NEWS

AP-Summary Brief News   December 11, 2023 Israel battles militants in Gaza’s main cities, with civilians trapped in the fighting RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces are battling Palestinian militants in Gaza’s two largest cities. Civilians are still trapped in Monday’s fighting even after hundreds of thousands have fled to other parts of the besieged territory. Israel has pledged to keep fighting until it removes Hamas from power, dismantles its military capabilities and returns all of the hostages taken by militants during Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack into Israel that ignited the war. The U.S. has provided unwavering diplomatic […]

AP-Summary Brief-Business   December 14, 2023 Why Argentina’s shock measures may be the best hope for its ailing economy WASHINGTON (AP) — The painful economic steps that Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei, announced this week sound draconian: Slashing the currency’s value in half. Reducing aid to provincial governments. Suspending public works. Cutting subsidies for gas and electricity. Raising some taxes. Yet the South American country’s economy is such a basket case — and has been for so long — that many analysts believe that only such radical measures offer a realistic opportunity to rescue the economy. The critical question, economists […]

AP-Summary Brief News   December 14, 2023 Israeli defense minister vows to fight on in Gaza despite rising international pressure RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel’s defense minister says it will take months to destroy Hamas, predicting a drawn-out war. Yoav Gallant spoke Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. His comments emerged as his country and its top ally, the United States, face increasing international isolation and alarm over the devastation from Israel’s campaign in Gaza. Gallant’s remarks underscored a dynamic that has held between the two allies for weeks. The Biden administration has shown unease over Israel’s […]

AP-Summary Brief-Business   December 15, 2023 Congressional Budget Office projects lower inflation and higher unemployment into 2025 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Congressional Budget Office says it expects inflation to nearly hit the Federal Reserve’s 2% target rate in 2024, as overall growth is expected to slow and unemployment is expected to rise into 2025, according to updated economic projections for the next two years. The office’s Current View of the Economy from 2023 to 2025 report, released Friday, estimates that the unemployment rate will hit 4.4% in the fourth quarter of 2024 and remain close to that level through 2025. […]

AP-Summary Brief News   December 15, 2023 Israeli military says it mistakenly killed 3 Israeli hostages in Gaza RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli military says it has mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages during its ground operation in the Gaza Strip. The army’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, says Israeli troops found the hostages Friday and erroneously identified them as a threat. He said it was not clear if they had escaped their captors or been abandoned. The deaths occurred in the Gaza City area of Shijaiyah, where troops have engaged in fierce battles against Hamas militants in […]

AP-Summary Brief-Business   December 18, 2023 Fears of Houthi attacks are rerouting commercial ships away from the Red Sea LONDON (AP) — The attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels have scared off some of the world’s top shipping companies and oil giants. That has effectively rerouted global trade away from a crucial artery for consumer goods and energy supplies athat is expected to trigger delays and rising prices. BP said Monday that it’s “decided to temporarily pause all transits through the Red Sea” including shipments of oil, liquid natural gas and other energy supplies. […]

AP-Summary Brief News   December 18, 2023 US defense secretary, Israeli leaders discuss more targeted approach in Gaza TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed with Israeli leaders ways to scale back major combat operations in Gaza but said Washington was not imposing a timetable despite international calls for a cease-fire. Austin and other U.S. officials have repeatedly expressed concern about the large number of civilian deaths in Gaza, even while underscoring American backing for Israel’s campaign aimed at crushing Hamas. Neither side elaborated Monday on what needed to change on the ground for a shift […]

AP-Summary Brief-Business   December 19, 2023 Brazil lawsuits link JBS to destruction of Amazon in protected area, seek millions in damages JACI-PARANA, Brazil (AP) — In an unusual series of legal actions, Brazilian prosecutors have sued multinational meatpacker JBS and three smaller slaughterhouses for allegedly buying cattle directly from illegal ranches in a protected area. The lawsuits include a type of evidence that is turning heads among Brazilian environmental autorities — transit documents that purport to show a direct sale of cattle from deforested protected areas to the meatpackers. Usually when deforestation beef is at issue, the cattle have had […]

AP-Summary Brief News   December 19, 2023 Israel delivers deadly airstrikes in south Gaza and raids a hospital in the north RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces raided one of the last functioning hospitals in Gaza’s north and bombarded the south with airstrikes that killed at least 28 Palestinians. They are pressing ahead with their offensive Tuesday with renewed backing from the United States, despite rising international alarm. The air and ground war was launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel. It has killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians, displaced some 1.9 million, demolished much of northern Gaza […]

AP-Summary Brief-Business   December 20, 2023 Study shows AI image-generators being trained on explicit photos of children Hidden inside the foundation of popular artificial intelligence image-generators are thousands of images of child sexual abuse, according to a new report that urges companies to take action to address a harmful flaw in the technology they built. Those same images have made it easier for AI systems to produce realistic and explicit imagery of fake children as well as transform social media photos of fully clothed real teens into nudes, much to the alarm of schools and law enforcement around the world. […]

AP-Summary Brief News   December 20, 2023 Hamas leader visits Cairo as talks build for another Gaza cease-fire DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas’ top leader is in Cairo for talks on the war in Gaza. Ismail Haniyeh’s visit Wednesday is part of a flurry of diplomacy aimed at securing another cease-fire and swap of hostages for Palestinian prisoners at a moment when Israel’s offensive shows no sign of slowing. It comes a day after Hamas fired rockets that set off air raid sirens in central Israel. Israel is vowing to press ahead with its war against Hamas. But […]

AP-Summary Brief-Business   December 22, 2023 Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge tumbles in November as prices continue to ease WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of prices fell last month, another sign that inflation is easing and that consumers should expect to see lower interest rates in 2024. Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that U.S. consumer prices slid 0.1% last month from October and rose 2.6% from November 2022. The month-over-month drop was the largest since April 2020 when the economy was reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. The numbers show somewhat more progress against inflation than […]

AP-Summary Brief News   December 22, 2023 Gaza death toll exceeds 20,000 as Israel expands ground war against Hamas RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Health officials in Hamas-run Gaza say the Palestinian death toll there has surpassed 20,000. That figure was released Friday. It is the latest indication of the staggering cost of the war as Israel expands its ground offensive and ordered tens of thousands more people to leave their homes. The deaths amount to nearly 1% of the territory’s prewar population. They are just one measure of the devastation wrought by the conflict that over 11 weeks has […]

AP-Summary Brief-Business   December 26, 2023 Americans ramped up spending during the holidays despite some financial anxiety and higher costs NEW YORK (AP) — Mastercard SpendingPulse said Tuesday that holiday sales rose this year. The indicator, which tracks all kinds of payments including cash and debit cards, found sales from the beginning of November through Christmas Eve climbed 3.1%, a slower pace than the 7.6% increase from a year earlier. The sales growth this year was a bit lower than the 3.7% increase Mastercard SpendingPulse had expected back in September. The data released Tuesday excludes the automotive industry and is […]

AP-Summary Brief News   December 26, 2023 Israeli military says Gaza ground offensive has expanded into urban refugee camps RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli military says it has expanded its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip to the densely populated urban refugee camps in the central part of the territory. Residents reported shelling and airstrikes shaking the Nuseirat, Maghazi and Bureij camps. The built-up towns hold Palestinians whose families fled or were driven from their homes in what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s independence. The camps are now crowded with Palestinians who fled northern […]