Veteran PBS correspondent Judy Woodruff apologized on Wednesday for comments she had made on the air regarding former President Donald Trump and negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Woodruff, during PBS’ Democratic national convention coverage on Monday, repeated a story she had read in Axios and Reuters that Trump had allegedly been encouraging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to put off…

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California will be the first U.S. state to direct millions of dollars from taxpayer money and tech companies to help pay for journalism and AI research under a new deal announced Wednesday. Under the first-in-the-nation agreement, the state and tech companies would collectively pay roughly $250 million over five years to support California-based news organization and create an AI research program. The…

An explosion triggered a fire at a pharmaceutical plant in southern India, killing at least 18 workers ByOMER FAROOQ Associated Press August 21, 2024, 11:51 PM HYDERABAD, India — A big explosion triggered a fire at a pharmaceutical plant in southern India, killing at least 18 workers, police said Thursday. The death toll rose from 15 as three of the 40 injured in the fire…

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks weakened Thursday in the run-up to Wall Street’s main event for the week, a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell coming on Friday. The S&P 500 fell 0.9% for its worst day following a two-week rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 177 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.7%. Stocks fell as Treasury yields cranked up…

ROME — The latest chapter in a seemingly endless saga over the management of Italy’s lucrative beach concessions has set Italian beaches on fire this summer. For almost two decades, the European Commission has been locked in a legal tug-of-war with Italy over its beach concession practices, accusing the peninsular nation of lacking transparency and breaching competition rules. Italian governments, from left to right, have…

TORONTO — Both of Canada’s major freight railroads have come to a full stop because of a contract dispute with their workers, an impasse that could bring significant economic harm to businesses and consumers in Canada and the U.S. if the trains don’t resume running soon. Canadian National and CPKC railroads both locked out their employees after the deadline of 12:01 a.m. Eastern Thursday passed…

Kamala Harris introduced herself to the country she hopes to lead in the climactic moment of the Democratic national convention on Thursday — and despite chatter about potential mystery guests, Beyoncé’s only appearance was over the loudspeakers. In the end, it was the most traditional of convention moments coming through television screens: the candidate, her running mate and their families bathed in the cheers of…

MEXICO CITY — U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar said Thursday a judicial overhaul proposed by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador poses a “risk” to Mexico’s democracy and “threatens the historic commercial relationship” between Mexico and the U.S. The proposal, including a provision to require judges be elected, has spurred a fierce outcry from investors and financial institutions in recent days, with the Mexican peso steadily…

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks rallied close to their records Friday after the head of the Federal Reserve finally said out loud what Wall Street has been expecting for a while: Cuts to interest rates are coming soon to help the economy. The S&P 500 rose 1.1% after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a highly anticipated speech that the time has come to lower…

JACKSON, Wyoming — With inflation nearly defeated and the job market cooling, the Federal Reserve is prepared to start cutting its key interest rate from its current 23-year high, Chair Jerome Powell said Friday. Powell did not say when rate cuts would begin or how large they might be, but the Fed is widely expected to announce a modest quarter-point cut in its benchmark rate…