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Black Friday bargain hunters shattered online shopping records, with nearly $10 billion spent online as consumers desperate for deals largely opted to avoid chaotic crowds.

Buyers spent a record $9.8 billion online Friday, up 7.5 percent from $9.12 billion the day after Thanksgiving 2022, according to Adobe Analytics, which analyzes e-commerce transactions.

Electronics like smart watches, televisions and Bluetooth headphones were hot ticket items.

Other favorites were Barbie Fashionistas dolls, Mini Brands toys, cordless and robot vacuums, cookware, skincare and coffee makers. 

While consumers are breaking records, they are not looking to break the bank with inflation fears at a 12-year high and average goods and services still far pricier than in recent years.

In the past week, 72% more shoppers used “buy now, pay later” flexible payment options, like Klarna and Afterpay, than the week prior, Adobe reported. 

Smarter shopping trends include cross checking prices on apps and websites to get the best value,said Mastercard senior advisor Steve Sadove.

On Thanksgiving day, shoppers gobbled up $5.6?billion in online goods, breaking the record for Turkey Day and paving the way for Black Friday.

Adobe reported that e-commerce prices have fallen over the last 14 months.

The decline in online prices over the last year has created a favorable environment for consumers with strong discounts this season that are tempting even the most price conscious consumers,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst of Adobe Digital Insights.

The e-commerce platformShopify reported a record $4.1 billionin sales for the merchants worldwide that use its services, up 22% from last year.

New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco were the top selling US cities for online shoppers buying from companies that use Shopify. Noon was the busiest time for them and average carts totaled $124. Most of the purchases were made on mobile devices.

Multiple sporting events aired on Friday,including the first-ever NFL Black Friday game —a disheartening loss for the Jets— on Amazon Prime Video, giving patrons yet another reason to participate from the couch.

In-store sales crept up just 1.1% over last year, according to the Mastercard SpendingPulse report, which measures in-store and online sales across all forms of payment. Clothing and jewelry topped wish lists, the report said.

Reports noted that crowds at malls were subdued, but Macys and Walmart executives did notice more traffic than last year.

It has started out well, but its too early to call, Macys CEO Jeff Gennette told the Wall Street Journal. Just because you have a great Black Friday doesnt mean you have a great holiday season.

Retailers slashed seasonal hiring, ordered fewer goods for this holiday season and pushed sales in October and November, reducing the incentive to head to the malls on Black Friday.

The early sales enabled shoppers to spread out spending, yet many are expected to wait until the last minute for the best deals possible, experts note.

And it could pay off — stores will likely discount throughout the season to avoid getting stuck with extra inventory after the holidays.

Consumers are resisting impulse buys and splurges as savings dwindle, credit card debt grows and inflation and high interest rates persist.

Prices were up 18.2% in October this year compared to October 2020, according to the inflation figures.

Shoppers in the Big Apple opted for affordability over luxury on Black Friday, The Post reported.

People are more value conscious, said Barbara Kahn, a professor at The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania. People are spending, but theyre spending more conservatively.

Despite the record spending to start the season, holiday spending in the US is expected to rise at the slowest pace in five years.

Shoppers have an average budget of $875 for holiday purchases, $42 more than last year.

Clothes, gift cards and toys at the top of most shopping lists, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation

Adobe expects Cyber Week — Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday — to generate?$37.2 billion online, up?5.4% from last year and representing 16.8% of the whole holiday?season.

Cyber Monday is expected to remain the?seasons and years?biggest online shopping day, with spending of $12 billion forecast, up 6.1% from 2022.

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Entertainment

Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it’s ‘an underdog just like me’

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Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it's 'an underdog just like me'

Snoop Dogg has become a co-owner and investor of Swansea, with the US rapper hailing the Welsh football club as “an underdog that bites back, just like me”.

The former Premier League club, which plays in the English second tier, confirmed the US rapper and producer plans to use his own money to invest in it, Sky Sports reports, although it didn’t disclose financial details.

“My love of football is well known, but it feels special to me that I make my move into club ownership with Swansea City,” the music icon said in the announcement.

“The story of the club and the area really struck a chord with me,” he added. “This is a proud, working class city and club.

“An underdog that bites back, just like me.

“I’m proud to be part of Swansea City. I am going to do all I can to help the club.”

Swansea’s American owners, led by Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen, are trying to grow the Championship club’s global brand and increase commercial revenue.

Snoop Dogg, 53, who has 89m followers on Instagram and more than 20m on X, helped launch the team’s 2025-26 home shirt last weekend.

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The club ownership group said: “To borrow a phrase from Snoop’s back catalogue, this announcement is the next episode for Swansea City as we seek to create new opportunities to boost the club’s reach and profile.”

Luka Modric, who recently signed with AC Milan from Real Madrid, joined Swansea’s ownership group in April.

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Politics

Diane Abbott suspended from Labour Party

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Diane Abbott suspended from Labour Party

Diane Abbott has been suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation.

A party spokesperson confirmed the decision to Sky News but did not give a reason why.

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It comes after the veteran MP defended previous comments about racism which sparked an antisemitism row and led to a year-long suspension.

