The Pentagon has released plenty of video clips that show American missiles blowing boats suspected of carrying drugs out of the water. But the double tap strike on Sept. 2 is being kept under wraps.

The White House unveiled plaques near the Oval Office that describe U.S. presidents with varying levels of accuracy, depending on President Trumps opinion of them.

President Trump said the United States wanted to reclaim expropriated oil assets, setting off a nationalist reaction in a country where the resource holds a mythical status.

NFL survivor pool strategy, predictions and picks for ESPN Eliminator Challenge Week 16.

In some ways, Trumps broader flexing of power has achieved what he set out to do. But his attempts to push prosecutions of rivals have been far less successful.

Green Bay's Doug Gottlieb says he's stepping away from his radio show to put his total focus on his coaching responsibilities.

The tallest college basketball player ever recorded his first field goal in the 23rd-ranked Gators' win over Saint Francis on Wednesday night.

He won the prestigious award for his daring coverage of the Vietnam War for The Associated Press, and went on to cover conflicts for CNN for nearly two decades.

A piece of wreckage is lifted from the water onto a salvage vessel near the site in the Potomac River of a mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Feb. 4, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, file)2025-12-18T00:06:06Z The U.S. government admitted Wednesday that the actions of an air traffic controller and Army helicopter pilot played a role in causing a collision last January between an airliner and a Black Hawk near the nations capital, killing 67 people.It was the deadliest plane crash on American soil in more than two decades.The official response to the first lawsuit filed by one of the victims families said that the government is liable in the crash partly because the air traffic controller violated visual separation procedures that night. Plus, the filing said, the Army helicopter pilots failure to maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid the airline jet makes the government liable.But the filing suggested that others, including the pilots of the jet and the airlines, may also have played a role. The lawsuit also blamed American Airlines and its regional partner, PSA Airlines, for roles in the crash, but those airlines have filed motions to dismiss. And the government denied that any air traffic controllers or officials at the Federal Aviation Administration or Army were negligent.At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the helicopter collided with the American Airlines regional jet while it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport in northern Virginia, just across the river from Washington, D.C., officials said. The plane carried 60 passengers and four crew members, and three soldiers were aboard the helicopter. Attorney says loss of life was needlessRobert Clifford, one of the attorneys for the family of victim Casey Crafton, said the government admitted the Armys responsibility for the needless loss of life and the FAAs failure to follow air traffic control procedures while rightfully acknowledging others - American Airlines and PSA Airlines - also contributed to the deaths.The families of the victims remain deeply saddened and anchored in the grief caused by this tragic loss of life, he said.The governments lawyers said in the filing that the United States admits that it owed a duty of care to plaintiffs, which it breached, thereby proximately causing the tragic accident. An American spokesman declined to comment on the filing, but in the airlines motion to dismiss, American said plaintiffs proper legal recourse is not against American. It is against the United States government ... The Court should therefore dismiss American from this lawsuit. The airline said that since the crash it has focused on supporting the families of the victims.The lawsuit had accused the airlines of not doing enough to mitigate the risks of flying so close to helicopters around Washington, D.C., and not adequately training their pilots to handle it. Investigators highlight contributing factorsThe National Transportation Safety Board will release its report on the cause of the crash early next year, but investigators have already highlighted a number of factors that contributed, including the helicopter flying 78 feet higher (24 meters) than the 200-foot (61-meter) limit on a route that allowed only scant separation between planes landing on Reagans secondary runway and helicopters passing below. Plus, the NTSB said, the FAA failed to recognize the dangers around the busy airport even after 85 near misses in the three years before the crash.The government admitted in its filing that the United States was on notice of certain near-miss events between its Army-operated Black Hawk helicopters and aircraft traffic transiting in and around helicopter routes 1 and 4 around Washington.Before the collision, the controller twice asked the helicopter pilots whether they had the jet in sight, and the pilots said they did and asked for visual separation approval so they could use their own eyes to maintain distance. FAA officials acknowledged at the NTSBs investigative hearings that the controllers at Reagan had become overly reliant on the use of visual separation. Thats a practice the agency has since ended.Witnesses told the NTSB that they have serious questions about how well the helicopter crew could spot the plane while wearing night vision goggles and whether the pilots were even looking in the right spot.Investigators have said the helicopter pilots might not have realized how high they were because the barometric altimeter they were relying on was reading 80 to 100 feet (24 to 30 meters) lower than the altitude registered by the flight data recorder. Swift admissionThe crash victims included a group of elite young figure skaters, their parents and coaches who had just attended a competition in Wichita, Kansas, and four union steamfitters from the Washington area.Retired pilot Richard J. Levy, an aviation litigation expert witness, said the governments admission of some responsibility less than a year after the crash is unusual, especially considering the amount of money that could be involved in the case. They would not have done that if there was a doubt in their mind about anything the controller did or that the Army did, said Levy.____Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report. JOSH FUNK Funk is an Associated Press reporter who covers transportation including aviation safety and airlines along with all the major freight railroads. Funk also covers Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway, the impact of the ongoing bird flu outbreak, agriculture and other news out of the Midwest. twitter mailto

Oscar statuettes appear backstage at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Feb. 28, 2016. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File)2025-12-17T17:58:30Z In a seismic shift for one of televisions marquee events, the Academy Awards will depart ABC and begin streaming on YouTube beginning in 2029, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday.ABC will continue to broadcast the annual ceremony through 2028. That year will mark the 100th Oscars. But starting in 2029, YouTube will retain global rights to streaming the Oscars through 2033. YouTube will effectively be the home to all things Oscars, including red-carpet coverage, the Governors Awards and the Oscar nominations announcement. We are thrilled to enter into a multifaceted global partnership with YouTube to be the future home of the Oscars and our year-round Academy programming, said academy chief executive Bill Kramer and academy president Lynette Howell Taylor. The Academy is an international organization, and this partnership will allow us to expand access to the work of the Academy to the largest worldwide audience possible which will be beneficial for our Academy members and the film community. AP AUDIO: The Oscars will move to YouTube in 2029, leaving longtime home of ABC APs Lisa Dwyer reports on a big move by the Oscars. While major award shows have added streaming partnerships, the YouTube deal marks the first of the big four the Oscars, Grammys, Emmys and Tonys to completely jettison broadcast television. It puts one of the most watched non-NFL broadcasts in the hands of Google. YouTube boasts some 2 billion viewers. The Academy Awards will stream for free worldwide on YouTube, in addition to YouTube TV subscribers. It will be available with audio tracks in many languages, in addition to closed captioning. Financial terms were not disclosed. The Oscars are one of our essential cultural institutions, honoring excellence in storytelling and artistry, said Neal Mohan, chief executive of YouTube. Partnering with the academy to bring this celebration of art and entertainment to viewers all over the world will inspire a new generation of creativity and film lovers while staying true to the Oscars storied legacy. The Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC has been the broadcast home to the Oscars for almost its entire history. NBC first televised the Oscars in 1953, but ABC picked up the rights in 1961. Aside from a period between 1971 and 1975, when NBC again aired the show, the Oscars have been on ABC. ABC has been the proud home to The Oscars for more than half a century, the network said in a statement. We look forward to the next three telecasts, including the shows centennial celebration in 2028, and wish the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences continued success.The 2025 Academy Awards were watched by 19.7 million viewers on ABC, a slight increase from the year before. That remains one of the biggest TV broadcasts of the year, though less than half of Oscar ratings at their peak. In 1999, more than 55 million watched James Camerons Titanic win best picture. The film academy, in choosing YouTube over other options such as Netflix or NBC Universal/Peacock, selected a platform with a wide-ranging and massive audience but one without as much of an established production infrastructure. Still, more people especially young people watch YouTube than any other streaming platform. According to Nielsen, YouTube accounted for 12.9% of all television and streaming content consumed in November. Netflix ranked second with an 8.3% market share. JAKE COYLE Coyle has been a film critic and covered the movie industry for The Associated Press since 2013. He is based in New York City. twitter mailto

This undated photo provided by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in December 2025 shows Nuno Loureiro. (Jake Belcher/MIT via AP)2025-12-17T14:56:49Z BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) Police intensified their search Wednesday for a suspect in the killing of professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, two days after he was shot to death at his home outside Boston.Loureiro, a 47-year-old physicist and fusion scientist, was shot Monday night at his apartment in Brookline, Massachusetts. He died at a local hospital on Tuesday, the Norfolk District Attorneys Office said in a statement.The prosecutors office said the homicide investigation was active and ongoing as of early afternoon Wednesday and had no update earlier they had said no suspects were in custody.The investigation into the MIT professors killing comes as Brown University, another prestigious institution just 50 miles (80 kilometers) away in Providence, Rhode Island, is reeling from an unsolved shooting that killed two students and wounded nine others Saturday. Investigators provided no indication Tuesday that they were any closer to zeroing in on the gunmans identity. AP AUDIO: Shooting of MIT professor Nuno Loureiro has police still searching for a suspect AP correspondent Julie Walker reports on the search for a suspect in the shooting death of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor at his home. The FBI on Tuesday said it knew of no connection between the crimes.Dozens of people gathered outside Lourieros building Tuesday night, many with candles in hand, to honor the professors life and support his family. Neighbors received paper notices attached to their doors with tape to place candles in their windows in Lourieros honor. Some people cried and held each other, but most attendees were silent, their breath visible in the bracing cold. A few children rode scooters from their nearby homes to the gathering. The killing happened when most MIT students were on winter break, and more than a dozen of them on the Cambridge campus on Wednesday didnt want to talk about it. Most said they didnt know him. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on A 22-year-old student at Boston University who lives near Loureiros apartment in Brookline told The Boston Globe she heard three loud noises Monday evening and feared it was gunfire. I had never heard anything so loud, so I assumed they were gunshots, Liv Schachner was quoted as saying. Its difficult to grasp. It just seems like it keeps happening. Loureiro, who was married, joined MIT in 2016 and was named last year to lead MITs Plasma Science and Fusion Center, where he worked to advance clean energy technology and other research. The center, one of the schools largest labs, had more than 250 people working across seven buildings when he took the helm. He was a professor of physics and nuclear science and engineering. He grew up in Viseu, in central Portugal, and studied in Lisbon before earning a doctorate in London, according to MIT. He was a researcher at an institute for nuclear fusion in Lisbon before joining MIT, the university said.He shone a bright light as a mentor, friend, teacher, colleague and leader, and was universally admired for his articulate, compassionate manner, Dennis Whyte, an engineering professor who previously led MITs Plasma Science and Fusion Center, told a campus publication.The president of MIT, Sally Kornbluth, said in a statement that the killing was a shocking loss. The office of Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also put out a condolence statement calling Loureiros death an irreparable loss for science and for all those with whom he worked and lived. Loureiro had said he hoped his work would shape the future.Its not hyperbole to say MIT is where you go to find solutions to humanitys biggest problems, Loureiro said when he was named to lead the plasma science lab last year. Fusion energy will change the course of human history. ___Associated Press writers Leah Willingham in Boston; Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and David Biller in Rome contributed. MICHAEL CASEY Casey writes about the environment, housing and inequality for The Associated Press. He lives in Boston. twitter mailto

