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Under oath, Boris Johnson denies he lied over ‘partygate’

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:00:06 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted “hand on heart” Wednesday that he never lied to lawmakers about rule-breaking government parties during the COVID-19 pandemic, mounting a robust defense at a hearing that could damage or even end his tumultuous political career.The House of Commons standards committee questioned Johnson over misleading statements he made to Parliament about a slew of gatherings in government buildings that breached lockdown rules. If the committee concludes that he deliberately lied, he could face suspension or even lose his seat in the Commons. Johnson came out swinging, telling the committee after taking an oath on a Bible: “Hand on heart … I did not lie to the House.”“If anybody thinks I was partying during lockdown, they are completely wrong,” Johnson said during a session that displayed his characteristic qualities: blustering self-confidence, verbosity and — to critics — a loose relationship with facts.Johnson also ...

Sunak’s Brexit deal clears Commons vote despite Tory revolt

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:00:06 GMT

LONDON (AP) — British lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Wednesday in favor of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s deal with the European Union to rewrite the post-Brexit rules on Northern Ireland trade.The House of Commons voted 515-29 to back a key portion of the agreement, which is designed to resolve a thorny trade dispute that vexed U.K.-EU relations and triggered a political crisis in Belfast.But Sunak faced a rebellion by 22 fellow Conservatives, including his two immediate predecessors. Former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss both voted against the deal.Johnson, who led Britain out of the EU in 2020, said the deal was “not acceptable” because it kept some EU laws in operation in Northern Ireland, restricting the U.K.’s ability to diverge from the bloc’s rules and “take advantage of Brexit.”A hard-Brexit group of Conservative Party lawmakers known as the European Research Group also said it opposed the deal.The government easily won the vote with backing from the ...

BoC still concerned about potentially sticky inflation, says economy still too hot

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:00:06 GMT

OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada says it’s still concerned inflation might be harder to bring down than expected, noting the economy is still in excess demand.On Wednesday, the central bank published a summary on the governing council’s deliberations ahead of its decision to hold its key interest rate steady on March 8.The members of the governing council, which include governor TIff Macklem and his deputies, were encouraged to see the economy and inflation both slowing, supporting their decision to hold the key interest rate steady at 4.5 per cent. However, the governing council remained concerned about the risk of inflation getting stuck above two per cent and agreed that supply was still outstripping demand in the economy.In the fourth quarter, the Canadian economy posted no growth as the accumulation of business inventories slowed.“With inventories adjusting earlier than anticipated, governing council concluded that growth in early 2023 may be a bit stronger than the bank had forecas...

‘The Young and the Restless’ celebrates 50 years of drama

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:00:06 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — It all started on a late morning on a highway. A camera panned to the cab of a large semi-trailer truck. The driver wore a plaid shirt and a day’s growth of beard. Next to him was a mysterious hitchhiker in expensive clothes that were ripped and a fresh head wound. He got out at Genoa City. And he stayed.That’s how “The Young and the Restless ” began on March 26, 1973, and a lot of people also stuck around Genoa City. The soap opera celebrates its 50th anniversary this month as the No. 1 daytime drama for 35 consecutive years, with fans growing up alongside the actors.“I think a huge reason why the audience has stuck with us for so long is because we are the same people. We are family members. We show up every day — sometimes more than a regular family member,” says Lauralee Bell, a star and daughter of the show’s founders.Created by the late William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, “The Young and the Restless” concerns the goings-on of several Midwestern fa...

First presidential visit since 2016 brings heavy security presence to Ottawa

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:00:06 GMT

OTTAWA — At least seven different police and military units will be patrolling Ottawa’s skies and streets this week as the city braces for the arrival of U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden.They are set to arrive Thursday for the first official visit to Canada since Biden took office as president in 2021 and will stay overnight until Friday. The last time the country hosted a president was in 2016, when former president Barack Obama came to Ottawa for the North American Leaders’ Summit near the end of his second term.Biden’s sojourn will take place under a heavy police presence, with the RCMP saying security for him and the first lady will be provided through an integrated security unit. The Mounties say they are working with the Canadian military, the U.S. Secret Service, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Parliamentary Protective Service, as well as local officers in Ottawa and across the river in Gatineau, Que.Retired Ottawa police chief Charle...

