NEW YORK (AP) – Many Verizon customers encountered a widespread outage on Wednesday, disrupting calling and other cellular services across the U.S. The carrier acknowledged that there was an “issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers.” Verizon didn’t specify what was causing the disruptions.
CAÑUELAS, Argentina (AP) – Talks on a landmark free trade deal between the European Union and four South American countries started so long ago that the euro wasn’t even in circulation, China hadn’t yet joined the World Trade Organization and Venezuela was still America’s top oil provider.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) – Central bankers from around the world said Tuesday they “stand in full solidarity” with U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, after President Donald Trump dramatically escalated his confrontation with the Fed with the Justice Department investigating and threatening criminal charges.
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:
NEW YORK (AP) – JPMorgan Chase said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter profits rose 9% on an adjusted basis, as the bank continues to benefit broadly from a strong economy in both its consumer and investment banking divisions. The bank earned $13.03 billion, or $4.63 a share.
NEW YORK (AP) – Up until this week, Wall Street has generally benefited from the Trump administration’s policies and has been supportive of the president. When President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law in July, it also cut the budget of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, at times the banking industry’s nemesis, by nearly half.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Inflation cooled a bit last month as prices for gas and used cars fell, a sign that stubbornly elevated cost pressures are slowly easing. Consumer prices rose 0.3% in December from the prior month, the Labor Department said Tuesday, the same as in November. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 0.2%, also matching November’s figure.
The discount grocery chain Aldi is expanding rapidly and plans to open more than 180 U.S. stores this year as more Americans skip nights out at restaurants and cook at home due to anxiety over the nation’s economy. The chain went on an expansion tear soon after inflation began to spike in 2021 and opened a record number of new stores last year.
HONG KONG (AP) – A Hong Kong court heard sentencing arguments Tuesday for former publisher Jimmy Lai’s co-defendants as it moved closer to sentencing the prominent democracy advocate whose conviction under a national security law could land him in prison for life. The jail term’s potential length remained unclear.
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