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Associated Press
Friends, former hostages praise Terry Anderson, AP reporter and philanthropist, at memorial service
Fellow former hostages, family and coworkers celebrated the life of journalist and philanthropist Terry Anderson Wednesday, remembering a man who helped others while struggling to heal himself. The news writer became a news subject when he was taken hostage in Lebanon by members of an Islamic extremist group in 1985. At the time, he was chief Middle East correspondent for The Associated Press, had one daughter and his future wife was six months pregnant.
Associated Press
Russia's celebration of victory in World War II is a key pillar of Putin’s rule
Russia is wrapping itself in patriotic pageantry for Victory Day, a celebration of its defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II that President Vladimir Putin has turned into a pillar of his nearly quarter-century in power and a justification of his move into Ukraine. Thursday's festivities across Russia, led by Putin who this week began his fifth term in office, recall that wartime sacrifice in what has become its most important secular holiday.
Associated Press
Vatican and Rome enter final dash to 2025 Jubilee with papal bull and around-the-clock construction
The Vatican crosses a key milestone Thursday in the runup to its 2025 Jubilee with the promulgation of the official decree establishing the Holy Year. It's a once-every-quarter-century event that is expected to bring some 32 million pilgrims to Rome and has already brought months of headaches to Romans. Pope Francis will preside over a ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica for the formal reading of the papal bull, or official edict, that lays out the spiritual theme of hope for the year.
Reuters
China's Xi Jinping in Hungary to discuss Ukraine, infrastructure
Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to meet Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Thursday, with the war in Ukraine and infrastructure projects high on the agenda, as he makes his third stop on his first European tour in five years. Xi, who arrived in Budapest late on Wednesday, can expect a warm welcome in a country that is an important partner in trade and investment, in contrast with other EU nations that are considering diversifying from China and becoming less dependent on the world's second-largest economy. Xi has "developed deep friendships" with Hungarian politicians and Hungary was "the number one target in the central eastern European region for Chinese investment", Xi wrote in pro-government daily Magyar Nemzet on Wednesday.
Associated Press
House rejects Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's effort to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, but chaos lingers
Hardline Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tried and failed in a brazen push to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, but the resounding rejection by Democrats and Republicans does not guarantee an end to the political chaos. One of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters in Congress, Greene stood on the House floor late Wednesday and read a long list of “transgressions” she said Johnson had committed as speaker, from his passage of a $95 billion national security package with aid for Ukraine to his reliance on Democrats to wield power. After Greene triggered the vote on her motion to vacate the speaker from his office, Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise quickly countered by calling first for a vote to table it.
Associated Press
California regulators to vote on changing how power bills are calculated
California regulators on Thursday are likely to change how some power companies calculate their customers' bills, a decision that would make it less expensive for people to charge electric cars and cool their homes in the summer but would increase prices for those who don't use as much energy. The California Public Utilities Commission will vote on whether to let the state's big investor-owned utilities — including Pacific Gas & Electric — add a fixed charge to people's power bills each month.
Associated Press
Defense attacks Stormy Daniels' credibility as she returns to the stand in Trump's hush money trial
Stormy Daniels will return to the witness stand Thursday in Donald Trump's hush money trial as the defense tries to undermine the credibility of the porn actor's salacious testimony about their alleged sexual encounter and the money she was paid to keep quiet. The trial against the former president kicks back off with defense lawyers questioning Daniels, whose account is key to the prosecutors' case accusing Trump of scheming to illegally influence the 2016 presidential campaign by suppressing unflattering stories about him. Trump looked on in the courtroom as Daniels for hours on Tuesday described an unexpected sexual encounter she says they had in 2006.
Associated Press
Union push pits the United Farm Workers against a major California agricultural business
In a meeting room at a hotel in California's crop-rich Central Valley, a fight is taking place that could help shape the future of farm labor in fields that grow a chunk of the country's food. The battle between a unit of the Wonderful Co. — one of the state's most well-known farm companies that grows pistachios, pomegranates and citrus — and United Farm Workers — the country's biggest farm worker union — comes after California passed a law in 2022 aimed at making it easier for agricultural laborers to organize. Meanwhile, farmer and labor advocates are watching closely to determine what impact the new law is having in a state where most farmworkers are not organized.
Associated Press
Australia and Tuvalu strike new security deal that eases the tiny nation's sovereignty concerns
Australia struck a new security deal with Tuvalu on Thursday after critics complained that a previous pact created an Australian veto power over any other agreement the tiny South Pacific island nation pursued with a third country, such as China. Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong committed to a new memorandum of understanding that addresses the sovereignty concerns of Teo’s government, which was elected in January. “It’s quite significant, the security guarantee that the treaty provides is something that is quite unique,” Teo said at a joint press conference in his tiny nation with a population of around 11,500 people.
AFP
S. Korea vows strong Ukraine ties, smooth Russia relations
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Thursday that Seoul would keep strong ties with Ukraine and a "smooth" relationship with Russia, while ruling out direct weapon shipments to Kyiv.Yoon said his country's ties with Moscow had been strained by what Seoul and ally Washington say are arms shipments from North Korea to Russia.
NBC News
Biden says Trump won't accept 2024 election results
President Joe Biden said Wednesday that former President Donald Trump would not accept the outcome of the 2024 election.
NBC News
Biden says U.S. won't transfer offensive weapons if Israel invades Rafah
President Joe Biden said Wednesday the U.S. would not supply Israel with certain weapons and artillery shells if its military invades Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where more than 1 million people are sheltering.
CNN
House passes one-week extension for federal aviation programs
The House voted on Wednesday to pass a one-week extension for federal aviation programs, a stopgap move intended to head off a looming end-of-week deadline.
CNN
House hearing on George Washington University protest canceled after police clear out encampment and arrest over 30
The Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, cleared out a pro-Palestinian encampment on George Washington University’s campus early Wednesday and arrested 30 protesters there and three others in a separate altercation, Metro Police Chief Pamela A. Smith said.
CNN
Waves of storms turn deadly in Tennessee and more twisters are hitting the Southeast
Strong storms tracking through the central and eastern US Wednesday killed at least two people and as night approached, flash flooding and more tornadoes were slamming the state – including one twister that carved a path of destruction in communities south of Nashville.
CNN
Russia pounds Ukraine with biggest airstrikes in weeks
Russia carried out a “massive” missile attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure overnight into Wednesday, according to local authorities, in the biggest aerial onslaught by Russian forces for weeks.
NBC News
Kristi Noem refuses to say whether Mike Pence did the right thing by certifying the 2020 election results
In a rough stretch of interviews for the South Dakota governor and VP contender, Noem said the question about Pence's actions was "hypothetical."
CNN
New York lawmakers propose allowing prior bad acts to be admissible in sexual assault proceedings
Citing the recent overturning of Harvey Weinstein’s sex crimes conviction in New York, members of the New York State Assembly are introducing a bill this week that would amend the state’s criminal procedure law to allow evidence of a defendant’s prior sexual assault to be admissible as evidence in a sexual assault proceeding.
NBC News
Mom of captured U.S. soldier Gordon Black says girlfriend ‘lured’ him to Russia
The worried mother of a U.S. soldier in Russian custody said Wednesday that her son “was lured” there by a Russian woman he had been seeing in South Korea for over a year and that he’s being held on trumped-up charges of stealing roughly $100 from her. Melody Jones said she thinks her son, Staff Sgt.
AFP
Asian markets mixed as traders eye rate cuts
Asian traders fought to get a recent rally back on course Thursday following a tepid lead from Wall Street but record performance in Europe highlighted optimism that central banks were on course to cut interest rates."As the Federal Reserve extends the timeline for interest rate cuts, historical data shows that longer Fed pauses often correlate with better equity returns.

