Descendant of last native leader of Alaska island demands Japanese reparations for 1942 invasion
Dec. 10 By Mark Thiessen and Mari Yamaguchi Helena Pagano’s great-grandfather was the last Alaska Native chief of a remote island in the Bering Sea, closer to Russia than North America. He died starving as a prisoner of war after Japanese troops invaded during World…
Webb Telescope Confirms the Universe Is Expanding at an Unexpected Rate
Dec. 9 By Will Dunham Fresh corroboration of the perplexing observation that the universe is expanding more rapidly than expected has scientists pondering the cause – perhaps some unknown factor involving the mysterious cosmic components dark energy and dark matter. Two years of data from…
Global, US Stocks Fall; Oil, Gold Rise Over 1% on Geopolitical Risk
Dec. 8 By Chris Prentice and Amanda Cooper Global shares turned lower on Monday as traders focused on U.S. inflation data and chip stocks fell, while Beijing’s promise of stimulus and the sudden collapse of the Syrian government boosted oil and gold prices more than…
US Will Remain in Eastern Syria and Seek to Prevent IS Resurgence, Pentagon Says
Dec. 7 By Alexander Cornwell The United States will maintain its presence in eastern Syria and will take measures necessary to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Daniel Shapiro said on Sunday. Speaking hours after Syrian…
Biden’s Hunter Pardon Came After Circumstances Changed, White House Says
Dec. 6 By Jeff Mason and Heather Timmons U.S. President Joe Biden changed his mind about pardoning his son Hunter because “circumstances have changed,” the White House said on Friday. Biden’s pardon of his son on Monday came after he had repeatedly promised he would…
NASA Announces Further Delays in Artemis Moon Missions
Dec. 5 By Joey Roulette NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced on Thursday new delays in the U.S. space agency’s Artemis program to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972, pushing back the next two planned missions amid potential policy changes under…
Bitcoin Storms Above $100,000 as Trump 2.0 Fuels Crypto Euphoria
Dec. 4 By Reuters Bitcoin catapulted above $100,000 for the first time on Thursday, a milestone hailed even by sceptics as a coming-of-age for digital assets as investors bet on a friendly U.S. administration to cement the place of cryptocurrencies in financial markets. Once it…
Biden Pushes Out Over $100 Billion in Clean Energy Grants as Term Winds Down
Dec. 3 By Valerie Volcovici U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has awarded over $100 billion in grants created by its signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden senior advisor for international climate policy John Podesta said. The administration hopes the spending milestone will help…
Weather Permitting, UPS, FedEx Poised for On-Time US Holiday Gift Deliveries
Dec. 2 By Lisa Baertlein The weak demand bedeviling package delivery companies like United Parcel Service and FedEx promises to be great news for online U.S. shoppers who want quick, on-time holiday gift delivery. Barring an unexpected surge in online gift buying due to severe…
Trump Picks Massad Boulos to Serve as Adviser on Arab, Middle Eastern Affairs
Dec. 1 By Andrea Shalal and Maya Gebeily U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday said Lebanese American businessman Massad Boulos would serve as senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs. Trump made the announcement on Truth Social. Boulos, the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany,…
Cactus Pear Is a Crop With Potential in Italy’s Parched South and Beyond
Nov. 30 By Stefano Bernabei and Gavin Jones Global warming, drought and plant disease pose a growing threat to agriculture in Italy’s arid south, but a startup founded by a former telecoms manager believes it has found a solution: Opuntia Ficus, better known as the…
Flavored Vape Products Dispute Goes Before US Supreme Court
Nov. 29 By John Kruzel A dispute over the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s refusal to let two e-cigarette companies sell flavored vape products due to their health risk to youths goes before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday in another case involving the power…