General news

• Dow, S&P pull back, Nasdaq sets record

  09-06-2020 23:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Nasdaq briefly topped the 10,000 mark, climbing to hit another record high Tuesday. But a drop in industrial and financial stocks dragged the Dow and S&P 500 lower following a stretch of blistering gains on Wall Street.Midway through the session, traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange observed a moment of silence in honor of George Floyd, the African American who died last month after a white police officer knelt on his neck.The Nasdaq ended the day a quarter percent higher.
  
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• Jack Smith told House committee he never consulted with Biden about cases against Trump

  31-12-2025 23:34 via theguardian.com
  Ex-special counsel testified in front of judiciary committee about aborted federal prosecution of Donald TrumpJack Smith, the former justice department special counsel who led the aborted federal prosecution of Donald Trump, told a congressional committee that he never spoke to Joe Biden about his cases, according to the transcript of a deposition released on Wednesday.In his behind-closed-doors testimony to the House judiciary committee earlier this month, Smith defended the charges he brought
  
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• Keir Starmer to woo voters and MPs with new year plan to cut cost of living

  31-12-2025 23:30 via theguardian.com
  PM to highlight energy bill and interest rate cuts, plus end to two-child benefit cap, and to invite his MPs to ChequersKeir Starmer will attempt to rescue his relationship with disillusioned voters and his own fractious MPs in a new year push to reduce the cost of living.The prime minister will give a speech in the coming days focusing on how his government is bringing down living costs, highlighting recent cuts to energy bills and interest rates and the end of the two-child benefit cap. Contin
  
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• Trump backs away from deploying national guard in Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland

  31-12-2025 23:27 via theguardian.com
  Decision comes after DoJ stopped contesting California court’s ruling to return control of guard to state’s governorDonald Trump has staged a sudden climbdown from his attempts to impose federal troops in law enforcement roles on Democratic-run cities, announcing on Wednesday that he was ending attempted deployments from Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland.The unexpected shift came after justice department lawyers said they were no longer contesting a California court’s ruling th
  
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• Woman dies after being swept into ocean from Sydney beach in early hours of New Year’s Day

  31-12-2025 23:08 via theguardian.com
  Police said 25-year-old woman hit by a wave near a tidal rock pool at Maroubra, and another swimmer missing at CoogeeGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA woman has been found dead after being swept out into the ocean from a Sydney beach in the early hours of New Year’s Day, as authorities issue a warning about dangerous surf conditions on the NSW coast.Later in the morning another swimmer went missing in the water at Coogee. Continue reading...
  
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• Trump administration reportedly freezes all childcare payments to all states

  31-12-2025 22:53 via theguardian.com
  Trump official says funds will be released ‘only when states prove they are being spent legitimately’The Department of Health and Human Services is freezing all childcare payments to all states, an official for Donald Trump’s administration told ABC News in a report published Wednesday, just hours after department officials announced that they had frozen childcare funding to Minnesota.States’ funds, the unnamed official said, will be released “only when states prove
  
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• ICE plans $100m yearlong ‘wartime recruitment’ media blitz to attract new agents

  31-12-2025 22:52 via theguardian.com
  Campaign will target rightwing ideologues to fill ranks to meet Trump deportation goals in 2026US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reportedly planned a $100m, one-year media blitz for what it’s calling “wartime recruitment”, targeting conservative radio show listeners, gun rights aficionados, military affairs followers and men’s interests enthusiasts – among others in the Maga-verse – for jobs in the Trump administration’s next phase of its
  
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• End of an era as New York City transit retires three-decade-old MetroCard

  31-12-2025 22:38 via theguardian.com
  Resisted at first, the replacement for the subway token became an indelible symbol of the cityFirst, New Yorkers saw the elimination of subway token, which lasted for half a century. Now, its successor – the swipeable MetroCard, which lasted barely more than three decades – has seen its demise.At midnight on 1 January, the flexible credit card-sized pass used by millions of New Yorkers to get through subway turnstiles is being terminated from sale just as a new mayor, Zohran Mamdani,
  
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• Sydney New Year’s Eve strikes sombre tone as fireworks follow minute’s silence for Bondi

  31-12-2025 21:36 via theguardian.com
  Terror attack victims remembered with menorah projected on to Harbour Bridge before dazzling displayGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia paused to show solidarity with the Jewish community as New Year’s Eve festivities rolled across the nation.Weeks on from the Bondi Beach terrorist attack, hundreds of thousands of people around Sydney Harbour observed a minute’s silence and shone a collective, defiant light after the recent atrocity. Continue reading.
  
