By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers are stepping up sales and other enticements in the final days before Christmas to lure shoppers who’ve been waiting for the best deals or who didn’t have the time or the urge to wrap up gift-buying earlier. Incentives to spend last minute are an
Continue ReadingGENEVA (AP) — The U.N. health agency says reported cases of dengue globally increased tenfold over the last generation. The World Health Organization said Friday that reported cases soared to a record 5.2 million in 2019, up from 500,000 in 2000, across 129 countries worldwide, figures that likely understate the actual toll. The agency says
Continue ReadingBy CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — France has completed the withdrawal of its troops from Niger after they were asked to leave by the country’s new military rulers, ending years of on-the-ground support. The withdrawal completed on Friday has raised concerns from analysts about a gap in the fight against jihadi violence
Continue ReadingATHENS, Greece (AP) — Authorities in southern Greece have rescued 81 people stranded on a ship south of the mainland, on a route frequently used to take migrants illegally to Italy. Municipal officials in the southern Greek port of Kalamata said the city has provided a temporary shelter for the people rescued, who identified themselves
Continue ReadingBy NAJIB JOBAIN and SAM MAGDY Associated Press RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel’s war to destroy Hamas has killed more than 20,000 Palestinians, health officials in Gaza said Friday, as Israel expanded its offensive and ordered tens of thousands more people to leave their homes. The deaths amount to nearly 1% of the territory’s
Continue ReadingBy KAREL JANICEK Associated Press PRAGUE (AP) — People in the Czech capital are trying to come to grips with the worst mass shooting in the country’s history that left 14 dead and dozens wounded inside a university building. Political leaders, students, friends of the victims and others came together to light candles to mourn
Continue ReadingBy FATIMA HUSSEIN and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed a new executive order aimed at targeting financial facilitators of the Russian defense industry. The order to be signed later on Friday comes as the Kremlin is trying to restock the Russian military’s depleted arsenal after nearly 22 months of
Continue ReadingBy MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch government says it is preparing to give 18 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. The announcement Friday is a boost for Kyiv, which is growing increasingly anxious about aid from its Western allies. The Dutch defense minister has outlined the plan to donate the
Continue ReadingBy STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street drifted toward record heights Friday following reports showing inflation on the way down and the economy potentially on the way up. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% in early trading, just 0.7% below its record set nearly two years ago. The Dow Jones Industrial
Continue ReadingSTONINGTON, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut State Police dog has been killed in a shooting involving troopers and a man they say they were trying to arrest on a felony warrant. State police say troopers went to the Pawcatuck section of Stonington, near the Rhode Island state line, on Thursday evening to serve the warrant
Continue ReadingBy CNN Staff (CNN) — Republican presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley will participate in back-to-back live CNN presidential town halls next month in Iowa, the network announced Friday. Both will appear at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 4 — just 11 days before voters head to the polls in Iowa, a critical early
Continue ReadingBy PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of prices fell last month, another sign that inflation is easing and that Americans should benefit from reduced interest rates and get relief from painful price shocks in 2024. Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that U.S. consumer prices slid
Continue ReadingBy ZEKE MLLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is pardoning thousands of people who were convicted of use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia, the White House said Friday, in his latest round of executive clemencies meant to rectify racial disparities in the justice
Continue ReadingBy FATIMA HUSSEIN and JENNIFER MCDERMOTT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration released its highly anticipated proposal for doling out billions of dollars in tax credits to hydrogen producers Friday, in a massive effort to build out an industry that some hope can be a cleaner alternative to fossil fueled power. The U.S.
Continue ReadingBy Ella Nilsen, CNN The Biden administration issued long-awaited preliminary guidance Friday on its expansive clean hydrogen tax credit, tilted in favor of hydrogen produced from clean electricity. The hydrogen tax credit is one of the most generous subsidies contained in the Inflation Reduction Act — giving companies up to $3 for every kilogram of
Continue ReadingBy TARA COPP Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional oversight committee has launched an investigation into the V-22 Osprey program following a deadly crash in Japan which killed eight Air Force special operations service members. The entire Osprey fleet remains grounded following the Nov. 29 crash with the exception of limited Marine Corps flights
Continue ReadingBy ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers are stepping up sales and other enticements in the final days before Christmas to lure shoppers who’ve been waiting for the best deals or who didn’t have the time or the urge to wrap up gift-buying earlier. Incentives to spend last minute are an
Continue ReadingBy PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation fell last month in another sign that price pressures easing in the face of the central bank’s interest rate hikes. Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that U.S. consumer prices slid 0.1% last month from October and were
Continue ReadingRICHMOND, Va. (AP) — One person was injured at a hospital in Virginia when a man who had come to the facility for a mental health evaluation Friday began shooting, police said. Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards told reporters that a 911 call came in at 4:11 a.m. of shots fired at Chippenham Hospital. Officers
Continue ReadingBy DEEPTI HAJELA Associated Press The holidays, a time where families and friends can get together to talk, to laugh — or get into screaming arguments. There are plenty of reasons togetherness can turn into tension — maybe that cousin you mostly love has that one opinion on politics or world events you just can’t
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