Month: December 2024

AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. increasingly relies on Canadian crude oil to meet domestic demand and that relationship faces potential strain amid tariff threats. More than 50% of crude oil imported to the U.S. comes from Canada, up from 33% in 2013. The increase follows a jump in production from Canada’s

NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL has begun production on the second season of an all-access, behind-the-scenes show with the makers of the popular “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” series. The league, in announcing the continuation of the show Thursday, said Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk is the first player confirmed to be involved in

Associated Press TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisian authorities recovered the bodies of 20 people who appeared to have drowned after a shipwreck off the country’s Mediterranean coastline, near a popular point of departure for migrants attempting to reach Europe by boat. The country’s National Guard said in a statement that coast guard members dispatched to

AP Film Writers ‘Tis the season for spirited and winless debates about what the best Christmas movie is. No one needs us to remind you about the obvious holiday movies playing on repeat on cable, whether it’s “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “Home Alone” or “Love, Actually,” or even those holiday adjacent classics like “Eyes Wide

AP Business Writer The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell markedly last week following a big increase the week before. Jobless claim applications declined by 22,000 to 220,000 for the week of Dec. 14, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 229,000 analysts were forecasting. Continuing claims, the total number of

AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The American economy grew at a healthy 3.1% annual clip from July through September, propelled by vigorous consumer spending and an uptick in exports, the government said in an upgrade to its previous estimate. Third-quarter growth in U.S. gross domestic product — the economy’s output of goods and services

BERLIN (AP) — German lawmakers have approved legislation designed to protect the country’s highest court against possible future manipulation or obstruction by authoritarian or extremist politicians. Officials have cited experiences in Poland, Hungary and elsewhere as illustrating the need to bolster the Federal Constitutional Court. The measure was drawn up by the three parties in

Associated Press EVERGLADES, Fla. (AP) — For decades, largescale engineering projects for development and agriculture drained and partitioned South Florida’s Everglades, a vast wetlands landscape home to endangered and threatened species and a vital source of drinking water for millions of Floridians. A plan approved by Congress in 2000 has aimed to undo some of

AP Technology Writer CLONDALKIN, Ireland (AP) — Dozens of massive data centers humming at the outskirts of Dublin are consuming more electricity than all of the urban homes in Ireland and starting to wear out the warm welcome that brought them here. Now, a country that made itself a computing factory for Amazon, Google, Meta,

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish police say they will participate as observers as Chinese authorities conduct investigations aboard a China-flagged ship in the Baltic Sea that was seen in an area where two undersea data cables were damaged last month. Sweden’s prime minister said at the end of November that his country had formally asked China

Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders insist no decisions can be taken about the future of Ukraine without its consent or behind their backs. Demonstrations of solidarity with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are mounting barely a month before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Zelenskyy attended an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday. Ukraine’s position

Associated Press MILAN (AP) — Italy’s deputy premier, Matteo Salvini, is sounding defiant as he awaits a verdict in Sicily for preventing some 100 migrants from disembarking a rescue boat in 2019 when he was interior minister. Salvini, who leads the Euroskeptic, anti-migrant League, told a rally last week that “defending the borders, the dignity,

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s leftist Social Democratic Party has withdrawn from negotiations to form a pro-European coalition government, extending political turmoil that has gripped the European Union country after a top court annulled a presidential election. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the PSD, said Thursday that his party was abandoning negotiations with three traditional

Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Two days of meetings on Myanmar’s violent political crisis are being held in the Thai capital Bangkok. The talks are the latest in a long series of regional discussions that have made no headway in restoring peace to the war-torn Southeast Asian nation. Thursday’s discussions were attended by foreign ministers

Associated Press Writers SEATAC, Washington (AP) — Background music is no longer an afterthought at many airports, which are hiring local musicians and carefully curating playlists to help lighten travelers’ moods. London’s Heathrow Airport built a stage to showcase emerging British performers for the first time this summer. The program was so successful the airport

LONDON (AP) — The future of the Northern Ireland-based Harland and Wolff shipbuilder, which famously built the Titanic, appears to have been safeguarded after the Spanish state-owned business Navantia stepped in to buy it. The purchase of the company is subject to regulatory approval. The company was placed into a type of bankruptcy in September

AP Technology Writer CLONDALKIN, Ireland (AP) — Dozens of massive data centers are consuming more electricity than all of the urban homes in Ireland and starting to wear out the warm welcome that brought them here. Now, a country that made itself a computing factory for Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok is wondering whether

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of causing the deaths of thousands of Palestinians by systematically restricting and targeting Gaza’s water supply in a campaign that amounted to “acts of genocide.” The group alleged that countless infants, children and adults have died from malnutrition, dehydration and illness as a

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Flights have been grounded and people told to stay indoors as a thick layer of smog has engulfed Bosnia’s capital of Sarajevo. Thursday’s fog had residents virtually choking on toxic air. The Swiss air quality technology company IQAir put Sarajevo’s air quality index, or AQI, at a “very unhealthy” 225, ranking

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The U.K.’s central bank has warned about “heightened uncertainty” as it kept interest rates on hold after inflation moved further above target even at a time when the British economy is flatlining at best. The Bank of England’s nine-member Monetary Policy Committee kept its main interest rate unchanged at 4.75%

Associated Press HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to Vietnam says U.S. arms manufacturers could help the southeast Asian country build up its armed forces. Ambassador Marc Knapper said at a press briefing during an international arms expo in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi on Thursday that U.S. and Vietnamese companies could work together to

Israeli airstrikes slammed into two schools sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City on Thursday, a Health Ministry official said, killing at least 17 people including five children in one of the schools. Rescue workers said at 30 people were also wounded across both locations. Israel said Hamas operated command centers inside the shelters, without providing

Associated Press KERAVA, Finland (AP) — People in Finland have been left unsettled by expansionist neighbor Russia and inspired by its recent accession to NATO, are increasingly taking national self-defense into their own hands. The popularity of military training has soared in recent months in the Nordic country, where few places reflect the growing fad

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — The Indian military says government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed five suspected militants in a gunbattle. Soldiers and police launched a joint operation on Thursday after receiving a tip that rebels were hiding in a village in southern Kulgam district. The militants opened “indiscriminate and heavy volumes of fire” at the

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO was whisked back to New York by plane and helicopter Thursday to face new federal charges of stalking and murder, which could bring the death penalty if he’s convicted. Luigi Mangione was held without bail following a Manhattan federal court appearance, capping

Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma man who killed a 10-year-old girl in a cannibalistic fantasy died by lethal injection Thursday in the nation’s 25th and final execution of the year. Kevin Ray Underwood was pronounced dead at 10:14 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. It was Oklahoma’s fourth execution of

Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The number of people killed and missing remains unclear two days after a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. More than 48 hours after the quake, the Ministry of Health said the number of confirmed deaths reached 10 early Friday, with the number expected

Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Before Christa McAuliffe was an astronaut, she was a vibrant teacher in New England keen on showing her students how everyday people left extraordinary marks on U.S. history. Nearly four decades later, a new documentary focuses on how she still inspires others and less on her fate aboard the

AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. life expectancy jumped last year, and preliminary data suggests there may be another — much smaller — improvement this year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released a report on U.S. deaths in 2023. It showed a decline in death rates for almost all

Associated Press ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — After more than a decade as a refugee in Turkey, Ahmed al-Kassem decided to bring his family back home to Syria only days after the fall of Bashar Assad. He wanted back to his old life and to introduce his children — all but one of whom were born