By ELAINE KURTENBACH and MATT OTT AP Business Writers Wall Street pointed toward gains early Thursday following a powerful rally that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a record high as the Federal Reserve indicated that interest rate cuts are likely next year. Futures for the S&P 500 rose more than 0.3% before the
Continue ReadingSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard says a boat carrying 12 passengers sank north of the Dominican Republic during inclement weather, and all have been rescued. Authorities say six of the passengers who were aboard a raft were rescued by a Carnival Cruise Line ship in the area, and six others
Continue ReadingBy JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military says a missile fired from territory controlled by Yemen’s Houthi rebels missed a container ship traveling through the crucial Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The attack is the latest threatening shipping in the crucial maritime chokepoint. The assaults have been part of the
Continue ReadingBy HARRIET MORRIS Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday there would be no peace in Ukraine until the Kremlin realizes its goals, which remain unchanged after nearly two years of fighting that has sent tensions soaring between Moscow and the West. Speaking at a year-end news conference that offered him
Continue ReadingMOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow is in dialogue with the United States on the issue of bringing home jailed Americans Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich. Putin spoke about Whelan and Gershkovich during his year-end press conference on Thursday. He said the Kremlin hopes to “find a solution,” even though “it’s not
Continue ReadingBERLIN (AP) — An Austrian court has acquitted five people, including the founder of the Blackwater security firm, who were accused of exporting two crop-spraying aircraft that were allegedly refitted for military purposes without the necessary permits. The state court in Wiener Neustadt found Thursday that the modified aircraft were not “war material.” It also
Continue ReadingBy Rob Frehse, Kelly McCleary and Brynn Gingras, CNN (CNN) — A 13-year-old boy in Ohio is facing criminal charges after allegedly crafting “a detailed plan” for a mass shooting at a synagogue in September, according to an incident report and court documents obtained by CNN. The teen, whom authorities have not publicly identified, posted “a
Continue ReadingLONDON (AP) — A political standards watchdog says a U.K. Conservative lawmaker who offered to lobby on behalf of gambling interests should be suspended from Parliament for 35 days. The Commons Standards Committee said Scott Benton offered to lobby government ministers and table parliamentary questions when he met with what he believed were gambling investors.
Continue ReadingBy PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England has kept borrowing rates unchanged despite mounting worries over the state of the British economy. The central bank on Thursday left its main interest rate at a 15-year high of 5.25%, where it has stood since August following the end of nearly two
Continue ReadingBy Hafsa Khalil, CNN London (CNN) — What do secret codes and kids have to do with Christmas? GCHQ, the UK’s largest intelligence agency, has sent out its annual Christmas card, complete with a set of puzzles aimed at Britain’s youngest minds. This year’s challenge is the “toughest” one yet, the organization said in a
Continue ReadingBy SEUNG MIN KIM and LINLEY SANDERS Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s the presidential election no one is really jazzed about. Relatively few Americans are excited about a potential rematch of the 2020 election between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, although more Republicans would be satisfied to have Trump as their nominee than
Continue ReadingPARIS (AP) — An investigation was opened following the death last week of a French actress who was among those accusing movie star Gérard Depardieu of sexual misconduct, the Paris prosecutor’s office said Thursday. Actress Emmanuelle Debever published a post on Facebook in 2019 that Depardieu had groped her in 1982 while they were acting
Continue ReadingBy LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — A top European Union official has praised an agreement that would see Albania host thousands of migrants picked up at sea and transferred there by the Italian authorities. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s approval comes just as the Albanian Constitutional Court held up the deal
Continue ReadingBy RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders are struggling to uphold their two most elementary promises to Ukraine: to give it the wherewithal to stave off the Russian invasion and to maintain its hope of joining the 27-nation bloc. The biggest threat to that commitment comes from inside the bloc and
Continue ReadingBy LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian opposition lawmakers have disrupted the opening of a new session of Parliament, demanding an investigation into the government for alleged corruption. Bodyguards on Thursday blocked the entrance to the Parliament building, refusing admission to opposition lawmakers who started previous outbreaks of violence in the assembly.
Continue ReadingWLS, PATRICK WATSON, ILLINOISNAACP.ORG, CNN By Andy Rose and Whitney Wild, CNN (CNN) — Teresa Haley, the top official of the Illinois NAACP is under fire from the state’s governor and others after a leaked video call with NAACP leaders around the state appears to show her comparing recent migrant arrivals to “savages” and saying “they’ve been raping people.” Asked about
Continue ReadingBy MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer Artificial intelligence went mainstream in 2023 — it was a long time coming yet has a long way to go for the technology to match people’s science fiction fantasies of human-like machines. Catalyzing a year of AI fanfare was ChatGPT. The chatbot gave the world a glimpse of recent
Continue ReadingLONDON (AP) — The father, stepmother and uncle of a 10-year-old girl found dead in her home in southern England have pleaded not guilty to murder charges. Sara Sharif’s body was discovered under a blanket in a bunk bed on Aug. 10. Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, 41; his partner Beinash Batool, 29; and his brother,
Continue ReadingBy Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle and Kara Scannell, CNN New York (CNN) — Testimony in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial concluded on Wednesday in New York, capping an 11-week saga that could decide the fate of the former president’s business empire. The drama in and out of the courtroom offered a preview of Trump’s criminal trials slated
Continue ReadingBy SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Ireland’s prime minister Leo Varadkar says the European Union is losing its credibility because of a lack of a strong position in the war between Israel and Hamas, urging his counterparts to call for a humanitarian cease-fire. Speaking at the start of a EU summit in Brussels
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