth of the

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A beneficiary of one of North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper's end-of-year criminal pardons, who currently works in state government, said she hopes her life story will help others who also are seeking second chances. Among the four receiving a pardon of forgiveness from Cooper on Wednesday was Portia Bright-Pittman, 38, who had been convicted of being an accessory after the fact to armed robbery in Orange County in