She apologised at the time and was readmitted back into the party before the 2024 general election.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Diane Abbott has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party, pending an investigation. We cannot comment further while this investigation is ongoing.”

Sky News understands that the suspension is not related to the four rebels who lost the whip on Wednesday for “repeated breaches” of party discipline, including voting against the government’s welfare cuts.

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The action has been taken because of an interview in which she doubled down on her claim Jewish people experience racism differently to black people, which previously sparked a huge controversy.

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Diane Abbott

In a letter to The Observer in 2023, Ms Abbott argued that people of colour experienced racism “all their lives” and said that was different to the “prejudice” experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.

Shortly after it was published, she issued a statement in which she said she wished to “wholly and unreservedly withdraw my remarks and disassociate myself from them”.

However in a new interview with BBC Radio 4’s Reflections programme this week, she said she did not look back on the incident with regret.

Ms Abbott said: “Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don’t know.

“But if you see a black person walking down the street, you see straight away that they’re black. They are different types of racism.”

She added: “I just think that it’s silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism.

“I don’t know why people would say that.”

Commenting on the suspension, Ms Abbott told Sky News: “It’s obvious this Labour leadership wants me out. My comments in the interview with James Naughtie were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept.”

The clip of the interview was re-posted by Brian Leishman, one of the MPs suspended on Wednesday, who said: “Diane Abbott has fought against racism her entire life.”

Bell Riberio-Addy, who lost her role as trade envoy in yesterday’s purge, also came to Ms Abbott’s defence, saying: “Before condemning her based on headlines, I would listen to her clip and note she discussed the different forms that racism takes and condemned all forms of racism.”

Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell made similar comments, saying that in the interview his colleague “forthrightly condemns antisemitism & discusses the different forms of racism”.

But Labour MP David Taylor told Sky News he has “long thought Diane Abbott shouldn’t be a member of our party due to her appalling positions on everything from Bosnia to Syria”.

He added: “As the Jewish Labour Movement have said, antisemitism targets Jews regardless of how they look, and many in the community are visibly Jewish and suffer racism for it.”

In the interview, Ms Abbott said she “of course” condemns antisemitic behaviour in the same way she would condemn racist behaviour because of the colour of someone’s skin, adding: “I do get a bit weary of people trying to pin the antisemitic label on me because I spent a lifetime facing racism of all kinds.”

Ms Abbott made history when she was elected as Britain’s first black female MP for Labour in 1987.

She is the longest-serving female MP in the Commons, giving her the title “Mother of the House”.

As an MP on the left of the party she has often clashed with the leadership throughout her career – bar her time serving in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.

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Many MPs rallied in support of Ms Abbott last year when it was not clear if she would be reinstated in time for the general election, or allowed to stand.

She went on to retain her seat of Hackney North and Stoke Newington with a majority of over 15,000.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner hinted action could be taken against Ms Abbott when she told The Guardian earlier on Thursday that she was “disappointed” in her colleague’s remarks.

“There’s no place for antisemitism in the Labour Party, and obviously the Labour Party has processes for that,” she said.

A source close to the decision to suspend her told Sky News there is a “very slim chance” she will be allowed back in, given she did antisemitism training and apologised last time.

It raises questions about whether Ms Abbott could join the new party being formed by Mr Corbyn and former Labour MP Zarah Sultana.

For the time being, Ms Abbott will sit in the Commons as an independent MP.

Adnan Hussain, who was elected as the independent MP for Blackburn last year, said on X: “We’d be honoured to have a giant like Diane join us, she [should] come to the side that would really appreciate her for the legend she is.”

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Child who died in Minehead school coach crash was 10-year-old boy, police say

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Child who died in Minehead school coach crash was 10-year-old boy, police say

The child who died in a school coach crash in Somerset on Thursday was a 10-year-old boy, Avon and Somerset Police have said.

A specially trained officer is supporting the child’s family, the force said, adding that two children taken to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children by air ambulance remain there as of Friday.

Four children and three adults also remain in hospital in Somerset.

There were between 60 to 70 people on board when the incident happened near Minehead, just before 3pm on Thursday.

The coach was heading to Minehead Middle School when it crashed on the A396 between Wheddon Cross and Timbercombe.

Flowers outside school
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Pic: PA

Police said that 21 people were taken to hospital, including two children who were taken via air ambulance.

Gavin Ellis, chief fire officer for Devon and Somerset, said the coach “overturned onto its roof and slid approximately 20ft down an embankment”.

Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead, said the road where it happened is “very difficult to manoeuvre”.

“You have a very difficult crossing at Wheddon Cross, and as you come out to dip down into Timbercombe, the road is really windy and there are very steep dips on either side,” she told Sky’s Anna Botting.

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Tearful MP reacts to coach crash

It comes after a teacher at Minehead Middle School praised the “incredibly brave” pupils for supporting each other after the coach crash.

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“You have looked after each [other] in what was a life-changing event, we will get through this together,” they wrote on Facebook.

“I feel so lucky to be your teacher. I am so grateful to my wonderful colleagues during this time who were also fighting to help as many people as we could.”

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