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Fire displaces eight people, injures twoChief 'disappointed' to see clean water used as a political 'tactic' by Conservatives
Kangaroo Flat Primary School students have new uniforms - and they mean a lot. or signup to continue reading A total of 30 from grade 3 to 6 students have worked alongside local artists and elders to learn about their culture and find a way to share their stories with the wider school community. The outcome of this project is a new school uniform, including a T-shirt and hat, which reflects Indigenous culture. The project also involved Indigenous children sharing their cultural stories and taking part in a special assembly involving dance, story-telling and performance. The project was funded by VicHealth and was a joint initiative with the City of Greater Bendigo and the Dja Dja Wurrung arts, education and tourism enterprise. "This project aimed to empower young First Nations students from Kangaroo Flat Primary School to share their cultural stories in a way of their choosing," the city's community partnerships manager Andie West said. "It was created to address several priorities identified by children living in City of Greater Bendigo who said they wanted more opportunities to participate in culture and have an increased visibility of culture in the community." As part of the project, the students took part in workshops and excursions where they explored culture and wrote their 'story'. They also designed a piece of art which has been incorporated into the new uniforms. "Most students reported that after participating in the project, they feel better about being themselves, feel more connected to culture, and feel safer to show and share their culture at school," Ms West said. "It's been a really great project with a fantastic outcome for the Kangaroo Flat Primary School community." The items have been added to the school's uniform options and will be sold to students in 2025. WA boy in Bendigo, happy to be in Central Victoria. WA boy in Bendigo, happy to be in Central Victoria. 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Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over. AS IT HAPPENS Be the first to know when news breaks. DAILY Your digital replica of Today's Paper. Ready to read from 5am! DAILY Test your skills with interactive crosswords, sudoku & trivia. Fresh daily!President-elect Donald Trump has filled the key posts for his second term in office, prioritizing loyalty to him after he felt bruised and hampered by internal squabbling during his first term. Some of his choices could face difficult confirmation fights in the Senate, even with Republicans in control, and one candidate has already withdrawn from consideration. Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz was Trump's initial pick for attorney general, but he ultimately withdrew following scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation he was embroiled in. Here's a look at Trump's choices: Trump would turn a former critic into an ally as the nation's top diplomat. Rubio , 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate before the slot went to JD Vance. Rubio is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His selection punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator once called a “con man" during his own unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. Hegseth , 44, was a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends Weekend” and had been a contributor with the network since 2014. He developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth served in the Army National Guard from 2002 to 2021, deploying to Iraq in 2005 and Afghanistan in 2011 and earning two Bronze Stars. He lacks senior military and national security experience and would oversee global crises ranging from Europe to the Middle East. A woman told police that she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Hegseth after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave, according to a detailed investigative report recently made public. Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and has denied any wrongdoing. Bessent , 62, is a former money manager for George Soros , a big Democratic donor, and an advocate for deficit reduction . He founded the hedge fund Key Square Capital Management after having worked on and off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, Bessent would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. Gabbard, 43, is a former Democratic House member from Hawaii who has been accused of echoing Russian propaganda. She unsuccessfully sought the party’s 2020 presidential nomination and left the party in 2022. Gabbard endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him. Gabbard has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades and deployed to Iraq and Kuwait. If confirmed she would come to the role as an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, spent several years in top national security and intelligence positions. Bondi , 59, was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist , Bondi also has served with the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-allied group that has helped lay the groundwork for his future administration. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush-money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appeared on Fox News and has been critical of the criminal cases against him. The Republican U.S. House member narrowly lost her reelection bid on Nov. 5 but had received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, Chavez-DeRemer would oversee the department's workforce and budget and put forth priorities that affect workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of a few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act that would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and penalize companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws in more than half the states. Lutnick heads the brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and is a cryptocurrency enthusiast. He is co-chair of Trump's transition operation, charged along with Linda McMahon, a former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration, with helping the president-elect fill key jobs in his second administration. As secretary, Lutnick would play a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. He would oversee a sprawling Cabinet department whose oversight ranges from funding new computer chip factories and imposing trade restrictions to releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. Noem is a well-known conservative who used her two terms as South Dakota's governor to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions like other states, instead declaring South Dakota “open for business.” More recently, Noem faced sharp criticism for writing in her memoir about shooting and killing her dog. She is set to lead a department crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda as well as other missions. Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. Ratcliffe , a former U.S. House member from Texas, was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump’s first term. He led U.S. government’s spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. If confirmed, Ratcliffe will have held the highest intelligence positions in the U.S. Kennedy , 70, ran for president as a Democrat, then as an independent before he dropped out and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 during his own presidential campaign. Kennedy's nomination alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Rollins , 52, is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for Trump's second administration. She is a Texas attorney who was Trump's domestic policy adviser and director of his office of American innovation during his first term. Rollins previously was an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry , who also served in Trump's first term. Rollins also ran the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years , sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential campaign, but was acquitted by the Senate. Collins also served in the armed forces himself. He is a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. The North Dakota governor , 68, is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump after he dropped out of the running. Burgum then became a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice in part because of his executive experience and business savvy. He also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump said Burgum would chair a new National Energy Council and have a seat on the National Security Council, which would be a first for the Interior secretary. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Wright is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. He also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. Wright said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. McMahon, a billionaire professional wrestling mogul , would make a return appearance in a second Trump administration. She led the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019 in Trump’s first term and twice ran unsuccessfully in Connecticut as a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University. She has expressed support for charter schools and school choice. Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI" and "we will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.” Trump often attacked the Biden administration’s promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referred to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often said his administration would “drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Greer is a partner at King & Spalding, a Washington law firm. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be responsible for negotiating directly with foreign governments on trade deals and disputes, as well as memberships in international trade bodies such as the World Trade Organization. He previously was chief of staff to Robert Lighthizer, who was the trade representative in Trump's first term. Wiles , 67, was a senior adviser to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. She has a background in Florida politics , helping Ron DeSantis win his first race for Florida governor. Six years later, she was key to Trump’s defeat of him in the 2024 Republican primary. Wiles’ hire was Trump’s first major decision as president-elect and one that could be a defining test of his incoming administration considering her close relationship with him. Wiles is said to have earned Trump’s trust in part by guiding what was the most disciplined of Trump’s three presidential campaigns. Waltz is a three-term Republican congressman from east-central Florida. A former Army Green Beret , he served multiple tours in Afghanistan and worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Hassett, 62, is a major advocate of tax cuts who was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the first Trump term. In the new role as chairman of the National Economic Council, Trump said Hassett will play an important role in helping American families recover from inflation as well as in renewing and improving tax cuts Trump enacted in 2017, many of which are set to expire after 2025. Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. He led the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Trump's first administration. Democrats have criticized Homan for defending Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings in the first term, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Vought, 48, held the position during Trump’s first presidency. He the founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought also was closely involved with Project 2025 , a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that Trump tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump’s priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump’s first term. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump’s policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation’s economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people living illegally in the U.S. Scavino was an adviser in all three of the president-elect's campaigns and was described by the transition team as one of “Trump’s longest serving and most trusted aides." He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino previously ran Trump’s social media profile in the White House. Blair was political director for Trump’s 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and an assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump’s economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign. Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump’s 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Leavitt , 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. McGinley was Cabinet secretary during Trump's first administration and was outside legal counsel for the Republican National Committee's election integrity effort during the 2024 campaign. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and they were golfing at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Kellogg , 80, is a highly decorated retired three-star general and one of the architects of a staunchly conservative policy book that lays out an “America First” national security agenda for Trump's second term. He has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues and served as national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence . Kellogg also was chief of staff of the National Security Council under Trump and stepped in as an acting national security adviser for Trump after Michael Flynn resigned the post. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests. Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Huckabee has rejected a Palestinian homeland in territory occupied by Israel. His daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, served as White House press secretary in Trump's first term. Stefanik, 40, is a U.S. representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders dating to his first impeachment trial. She was elected chair of the House Republican Conference in 2021, the third-highest position in House leadership, after then-Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after she publicly criticized Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. A former acting attorney general during Trump's first administration and tight end on the University of Iowa football team, Whitaker , 55, has a background in law enforcement but not in foreign policy. A fierce Trump localist, Whitaker, is also a former U.S. attorney in Iowa and served as acting attorney general between November 2018 and February 2019 without Senate confirmation, until William Barr was confirmed for the role. That was when special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference was drawing to a close. Whitaker also faced questions about his past business dealings, including his ties to an invention-promotion company that was accused of misleading consumers. A Republican congressman from Michigan who served from 1993 to 2011, Hoekstra was ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump's first term. Oz , 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime TV talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz’s bid for elected office. Makary is a Johns Hopkins surgeon and author who argued against pandemic lockdowns. He routinely appeared on Fox News during the COVID-19 pandemic and wrote opinion articles questioning masks for children. He cast doubt on vaccine mandates but supported vaccines generally. Makary also cast doubt on whether booster shots worked, which was against federal recommendations on the vaccine. Nesheiwat is a general practitioner who serves as medical director for CityMD, a network of urgent care centers in New York and New Jersey. She has been a contributor on Fox News. Weldon is a former Florida congressman who recently ran for a Florida state legislative seat and lost; Trump backed Weldon’s opponent. In Congress, Weldon weighed in on one of the nation’s most heated debates of the 1990s over quality of life and a right-to-die and whether Terri Schiavo, who was in a persistent vegetative after cardiac arrest, state should have been allowed to have her feeding tube removed. He sided with the parents who did not want it removed. Bhattacharya , 56, is a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates. As head of the NIH, the leading medical research agency in the United States, Trump said Bhattacharya would work with Kennedy Jr. to direct U.S. medical research and make important discoveries that will improve health and save lives. Bhattacharya is professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and was one of three authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, an October 2020 open letter maintaining that lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic were causing irreparable harm. Gaetz, 42, withdrew from consideration to become the top law enforcement officer of the United States amid fallout over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed by the Senate. In choosing Gaetz, Trump had passed over more established lawyers whose names had been floated as possible contenders for the job. Gaetz resigned from Congress