Associated Press2025-12-17T16:49:44.309Z How well do you remember what happened in 2025? Test your knowledge with 25 questions about some of the years biggest stories.

A crowd of people holding candles gather outside the home of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro in Brookline, Mass., Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)2025-12-17T17:28:15Z Authorities are searching for a suspect in the killing of Nuno F.G. Loureiro, a prominent physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was shot at his home near Boston. Loureiro, a married 47-year-old from Portugal, was shot Monday night and died Tuesday at a local hospital.Authorities have not disclosed a possible motive, and no suspects were in custody as of Wednesday morning, the Norfolk District Attorneys Office said.The shooting in Brookline, Massachusetts, comes days after a deadly attack at another prestigious school in the region, Brown University, where police also havent identified the suspect who killed two students and wounded nine others. The FBI said it knows of no connection between the two crimes. Finding solutions to the worlds problemsLoureiro joined MIT in 2016 and was named last year to lead the schools Plasma Science and Fusion Center, one of its largest laboratories. The center has around 250 researchers working across seven buildings and focuses on advancing clean energy technology and other research.The professor grew up in Viseu in central Portugal, studied in Lisbon and earned a doctorate in London, according to the university. Before moving to MIT, he worked at a nuclear fusion research institute in Lisbon.Loureiro studied the behavior of plasma and worked to explain the physics behind astronomical phenomena such as solar flares. His research, according to his obituary on MITs news site, involved the design of fusion devices that could harness the energy of fusing plasmas, bringing the dream of clean, near-limitless fusion power closer to reality.Its not hyperbole to say MIT is where you go to find solutions to humanitys biggest problems, Loureiro told the schools news site when he became head of the plasma lab. Fusion energy will change the course of human history. Sadness and shock over Loureiros death He shone a bright light as a mentor, friend, teacher, colleague and leader, and was universally admired for his articulate, compassionate manner, Dennis Whyte, an engineering professor who previously led MITs Plasma Science and Fusion Center, told a campus publication.Deepto Chakrabarty, the William A. M. Burden professor in astrophysics and head of the Department of Physics, described him as a champion for plasma physics, a valued colleague and an inspiring mentor to graduate students.MIT President Sally Kornbluth said the shocking loss for our community comes in a period of disturbing violence in many other places. The Portuguese presidents office also put out a condolence statement calling Loureiros death an irreparable loss for science and for all those with whom he worked and lived. Killing comes amid search for Brown shooting suspectThe investigation into Loureiros killing unfolds as Brown University, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) away in Providence, Rhode Island, continues to reel from Saturdays campus shooting. As the search for the suspect entered its fifth day Wednesday, authorities urged the public to review security or cellphone footage from the week before the attack, saying they believe the gunman may have cased the area beforehand.

New research suggests that having a pet can actually make people more likely to become parents.

Pandas have stood for friendship between China and Japan since 1972. But the last two are about to go, and a dispute over Taiwan could get in the way of sending more.

The European Council convenes on Thursday, and at stake is a contentious deal to back Ukraine and its war effort in 2026 and 2027.

A federal court filing says the Army crew piloting a Black Hawk helicopter could have avoided the nighttime accident in January if it had been able to see and avoid a commercial jet.

New legislation will be drafted to target those who promote violence and to increase penalties for hate speech, the prime minister said Thursday.

Katherine Carreo stands for a portrait Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Allison Dinner)2025-12-18T05:09:26Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Justice Department has launched a months-long effort to prosecute people accused of assaulting or hindering federal officers while protesting President Donald Trumps immigration crackdown and military deployments. Attorney General Pam Bondi has vowed such offenders will face severe consequences.In a review of scores of criminal prosecutions brought by federal prosecutors, The Associated Press found that the Justice Department has struggled to deliver on Bondis pledge. An analysis of 166 federal criminal cases brought since May against people in four Democratic-led cities at the epicenter of demonstrations found that aggressive charging decisions and rhetoric painting defendants as domestic terrorists have frequently failed to hold up in court.Its clear from this data that the government is being extremely aggressive and charging for things that ordinarily wouldnt be charged at all, said Mary McCord, a former federal prosecutor who is the director of Georgetown University Law Centers Institute for Constitutional Advocacy. They appear to want to chill people from protesting against the administrations mass deportation plans.Here are some key findings from the APs analysis: Dozens of felonies evaporatedOf 100 people initially charged with felony assaults on federal agents, 55 saw their charges reduced to misdemeanors, or dismissed.Sometimes prosecutors failed to win grand jury indictments required to prosecute someone on a felony, the AP found. Videos and testimony called into question some of the initial allegations, resulting in prosecutors downgrading offenses.In dozens of cases, officers suffered minor or no injuries, undercutting a key component of the felony assault charge that requires the potential for serious bodily harm.One of the cases was against Dana Briggs, a 70-year-old Air Force veteran charged in September with assault after a protest in Chicago. After video footage emerged of federal agents knocking Briggs to the ground, prosecutors dropped a case they had already reduced to a misdemeanor. Another case dropped by prosecutors was against 28-year-old Lucy Shepherd, who was charged with felony assault after she batted away the arm of a federal officer who was attempting to clear a crowd outside Portlands Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. Her lawyers argued a video of her arrest showed she brushed aside an officer with too little force to have been intended to inflict any kind of injury.A Justice Department spokesperson said it will continue to seek the most serious available charges against those alleged to have put federal agents in harms way.We will not tolerate any violence directed toward our brave law enforcement officials who are working tirelessly to keep Americans safe, said Natalie Baldassarre, a DOJ spokesperson. Despite rhetoric, antifa rarely mentioned in courtThe administration has deployed or sought to deploy troops to the four cities where AP examined the criminal cases: Washington, D.C, Los Angeles, Portland and Chicago. Trump and his administration have sought to justify the military deployments, in part, by painting immigration protesters as antifa, which the president has sought to designate as a domestic terrorist organization. Short for anti-fascists, antifa is an umbrella term for far-left-leaning protesters who confront or resist white supremacists, sometimes clashing with law enforcement. The APs review found a handful of references to antifa in court records in the cases it reviewed. The review found no case in which federal authorities officially accused a protester of being a domestic terrorist or part of an organized effort to attack federal agents. Prosecutors have lost every trialExperts said they were surprised the Justice Department took five misdemeanor cases to trial, given that such trials eat up resources. They were further shocked that DOJ lost all those trials.When the DOJ tries to take a swing at someone, they should hit 99.9% of the time. And thats not happening, said Ronald Chapman II, a defense attorney who practices extensively in federal court.The highest-profile loss involved Sean Charles Dunn, a Washington, D.C., man who tossed a Subway-style sandwich at a Border Patrol agent he had berated as a fascist. Dunn was acquitted Nov. 6 after a two-day trial.In Los Angeles, 32-year-old Katherine Carreo was acquitted on a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from an August protest outside a federal building.Prosecutors had alleged she ignored an officers commands to move out of the way of a government vehicle and raised her hand and brought it down in a slapping/chopping motion onto the officers arm. Social media video shown to jurors raised doubts about that narrative, showing an officer striding toward Carreo and pushing her back. More than 50 cases are pendingProsecutors have secured felony indictments against 58 people, some of whom were initially charged with misdemeanors. They are accused of assaulting federal officers in several ways, including by hurling rocks and projectiles, punching or kicking them and shooting them with paintballs. None have yet to go to trial.From the start of Trumps second term through Nov. 24, the Department of Homeland Security says there have been 238 assaults on ICE personnel nationwide. The agency declined to provide its list or details about how it defines assaults.Rioters and other violent criminals have threatened our law enforcement officers, thrown rocks, bottles, and fireworks at them, slashed the tires of their vehicles, rammed them, ambushed them, and even shot at them, said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.___Ding reported from Los Angeles, Fernando from Chicago, Rush from Portland, Oregon, and Foley from Iowa City, Iowa.___Contact the APs global investigative team at [emailprotected] or https://www.ap.org/tips/ RYAN J. FOLEY Foley covers national news for The Associated Press and is based in Iowa City, Iowa. A 21-year AP veteran, he was part of the AP team honored as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting for the 2024 series, Lethal Restraint. twitter mailto CLAIRE RUSH Rush is an Associated Press reporter covering Oregon state government and general news in the Pacific Northwest more broadly. twitter mailto JAIMIE DING Ding covers California breaking news for The Associated Press. She focuses on law enforcement and the courts, and is based in Los Angeles. twitter mailto CHRISTINE FERNANDO Fernando is a democracy reporter covering misinformation, reproductive rights and state supreme courts for The Associated Press. twitter mailto MICHAEL BIESECKER Biesecker is a global investigative reporter for The Associated Press, based in Washington. He reports on a wide range of topics, including human conflict, climate change and political corruption. twitter instagram mailto