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• ‘We want the mullahs gone’: economic crisis sparks biggest protests in Iran since 2022

  31-12-2025 20:13 via theguardian.com
  Demonstrations against deteriorating living conditions have widened to include criticism of how Iran is governedAlborz, a textile merchant in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, decided he could no longer sit on the sidelines. He closed his shop and took to the streets, joining merchants across Iran who shuttered their stores and students who took over their campuses to protest against declining economic conditions.The sudden loss of purchasing power pushed Alborz and tens of thousands of other
  
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• UK ministers accused of ‘embarrassing failures’ in Abd el-Fattah case

  31-12-2025 19:53 via theguardian.com
  Government should have appointed an envoy to carry out checks on activist in citizenship row, says Emily ThornberryThe government could have avoided “embarrassing failures” in the case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah by having a special envoy deal with complex cases involving Britons detained abroad, Emily Thornberry has said.The chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee criticised “serious shortcomings” in information sharing, which she said could have been resolved by having
  
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• Australian beef industry ‘extremely disappointed’ after China hits imports with 55% tariff

  31-12-2025 19:49 via theguardian.com
  Levy on beef exceeding quotas to begin immediately as Beijing seeks to protect domestic industryGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralian beef producers said they were “extremely disappointed” after China announced a 55% tariff on imports that exceed quota levels in a move to protect a domestic cattle industry slowly emerging from oversupply.China’s commerce ministry said on Wednesday the total import quota for 2026 for Australia and other countries
  
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• Greens’ Polanski prepared to work with Burnham but not Starmer ‘to stop Reform’

  31-12-2025 19:38 via theguardian.com
  Green party leader says he could see potential for political partnership with Labour under Andy BurnhamThe Green party leader, Zack Polanski, has said he would refuse to work with Keir Starmer but could work with Andy Burnham, Starmer’s potential rival for the Labour leadership, to keep Reform out of power.Polanski said he would not enter a political partnership with Labour under the current prime minister, but would consider it if the mayor of Greater Manchester took the helm. Continue re
  
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• Waitrose urges customers not to drink Deeside water over shards of glass risk

  31-12-2025 18:21 via theguardian.com
  Food Standards Agency issues product alert for still and sparkling 750ml bottles of Waitrose No 1 Deeside mineral waterWaitrose customers are being urged to return and not drink large bottles of Deeside mineral water over fears they could contain shards of glass.The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued a consumer alert over the still and sparkling 750ml bottles of Waitrose No 1 Deeside mineral water because of the possibility of glass fragments, making them unsafe to drink. Continue reading...
  
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• European human rights court questions UK decision to strip Shamima Begum of citizenship

  31-12-2025 18:01 via theguardian.com
  Begum’s lawyers argue she was child trafficking victim when she travelled to live under IS in Syria in 2015The European court of human rights has questioned the UK government over its 2019 decision to remove Shamima Begum’s British citizenship.Lawyers in Europe have asked how Begum’s treatment complies with the UK’s responsibilities to victims of trafficking. Continue reading...
  
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• Finnish police seize vessel suspected of damaging underwater cable

  31-12-2025 17:52 via theguardian.com
  Border guards say they found ship with anchor lowered into sea after detection of fault in Helsinki-Tallinn telecoms link Finnish authorities have boarded and seized a cargo vessel sailing from Russia on suspicion of sabotaging two underwater telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea, where a series of similar incidents have occurred in recent years.The vessel, the Fitburg, was on its way from St Petersburg to Haifa in Israel. Finnish coastguard officers boarded the ship at 11am, about six hou
  
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• Boy, 16, arrested after explosive material found at Blackpool address

  31-12-2025 17:46 via theguardian.com
  Bomb disposal specialists attend scene to assess items and several properties evacuated, says Lancashire constabularyA 16-year-old boy has been arrested after explosive material was found at an address in Blackpool.Lancashire constabulary said a number of properties had been evacuated as a precaution after officers found “a quantity of items of concern” at about 11.30am on Wednesday. Continue reading...
  
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• Eurostar slowly resumes but passengers face more cancellations and delays

  31-12-2025 17:02 via theguardian.com
  Passengers told to expect knock-on impacts after power supply problem and broken-down train halted services on TuesdayRail traffic through the Channel tunnel slowly resumed on Wednesday with more cancellations and delays after an electricity failure on Tuesday stranded thousands of passengers and trapped some for a night in a powerless train.Two London-Paris trains were cancelled and most trips were delayed in both directions as Eurostar warned of “knock-on impacts” on New Year&rsquo
  
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• France targets Australia-style social media ban for children next year

  31-12-2025 16:31 via theguardian.com
  Draft bill to be submitted for legal checks as France aims to follow Australia’s world-first ban on platforms including Facebook, Snapchat and YouTubeFrance intends to follow Australia and ban social media platforms for children from the start of the 2026 academic year.A draft bill preventing under-15s from using social media will be submitted for legal checks and is expected to be debated in parliament early in the new year. Continue reading...
  
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• €1m Picasso portrait up for grabs for €100 in charity raffle

  31-12-2025 16:00 via theguardian.com
  Artwork by one of the most influential artists of 20th century raffled to fund Alzheimer’s researchHis work is consistently ranked among the world’s most expensive art, with paintings fetching more than a $100m at auction. But you no longer need to be a multimillionaire to own a Picasso – for €100, anyone in the world has the chance to walk away with a painting by one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.The French charity Alzheimer’s Research Foundati
  
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• Damien Martyn, former Australian Test cricketer, in induced coma with meningitis

  31-12-2025 15:31 via theguardian.com
  The 54-year-old was admitted to hospital on Boxing Day Martyn played total of 67 Tests between 1992 and 2006The former Australian Test cricketer Damien Martyn has been admitted to hospital and placed in an induced coma after being diagnosed with meningitis.The sporting community is rallying around the 54-year-old, who “is in for the fight of his life”, according to the former AFL player Brad Hardie, who revealed Martyn’s condition on 6PR on Tuesday. Continue reading...
  
