NEWS

March 8, 2024
Business News
AP-Summary Brief-Business   March 8, 2024 Another burst of hiring shows off the resilience of the US job market WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers delivered another healthy month of hiring in February, adding a surprising 275,000 jobs and again showcasing the U.S. economy’s resilience in the face of high interest rates. Last month’s job growth marked an increase from a revised gain of 229,000 jobs in January. At the same time, the unemployment rate ticked up two-tenths of a point in February to 3.9%. Yet despite sharply lower inflation, a healthy job market and a record-high stock market, many Americans […]
March 8, 2024
AP-Newswatch
AP- News March 8, 2024 It’s not just Israeli bombs that have killed children in Gaza. Now some are dying of hunger too RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — It’s not just Israeli bombs that have killed children in war-ravaged Gaza. Now some are dying of hunger too. Officials have for months warned over the risk of famine in Gaza under Israel’s bombardment, offensives and siege. Hunger is most acute in the north, where at least 20 people — almost all children — have died from malnutrition and dehydration. That’s according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. But also in the south, where […]
March 11, 2024
Business News
AP-Summary Brief-Business   March 11, 2024 North Carolina launches statewide sports wagering CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — People in North Carolina now have more chances to gamble as statewide sports wagering has begun. Several government-licensed gambling operators started taking bets through smartphones and computers at noon Monday from adults within the state’s borders. North Carolina officials enacted a law last year that directed the North Carolina State Lottery Commission to set rules and take licensee applications. Eight licenses have been issued and each of the companies associated with them were up and running Monday. Sports gambling operators have been anxious to […]
March 11, 2024
AP-Newswatch
AP- News March 11, 2024 Ramadan in Gaza begins with hunger worsening and no end to war in sight RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians have begun fasting for Ramadan. The Muslim holy month arrived with cease-fire talks at a standstill, hunger worsening across the Gaza Strip and no end in sight to the five-month-old Israel-Hamas war. Prayers were held late Sunday outside amid the rubble of demolished buildings, and some people hung fairy lights and decorations in packed tent camps. But there was little to celebrate after five months of war that has killed over 30,000 Palestinians and left […]
March 12, 2024
Business News
AP-Summary Brief-Business   March 12, 2024 US inflation up again in February in latest sign that price pressures remain elevated WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer prices in the United States picked up last month, a sign that inflation remains a persistent challenge for the Federal Reserve and for President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, both of which are counting on a steady easing of price pressures this year. Prices rose 0.4% from January to February, a pickup from the previous month’s figure of 0.3%. Compared with 12 months earlier, consumer prices rose 3.2% last month, faster than January’s 3.1% annual pace. Excluding […]
March 12, 2024
AP-Newswatch
AP- News March 12, 2024 Biden says he never meant to keep classified documents. Hur stands by report on president’s memory WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican congressman Jim Jordan says at the start of a hearing with the special counsel who investigated Joe Biden that the Democratic president “failed to properly secure classified information.” Biden repeatedly told the special counsel he never meant to retain classified information after he left the vice presidency but was at times fuzzy about dates and the paper trail for sensitive documents. That’s from a transcript of Biden’s interviews with special counsel Robert Hur made public […]
March 13, 2024
Business News
AP-Summary Brief-Business   March 13, 2024 Europe’s world-first AI rules get final approval from lawmakers. Here’s what happens next LONDON (AP) — European Union lawmakers have given final approval to the 27-nation bloc’s artificial intelligence law. The move Wednesday put the world-leading set of rules on track to take effect later this year. Lawmakers in the European Parliament have voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Artificial Intelligence Act, five years after regulations were first proposed. The AI Act is expected to act as a global signpost for other governments grappling with how to regulate the fast-developing technology. Next year, the […]
March 13, 2024
AP-Newswatch