This image made by the Cassini spacecraft and provided by NASA on March 12, 2006, shows two of Saturn's moons, the small Epimetheus and smog-enshrouded Titan, with Saturn's A and F rings stretching across the frame. (NASA via AP)2025-12-17T16:00:25Z CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) Saturns giant moon Titan may not have a vast underground ocean after all.Titan instead may hold deep layers of ice and slush more akin to Earths polar seas, with pockets of melted water where life could possibly survive and even thrive, scientists reported Wednesday.The team led by researchers at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory challenged the decade-long assumption of a buried global ocean at Titan after taking a fresh look at observations made years ago by NASAs Cassini spacecraft around Saturn.They stress that no one has found any signs of life at Titan, the solar systems second largest moon spanning 3,200 miles (5,150 kilometers) and brimming with lakes of liquid methane on its frosty surface.But with the latest findings suggesting a slushy, near-melting environment, there is strong justification for continued optimism regarding the potential for extraterrestrial life, said the University of Washingtons Baptiste Journaux, who took part in the study published in the journal Nature. As to what form of life that might be, possibly strictly microscopic, nature has repeatedly demonstrated far greater creativity than the most imaginative scientists, he said in an email. JPLs Flavio Petricca, the lead author, said Titans ocean may have frozen in the past and is currently melting, or its hydrosphere might be evolving toward complete freezing. Computer models suggest these layers of ice, slush and water extend to a depth of more than 340 miles (550 kilometers). The outer ice shell is thought to be about 100 miles (170 kilometers) deep, covering layers of slush and pools of water that could go down another 250 miles (400 kilometers). This water could be as warm as 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius).Because Titan is tidally locked, the same side of the moon faces Saturn all the time, just like our own moon and Earth. Saturns gravitational pull is so intense that it deforms the moons surface, creating bulges as high as 30 feet (10 meters) when the two bodies are closest. Through improved data processing, Petricca and his team managed to measure the timing between the peak gravitational tug and the rising of Titans surface. If the moon held a wet ocean, the effect would be immediate, Petricca said, but a 15-hour gap was detected, indicating an interior of slushy ice with pockets of liquid water. Computer modeling of Titans orientation in space supported their theory.Sapienza University of Romes Luciano Iess, whose previous studies using Cassini data indicated a hidden ocean at Titan, is not convinced by the latest findings.While certainly intriguing and will stimulate renewed discussion ... at present, the available evidence looks certainly not sufficient to exclude Titan from the family of ocean worlds, Iess said in an email.NASAs planned Dragonfly mission featuring a helicopter-type craft due to launch to Titan later this decade is expected to provide more clarity on the moons innards. Journaux is part of that team. Saturn leads the solar systems moon inventory with 274. Jupiters moon Ganymede is just a little larger than Titan, with a possible underground ocean. Other suspected water worlds include Saturns Enceladus and Jupiters Europa, both of which are believed to have geysers of water erupting from their frozen crusts.Launched in 1997, Cassini reached Saturn in 2004, orbiting the ringed planet and flying past its moons until deliberately plunging through Saturns atmosphere in 2017.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Dilip Patel, right, and Bobby Charmak, left, work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)2025-12-17T05:14:34Z NEW YORK (AP) More drops for AI stocks dragged the U.S. market lower Wednesday, and Wall Street sank to its fourth straight loss.The S&P 500 fell 1.2% for its worst day in nearly a month, though its still not far from its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 228 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 1.8%.Slightly more stocks rose within the S&P 500 than fell, but they got drowned out by the drops for companies in the artificial-intelligence industry.Questions continue to dog the former superstars about whether their yearslong dominance of Wall Street meant their prices shot too high, as well as whether all the investment in AI will produce enough profit and productivity to prove worth the cost. Worries are also rising about the debt that some companies are taking on to pay for it all. Broadcom dropped 4.5%, Oracle fell 5.4% and CoreWeave sank 7.1%. Nvidia, the chip company thats become Wall Streets most influential stock because of its tremendous size, fell 3.8% and was the days heaviest weight on the S&P 500. AP AUDIO: More drops for AI stocks drag Wall Street toward a 4th straight loss Wall Street is holding steady as oil prices rise. We hear more from AP business correspondent Seth Sutel. Power companies that jumped earlier in the year on expectations for stronger demand from electricity-sucking data centers also lost some of their shine. Constellation Energy fell 6.7%. Only 17% of respondents in a survey of relatively big businesses by UBS said theyre in production at scale with their AI projects. That could be a reminder for tech investors to remain sober about the likely 2026 revenue growth uplift from AI products, according to UBS analysts, though the rate continues to rise. Also on the losing end of Wall Street was Lennar, which sank 4.5% following a mixed profit report. The homebuilder delivered a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its revenue topped expectations.Executive Chairman Stuart Miller said that conditions remain challenging, with customers feeling less confident while looking for discounts and more affordable options. As a result, the company gave limited forecasts for its upcoming financial performance. Progressive, meanwhile, fell 2% after the insurer based in Mayfield Village, Ohio, said that its net income for November fell 5% from its year-ago level. On the winning side of Wall Street were oil companies, after President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers into Venezuela. Its Trumps latest escalation against Venezuela, which may be sitting on more oil than any other country. That sent the price of a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude higher by 1.2% to $55.94. just a day after it sank to its lowest level since 2021. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 1.3% to $59.68 per barrel.That in turn helped ConocoPhillips rise 4.6% and cut into its loss for the year so far, which came into the day at 8.5%. Devon Energy rallied 5.3%, and Exxon Mobil climbed 2.4%. Oil prices had dropped through most of this year on expectations that companies are pumping more than enough crude to meet the worlds demand. Netflix added 0.2% after Warner Bros. Discoverys board said it still recommends shareholders approve a buyout offer from the streaming giant for its Warner Bros. business, rather than a competing hostile bid from Paramount Skydance for the entire company. Warner Bros. Discovery fell 2.4%, while Paramount Skydance dropped 5.4%. All told, the S&P 500 fell 78.83 points to 6,721.43. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 228.29 to 47,885.97, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 418.14 to 22,693.32.In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady ahead of a report coming on Thursday that will show how bad inflation has been for U.S. consumers.The yield on the 10-year Treasury held at 4.15%, where it was late Tuesday. In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia. South Koreas Kospi leaped 1.4% for one of the worlds bigger gains and shaved its loss for the week so far down to 2.7%. ___AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

ADDITION ADDS MAIDEN NAME: FILE - Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner arrive on the red carpet at the State Department for the Kennedy Center Honors gala dinner, Dec. 2, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)2025-12-17T01:51:38Z LOS ANGELES (AP) Some of Rob and Michele Reiners closest friends, including actors Billy Crystal, Albert Brooks, Martin Short and Larry David, have released a statement mourning the couple and praising their love of film and country.Absorbing all he had learned from his father Carl and his mentor Norman Lear, Rob Reiner not only was a great comic actor, he became a master story teller. There is no other director who has his range. From comedy to drama to mockumentary to documentary he was always at the top of his game. He charmed audiences. They trusted him. They lined up to see his films, the group said in a statement released first to The Associated Press.His comedic touch was beyond compare, his love of getting the music of the dialogue just right, and his sharpening of the edge of a drama was simply elegant, it said of Rob Reiner, whose films included A Few Good Men, When Harry Met Sally... and The Princess Bride. The statement was released two days after Rob and Michele Reiner were found dead in their home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. Their son, Nick Reiner, was charged Tuesday with two counts of murder and is suspected of stabbing his parents to death. The joint statement came from some of Reiners longtime collaborators and contemporaries, including Crystal, Brooks, Short, David and their spouses. The signatories included writer Alan Zweibel, composer and lyricist Marc Shaiman, director Barry Levinson and former U.S. Ambassador to Spain James Costos. For the actors, he loved them. For the writers he made them better. His greatest gift was freedom. If you had an idea, he listened, he brought you into the process. They always felt they were working as a team. To be in his hands as a film maker was a privilege but that is only part of his legacy, the statement said.The Reiners were major Democratic contributors and champions of numerous political causes. Rob was also a passionate, brave citizen, who not only cared for this country he loved, he did everything he could to make it better and with his loving wife Michele, he had the perfect partner. Strong and determined, Michele and Rob Reiner devoted a great deal of their lives for the betterment of our fellow citizens... They were a special force together dynamic, unselfish and inspiring, the statement said.We were their friends, and we will miss them forever, it said, before concluding with a quote from one of Reiners favorite films, the Christmastime classic Its a Wonderful Life.Each mans life touches so many other lives, and when he isnt around, he leaves an awful hole, doesnt he? You have no idea, the statement concludes.The deaths of the Reiners have stunned Hollywood, especially since their family embodied a gentle and comedic spirit.Their deaths drew tributes from numerous stars and political figures on Sunday and Monday, but many of those closest to the Reiners had yet to release statements.

Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino walks alongside his agents after they detain an individual near West 27th Street and South Ridgeway Avenue in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)2025-12-16T23:36:15Z CHICAGO (AP) Senior Border Patrol official Greg Bovino returned to the Chicago area on Tuesday, about a month after leaving to lead immigration enforcements in other cities, immigration advocates say.Bovino, the face of the Trump administrations immigration crackdown, was photographed Tuesday in the predominantly Mexican American neighborhood of Little Village by the Chicago Sun-Times as neighbors and activists blew whistles and shouted.Videos obtained by The Associated Press showed several unmarked cars and Border Patrol agents deploying pepper balls and detaining a man in the neighborhoods business corridor.Bovino arrived in the Chicago area in September amid Operation Midway Blitz, which has yielded thousands of arrests and fueled fear among immigrant communities. The operation has become known for its aggressive tactics, including the use of chemical munitions and car chases. Since the operation began, federal agents deployed tear gas in neighborhood streets, hit protesters and journalists with pepper balls and shot at least two people, killing one. Bovino left Chicago in November to lead immigration operations in New Orleans and North Carolina. While immigration operations had continued in Chicago, they were noticeably subdued with fewer tense confrontations, and Tuesdays enforcements were among the most visible since Bovino left town. As we said a month ago, we arent leaving Chicago and operations are ongoing, said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker complained that he was not given notice that Bovino and additional Border Patrol agents were returning to the Chicago area on Tuesday. And he said he doesnt know how long theyll stay. Pritzker also called on Bovino to testify in front of an Illinois commission created in October to document misconduct by federal agents. Im so proud of the people of Illinois, for doing as they have, which is to protect their neighborhoods and their neighbors, to do the right thing, Pritzker said Tuesday. And so, I think were in a much better position.At a Tuesday news conference, activists vowed to continue supporting immigrant communities in the Chicago area. Advocates said 15 people, including day laborers and a tamale vendor, were detained Tuesday on the citys Southwest side and in suburban Berwyn and Cicero.We are tired but we are not weary, said Illinois State Senator Celina Villanueva. ... Every single time that they come, we are going to show up.Victor Rodriguez II, a lifelong resident of Little Village, said he helped a woman when her husband was detained after a caravan of masked agents began terrorizing our community, including using pepper balls in neighborhood streets. Rodriguez accused Bovino of targeted political theater.Bob Reiter, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, said Border Patrol agents questioned striking laborers on Chicagos Southwest side and accused Bovino of coming to our picket line to chill union activity.We have seen the first act of this political theater they have brought, he said. Now its the second act, and were ready. CHRISTINE FERNANDO Fernando is a democracy reporter covering misinformation, reproductive rights and state supreme courts for The Associated Press. twitter mailto

Neighbors said a pall had fallen over the wealthy Los Angeles area where Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were found stabbed to death.

President Trump disparaged Democrats and insisted the economy is booming despite concerns about the cost of living.

The move may reassure China hawks who are uncertain about the presidents commitment to the self-governing democracy.

Beijing is using its messaging tools to show off its prowess at building infrastructure and project power, taking advantage of what it says is deep anxiety in U.S. policies.

The attack on Wednesday brings the total number killed to at least 99 since the Trump administration began bombing boats suspected of ferrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., meets with reporters as Republicans struggle with a plan to address growing health care costs, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)2025-12-16T21:48:35Z WASHINGTON (AP) House Republican leaders are determined to push ahead with a GOP health care bill that excludes efforts to address the soaring monthly premiums millions of Americans will soon endure as pandemic-era tax credits for people who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act expire at years end.Speaker Mike Johnson had discussed the prospect of allowing more politically vulnerable GOP lawmakers a chance to vote on their amendment that would temporarily extend pandemic-era subsidies for ACA coverage. But after days of private talks, leadership sided with the more conservative wing of the conference, which has assailed the subsidies as propping up a failed ACA marketplace.We looked for a way to try to allow for that pressure release valve, Johnson said Tuesday at the Capitol. In the end, it was not an agreement wasnt made. The maneuvering surrounding the health care vote all but guarantees that many Americans will see substantially higher insurance costs in 2026. In the Senate, a bipartisan group was still trying to come up with a compromise to extend the subsidies, which fueled this years government shutdown. But senators made clear that any potential legislation would likely wait until January, after the holiday break. Instead, House Republicans will pursue their 100-plus-page health care package that focuses on long-sought GOP proposals designed to expand insurance coverage options for small businesses and the self-employed. A test vote is expected Wednesday. The Republicans package would clamp down on middlemen called pharmacy benefit managers who work to manage drug costs and process claims for insurance plans. The bill would also expand access to whats referred to as association health plans, which would allow more small businesses and self-employed individuals to band together and purchase health coverage. An analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the package would decrease the number of people with health insurance by an average of 100,000 per year over a 2027-2035 window, while reducing the federal deficit by $35.6 billion. Failing to address expiring insurance subsidies political malpractice Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., blasted the leaderships decision to not allow for a vote to temporarily extend the health insurance subsidies, saying it amounted to political malpractice.Lawler, who hails from a competitive district, noted that most people who get their health coverage through the Affordable Care Act live in states that President Donald Trump won and said the changes proposed for a temporary extension were conservative reforms. He also criticized Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries for not pushing Democrats to support a pair of bipartisan extension efforts.You have two leaders who are not serious about solving this problem, Lawler said of Johnson and Jeffries.Still, the centrist Republicans indicated they would not try to block the Republican leaderships measure from coming to a vote. Johnson defended the House GOPs bill, which includes priorities that Republicans have been working on for several years. We have a long list of things that we know will reduce premiums, increase access and quality of care, Johnson said. The Democrats have zero ideas, zero concepts and zero legislative plans on anything theyll propose other than just subsidizing the broken system.Democrats said even if the bill passes the House, it will not pass the Senate, where it would need 60 votes and bipartisan support to advance. They said it was not a serious effort to address rising costs.Millions will be priced out of their coverage, and those who can still afford it will get less while paying more, said Rep. Suzan DelBene, chair of the House Democratic campaign arm. Republicans are ignoring the pain, the pain were seeing across the country for everyday Americans. And make no mistake, it is going to cost them the majority. GOP bill focuses on insurance options and cost-sharingDuring Trumps first term, his administration sought to expand access to association health plans that dont have to offer the full menu of benefits required under current law. The option offers lower premiums for small businesses and self-employed people, but the policies are likely to cover fewer benefits. A federal judge who struck down the administrations effort in 2018 said the plans were were clearly an end-run around consumer protections required by the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.The House Republican plan would also restore government funding for cost-sharing reductions, or CSRs, a type of financial help that insurers give to low-income ACA enrollees on silver-level plans that reduces their share of costs like deductibles and copays.From 2014 until 2017, the federal government reimbursed insurance companies for CSRs but in 2017, the Trump administration stopped making those payments. To make up for the lost funds, insurance companies hiked premiums for silver-level plans -- a complicated move that ended up increasing the financial assistance many enrollees get to help pay for premiums. As a result, health analysts say that while restoring funding for CSRs would likely bring down silver-level premiums, it could also have the unwelcome ripple effect of increasing many peoples net premiums on bronze and gold plans.The provisions related to pharmacy benefit managers require the middlemen to disclose certain data about their operations to group health plans, with the hope that more transparency would reduce prescription drug costs.Senators revive talks of action in the new yearAlmost two dozen Republicans and Democrats met late Monday to talk about a last-minute fix on the ACA tax credits after the Senate rejected two partisan health care bills last week. They emerged from the meeting discussing ways to end the stalemate, including a possible two-year extension of the subsidies with reforms that would narrow who could receive them. They also discussed adding some version of a GOP proposal to create new health savings accounts that would help people purchase insurance.Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who led the bipartisan meeting, said the group would like to announce a proposal this week. But there were still significant unresolved issues, including whether to include stricter language on abortion funding. Disagreements over abortion were one of the main sticking points in earlier talks that derailed a compromise.Senate Majority Leader John Thune said theres a potential pathway to an agreement in January, but acknowledged, were not going to pass anything by the end of this week.-Staff writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Ali Swenson contributed to this report.

Jimmy Kimmel called the presidents last-minute speech a surprise prime-time episode of The Worst Wing tonight on every channel.

Sydneys devastated Jewish community gathered for the funeral of Matilda Bee, an ebullient, smiling 10-year-old girl.

The president cited misleading statistics to insist, wrongly, that prices were coming down.

The president sharply attacked his predecessor while insisting that his own record contained nothing but victories.

Nick Reiner, facing murder charges in the deaths of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, appeared at an arraignment that lasted just minutes before it was rescheduled for January. He has not entered a plea.

Meg ONeill of Australias Woodside Energy will lead the London energy giant, replacing Murray Auchincloss, who will exit after less than two years in the role.

Chelsea could be about to re-sign 41-year-old defender Thiago Silva before the World Cup. Transfer Talk has the latest news and rumors.

