- Syrians protest after video of attack on Alawite shrine
- Russian state owner says cargo ship blast was 'terrorist attack'
- 38 dead as Azerbaijani jet crashes in Kazakhstan
- Crisis-hit Valencia hire West Brom's Corberan as new boss
- Suriname ex-dictator and fugitive Desi Bouterse dead at 79
- 35 feared dead as Azerbaijani jet crashes in Kazakhstan
- Pope calls for 'arms to be silenced' in Christmas appeal
- Syria authorities say torched 1 million captagon pills
- Pope calls for 'arms to be silenced' across world
- 32 survivors as Azerbaijani jet crashes in Kazakhstan
- Pakistan air strikes kill 46 in Afghanistan, Kabul says
- Liverpool host Foxes, Arsenal prepare for life without Saka
- Japan FM raises 'serious concerns' over China military buildup
- Pope's sombre message in Christmas under shadow of war
- Zelensky condemns Russian 'inhumane' Christmas attack on energy grid
- Sweeping Vietnam internet law comes into force
- Pope kicks off Christmas under shadow of war
- Catholics hold muted Christmas mass in Indonesia's Sharia stronghold
- Japan's top diplomat in China to address 'challenges'
- Thousands attend Christmas charity dinner in Buenos Aires
- Demand for Japanese content booms post 'Shogun'
- As India's Bollywood shifts, stars and snappers click
- Mystery drones won't interfere with Santa's work: US tracker
- Djokovic eyes more Slam glory as Swiatek returns under doping cloud
- Australia's in-form Head confirmed fit for Boxing Day Test
- Brazilian midfielder Oscar returns to Sao Paulo
- 'Wemby' and 'Ant-Man' to make NBA Christmas debuts
- US agency focused on foreign disinformation shuts down
- On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis launches holy Jubilee year
- 'Like a dream': AFP photographer's return to Syria
- Chiefs seek top seed in holiday test for playoff-bound NFL teams
- Panamanians protest 'public enemy' Trump's canal threat
- Cyclone death toll in Mayotte rises to 39
- Ecuador vice president says Noboa seeking her 'banishment'
- Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy aware of 'bigger picture' as Liverpool await
- Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- Man Utd boss Amorim vows to stay on course despite Rashford row
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- NASA probe makes closest ever pass by the Sun
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Global stocks mostly rise in thin pre-Christmas trade
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- Global stocks mostly rise after US tech rally
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
Ursa Major: Voting starts in Fat Bear Week
Americans are weighing their options this week and deciding where to cast their ballot in the only contest that really matters: Fat Bear Week.
The annual poll will see thousands of people glued to webcams watching bears in Alaska stuff themselves with salmon as they ready for hibernation.
The creatures in Katmai State Park "could easily be eating 100 pounds (45 kilograms) or more of fish in a day," former park ranger Mike Fitz, who thought up the vote, told AFP.
"It's common for them to eat 20 or more salmon in a day."
In a series of head-to-head elimination contests, voters are looking for the creature that appears to have piled on the most pounds to help it get through the lean months of winter.
A solid reserve of chubbiness is vital to survival.
During five months of deep sleep, the bears do not wake to eat, drink or even go to the toilet, emerging famished -- and a lot thinner -- in the spring.
Defending champion Otis, who has four titles to his name, tips the scales at around 1,000 pounds.
This year, he faces a hefty challenge for the overall crown from a bear dubbed 747 -- named after Boeing's enormous plane, and himself a former champ.
But, says Fitz, another pretender to the crown of Ursa-most-Major could emerge from the park's population of 2,000 bears.
The contest, which takes place online -- and of which the bears are probablyunaware -- began in 2014 with just a few thousand people voting.
By last year, it had become a titan in its own right, with more than 800,000 ballots cast.
"It's an event to raise awareness for brown bears in Alaska and in Katmai National Park," said Fitz, who now works as a naturalist for environmental NGO Explore.
"And hopefully through that awareness, people come to care for the animals."
That awareness is crucial to Fitz's larger aim of helping to prevent environmental damage.
"On much of the west coast of North America, salmon runs are just hanging on by a thread," he said.
"We're doing very poorly in parts of California, in Oregon and Washington due to habitat loss and barriers to their migration like dams.
"And climate change is exacerbating those things with drought and heat waves."
Ballots for Fat Bear Week can be cast at www.explore.org, and voting begins on Thursday.
Y.Aukaiv--AMWN