AP- News March 13, 2024 Judge dismisses some charges against Trump in the Georgia 2020 election interference case ATLANTA (AP) — The judge overseeing the Georgia 2020 election interference case has dismissed some of the charges against ex-President Donald Trump, but others remain. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote Wednesday in an order that six of the charges in the indictment must be quashed, including three against Trump. The order leaves intact many other charges in the indictment. The judge wrote that prosecutors could seek a new indictment on the charges he dismissed. The six charges in question […]
March 14, 2024
Business News
AP-Summary Brief-Business   March 14, 2024 US lawmakers see TikTok as China’s tool, even as it distances itself from Beijing WASHINGTON (AP) — Since its inception, TikTok has been intended only for non-Chinese markets, unavailable in mainland China. It pulled out of Hong Kong in 2020 when Beijing imposed a national security law on the territory to curtail speech. And as data security concerns rose in the U.S., TikTok sought to reassure American lawmakers that U.S. data stays in the country and is inaccessible to ByteDance employees in Beijing. TikTok is following the same playbook as many other companies founded […]
March 14, 2024
AP-Newswatch
AP- News March 14, 2024 Judge to hear arguments on whether to dismiss Trump’s classified documents prosecution FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge is set to hear arguments on whether to dismiss the classified documents prosecution of Donald Trump. His lawyers say the former president was entitled under the Presidential Records Act to keep the sensitive documents with him when he left the White House and headed to Florida. Special counsel Jack Smith’s team, by contrast, says the files Trump is charged with possessing are presidential records, not personal ones, and that the statute does not apply to […]
March 15, 2024
Business News
AP-Summary Brief-Business   March 15, 2024 US consumer sentiment ticks down slightly, but most expect inflation to ease further WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers became slightly less optimistic about the economy this month, though they continue to expect inflation to cool further, a potential sign that price increases will keep slowing. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index slipped to 76.5 in March, barely below February’s figure of 76.9. Americans’ outlook has essentially remained fixed since January, when it leapt higher. Sentiment is about halfway between its all-time low, reached in June 2022 when inflation peaked, and its pre-pandemic averages. Americans’ […]
March 15, 2024
AP-Newswatch
AP- News March 15, 2024 The first ship to use a new sea route approaches Gaza with 200 tons of aid WADI GAZA, Gaza Strip (AP) — A ship carrying 200 tons of aid is approaching the coast of Gaza to inaugurate a sea route from Cyprus. The ship was expected to arrive later on Friday. The sea route is intended to bring more assistance to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the enclave five months into the war between Israel and Hamas. The food on the ship was sent by World Central Kitchen, the charity founded by celebrity chef José […]
March 19, 2024
Business News
AP-Summary Brief-Business   March 19, 2024 As electric vehicle sales slow, US relaxes plans for stricter auto emissions standards for a while WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration this week is expected to announce new automobile emissions standards that relax proposed limits for three years but eventually reach the same strict standards proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The changes come as sales of zero-tailpipe emissions electric vehicles, needed to meet the standards, have started to slow. The auto industry has cited lower sales growth in objecting to the EPA’s preferred standards unveiled last April as part of the most […]
March 19, 2024
AP-Newswatch
AP- News March 19, 2024 As electric vehicle sales slow, US relaxes plans for stricter auto emissions standards for a while WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration this week is expected to announce new automobile emissions standards that relax proposed limits for three years but eventually reach the same strict standards proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The changes come as sales of zero-tailpipe emissions electric vehicles, needed to meet the standards, have started to slow. The auto industry has cited lower sales growth in objecting to the EPA’s preferred standards unveiled last April as part of the most ambitious […]
March 21, 2024
Business News
AP-Summary Brief-Business   March 21, 2024 Apple has kept an illegal monopoly over smartphones in US, Justice Department says in antitrust suit WASHINGTON (AP) — Apple says a Justice Department antitrust lawsuit accusing it of engineering an illegal monopoly in smartphones in the U.S. is “wrong on the facts and the law.” The lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court in New Jersey. The suit alleges Apple uses its control over the iPhone to engage in an “illegal course of conduct.” The lawsuit is the latest example of the Justice Department’s approach to aggressive enforcement of federal antitrust law that […]