A Taiwan national flag flutters near the Taipei 101 building at the National Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying, File)2025-12-18T02:47:16Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration has announced a massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion that includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones, drawing an angry response from China.The State Department announced the sales late Wednesday during a nationally televised address by President Donald Trump, who made scant mention of foreign policy issues and did not speak about China or Taiwan at all. U.S.-Chinese tensions have ebbed and flowed during Trumps second term, largely over trade and tariffs but also over Chinas increasing aggressiveness toward Taiwan, which Beijing has said must reunify with the mainland.The eight arms sales agreements announced Wednesday cover 82 high-mobility artillery rocket systems, or HIMARS, and 420 Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS similar to what the U.S. had been providing Ukraine during the Biden administration to defend itself from Russia worth more than $4 billion. They also include 60 self-propelled howitzer systems and related equipment worth more than $4 billion and drones valued at more than $1 billion. Other sales in the package include military software valued at more than $1 billion, Javelin and TOW missiles worth more than $700 million, helicopter spare parts worth $96 million and refurbishment kits for Harpoon missiles worth $91 million. In separate but nearly identical statements, the State Department said the sales serve U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipients continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on The proposed sale(s) will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, and economic progress in the region, the statements said. Chinas Foreign Ministry attacked the move, saying it would violate diplomatic agreements between China and the U.S.; gravely harm Chinas sovereignty, security and territorial integrity; and undermine regional stability. The Taiwan independence forces on the island seek independence through force and resist reunification through force, squandering the hard-earned money of the people to purchase weapons at the cost of turning Taiwan into a powder keg, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun.This cannot save the doomed fate of Taiwan independence but will only accelerate the push of the Taiwan Strait toward a dangerous situation of military confrontation and war. The U.S. support for Taiwan Independence through arms will only end up backfiring. Using Taiwan to contain China will not succeed, he added.Under federal law, the U.S. is obligated to assist Taiwan with its self-defense, a point that has become increasingly contentious with China, which has vowed to take Taiwan by force, if necessary.Taiwans Defense Ministry in a statement Thursday expressed gratitude to the U.S. over the arms sale, which it said would help Taiwan maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities and bring strong deterrent capabilities. Taiwans bolstering of its defense is the foundation for maintaining regional peace and stability, the ministry said. Taiwans Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung similarly thanked the U.S. for its long-term support for regional security and Taiwans self-defense capabilities, which he said are key for deterring a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, the body of water separating Taiwan from Chinas mainland.The arms sales comes as Taiwans government has pledged to raise defense spending to 3.3% of the islands gross domestic product next year and to reach 5% by 2030. The boost came after Trump and the Pentagon requested that Taiwan spend as much as 10% of its GDP on its defense, a percentage well above what the U.S. or any of its major allies spend on defense. The demand has faced pushback from Taiwans opposition KMT party and some of its population. Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te last month announced a special $40 billion budget for arms purchases, including to build an air defense system with high-level detection and interception capabilities called Taiwan Dome. The budget will be allocated over eight years, from 2026 to 2033. The U.S. boost in military assistance to Taiwan was previewed in legislation adopted by Congress that Trump is expected to sign shortly.Last week, the Chinese embassy in Washington denounced the legislation, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, saying it unfairly targeted China as an aggressor. The U.S. Senate passed the bill Wednesday.___Mistreanu reported from Beijing. AP video journalists Olivia Zhang in Beijing and Johnson Lai in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report. SIMINA MISTREANU Mistreanu is a Greater China reporter for The Associated Press, based in Taipei, Taiwan. She has reported on China since 2015. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Family carry the coffin following a service for Bondi Beach mass shooting victim 10-year-old Matilda, whose last name is being withheld at the request of her family, in Sydney, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Markham)2025-12-18T03:55:56Z SYDNEY (AP) Hundreds of mourners bearing bright bouquets and clutching each other in grief gathered at a funeral in Sydney on Thursday for a 10-year-old girl who was gunned down in an antisemitic massacre during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach.Matilda, whose last name is being withheld at the request of her family, was enjoying a petting zoo at the festivities on Sunday just before she was killed along with 14 other people in a mass shooting targeting Jews. The suspects, a father and son, were inspired by the Islamic State group, Australian authorities have said.Beaming photos of Matilda have become a focal point for Australias grief at one of the worst hate-fueled attacks ever committed in the country. The massacre has prompted a national reckoning about antisemitism and questions about whether the countrys leaders took seriously enough the threat to Australian Jews. Matildas parents, who arrived in Australia from Ukraine, moved away from war-torn Eastern Europe to come here for a good life, Rabbi Dovid Slavin told The Associated Press as he entered the service.They did something that a parent is OK to do, take their child to a family event at Bondi beach, he added. If it ended this way, its something for collective responsibility for every adult in this country. Albanese vows to enact fresh hate lawsSpeaking to reporters in Australias capital Canberra at the same Matildas service began, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled a tranche of legislative plans he said would curb radicalization and hate. Among his proposals were measures to broaden the definition of hate speech offenses for preachers and leaders who promote violence, to bolster punishments for such crimes, to designate some groups as hateful, and to allow judges to consider hate as an aggravating factor in cases of online threats and harassment.Officials would have greater powers to reject or cancel visas for those who spread hate and division in this country, or would do so if they were allowed to come here, Albanese added. He didnt suggest a timeline for the reforms, citing their legal complexity. There have been organizations which any Australian would look at and say their behavior, their philosophy and what they are trying to do is about division and has no place in Australia, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told reporters.And yet for a generation, no government has been able to successfully take action against them because they have fallen just below the legal threshold.The announcement followed Albaneses pledge to tighten Australias gun controls, which are already some of the toughest in the world. State leaders, too, have promised additional initiatives on firearms and stricter rules for protest gatherings.Still, the fact that Albanese has not attended any of the victims funerals so far with local media reporting he has not been invited, despite the presence of other political leaders hints at the fury among some Australian Jews feel toward the leader. Albanese said measures his government has already enacted, including a ban in February on Nazi salutes, show that he has taken the threat of antisemitism seriously.I of course acknowledge that more could have been done and I accept my responsibility for the part in that as prime minister of Australia, Albanese said Thursday. But what I also do is accept my responsibility to lead the nation and unite the nation. A probe into suspected shooters unfoldsMeanwhile, investigators continued to probe the suspected gunmens links in Australia and their travel to the Philippines before the attack, said Krissy Barrett, the countrys police chief. Authorities earlier divulged that the younger shooting suspect, Naveed Akram, 24, was investigated for six months by Australias security services in 2019.The older shooter, Sajid Akram, 50, who was shot dead on Sunday, had amassed the guns used in the massacre legally. His gun license was granted in 2023, after his son came to the attention of authorities.Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Ao told The Associated Press on Thursday that there was no indication that the two received any training for the attack in the Philippines. He said that the suspected gunmen had stayed in a budget hotel in downtown Davao city for the whole of their visit in November. Ao, a former military chief of staff, said in a statement that the duration of their stay would not have allowed for any meaningful or structured training.Naveed Akram is being treated at a Sydney hospital and was charged Wednesday with 59 offences, including murder and committing a terrorist act. He has not entered a plea and many details of the case against him are suppressed by a judge.Health authorities said Thursday that 16 other people are being treated in hospitals across Sydney. Two are in critical condition, with the status of one having deteriorated to critical that morning. Mourners attend funeral after funeralAs the investigations unfolded, Sydneys closely-knit Jewish community made their way to funeral after funeral. As well as the service Thursday for the youngest person killed, Matilda, mourners attended a funeral for the oldest, 87-year-old Alex Kleytman.The Holocaust survivor was protecting his wife when he was shot dead, she told reporters outside a hospital this week. Others slain included rabbis, a man shot while throwing bricks at one of the gunman, and a married couple who were killed when they tried to tackle one shooter as he got out of his car to begin the attack.At Matildas funeral, a rabbi read a tribute from teachers at the 10-year-olds school, who described her as our little ray of sunshine. Matilda, who had been delighted to win a national literacy prized two days before she died, had an incredible gift to bring joy to those around her, her schools tribute said. Grief overflowed as the coffin was carried out of the hall. Around the mourners, bumblebee balloons bobbed in the afternoon breeze, a reference to her family nickname Matilda Bee.Mourners and reporters alike were handed stickers featuring a smiling cartoon bumblebee holding a menorah. Above the image was Matildas name printed in purple, her favorite color.I dont want to sound selfish, Slavin said. But I and many others are thinking, this could have been my child.___Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand, and Lavalette from Perth, Australia. CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-MCLAY Graham-McLay is an Associated Press reporter covering regional and national stories about New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands by putting them in a global context. She is based in Wellington. twitter mailto KRISTEN GELINEAU Gelineau is a global investigative reporter for The Associated Press, based in Sydney. She covers human rights issues across the Asia-Pacific. twitter mailto

