Category Archives: World/National

Wall Street rises to finish its best week in 2 months after bank stocks stabilize

Wall Street rises to finish its best week in 2 months after bank stocks stabilize

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street cruised to the finish of a winning week that began much bumpier. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.5%. The gains capped the S&P 500’s best week since August, but it was a roller-coaster ride. Indexes careened through jarring swings as worries built about the financial health of small and midsized banks, as well as the souring U.S.-China trade relationship. Bank stocks steadied themselves on Friday, while President Donald Trump eased some of the trade concerns after saying very high tariffs on China are not sustainable.… Continue Reading

Trump tells Zelenskyy he’s reluctant to sell Ukraine Tomahawk missiles after warning Russia he might

Trump tells Zelenskyy he’s reluctant to sell Ukraine Tomahawk missiles after warning Russia he might

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has signaled to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he’s leaning against selling long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kyiv. Zelenskyy at the start of Friday’s White House talks said he had a “proposition” in which Ukraine could provide the United States with its advanced drones, while Washington would sell Kyiv the Tomahawks, which Ukrainian officials say they desperately need to motivate Russian President Vladmir Putin to get serious about peace talks. But Trump said he had “an obligation also to make sure that” the United States is “completely stocked up.” The U.S. leader added he was optimistic the war would soon end, mitigating Ukraine’s need for the powerful weapon.… Continue Reading

Hamas reaffirms commitment to ceasefire as delays in returning hostages’ bodies fray nerves

Hamas reaffirms commitment to ceasefire as delays in returning hostages’ bodies fray nerves

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas has moved to shore up its brittle ceasefire agreement with Israel by reaffirming its commitment to the terms of the deal that includes a pledge to hand over the remains of all dead Israeli hostages. The militant group’s statement, released in the early hours Friday, follows a dire warning from U.S. President Donald Trump that he would green-light Israel to resume the war if Hamas doesn’t live up to its end of the deal. The militant group has also defended the killings in Gaza of alleged gang members who one official accused of causing death and destruction. Meanwhile, the U.N. says a large infusion of aid into Gaza is still being held up.… Continue Reading

Ex-Trump national security adviser Bolton charged with storing and sharing classified information

Ex-Trump national security adviser Bolton charged with storing and sharing classified information

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton has been charged with storing top secret records at home and sharing with relatives notes that contained classified information. The 18-count indictment Thursday also suggests classified information was exposed when operatives believed linked to the Iranian regime hacked Bolton’s email account in 2021 and gained access to sensitive material he had shared. The investigation into Bolton, who served for more than a year in President Donald Trump’s administration before being fired in 2019 and emerging as an outspoken critic of the Republican leader, burst into public view in August when the FBI searched his home in Maryland and his office in Washington.… Continue Reading

Senate Democrats, holding out for health care, reject government funding bill for 10th time

Senate Democrats, holding out for health care, reject government funding bill for 10th time

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats are rejecting for the 10th time a stopgap spending bill that would reopen the government. They are insisting they won’t back away from demands that Congress take up health care benefits. The repetition of votes on the funding bill has become a daily drumbeat in Congress. It underscores how intractable the situation has become as the vote has at times been the only item on the agenda for the Senate floor. House Republicans have left Washington altogether. The impasse has lasted over two weeks, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed, even more without a guaranteed payday and Congress essentially paralyzed.… Continue Reading

The government shutdown is putting a renewed spotlight on the cracks in the US aviation system

The government shutdown is putting a renewed spotlight on the cracks in the US aviation system

The U.S. government shutdown’s strain on the aviation system is starting to show. An air traffic control tower near Los Angeles closed for six hours less than a week into the shutdown because of a controller shortage. Since the shutdown began Oct. 1, the FAA has reported staffing issues in cities like Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Houston. Flight delays have spread to airports in Nashville, Denver, Newark and more. Experts say cracks quickly emerged because the system already was stretched by chronic staffing shortages and aging equipment. They say air travel could face deeper problems if the shutdown continues.… Continue Reading

SpaceX launches the 11th test flight of its mega Starship rocket with another win

SpaceX launches the 11th test flight of its mega Starship rocket with another win

SpaceX has launched another of its mammoth Starship rockets on a test flight. The 403-foot Starship thundered into the evening sky Monday from Texas. The booster peeled away and made a controlled entry into the Gulf of Mexico as planned, with the spacecraft skimming space before descending into the Indian Ocean. It’s similar to the previous test flight in August, which scored a success following a string of explosive failures. SpaceX’s Elon Musk intends to use Starship to send people to Mars. NASA cannot land astronauts on the moon by decade’s end without Starship.… Continue Reading

Trump urges leaders to put ‘old feuds’ aside as he calls for a new era of harmony in the Middle East

Trump urges leaders to put ‘old feuds’ aside as he calls for a new era of harmony in the Middle East

SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — President Donald Trump is calling for a new era of harmony in the Middle East. Trump spoke Monday during a global summit in Egypt on Gaza’s future, trying to advance broader peace in the region after visiting Israel to celebrate a U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Hamas. Trump urges world leaders at the summit to put “the old feuds” to rest and seize momentum, calling the Israel-Hamas ceasefire the first steps to peace. The summit marks a fragile moment of hope for Middle East peace. Trump says there’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance “to declare that our future will not be ruled by the fights of generations past.”… Continue Reading

Education Department layoffs hit offices that oversee special education and civil rights enforcement

Education Department layoffs hit offices that oversee special education and civil rights enforcement

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new round of layoffs at the Education Department is depleting an agency that was already hit hard in the Trump administration’s previous mass firings, threatening new disruption to the nation’s students and schools. The Trump administration started laying off 466 Education Department staffers on Friday amid mass firings across the government meant to pressure Democratic lawmakers over the federal shutdown. The layoffs would cut the agency’s workforce by nearly a fifth and leave it reduced by more than half its size when President Donald Trump took office. The cuts threaten disruption in areas from special education to civil rights enforcement and after-school programs.… Continue Reading

Living Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners are freed as part of Gaza ceasefire

Living Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners are freed as part of Gaza ceasefire

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — All 20 remaining living hostages held in Gaza and scores of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel have walked free as part of a ceasefire pausing two years of war. The conflict decimated the Gaza Strip, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, triggered other conflicts in the Middle East, and had left scores of captives in militant hands. Speaking to parliament, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared he was “committed to this peace.” That raised hopes that the ruinous war might come to an end. But fundamental questions remain over when and how.… Continue Reading

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