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Video Transcript

Latest Stories

Friends, former hostages praise Terry Anderson, AP reporter and philanthropist, at memorial service

Russia's celebration of victory in World War II is a key pillar of Putin’s rule

Vatican and Rome enter final dash to 2025 Jubilee with papal bull and around-the-clock construction

China's Xi Jinping in Hungary to discuss Ukraine, infrastructure

House rejects Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's effort to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, but chaos lingers

California regulators to vote on changing how power bills are calculated

Defense attacks Stormy Daniels' credibility as she returns to the stand in Trump's hush money trial

Union push pits the United Farm Workers against a major California agricultural business

Australia and Tuvalu strike new security deal that eases the tiny nation's sovereignty concerns

S. Korea vows strong Ukraine ties, smooth Russia relations

Biden says Trump won't accept 2024 election results

Biden says U.S. won't transfer offensive weapons if Israel invades Rafah

House passes one-week extension for federal aviation programs

House hearing on George Washington University protest canceled after police clear out encampment and arrest over 30

Waves of storms turn deadly in Tennessee and more twisters are hitting the Southeast

Russia pounds Ukraine with biggest airstrikes in weeks

Kristi Noem refuses to say whether Mike Pence did the right thing by certifying the 2020 election results

New York lawmakers propose allowing prior bad acts to be admissible in sexual assault proceedings

Mom of captured U.S. soldier Gordon Black says girlfriend ‘lured’ him to Russia

Asian markets mixed as traders eye rate cuts