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, and Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz, left, attend a round table meeting on migration at the EU Summit in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Olivier Hoslet, Pool Photo via AP)2025-12-18T04:51:21Z BRUSSELS (AP) Belgium insisted on Thursday that its European Union partners must provide ironclad guarantees that it will be protected from Russian retaliation before it would back a massive loan for Ukraine.At a high-stakes EU summit in Brussels, the 27-nation blocs leaders are set to decide on whether to use tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to underwrite a loan to meet Ukraines military and financial needs over the next two years.The bulk of the assets some 193 billion euros ($227 billion) as of September are held in the Brussels-based financial clearing house Euroclear. Russias Central Bank sued Euroclear last week.Give me a parachute and well all jump together, De Wever told members of the Belgian parliament just before the summit began. If we have confidence in the parachute that shouldnt be a problem. Belgium raises its concerns as it faces Russian pressureBelgium fears that Russia will strike back and would prefer that the bloc borrow the money on international markets. It wants frozen assets held in other European countries to be thrown into the pot as well, and for its partners to guarantee that Euroclear will have the funds it needs should it come under legal attack.European officials say Russia is waging a campaign of sabotage and disruption across the continent. The Central Bank lawsuit ramped up pressure on Belgium and its European partners ahead of the summit.The reparations loan plan would see the EU give 90 billion euros ($106 billion) to Ukraine. Countries like the U.K., Canada and Norway would make up any shortfall.Russias claim to the assets would still stand, but the assets would remain locked away at least until the Kremlin ends its war on Ukraine and pays for the massive damage its caused over four years of war.In mapping out the loan plan, the European Commission set up safeguards to protect Belgium, but De Wever remains unconvinced. I have not yet seen a text that could satisfactorily address Belgiums concerns, he said. I hope to see one today.De Wever insisted that Belgium remains a faithful ally of Ukraine and wants to continue to help.Allies maintain support for UkraineWhatever method they use, the leaders have pledged to meet most of Ukraines needs for the next two years. The International Monetary Fund estimates that would amount to 137 billion euros ($160 billion). The war-ravaged country is at risk of bankruptcy and needs the money by spring.We have to find a solution today, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters. We will not leave the European Council without a solution for the funding of Ukraine for the next two years. EU Council President Antnio Costa, who is chairing the meeting, has vowed to keep leaders negotiating until an agreement is reached, even if it takes days.Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said: Now we have a simple choice. Either money today or blood tomorrow. He insisted that all European leaders have to rise to the occasion. EU envoys have worked around the clock in recent weeks to flesh out the details and narrow differences among the 27 member countries. If enough countries object, the plan could be blocked. There is no majority support for a plan B of raising the funds on international markets. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that he hopes Belgiums concerns can be addressed.The reactions of the Russian president in recent hours show how necessary this is. In my view, this is indeed the only option. We are basically faced with the choice of using European debt or Russian assets for Ukraine, and my opinion is clear: we must use the Russian assets.Hungary and Slovakia oppose von der Leyens plan for a reparations loan. Apart from Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy and Malta are also undecided.I would not like a European Union in war, said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbn, who sees himself as a peacemaker. Hes also Russian President Vladimir Putins closest ally in Europe. To give money means war. Orbn described the loan plan as a dead end, and said that the whole idea is a stupid one.___Associated Press Writer Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report. SAM McNEIL McNeil covers Europe and beyond with a focus on conflict and the environment. twitter instagram facebook mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

The rise in judicial threats is being fueled by the political rhetoric of the Trump administration, a judge argues.

2025-12-18T10:29:31Z BEIRUT (AP) Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on southern and northeastern Lebanon on Thursday as a deadline looms to disarm the militant Hezbollah group along the tense frontier.The strikes came a day before a meeting of the committee monitoring the enforcement of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that halted the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah a year ago. It will be the second meeting of the mechanism after Israel and Lebanon appointed civilian members to a previously military-only committee. The group also includes the U.S, France and the U.N. peacekeeping force deployed along the border.In Paris, Lebanons army commander Gen. Rodolph Haikal is scheduled to meet on Thursday with U.S., French and Saudi officials to discuss ways of assisting the army in its mission to boost its presence in the border area.The Lebanese government has said that the army should have cleared all the border area south of the Litani river from Hezbollahs armed presence by the end of the year. The Israeli military said the strikes hit Hezbollah infrastructure sites and launching sites in a military compound used by the group to conduct training and courses for its fighters. The Israeli military added that it struck several Hezbollah military structures in which weapons were stored, and from which Hezbollah members operated recently. Lebanons state-run National News Agency said the intense airstrikes stretched from areas in Mount Rihan in the south to the northeastern Hermel region that borders Syria. Shortly afterward, a drone strike on a car near the southern town of Taybeh inflicted casualties, NNA said. This is an Israeli message to the Paris meeting aiming to support the Lebanese army, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said about the strikes. The fire belt of Israeli airstrikes is to honor the mechanisms meeting tomorrow, Berri added during a parliament meeting in Beirut. The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel, after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Israel launched a widespread bombardment of Lebanon in September last year that severely weakened Hezbollah, followed by a ground invasion.Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes since then, mainly targeting Hezbollah members but also killing 127 civilians, according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.Over the past weeks, the U.S. has increased pressure on Lebanon to work harder on disarming Hezbollah.