after Trump announced him on Nov. 13. The House Ethics Committee has been investigating an allegation that he paid for sex with a 17-year-old. Gaetz has denied wrongdoing. Associated Press writers Colleen Long, Zeke Miller, Farnoush Amiri, Lolita C. Baldor, Jill Colvin, Matthew Daly, Edith M. Lederer, Adriana Gomez Licon, Lisa Mascaro, Chris Megerian, Michelle L. Price, Will Weissert and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Preseason's over. Now the real work begins for the Pittsburgh Steelers. While the past three months have been promising and productive for the first-place Steelers (10-3), it has come largely at the expense of teams who will likely watch the playoffs on TV. Six of Pittsburgh's victories have come against teams who currently have losing records. The other four wins — Denver , the Chargers , Washington and Baltimore — are solid resume-builders with a small caveat: none of them lead their respective divisions. To be clear, Pittsburgh's play is part of the reason those four clubs find themselves looking up to others in the standings. That will change on Sunday when the Steelers travel across the state to face NFC juggernaut Philadelphia , the start of an 11-day sprint in which Pittsburgh also faces a rematch with the Ravens and spends Christmas Day at Acrisure Stadium against Patrick Mahomes and the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs . "It’s just going to show us how good we can be," safety DeShon Elliott said. It's a testament to the weekly tunnel vision Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin creates that wide receiver Calvin Austin III needed to be reminded about the daunting stretch that awaits after Sunday's relatively drama-free 27-14 win over Cleveland. “Who do we play again?" Austin said. When reminded it was three teams that fully expect to be in New Orleans on the second Sunday in February, Austin laughed. “That's a tough little stretch, but at the end of the day it's a five-star matchup as Coach T says because we're in it,” he said. “We know that when we’re out there, it’s going to always be a big-time performance.” One Austin and his teammates believe they're ready for after a workmanlike victory over the Browns in which the Steelers were only too intent to let Cleveland self-destruct behind a flurry of penalties, missed field goals and turnovers. More will likely be required in the coming weeks, which is fine by the Steelers. They have put themselves in a position to do things the franchise hasn't done in a while. And for all the good things they've done since early September, they're only too aware their season will be defined by what comes next. Sure, they'd love a little more time between games to rest up. The scheduling gods didn't give them that option. So be it. “I feel like the league kind of hates us already, man,” Elliott said. “It’s all right. We’re going to go out here, play those games, work our butts off, go out and be 3-0.” What's working Letting everybody eat. Russell Wilson seems to be almost pathological in his determination to get every eligible skill position player involved. A week ago against the Bengals , he connected with 10 different players. In the rematch with the Browns, it was eight, including Mike Williams and Scotty Miller, veterans who have largely been afterthoughts of late. Tomlin greeted Miller after an acrobatic 20-yard third down grab on the sideline in the third quarter with “this isn't a lightning strike,” a popular Tomlin-ism that means simply Miller did all the work necessary to succeed, so it shouldn't be a surprise when it comes. Asked if he felt compelled to mention this to Tomlin the next time Miller is a candidate to be inactive on game days — as he has often been in recent weeks — Miller smiled. “If you could tell him that, that'd be great,” he said with a laugh. What needs help George Pickens' maturity. While Pickens believes opponents haven't found a way to get under his skin, the evidence suggests otherwise. How else to explain why nearly three years into his career, Pickens still frequently finds an envelope in his locker from the league telling him he's been fined for everything from unsportsmanlike conduct to unnecessary roughness? Pickens' teammates respect his talent and understand his importance — look at how disjointed the offense looked on Sunday for proof — but will he “cut out the stupid stuff” before the playoffs arrive? That will be entirely up to Pickens. Nothing seems to have gotten through so far. Maybe watching the team win without him while nursing a hamstring injury — as Pickens did on Sunday — will do the trick. Stock up The Steelers may have found their heir apparent to the seemingly ageless Cam Heyward in second-year defensive tackle Keeanu Benton. While Benton will likely never come close to matching Heyward's impact as a pass rusher, he can do just about everything else and his first career interception on Sunday — a leaping pick of an ill-advised screen pass by Jameis Winston — showcased his spiking football IQ. Stock down Everyone who put money down during the offseason on the Steelers missing the playoffs . It looked like a good investment over the summer with two new quarterbacks, a new offensive coordinator, no second big-play wide receiver to complement Pickens and playing in what was viewed as the best division in the league. Not so much anymore. Pittsburgh has a 99% chance of reaching the postseason for the fourth time in five years. Injuries Defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi — selected as the team's Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee last week — left in the second quarter with a groin injury. Defensive tackle Montravius Adams (knee) is trending toward playing for the first time since October and could be available in Philadelphia. Key number Plus-28 — the Steelers' turnover margin since the start of the 2023 season, tops in the NFL. Next steps Try to do something they haven't done in nearly 60 years: beat the Eagles on the road. Pittsburgh's most recent victory in Philadelphia was on Oct. 24, 1965. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl Will Graves, The Associated PressConsortium withdraws bid to acquire majority stake in Engro Powergen Qadirpur
