Wall Street's main indexes opened higher on Thursday on rising hopes that the worst of the Middle East conflict had passed, while a wave of solid earnings allayed concerns about the health of the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 94.1 points, or 0.19%, at the open to 48,557.82....
Beirut Rules out Talks With Netanyahu for Now, as Pakistan Says Lebanon Peace Vital
Lebanon’s president will not speak to Israel’s prime minister in the near future, Lebanese officials said on Thursday, dealing a blow to U.S. efforts to expand contacts between the enemy states as Pakistan said peace in Lebanon was vital to ending the Iran war. The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran spilt...
Pope Leo, in Cameroon, Decries ‘Handful of Tyrants’ Ravaging the World
Pope Leo blasted leaders who spend billions on wars and said the world was "being ravaged by a handful of tyrants", in unusually forceful remarks in Cameroon on Thursday days after U.S. President Donald Trump attacked him on social media. Leo, the first U.S. pope, also decried leaders who used...
Swalwell’s Exit Injects ‘Chaos’ Into California Governor’s Race
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — One of the sleepiest governor’s races in recent California history has turned into a mad scramble after the sudden departure of Eric Swalwell amid sexual assault allegations. As soon as the first accusations hit Friday afternoon, Democratic candidates and potential donors blew up phones across California with...
Oil Prices Rise on Doubts US-Iran Peace Talks Will Ease Hormuz Disruption
Oil prices rose over 1% on Thursday, reversing earlier declines as the market questioned whether peace talks between the U.S. and Iran would achieve a deal to end the war that has disrupted energy supplies from the Middle East. Brent crude futures climbed $1.68, or 1.8%, to $96.61 a barrel...
US Military: ‘Locked and Loaded’ to Strike Iran’s Power Plants, Energy Industry if Ordered
The U.S. naval blockade of Iran is just an example of "polite" behavior during the ongoing ceasefire and U.S. forces are ready to strike Iran's power plants and energy industry if ordered, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Thursday. Standing alongside two of the U.S. military's most senior officers, Hegseth...
Russian Strikes Kill 17 Across Ukraine in Worst Attack This Year
Russia unleashed its deadliest attack so far this year on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other cities overnight, killing at least 17 people, including a 12-year-old child, and wounding scores, in drone and missile strikes, officials said on Thursday. In Russia, a major Ukrainian drone attack on the Black Sea...
Virginia Ex-Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax Kills Wife and Self, Police Say
Justin Fairfax, a former lieutenant governor of Virginia, and his wife, Cerina Fairfax, were found dead in a murder-suicide at their home in Annandale, Virginia, shortly after midnight Thursday, according to county police. The Fairfax County police chief said Justin Fairfax, 47, shot his wife and then himself. Their teenage...
Settlers Block Palestinian Pupils’ Path to West Bank School With Barbed Wire
Dozens of Palestinian children have been unable to go to school in the Israeli-occupied West Bank this week because of barbed wire erected by Jewish settlers across the path they normally use. Dozens of children tried on Monday to get to school in the small village of Umm al-Khair near...
Trump Ally John Eastman Is Disbarred Over Bid to Overturn 2020 Election
The California Supreme Court stripped conservative attorney John Eastman of his law license on Wednesday over his efforts to overturn U.S. President Donald Trump's 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. The court did not immediately release an opinion explaining its decision, which followed a state bar court's determination that...