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The best champagne (and other bubbly alternatives) for New Year’s Eve

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:07 GMT

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Today in History: December 28, U.S. Afghan war formally ends

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:07 GMT

Today in HistoryToday is Thursday, Dec. 28, the 362nd day of 2023. There are three days left in the year.Today’s Highlight in History:On Dec. 28, 2014, the U.S. war in Afghanistan, fought for 13 bloody years and still raging, came to a formal end with a quiet flag-lowering ceremony in Kabul that marked the transition of the fighting from U.S.-led combat troops to the country’s own security forces.On this date:In 1612, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei observed the planet Neptune, but mistook it for a star. (Neptune wasn’t officially discovered until 1846 by Johann Gottfried Galle.)In 1895, the Lumiere brothers, Auguste and Louis, held the first public showing of their movies in Paris.In 1908, a major earthquake followed by a tsunami devastated the Italian city of Messina, killing at least 70,000 people.In 1912, San Francisco’s Municipal Railway began operations with Mayor James Rolph Jr. at the controls of Streetcar No. 1 as 50,000 spectators looked on. In 1945, Congress officially...

Stock market today: Asian shares power higher following slight gains on Wall Street

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:07 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares powered higher on Thursday, with Chinese benchmarks up more than 1%, after Wall Street logged modest gains in this holiday-shortened week. U.S. futures edged higher and oil prices were mixed. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index was an outlier in the region, shedding 0.5% to 33,519.61. Speculation over whether and when the Bank of Japan might ease its longstanding lax monetary policy and raise its key interest rate from minus 0.1% has kept stocks wobbling in the world’s third-largest economy.BOJ policymakers are waiting to see what sort of wage gains might come in 2024 as part of the central bank’s strategy of keeping credit easy to try to spur stronger growth. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained 1.5% to 16,876.69 on heavy buying of technology and property shares. It has lost about 14% this year as China’s economy has sputtered despite the country’s reopening after it loosened COVID-19 precautions. Online food delivery company Meitu...

Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams lead Thunder past Knicks 129-120

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:07 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams each scored 36 points, and Williams hit a pair of clutch 3-pointers in the fourth quarter Wednesday night as the Oklahoma City Thunder held on to beat the New York Knicks 129-120.Chet Holmgren added 22 points for Oklahoma City (20-9), which beat Western Conference-leading Minnesota on Tuesday night and was playing its third back-to-back this season.“I thought we really got into our depth in the first half and we were able to keep the minutes under control and still have control of the game,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault, whose team committed just four turnovers. “We played a lot of different guys and we had a very balanced rotation minutes-wise in the first half, which allows you to hit the gas in the second half with the higher-minute guys.”Williams did most of his damage in the fourth, scoring 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including eight points and two 3s during a 10-2 run after New York pulled within 111-106 o...

Análisis: la economía de China tuvo un año miserable. 2024 podría ser aún peor

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:07 GMT

(CNN) — Se esperaba que la economía china se recuperara rápidamente en 2023 y retomara su papel de motor indiscutible del crecimiento mundial. En cambio, se estancó hasta el punto de que el Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI), entre otros, lo llama un “lastre” para la producción mundial. A pesar de sus muchos problemas (una crisis inmobiliaria, un gasto débil y un alto desempleo juvenil), la mayoría de los economistas creen que la segunda economía más grande del mundo alcanzará su objetivo oficial de crecimiento de alrededor del 5% este año. Pero eso todavía está por debajo del crecimiento anual promedio de más del 6% en la década anterior a la pandemia de covid 19, y 2024 parece cada vez más siniestro, dijeron. Es posible que el país se enfrente a décadas de estancamiento a partir de entonces.“El desafío para la economía china en 2024 no será el crecimiento del PBI, que probablemente será superior al 4,5%”, dijo Derek Scissors, investigador principal del American Enterprise I...