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• Xi Jinping vows to reunify China and Taiwan in New Year’s Eve speech

  31-12-2025 14:47 via theguardian.com
  Reunification ‘is unstoppable’, says Chinese president, a day after the conclusion of intense military drillsChina’s president, Xi Jinping, has vowed to reunify China and Taiwan in his annual New Year’s Eve speech in Beijing.Speaking the day after the conclusion of intense Chinese military drills around Taiwan, Xi said: “The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable.” Continue reading...
  
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• ‘It’s not a hen party hellscape’: Dublin’s Temple Bar strives to shake off its bad reputation

  31-12-2025 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Despite reviews of the district as a raucous tourist trap, improved policing has restored safety and an eclectic vibeWhen Ireland redeveloped a swathe of central Dublin in the 1990s, the idea was to create a version of Paris’s Left Bank, a cultural quarter of cobbled lanes, art and urban renewal.Planners and architects transformed the run-down Temple Bar site by the River Liffey into an ambitious experiment that drew throngs of visitors and won awards. Continue reading...
  
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• Cyprus pledges ‘different mindset’ as it assumes EU presidency

  31-12-2025 11:29 via theguardian.com
  Country’s six-month stint at helm begins with defence, migration and Ukraine still at top ofagendaCyprus says it will bring “a new approach to the table” when it assumes the EU presidency on Thursday, as defence, migration and Ukraine continue to top the agenda at a time of acute geopolitical uncertainty.As one of the bloc’s smaller member states, Cyprus will tackle its six-month stint at the EU’s helm with discipline and dedication but also “a different minds
  
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• China forecast to have sold one in every 10 new cars in UK in 2025

  31-12-2025 10:42 via theguardian.com
  Carmakers such as MG, BYD and Chery are set to pass 200,000 mark in sales, analysis suggests, double 2024’s totalChinese brands are on course to account for one in every 10 new cars sold in Britain during 2025, a marked increase on last year as sales increase across Europe.Manufacturers led by MG, BYD, and Chery are on track to break the 200,000 mark in UK new car sales in 2025, meaning they are very likely to account for 10% of the market, according to Matthias Schmidt, an analyst trackin
  
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• ​Two cubicles, 73 women, one long queue: Japan’s female MPs fight for more loos

  31-12-2025 09:29 via theguardian.com
  PM Sanae Takaichi joins petition asking for better facilities for women to match improved representationNearly 60 female lawmakers in Japan, including the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, have submitted a petition calling for more toilets in the parliament building for women to match their improved representation.Japanese politics remains hugely male-dominated, although the number of women in the parliament rose at the last election – and Takaichi became the first female prime minister in O
  
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• Guinea’s junta chief elected president after opposition boycott

  31-12-2025 08:54 via theguardian.com
  Mamady Doumbouya reneged on promise not to stand and hand west African country back to civilian ruleThe head of Guinea’s junta, Mamady Doumbouya, who had pledged not to run for office after seizing power four years ago, has been elected president after the country’s electoral commission said he had secured a sweeping majority of the vote.Doumbouya, 41, faced eight rivals for the presidency but the main opposition leaders were barred from running and had urged a boycott of the vote he
  
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• Australia says ‘deeply concerning, destabilising’ Chinese exercises near Taiwan risk inflaming regional tension

  31-12-2025 08:28 via theguardian.com
  Foreign affairs department statement says Australia opposes any actions that ‘increase the risk of accident, miscalculation or escalation’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia says it is deeply concerned about Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, and has raised the issue with Chinese officials.In a statement released on Wednesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) said the large-scale simulations risked destabilising the region and c
  
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• Treat yourself: Save up to 50% on tech from Apple, Bose and more

  31-12-2025 07:00 via foxnews.com
  
  The holidays may be over, but it’s not too late to score worthwhile deals on quality tech. From must-have gadgets to everyday staples, now’s the perfect time to upgrade your setup – whether it’s a new smart TV, noise-canceling headphones, or replacing that dated tablet with something shiny and new.Best headphones: AirPods Pro 3: $229.99 (8% off)
  Best portable speaker: JBL Flip 5 waterproof portable Bluetooth speaker: $79.95 (20% off)
  Best charger: Nomad Stand One: $83 (30
  
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• Mamdani picks educator who worked to dismantle Gifted & Talented program as NYC schools chancellor

  31-12-2025 06:55 via foxnews.com
  
  Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is expected to announce Wednesday that he will appoint Kamar Samuels, a longtime New York City educator and Manhattan superintendent, as the next schools chancellor, according to multiple reports.Samuels, who has been an educator with New York City public schools for almost two decades, is known for promoting racial diversity through school mergers and for working to dismantle the Gifted & Talented program, which some critics argue is racially biased, the New York
  
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