Sidney Reid, 44, of Washington, poses for a portrait near where she was arrested while protesting immigration detentions, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)2025-12-18T05:03:48Z WASHINGTON (AP) The federal agent described her wounds as boo-boos.Nevertheless, the Justice Department aggressively pursued the alleged perpetrator. They jailed Sidney Lori Reid on a charge of felony assault, accusing her of injuring the agent during a July protest of President Donald Trumps immigration crackdown in Washington, D.C.When grand jurors thrice declined to indict the 44-year-old on the felony, prosecutors tried Reid on a misdemeanor.Body camera footage played at trial revealed that Reid had not intentionally struck the agent. Instead, the agent had scratched her hand on a wall while assisting another agent who had shoved Reid and told her to shut the f- up and mind her own business.It took jurors less than two hours to acquit the animal hospital worker. It seemed like my life was just going to be taken away from me, said Reid, who spent two days in jail and worried she would lose her new job and apartment. It broke my heart because this is supposed to be a good and fair country and I did not see anything surrounding my case that was good or fair at all for anybody. Sidney Reid, 44, of Washington, poses for a portrait near where she was arrested while protesting immigration detentions, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Sidney Reid, 44, of Washington, poses for a portrait near where she was arrested while protesting immigration detentions, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Reids case was part of the Justice Departments months-long effort to prosecute people accused of assaulting or hindering federal officers while protesting Trumps immigration crackdown and military deployments. Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered prosecutors to charge those accused of assaulting officers with the highest provable offense available under the law. In a recent statement, Bondi pledged that offenders will face severe consequences. The Justice Department has struggled to deliver on that commitment, however. In examining 166 federal criminal cases brought since May against people in four Democratic-led cities at the epicenter of demonstrations, The Associated Press found: Of the 100 people initially charged with felony assaults on federal agents, 55 saw their charges reduced to misdemeanors, or dismissed outright. At least 23 pleaded guilty, most of them to reduced charges in deals with prosecutors that resulted in little or no jail time. More than 40% of the cases involved relatively minor misdemeanor charges, a figure that appears to undermine Trumps claims that many of those accused are domestic terrorists. All five defendants, including Reid, who went to trial so far were acquitted. Prosecutors have successfully secured felony indictments against at least 58 people, some initially charged with misdemeanors. Those people have been accused of an assortment of assaults that include throwing rocks at federal vehicles, and punching or kicking officers. Those cases are awaiting trial. Several factors help explain the mixed record. Sometimes prosecutors have failed to win grand jury indictments required to prosecute someone on a felony. In other instances, videos and testimony have called into question the initial allegations, resulting in prosecutors downgrading offenses. In dozens of cases, officers suffered only minor injuries, or no injuries at all, undercutting a key component of the felony assault charge that requires the potential for serious bodily harm. Felonies carry stiff sentences, often years in prison. A misdemeanor conviction, on the other hand, typically results in no jail time or only a few weeks or months behind bars. Have a news tip?Contact APs global investigative team at [emailprotected]. For secure and confidential communications, use the free Signal app +1 (202) 281-8604. Former prosecutors and law professors said the APs analysis raises questions about how the Justice Department has prosecuted protesters. Its clear from this data that the government is being extremely aggressive and charging for things that ordinarily wouldnt be charged at all, said Mary McCord, a former federal prosecutor who is the director of Georgetown University Law Centers Institute for Constitutional Advocacy. The other thing that is missing here from the way the federal government appears to be looking at these protests is there seems to be no respect for First Amendment rights. They appear to want to chill people from protesting against the administrations mass deportation plans. National Guardsmen patrol in front of the Washington Monument on the National Mall, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File) National Guardsmen patrol in front of the Washington Monument on the National Mall, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Randall Eliason, a former federal prosecutor and former adjunct professor at the George Washington University Law School, said Justice Department officials could be working on other cases instead of minor, minor misdemeanors.Many of these cases also show how the rhetoric on Twitter and in press releases and statements is not surviving the courtroom, he said. What that tells you is that the Trump administration is hoping to send a message and chill future protests, not pursue serious criminal cases that need to be prosecuted.The Justice Department said it will continue to seek the most serious available charges against those alleged to have put federal agents in harms way.We will not tolerate any violence directed toward our brave law enforcement officials who are working tirelessly to keep Americans safe, said Natalie Baldassarre, a department spokesperson. Those who attack law enforcement will be held fully accountable for their actions, despite the best efforts of activist liberal judges who would rather see violent criminals walk free. From the start of Trumps second term through Nov. 24, the Department of Homeland Security says there have been 238 assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel nationwide, up from 19 during the same period last year. The agency declined to provide its list or provide details about how it defines assaults.The assaults have occurred amid a pair of shootings targeting immigration detention facilities in Texas and the deadly attack on National Guard troops in Washington by a former Afghan soldier who had worked for the CIA.The specter of antifa A protester confronts a line of U.S. National Guard members in the metropolitan detention center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, File) A protester confronts a line of U.S. National Guard members in the metropolitan detention center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The administration has deployed or sought to deploy troops to the four cities where AP examined the criminal cases: Washington, D.C, Los Angeles, Portland and Chicago. Judges have blocked the deployments in Portland and Chicago, citing a lack of credible evidence there is any organized rebellion and finding that Trump administration officials had often exaggerated or lied about threats posed by protesters. A district judge and appeals court have gone back and forth over whether Trump must give control of the troops in California back to the state.Trump and his administration have sought to justify the military deployments, in part, by painting immigration protesters as antifa, which the president has sought to designate as domestic terrorist organization. President Trump will not turn a blind-eye to the sustained campaign of violence destroying American cities perpetrated by leftists and those who enable them, said Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman. Short for anti-fascists, antifa is an umbrella term for far-left-leaning protesters who confront or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists, sometimes clashing with law enforcement.The APs review found only a handful of references to antifa in court records for any of the 166 cases it reviewed. Federal prosecutors wrote in court papers that a defendant in Portland was someone who claims a loose association with Antifa. In another case, an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit that conservative influencers had described a protester as an Antifa helper or agitator.The AP found no case in which federal authorities officially accused a protester of being a domestic terrorist or part of an organized effort to attack federal agents.In affidavits for many of the Portland cases, federal agents referred to so-called black bloc protesters who wear all black clothing but did not use the word antifa to describe them.In at least one press release, DHS has alleged a protester was a suspected member of antifa. That person was arrested outside a Chicago-area ICE facility in October while allegedly carrying a firearm. He has not yet been charged with a crime, court records show.Five people pleaded guilty last month to terrorism-related offenses stemming from a July 4 shooting that wounded a police officer outside an immigration detention center near Dallas. Prosecutors in that case accused the defendants of being part of an antifa cell. It was not included in APs analysis because it did not occur in one of the four cities where Trump has sought to deploy troops.Rioters and other violent criminals have threatened our law enforcement officers, thrown rocks, bottles, and fireworks at them, slashed the tires of their vehicles, rammed them, ambushed them, and even shot at them, said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.Evaporating Felonies Federal immigration enforcement agents detain a protester in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File) Federal immigration enforcement agents detain a protester in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The APs analysis showed that dozens of people charged with felonies have seen their offenses reduced to misdemeanors. Among them was Dana Briggs, a 70-year-old Air Force veteran who was charged in September with assault after a protest in Chicago. Prosecutors first downgraded the charge to a misdemeanor. After video footage emerged of federal agents knocking Briggs to the ground, prosecutors dropped the case. Prosecutors declined to say why they dismissed it.In Portland, 28-year-old Lucy Shepherd was charged in November with felony assault after she batted away the arm of a federal officer who was attempting to clear a crowd outside the citys ICE facility. Her lawyers argued in court filings that a video of her arrest proved there had not been an assault. The video, they wrote, showed she brushed aside an officer with too little force to have been intended to inflict any kind of injury on the officer whatsoever. Prosecutors dropped the case.The office of the U.S. attorney for Oregon declined to comment.Prosecutors are not required to disclose why they sought to downgrade a charge, and much of that process is cloaked in secrecy. Legal experts said prosecutors typically take such action when they learn the evidence is weaker than expected or uncover facts that do not support a felony charge.Court records showed that prosecutors have secured felony indictments against people who are accused of assaulting federal officers and agents in a host of ways. They have been accused of hurling rocks and projectiles at officers, punching or kicking them and shooting them with paintballs.How a case dissolvedMarimar Martinez, a 30-year-old teaching assistant at a Montessori school, was arrested and charged in October with a felony, accusing her of trying to use her car to ram into a Border Patrol agent in a southwest Chicago neighborhood. A DHS press release asserted that she and the driver of another car involved in the incident were domestic terrorists.In court papers, an FBI agent alleged that Martinez and the other driver were aggressively driving and chasing a Border Patrol vehicle. When Border Patrol agents got out of their vehicle, the FBI agent wrote, Martinez drove at one of the agents. The agent was forced to open fire, the agent alleged, striking Martinez at least five times. She was treated at a hospital and released. Inside Martinezs car, authorities recovered a loaded firearm, the agent wrote.DHS noted in a press release that Martinez had been armed with a semi-automatic weapon. Martinez and a 21-year-old man were charged with assaulting a federal officer with her vehicle, which was classified as a dangerous weapon. They faced up to 20 years in prison. Then the case fell apart.It turned out Martinez legally owned the gun, and her attorneys contended that video footage from security cameras and body cameras worn by Border Patrol officers undermined the official narrative. The videos showed a Border Patrol agent steering his vehicle into Martinezs truck, rather than the other way around, her attorney said. Text messages showed the federal agent bragging about his marksmanship after the shooting.I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes, read a text message that the agent, Charles Exum, sent to colleagues. Put that in your book boys. Twenty-four hours after the shooting, Exum texted, Cool, Im up for another round.Federal prosecutors last month dismissed all charges against Martinez and the other driver. Martinezs attorney celebrated the move but emphasized that his clients life is changed forever due to her physical injuries, trauma and long-term impacts of being publicly branded a domestic terrorist.They call this Operation Midway Blitz, but I call it Operation Midway Bust because this and every case that has come out of this has fallen apart, said the lawyer, Christopher Parente.Joseph D. Fitzpatrick, an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said prosecutors are constantly evaluating evidence to ensure the interests of justice are served in each and every case.Legal experts said dropping cases or reducing charges are not straightforward victories for the accused. They noted that defendants have to hire lawyers and may face significant legal expenses. They may also be held in jail for days or weeks, potentially losing jobs and seeing their families disrupted. Lost at trial Katherine Carreo stands for a portrait Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Allison Dinner) Katherine Carreo stands for a portrait Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Allison Dinner) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Former federal prosecutors and defense attorneys said they were surprised that the Justice Department took at least five misdemeanor cases to trial. Such trials eat up resources, and those convicted frequently receive little jail time. The experts said they were also shocked DOJ lost all five cases at trial, a sign that the cases were particularly weak. When the DOJ tries to take a swing at someone, they should hit 99.9% of the time. And thats not happening, said Ronald W. Chapman II, a defense attorney with extensive experience in the federal courts. The highest-profile loss involved Sean Charles Dunn, a Washington, D.C., man who tossed a Subway-style sandwich at a Border Patrol agent he had berated as a fascist. Dunn was acquitted Nov. 6 after a two-day trial.Katherine Carreo was arrested in August on a felony assault charge, accused of striking a federal officer in Los Angeles. The 32-year-old was protesting with a group outside the downtown federal building when DHS security officers asked them to move out of the way of a vehicle that was trying to enter a gate, according to a criminal complaint.Carreo, a paralegal, said it was one of many times she had gone to demonstrate in front of the federal complex where immigrants were being detained.An officer gave two loud commands to move back, which all protesters did except Carreo, the complaint alleged. The officer pushed her away from the vehicle, and Carreo raised her hand and brought it down in a slapping/chopping motion onto the officers arm. She did this twice before being detained, the complaint said.Prosecutors reduced the charge to a misdemeanor and took her to trial.Social media video shown to jurors showed an officer striding toward Carreo and pushing her back. She was not standing in front of the vehicle but to the right and slightly forward of it. The video did not show whether Carreo hit the officer.The officer said she did not push Carreo. Some jurors, pointing to the video evidence, said they disagreed. It took them just under five hours to reach their verdict not guilty. ___Ding reported from Los Angeles, Fernando from Chicago, Rush from Portland, Oregon, and Foley from Iowa City, Iowa.___Contact the APs global investigative team at [emailprotected] or https://www.ap.org/tips/ MICHAEL BIESECKER Biesecker is a global investigative reporter for The Associated Press, based in Washington. He reports on a wide range of topics, including human conflict, climate change and political corruption. twitter instagram mailto JAIMIE DING Ding covers California breaking news for The Associated Press. She focuses on law enforcement and the courts, and is based in Los Angeles. twitter mailto CLAIRE RUSH Rush is an Associated Press reporter covering Oregon state government and general news in the Pacific Northwest more broadly. twitter mailto RYAN J. FOLEY Foley covers national news for The Associated Press and is based in Iowa City, Iowa. A 21-year AP veteran, he was part of the AP team honored as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting for the 2024 series, Lethal Restraint. twitter mailto