Newsmax returns to DirecTV, inks multiyear distribution deal

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:00:06 GMT

Newsmax is returning to DirecTV after a dispute between the parties saw the conservative network removed from the satellite carrier.The duo were initially unable to agree to financial terms on an agreement, which led to DirecTV losing the rights to distribute Newsmax programming on Jan. 25. The companies said Wednesday that they’ve now reached a multiyear distribution deal that will see the Newsmax channel return to DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse starting on Thursday. Financial terms were not disclosed.“As a stand-alone company, DirecTV helped give Newsmax its start nearly a decade ago as it continues to do with upcoming news networks, which is why we are pleased to reach a mutually beneficial agreement that will deliver our network to DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse customers over the next several years,” Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy said in a statement on Wednesday.The Associated Press

Israeli foreign minister visits Poland to restore ties

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:00:06 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The foreign ministers of Israel and Poland hailed a meeting they had Wednesday as a breakthrough in restoring a relationship that has been badly damaged for years due to disagreements over how to remember Polish behavior during the Holocaust.The ministers signed an agreement that they said would allow for the resumption of Israeli youth trips to Poland, one of several tension-causing points of contention between the two countries. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen’s visit to Poland was the first at that level since 2018. Poland’s Foreign Ministry said Israeli President Isaac Herzog plans to attend observances next month for the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, an armed 1943 revolt by Jews in German-occupied Poland . “I came here to restore the relationship between our countries, and I found in you, my distinguished colleague, a trusted partner,” Cohen said at a news conference alongside Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, whom he r...

US stocks edge lower ahead of Fed decision on interest rates

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:00:06 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks edged lower on Wall Street Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s announcement in the afternoon about whether it will tighten the screws further on the economy. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% in afternoon trading. It’s coming off its first back-to-back gain in two weeks, before the second- and third-largest U.S. bank failures in history threw the industry into turmoil. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 140 points, or 0.4%, to 32,421 as of 1:11 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.1%.Markets are waiting for the Fed, which is stuck with a difficult decision: whether to keep hiking interest rates to drive down inflation or to ease off the increases given the pain it’s already caused for banks, which could drag down the rest of the economy.A few weeks ago, much of Wall Street was convinced the Fed would pick up the pace on rate hikes given how stubbornly high inflation has remained. The bet was for the Fed to raise rates by 0.50 percentage points ...

Israeli army admits to covert influence campaign in Gaza war

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:00:06 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Days into Israel’s devastating war with Gaza militants in 2021, the Israeli army began deploying keyboard warriors to a second front: a covert social media operation to praise the military’s bombing campaign in the coastal enclave.The Israeli military acknowledged Wednesday that it made a “mistake” in launching the secretive influence campaign on social media in an effort to improve the Israeli public’s view of Israel’s performance in the conflict. The online campaign, which failed to gain traction, was one of several contentious steps taken by the Israeli military in the bloody 11-day war. The fighting killed over 260 Palestinians and 13 Israelis as the military bombed the Hamas-ruled territory and Palestinian militants launched rockets at Israel. Israel’s Haaretz daily first exposed the social media operation on Wednesday, reporting that the army employed fake accounts to conceal the campaign’s origin and engage audiences on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok...

Americans’ faith in banks low after failures: AP-NORC poll

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:00:06 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Only 10% of U.S. adults say they have high confidence in the nation’s banks and other financial institutions, a new poll finds. That’s down from the 22% who said they had high confidence in 2020.Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank this month, the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also finds that a majority say the government is not doing enough to regulate the industry.The underwhelming assessment of America’s banks and bank regulation comes after a series of shocks brought back disturbing memories of the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Silicon Valley Bank, the nation’s 16th-biggest, failed March 10 after making risky bets in the bond market. Two days later, regulators closed New York-based Signature Bank, which had gotten involved in cryptocurrencies. Across the Atlantic Ocean, long-troubled Credit Suisse was acquired by rival UBS on Sunday in a shotgun marriage designed to restore confidence in global financial ins...