TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s far-right finance minister says the Cabinet has approved 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. The decision announced Sunday is part of a broader push by the government to expand settlements, which threatens the possibility of a Palestinian state. The Peace Now anti-settlement group says the approval…… MORE
ATLANTA (AP) — Christian influencers are reaching hundreds of thousands of young people online. They share podcasts and videos with biblical advice on tough questions that aren’t always answered in Sunday sermons. Followers relate to millennial and Generation Z influencers more than the buttoned-up pastors of their parents’ generation. And these influencers open up about…… MORE
LONDON (AP) — Thousands of people have gathered at Stonehenge to celebrate the winter solstice. On Sunday, they cheered and danced as the sun rose over the prehistoric stone circle. Many wore costumes and arrived before dawn in southwest England. Some sang and beat drums, while others reflected among the huge stone pillars. The ancient…… MORE
Warner Bros. Discovery is caught in a battle between Netflix and Paramount and chances are, it will be a long, bumpy regulatory road ahead. Netflix wants to buy Warner’s studio and streaming business for $72 billion, while Paramount has made a hostile $77.9 billion bid for a full takeover. Either deal could vastly reshape the…… MORE
Power has been restored to most of the 130,000 homes and businesses affected by a massive outage in San Francisco. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. crews was still working Sunday to restore power to 16,000 customers as midday. The outage began Saturday afternoon and was partly caused by a fire at a substation. The full…… MORE
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — TikTok has signed a deal to form a new U.S. unit with three American investors — Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX — holding a majority stake. This ensures the popular social video platform can continue operating in the United States. The deal is expected to close on Jan. 22, according to…… MORE
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s President Lula da Silva hopes the Mercosur-EU free-trade deal will be signed in January, after it was delayed on Friday. Protests by European farmers and opposition from France and Italy have threatened the agreement, which has been in negotiation for over 26 years. EU officials had hoped to sign the…… MORE
Sony is taking control of the beloved comic strip Peanuts. The company is buying a 41% stake from Canadian owner WildBrain for $457 million. This deal, announced Friday, increases Sony’s shareholding to 80%. The Schulz family will continue to own the remaining 20%. Sony Music Entertainment’s President says they are excited to elevate the Peanuts…… MORE
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks gained ground on Wall Street as AI stocks like Nvidia turned higher again. The S&P 500 rose 0.9% Friday, erasing its losses for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 183 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.3%. Oracle rose sharply after joining a new joint venture…… MORE
Associated Press: Officials say a man who is suspected in last weekend’s mass shooting at Brown University and in the fatal shooting of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor has been found dead in a New Hampshire storage facility. Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez says 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente was found dead Thursday from…… MORE