Bitcoin shot past $100,000 for the first time on Thursday, taking the limelight away from stock markets that wavered as investors tracked political crises in France and South Korea. Oil prices fell modestly despite a move by the OPEC cartel and its allies to extend their supply cuts amid concerns about oversupply. Wall Street's main stock indexes retreated from records, while Paris and Frankfurt forged higher despite political uncertainty in Paris. Bitcoin reached a high of $103,800.45 before dipping below the symbolically important level to $99.154 near 2200 GMT. The digital asset has now soared more than 50 percent since the election of Donald Trump, who has vowed to make the United States the "bitcoin and cryptocurrency capital of the world". "Bitcoin smashed through $100,000 as the Trump Trade powered on with force," noted Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell. The historic level was broken after Trump picked crypto proponent Paul Atkins to take over as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the markets regulator. Atkins is founder of risk consultancy firm Patomak Global Partners, whose clients include companies in the banking, trading and cryptocurrency industries. Atkins "is unlikely to be as anti-crypto as his predecessor Gary Gensler", said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading platform. "Thus, politics is driving bitcoin. We doubt that the rally will stop here," she added. Stock markets struggled for direction ahead of important US jobs figures on Friday. Aaron Clark, an equity portfolio manager at GW&K, said investors "are probably not willing to step in" ahead of Friday's November employment data. "We've seen record inflows into equities," said Clark, who thinks the market could be poised for additional gains later in December. Paris closed higher despite the historic no-confidence vote that ousted the government of French Prime Minister Michel Barnier. President Emmanuel Macron vowed to name a new prime minister in the coming days to prevent France from sliding deeper into political turmoil, rejecting growing pressure from the opposition to resign "The French political crisis failed to knock European indices off course," said Coatsworth, an analyst at AJ Bell. Frankfurt was also in the green but London was flat. Most Asian stock markets finished higher but Seoul closed in the red. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol clung to power Thursday, his party announcing they will oppose an impeachment motion after his short-lived imposition of martial law stunned the world. "The silver lining we think is that the swift reversal of the martial law underscores the resilience of South Korea's institutions," said analysts at BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions. "For now, we expect limited implications for the economy and financial markets as the Bank of Korea and the ministry of finance have responded swiftly by reassuring investors," they added. New York - Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 44,765.71 (close) New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.2 percent at 6,075.11 (close) New York - Nasdaq: DOWN 0.2 percent at 19,700.26 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,349.38 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 7,330.54 (close) Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.6 percent at 20,358.80 (close) Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 39,395.60 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.9 percent at 19,560.44 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,368.86 (close) Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0591 from $1.0511 on Wednesday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2760 from $1.2701 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 150.09 yen from 150.59 yen Euro/pound: UP at 82.97 from 82.75 pence Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $72.09 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.4 percent at $68.30 per barrel burs-jmb/arp
Trump selects longtime adviser Keith Kellogg as special envoy for Ukraine and Russia
Wall Street stocks surged to fresh records Wednesday on hopes about easing US monetary policy, shrugging off political upheaval in South Korea and France. All three major US indices scored records, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average finishing above 45,000 for the first time. "The market at this point is looking for excuses to go up, and there's not really anything that might work against that narrative," said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers. "Over the last couple of days, it's managed to ignore all sorts of inconvenient things and decided that the situation in France doesn't matter for them," Sosnick said of the stock market. "The situation in Korea doesn't matter." South Korea's stock market fell less than feared and the won rebounded from earlier losses after President Yoon Suk Yeol swiftly reversed a decision to impose martial law. In Europe, Paris stocks managed to advance as France's government faced looming no-confidence votes. Late Wednesday in Paris, French lawmakers voted to oust the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier after just three months in office, pushing the country further into political uncertainty. For the first time in over sixty years, the National Assembly lower house toppled the incumbent government, approving a no-confidence motion that