AP Business Writer A survey shows small business owners are feeling more optimistic about the economy following the election. The National Federation of Independent Businesses’ Small Business Optimism Index rose by eight points in November to 101.7, its highest reading since June 2021. The Uncertainty Index declined 12 points in November to 98, following October’s
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A leading global food crisis monitor says deaths from starvation will likely pass famine levels in north Gaza as soon as next month. The U.S.-created Famine Early Warning System Network says that’s owing to a near-total Israeli blockade of food and other aid in that part of Gaza. The finding,
Continue ReadingAP Basketball Writer LeBron James made his Christmas debut in 2003. Victor Wembanyama was born 10 days later. That’s right: James has been featured on the NBA’s big day for longer than Wembanyama has been alive. And on Wednesday — when the league celebrates Christmas with games for the 77th time — the league’s oldest
Continue ReadingINDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Police say an 18-year-old man allegedly fired shots inside an Indianapolis shopping mall, wounding one person and prompting officers to evacuate holiday shoppers on Monday night. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department says the suspect was arrested hours after the Castleton Square Mall shooting on a felony charge of intimidation with a deadly
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — Persistent high surf and flooding threats along California’s coast had residents on high alert a day after a major storm was blamed for one man’s death and the partial collapse of a pier, which propelled three people into the Pacific Ocean. And two other men remained missing Tuesday,
Continue ReadingAssociated Press If she has the voice of an angel, and the face of an angel, she must be an Angel. Angel Blue, that is. The American soprano, one of the most admired singers of her generation, is headlining the Metropolitan Opera’s first new production of Verdi’s “Aida” in 36 years. Blue, now 40, debuted
Continue ReadingAssociated Press TOKYO (AP) — Survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki said being recognised with a Nobel Peace Prize has given them a new incentive to push for nuclear disarmament ahead of the 80th anniversary next year of the attacks. “I felt like I needed to work even harder on what
Continue ReadingGREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a police officer who was responding to a report of a man with a gun in a supermarket. Greensboro Police announced Tuesday that 34-year-old Tarell Isaac McMillian has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors say a man accused of burning a woman to death inside a New York City subway train used a shirt to fan the flames, causing her to become engulfed. The suspect, identified by police as Sebastian Zapeta, was arraigned in Brooklyn criminal court on Tuesday. He faces murder
Continue ReadingBALTIMORE (AP) — Preconstruction work to collect data to design a new Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is scheduled to begin in January. The Baltimore Sun, citing Maryland Transportation Authority spokesperson Bradley Tanner, reports that work is scheduled to include topographic and underwater surveys, as well as soil sampling. The rebuilding effort is expected
Continue ReadingAP Film Writer Christopher Nolan is following his Oscar-winning “Oppenheimer” with a true epic: Homer’s “The Odyssey.” Universal Pictures said Monday it will open in theaters on July 17, 2026 Details remain scarce, but the studio teased that it will be a “mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX technology.” It
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — When Willem Dafoe enjoys working with a filmmaker, he’ll often jump at the chance to do it again. The list of directors the 69-year-old has worked with more than once is an extensive one that includes Wes Anderson, Yorgos Lanthimos, Paul Schrader, Lars von Trier and, now for a
Continue ReadingAP Basketball Writer Caitlin Clark raised the profile of women’s basketball to unprecedented levels in both the college ranks and the WNBA, and Tuesday she was named the AP Female Athlete of the Year for her impact on and off the court. After leading Iowa to the national championship game, Clark was the top pick
Continue ReadingAssociated Press QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) — Kurdish-led fighters in Syria, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, say they have launched a counter-offensive against the Ankara-backed Syrian National Army to take back areas near Syria’s northern border with Turkey. The Kurdish-led force is Washington’s critical ally in Syria, targeting sleeper cells of the extremist Islamic State
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MADRID (AP) — Spain’s maritime rescue agency and the Russian Foreign Ministry say a Russian cargo ship sank in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria. Two crew members are missing. Spanish authorities rescued 14 of the Ursa Major’s crew from a lifeboat and transferred them to southeastern Spain. The Russian ministry said
Continue ReadingAP Business Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — American Airlines briefly grounded flights nationwide Tuesday because of a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive and winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive. Government regulators cleared American flights to get airborne about an hour after the Federal
Continue ReadingAssociated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba says strengthening his country’s alliance with the United States is key to regional security and expressed his desire to meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. This comes amid worries about China’s increasingly assertive military activity and North Korea’s repeated test-firings of ballistic missiles as part
Continue ReadingAssociated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An Amsterdam District Court on Tuesday sentenced five men to up to six months in prison for violence that erupted around a UEFA Europa League football match between the Dutch club Ajax and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv in November. The riots, which caused an international outcry and accusations
Continue ReadingPRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo’s main ethnic Serb party says its ban from taking part in the upcoming parliamentary election is political and institutional violence against the ethnic minority. Zlatan Elek of Srpska Lista, or Serb List, on Tuesday said they would appeal the move. The Central Election Commission declined to certify Srpska Lista, justifying
Continue ReadingAssociated Press PARIS (AP) — France’s president and prime minister managed to form a new government just in time for the holidays. Now comes the hard part. Crushing debt, intensifying pressure from the nationalist far right, wars in Europe and the Mideast: Challenges abound for President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Francois Bayrou after an
Continue Reading