A dealer watches computer monitors at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)2025-12-18T05:26:32Z BANGKOK (AP) World shares were mixed on Thursday after declines for AI stocks dragged the U.S. market to its worst day in nearly a month. Traders were waiting for an update later in the day on U.S. inflation, and on a decision Friday by Japans central bank on interest rates. The Bank of Japan is expected to raise its key rate by 0.25 percentage point to tamp down price pressures, despite a contraction in the July-September quarter. Germanys DAX edged 0.2% higher to 24,007.33, while the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.4% to 8,114.30. Britains FTSE 100 was up 0.3% to 9,800.00. The future for the S&P 500 gained 0.3%, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.1%. In Asian trading, Tokyos Nikkei 225 lost 1% to 49,001.50, with technology shares leading the decline. Technology and telecoms giant SoftBank sank 4%. Computer chip maker Tokyo Electron lost 3.2% while chip testing equipment maker Advantest dropped 3.3%. Honda Motor Corp. fell 2.2% after reports said it was suspending production at some plants in Japan and China due to shortages of computer chips. South Koreas Kospi sank 1.5% to 3,994.51, also pulled lower by selling of shares in electronics companies and automakers. LG Electronics declined 3.1%, while Samsung Electronics lost 0.3%. Chinese markets were mixed. Hong Kongs Hang Seng bounced back from early losses to gain 0.1%, closing at 25,498.13. The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.2% higher, to 3,876.37. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was nearly unchanged at 8,588.20. Later Thursday, the U.S. government will report on inflation last month. Economists expect that report to show prices for U.S. consumers continue to rise faster than anyone would like. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 fell 1.2% and the Dow dipped 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite dropped 1.8%.Slightly more stocks rose within the S&P 500 than fell, but they got drowned out by the drops for companies in the artificial-intelligence industry. The sector is being pressured by questions over whether Big Tech companies share prices have shot too high, whether all the investment in AI will be profitable and productive enough to justify the costs, and by worries over stratospheric levels of debt some companies are taking on to pay for it all.Broadcom dropped 4.5%, Oracle fell 5.4% and CoreWeave sank 7.1%. Nvidia, the chip company thats become Wall Streets most influential stock because of its tremendous size, fell 3.8% and was the days heaviest weight on the S&P 500.Power companies that jumped earlier in the year on expectations for stronger demand from electricity-sucking data centers also lost some of their shine. Constellation Energy fell 6.7%.On the winning side of Wall Street were oil companies, after President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers into Venezuela. That sent the price of a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude higher by 1.2% to $55.94. just a day after it sank to its lowest level since 2021. Early Thursday, U.S. crude was up 12 cents at $55.93 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 8 cents to $59.76 per barrel. It had climbed 1.3% on Wednesday. Oil prices have been falling for most of this year on expectations that companies are pumping more than enough crude to meet the worlds demand.Netflix added 0.2% after Warner Bros. Discoverys board said it still recommends shareholders approve a buyout offer from the streaming giant for its Warner Bros. business, rather than a competing hostile bid from Paramount Skydance for the entire company. Warner Bros. Discovery fell 2.4%, while Paramount Skydance dropped 5.4%. In other dealings early Thursday, the U.S. dollar rose to 155.92 Japanese yen from 155.70 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1727 from $1.1743. ELAINE KURTENBACH Based in Bangkok, Kurtenbach is the APs business editor for Asia, helping to improve and expand our coverage of regional economies, climate change and the transition toward carbon-free energy. She has been covering economic, social, environmental and political trends in China, Japan and Southeast Asia throughout her career. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Associated Press correspondent Peter Arnett, left, marches with Vietnamese troops in Vietnam, Nov. 11, 1965. (AP Photo, File)2025-12-18T01:57:46Z LOS ANGELES (AP) Peter Arnett, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who spent decades dodging bullets and bombs to bring the world eyewitness accounts of war from the rice paddies of Vietnam to the deserts of Iraq, has died. He was 91. Arnett, who won the 1966 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for his Vietnam War coverage for The Associated Press, died Wednesday in Newport Beach and was surrounded by friends and family, said his son Andrew Arnett. He had been suffering from prostate cancer.Peter Arnett was one of the greatest war correspondents of his generation intrepid, fearless, and a beautiful writer and storyteller. His reporting in print and on camera will remain a legacy for aspiring journalists and historians for generations to come, said Edith Lederer, who was a fellow AP war correspondent in Vietnam in 1972-73 and is now APs chief correspondent at the United Nations.As a wire-service correspondent, Arnett was known mostly to fellow journalists when he reported in Vietnam from 1962 until the wars end in 1975. He became something of a household name in 1991, however, after he broadcast live updates for CNN from Iraq during the first Gulf War. Associated Press correspondent Peter Arnett stands with gear that he carries out in field while covering the Vietnamese army 1963, in Saigon, Vietnam. (AP Photo, File) Associated Press correspondent Peter Arnett stands with gear that he carries out in field while covering the Vietnamese army 1963, in Saigon, Vietnam. (AP Photo, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More While almost all Western reporters had fled Baghdad in the days before the U.S.-led attack, Arnett stayed. As missiles began raining on the city, he broadcast a live account by cellphone from his hotel room. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on There was an explosion right near me, you may have heard, he said in a calm, New Zealand-accented voice moments after the loud boom of a missile strike rattled across the airwaves. As he continued to speak air-raid sirens blared in the background.I think that took out the telecommunications center, he said of another explosion. They are hitting the center of the city. Reporting from VietnamIt was not the first time Arnett had gotten dangerously close to the action.In January 1966, he joined a battalion of U.S. soldiers seeking to rout North Vietnamese snipers and was standing next to the battalion commander when an officer paused to read a map.As the colonel peered at it, I heard four loud shots as bullets tore through the map and into his chest, a few inches from my face, Arnett recalled during a talk to the American Library Association in 2013. He sank to the ground at my feet.He would begin the fallen soldiers obituary like this: He was the son of a general, a West Pointer and a battalion commander. But Lt. Colonel George Eyster was to die like a rifleman. It may have been the colonels leaves of rank on his collar, or the map he held in his hand, or just a wayward chance that the Viet Cong sniper chose Eyster from the five of us standing in that dusty jungle path. FILE - Newly-landed U.S. Marines make their way through the sands of Red Beach at Da Nang, Vietnam, on their way to reinforce the air base as South Vietnamese Rangers battled guerrillas several miles south of the beach, April 10, 1965. (AP Photo/Peter Arnett, File) FILE - Newly-landed U.S. Marines make their way through the sands of Red Beach at Da Nang, Vietnam, on their way to reinforce the air base as South Vietnamese Rangers battled guerrillas several miles south of the beach, April 10, 1965. (AP Photo/Peter Arnett, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More FILE - A paratrooper of the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade clutches his helmet as he takes cover during a North Vietnamese mortar attack in Vietnam, Nov. 21, 1967. (AP Photo/Peter Arnett, File) FILE - A paratrooper of the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade clutches his helmet as he takes cover during a North Vietnamese mortar attack in Vietnam, Nov. 21, 1967. (AP Photo/Peter Arnett, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More FILE - A South Vietnamese army medic feeds a wounded North Vietnamese prisoner in Xuan Loc, Vietnam, April 13, 1975. (AP Photo/Peter Arnett, File) FILE - A South Vietnamese army medic feeds a wounded North Vietnamese prisoner in Xuan Loc, Vietnam, April 13, 1975. (AP Photo/Peter Arnett, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Arnett had arrived in Vietnam just a year after joining AP as its Indonesia correspondent. That job would be short-lived after he reported Indonesias economy was in shambles and the countrys enraged leadership threw him out. His expulsion marked only the first of several controversies in which he would find himself embroiled, while also forging an historic career. At the APs Saigon bureau in 1962, Arnett found himself surrounded by a formidable roster of journalists, including bureau chief Malcolm Browne and photo editor Horst Faas, who between them would win three Pulitzer Prizes. FILE - Associated Press correspondent Peter Arnett, front center right, poses for a photo with other AP staff members at the AP Saigon bureau in Vietnam, April 18, 1972. The staff includes, front row from left, George Esper, Carl Robinson, Arnett, and Ed White and back row, from left, Hugh Mulligan, chief Vietnamese reporter Huynh Minh Trinh, Holger Jensen, Richard Blystone, Max Nash and Richard Pyle. (AP Photo, File) FILE - Associated Press correspondent Peter Arnett, front center right, poses for a photo with other AP staff members at the AP Saigon bureau in Vietnam, April 18, 1972. The staff includes, front row from left, George Esper, Carl Robinson, Arnett, and Ed White and back row, from left, Hugh Mulligan, chief Vietnamese reporter Huynh Minh Trinh, Holger Jensen, Richard Blystone, Max Nash and Richard Pyle. (AP Photo, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More He credited Browne in particular with teaching him many of the survival tricks that would keep him alive in war zones over the next 40 years. Among them: Never stand near a medic or radio operator because theyre among the first the enemy will shoot at. And if you hear a gunshot coming from the other side, dont look around to see who fired it because the next one will likely hit you.Arnett would stay in Vietnam until the capital, Saigon, fell to the Communist-backed North Vietnamese rebels in 1975. In the time leading up to those final days, he was ordered by APs New York headquarters to begin destroying the bureaus papers as coverage of the war wound down.Instead, he shipped them to his apartment in New York, believing theyd have historic value someday. Theyre now in the APs archives.A star on cable newsArnett remained with the AP until 1981, when he joined the newly-formed CNN.Ten years later he was in Baghdad covering another war. He not only reported on the front-line fighting but won exclusive, and controversial, interviews with then-President Saddam Hussein and future 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.In 1995 he published the memoir, Live From the Battlefield: From Vietnam to Baghdad, 35 Years in the Worlds War Zones.Arnett resigned from CNN in 1999, months after the network retracted an investigative report he did not prepare but narrated alleging that deadly Sarin nerve gas had been used on deserting American soldiers in Laos in 1970.He was covering the second Gulf War for NBC and National Geographic in 2003 when he was fired for granting an interview to Iraqi state TV during which he criticized the U.S. militarys war strategy. His remarks were denounced back home as anti-American. After his dismissal, TV critics for the AP and other news organizations speculated that Arnett would never work in television news again. Within a week, however, he had been hired to report on the war for stations in Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates and Belgium.In 2007, he took a job teaching journalism at Chinas Shantou University. Following his retirement in 2014, he and his wife, Nina Nguyen, moved to the Southern California suburb of Fountain Valley.Born Nov. 13, 1934, in Riverton, New Zealand, Peter Arnett got his first exposure to journalism when he landed a job at his local newspaper, the Southland Times, shortly after high school. Associated Press correspondent Peter Arnett sits for a portrait in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 18, 1963. (AP Photo, File) Associated Press correspondent Peter Arnett sits for a portrait in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 18, 1963. (AP Photo, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More I didnt really have a clear idea of where my life would take me, but I do remember that first day when I walked into the newspaper office as an employee and found my little desk, and I did have a you know enormously delicious feeling that Id found my place, he recalled in a 2006 AP oral history.After a few years at the Times, he made plans to move to a larger newspaper in London. En route to England by ship, however, he made a stop in Thailand and fell in love with the country.Soon he was working for the English-language Bangkok World, and later for its sister newspaper in Laos. There he would make the connections that led him to the AP and a lifetime of covering war.Arnett is survived by his wife and their children, Elsa and Andrew.He was like a brother, said retired AP photographer Nick Ut, who covered combat in Vietnam with Arnett and remained his friend for a half century. His death will leave a big hole in my life.___AP journalist Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report.

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