had been proposed by the hard left but which crucially was backed by the far-right headed by Marine Le Pen. "Political turmoil in both France and South Korea provide a uncertain backdrop for global markets, with the likely removal of both Barnier and Yoon bringing the potential for both countries to find a fresh direction," said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets. Thomas Mathews, head of Asia-Pacific markets at Capital Economics, said the losses in Seoul could have been "much worse" had the president not aborted his plan. "Rarely does a combined sell-off in a country's stocks, bonds and currency feel like a relief rally," he said. Oil prices turned lower after surging around 2.5 percent Tuesday, mainly after the United States sanctioned 35 companies and ships it accused of involvement with Iran's "shadow fleet" illicitly selling Iranian oil to foreign markets. Major producers at the OPEC+ grouping led by Saudi Arabia and Russia were set to meet Thursday to discuss extending output limits. Back in New York, major indices were led by the Nasdaq, which piled on 1.3 percent to finish at a third straight record. Wednesday's gains came after payroll firm ADP said US private-sector hiring in November came in at a lower-than-expected 146,000 jobs, while a survey from the Institute for Supply Management showed weaker sentiment than expected in the services sector. But the lackluster data boosts expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later this month. At a New York conference, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell refrained from tipping his hand, but he "didn't say anything that would scare the market," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare. O'Hare noted that Wednesday's gains were led by large tech names such as Nvidia and Microsoft, which are major AI players. The boost followed strong results from Salesforce, which was the biggest gainer in the Dow with an 11 percent jump. New York - Dow: UP 0.7 percent at 45,014.04 (close) New York - S&P 500: UP 0.6 percent at 6,086.49 (close) New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.3 percent at 19,735.12 (close) London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 8,335.81 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 7,303.28 (close) Frankfurt - DAX: UP 1.1 percent at 20,232.14 (close) Seoul - Kospi Index: DOWN 1.4 percent at 2,464.00 (close) Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.1 percent at 39,276.39 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: FLAT at 19,742.46 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 3,364.65 (close) Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0510 from $1.0509 on Tuesday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2702 from $1.2673 Dollar/yen: UP at 150.56 yen from 149.60 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.71 from 82.92 pence Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.8 percent at $72.31 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.0 percent at $68.54 per barrel burs-jmb/jgcMajor poll puts Ireland’s lead parties near neck-and-neckDeficit soars as Biden heads out the doorNEW YORK — Stoli Group USA, the owner of the namesake vodka , has filed for bankruptcy as it struggled to contend with slowing demand for spirits, a major cyberattack that has snarled its operations and several years of fighting Russia in court. The company in its bankruptcy filing said it is “experiencing financial difficulties” and lists between $50 million and $100 million in liabilities. Stoli vodka and Kentucky Owl bourbon will continue to be available on store shelves while the company navigates the Chapter 11 process, which only pertains to its U.S. business. Until 2022, Stoli was sold as Stolichnaya in the United States, which loosely translates to “capital city” in Russian. The company shortened its title following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and boycotts against Russian-branded vodkas . Stoli Group’s founder, Russian-born billionaire Yuri Shefler, was exiled from that nation in 2000 because of his opposition to President Vladimir Putin. Intel announced on December 2 that CEO Pat Gelsinger has resigned after a difficult stint at the company. The once-dominant chipmaker’s stock cratered as it missed the AI boom and was surpassed by most of its rivals. Craig Barritt/Getty Images via CNN Newsource Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts The liquor has long been marketed as a Russian vodka, but its production facilities have been in Latvia for several decades. Stoli Group is a unit of Luxembourg-based SPI Group, which owns other spirit and wine brands. “The Stoli Group has been targeted by the Russian Federation since it was formed nearly 25 years ago,” said Stoli Group CEO Chris Caldwell in a statement. “Earlier this year the company and our owner were both named by the Russian state as ‘extremist groups working against Russia’s interests.’” Its ongoing legal battle with the Russia government has forced Stoli to “spend dozens of millions of dollars on this long-term court battle across the globe with the Russian authorities,” according to its court filing. Caldwell also said that Stoli’s global operations has been a “victim of a malicious cyber attack” that has forced the company to operate “entirely manually while the systems are rebuilt.” A slowdown in demand for alcohol has crushed several company’s bottom lines following the pandemic when people were stuck at home and stocked up. Stoli’s filings said that it has seen a “decline and softening of demand for alcohol and spirits products post-Covid and especially beginning in 2023 and continuing into 2024.” Stoli Group USA, maker of Stoli vodka, has filed for bankruptcy due to slowing demand for spirits, a major cyberattack, and ongoing legal battles with Russia. Cheddar
