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WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people claiming unemployment benefits for the first time barely rose last week, after two weeks of sharp drops, further evidence that layoffs are easing. The Labor Department said Thursday that first-time claims for jobless benefits rose by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 434,000 last week. That’s lower than the 447,000 that analysts expected, according to Thomson Reuters. The four-week average of claims, which smooths fluctuations, fell for the 18th straight week to 450,250. That figure is nearing the roughly 425,000 that many economists say would be a sign the economy will start creating jobs.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Six months after Democrat Al Franken tardily joined the U.S. Senate, a Minnesota judge has declared that uncounted absentee ballots from the drawn-out 2008 election should be open to public inspection. The New Year’s Eve ruling from Ramsey County Judge Dale Lindman granted a media outlet’s request to inspect absentee ballots rejected as flawed, potentially giving a new glimpse into a Senate race that stretched well into 2009. Franken outlasted Republican incumbent Norm Coleman in a recount and court battle and won by 312 votes.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some Democratic lawmakers who support closing Guantanamo Bay say the U.S. should reconsider whether to repatriate suspected terrorists from Yemen, given the al-Qaida activity in the poor Arab nation.

President Barack Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, said Sunday the transfers will continue if the administration deems them warranted.

Six Yemenis returned last month were released after the government there determined they were not a threat, officials in Yemen told The Associated Press.

SHAH HASAN KHEL, Pakistan (AP) — Tribal elders in a Pakistani village where a suicide car bomber killed nearly 100 people insisted Saturday that residents will keep defying the Taliban, even as the bloodshed laid bare the risks facing the citizens’ militias that make up a key piece of Pakistan’s arsenal against extremism. The New Year’s Day attack on the northwest village of Shah Hasan Khel was one of the deadliest in a surge of bombings that has killed more than 600 across Pakistan since October. Police believe the attacker meant to detonate his 550 pounds (250 kilograms) of explosives at a meeting of tribesmen who supervise an anti-Taliban militia. Instead, the blast went off at a nearby outdoor volleyball court, killing at least 96 people.

Al Franken finally got to take his seat in the U.S. Senate. Two Northwest Airlines pilots were grounded after they forgot to land in the Twin Cities. And a 13-year-old boy with cancer touched off a nationwide manhunt when he fled with his mother to avoid court-ordered treatment. Those were just a few of Minnesota’s top stories of 2009, a year also marked by Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s rising profile on the national political scene, the fall of Minnesota businessmen Tom Petters and Denny Hecker, the dawn of the Brett Favre era with the Minnesota Vikings, and two newlyweds who became an Internet sensation with their joyous dance down the aisle.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Monday that he has ordered a review of the nation’s watch-list system and of its air safety regulations after a Christmas Day attack on a U.S. airliner. After an al-Qaida group claimed responsibility for the assault, the president said he has directed his national security team to keep up the pressure on those overseas who aim to attack the U.S. “It’s absolutely critical that we learn from this incident and take the necessary measures to prevent future acts of terrorism,” Obama said in his first public remarks since the attack on the Detroit-bound airliner.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican will review its security procedures after a woman jumped a barrier and rushed at Pope Benedict XVI for the second time in two years, managing to knock him down before being pulled away by security, the Vatican spokesman said Friday. Benedict, 82, wasn’t hurt and delivered his traditional Christmas Day greetings in 65 languages from the loggia overlooking St. Peter’s Square. The incident in St. Peter’s Basilica raised fresh questions about security for the pontiff, however, after officials said the woman involved had jumped the barrier at the 2008 Midnight Mass in a failed bid to get to the pope. She even wore the same red-hooded sweat shirt.

Some areas of of Minnesota had already received 8 inches of snow by early Thursday morning as part of a powerful winter storm that lumbered across the nation’s midsection, according to the National Weather Service. Some forecasts said the total could end up being more than twice that amount. The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of Oklahoma, North Dakota, Minnesota and Texas. It cautioned that travel would be extremely dangerous in those areas through the weekend.  Nearly 100 flights from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport were canceled Thursday and dozens more were delayed.