Kirill Kaprizov scores in 4th straight game as Wild beat the Red Wings 6-3

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:07 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Ryan Hartman and Marcus Foligno scored 52 seconds apart in the third period to break a tie and the Minnesota Wild scored four times in the final frame in a 6-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night.Kirill Kaprizov extended his goal-scoring streak to four games, Marcus Johansson scored twice, and Matt Boldy added a goal for Minnesota, which has won four in a row and seven of eight. The Wild are 11-3-0 since John Hynes took over behind the bench — including seven straight home wins — after an uninspiring 4-1 loss in Detroit Nov. 26 extended a losing streak to seven games and resulted in the firing of Dean Evason.“We’ve regrouped. It shows a lot of character in our group and how we were able to be resilient,” Hartman said.Filip Gustavsson made 25 saves and improved to 8-2 in his last 10 starts.“We can do a lot. We’re trending in the right direction. And it’s fun hockey to play right now,” Johansson said.Patrick Kane scored for the fourth straight game...

Joel Hofer makes 39 saves in Blues’ 2-1 win over Stars

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:07 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jake Neighbours and Marco Scandella each scored and goalie Joel Hofer recorded 39 saves to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night following a three-day break in the NHL calendar.The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Dallas.Hofer registered 37 saves in his previous start, a 4-1 win over the Panthers last Thursday. He improved to 7-5-0 this season.“It was a good challenge,” Hofer said. “Those are the kinds of games you look forward to, especially a divisional rival. It was a lot of fun and obviously we got the win, which made it even better. I’m feeling good.”Dallas goalie Scott Wedgewood took the loss after he had recorded a point in each of his previous 10 decisions (8-0-2). He made 28 saves.“Someone has to start on the road,” Wedgewood said. “Obviously, not getting any points is tough. I feel for the guys. They battled. We just came out on the wrong side of it.”Jason Robertson scored for the Stars.It was the fi...

Miller Moss throws Holiday Bowl-record 6 TD passes, USC beats No. 16 Louisville 42-28

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:07 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — With Caleb Williams watching from the sideline, Miller Moss threw a Holiday Bowl-record six touchdown passes in his first college start and Southern California ended a frustrating season by beating No. 16 Louisville 42-28 on Wednesday night.Moss took full advantage of the opportunity he was given when Williams opted out. Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner and presumptive first overall pick in the NFL draft, watched from the sideline wearing a white T-shirt with his No. 13 jersey hanging around his neck.Moss was 23 of 33 for 372 yards, with one interception. He broke the Holiday Bowl record of four touchdown passes held by four players, including Jim McMahon in BYU’s miracle 46-45 comeback victory over SMU in 1980. The record came late in the third quarter when Moss lobbed a 12-yard pass to a leaping Ja’Kobi Lane in the back of the end zone. Lane’s second TD catch of the night gave USC (8-5) a 35-21 lead.Isaac Guerendo ran 23 times for 161 yards and three touch...

US unveils final aid package of year to Ukraine

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:07 GMT

The State Department on Wednesday unveiled this year’s final military aid package for Ukraine, as lawmakers continue to negotiate a spending deal that would sustain U.S. support for Kyiv into the new year.In a statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. will provide Ukraine with “up to $250 million of arms and equipment under previously directed drawdowns.” The package includes air defense munitions, air defense system components, ammunition for high mobility artillery rocket systems, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, anti-armor munitions and over 15 million rounds of ammunition.The package, the last as U.S. aid money to Ukraine dries up, comes as Ukraine’s progress on the battlefield has stalled and winter conditions make continued fighting against the invading Russian army more challenging. It also comes as European leaders have grown increasingly pessimistic about Ukraine’s ability to repel Russia’s military advances and reclaim lost territory in...

Biden administration quietly shifts its strategy in Ukraine

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:20:07 GMT

With U.S. and European aid to Ukraine now in serious jeopardy, the Biden administration and European officials are quietly shifting their focus from supporting Ukraine’s goal of total victory over Russia to improving its position in an eventual negotiation to end the war, according to a Biden administration official and a European diplomat based in Washington. Such a negotiation would likely mean giving up parts of Ukraine to Russia.The White House and Pentagon publicly insist there is no official change in administration policy — that they still support Ukraine’s aim of forcing Russia’s military completely out of the country. But along with the Ukrainians themselves, U.S. and European officials are now discussing the redeployment of Kyiv’s forces away from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s mostly failed counteroffensive into a stronger defensive position against Russian forces in the east, according to the administration official and the European diplomat, and confirmed by ...