Hamas Going to Further Cease-Fire Talks05/03 06:03
Hamas Going to Further Cease-Fire Talks05/03 06:03 Hamas said Thursday that it was sending a delegation to Egypt for further cease-fire talks, in a new sign of progress in attempts by international mediators to hammer out an agreement between Israel and the militant group to end the war in Gaza. BEIRUT (AP) -- Hamas said Thursday that it was sending a delegation to Egypt for further cease-fire talks, in a new sign of progress in attempts by international mediators to hammer out an agreement between Israel and the militant group to end the war in Gaza. After months of stop-and-start negotiations, the cease-fire efforts appear to have reached a critical stage, with Egyptian and American mediators reporting signs of compromise in recent days. But chances for the deal remain entangled with the key question of whether Israel will accept an end to the war without reaching its stated goal of destroying Hamas. The stakes in the cease-fire negotiations were made clear in a new U.N. report that said if the Israel-Hamas war stops today, it will still take until 2040 to rebuild all the homes that have been destroyed by nearly seven months of Israeli bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza. It warned that the impact of the damage to the economy will set back development for generations and will only get worse with every month fighting continues. The proposal that U.S. and Egyptian mediators have put to Hamas --- apparently with Israel's acceptance -- sets out a three-stage process that would bring an immediate six-week cease-fire and partial release of Israeli hostages, but also negotiations over a "permanent calm" that includes some sort of Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, according to an Egyptian official. Hamas is seeking guarantees for a full Israeli withdrawal and complete end to the war. Hamas officials have sent mixed signals about the proposal in recent days. But on Thursday, its supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, said in a statement that he had spoken to Egypt's intelligence chief and "stressed the positive spirit of the movement in studying the cease-fire proposal." The statement said that Hamas negotiators would travel to Cairo "to complete the ongoing discussions with the aim of working forward for an agreement." Haniyeh said he had also spoken to the prime minister of Qatar, another key mediator in the process. The brokers are hopeful that the deal will bring an end to a conflict that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, caused widespread destruction and plunged the territory into a humanitarian crisis. They also hope a deal will avert an Israeli attack on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people have sought shelter after fleeing battle zones elsewhere in the territory. If Israel does agree to end the war in return for a full hostage release, it would be a major turnaround. Since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack stunned Israel, its leaders have vowed not to stop their bombardment and ground offensives until the militant group is destroyed. They also say Israel must keep a military presence in Gaza and security control after the war to ensure Hamas doesn't rebuild. Publicly at least, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to insist that is the only acceptable endgame. He has vowed that even if a cease-fire is reached, Israel will eventually attack Rafah, which he says is Hamas' last stronghold in Gaza. He repeated his determination to do so in talks Wednesday with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was in Israel on a regional tour to push the deal through. The agreement's immediate fate hinges on whether Hamas will accept uncertainty over the final phases to bring the initial six-week pause in fighting -- and at least postpone what it is feared would be a devastating assault on Rafah. Egypt has been privately assuring Hamas that the deal will mean a total end to the war. But the Egyptian official said Hamas says the text's language is too vague and wants it to specify a complete Israeli pullout from all of Gaza. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about the internal deliberations. On Wednesday evening, however, the news looked less positive as Osama Hamdan, a top Hamas official, expressed skepticism, saying the group's initial position was "negative." Speaking to Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV, he said that talks were still ongoing but would stop if Israel invades Rafah. Blinken hiked up pressure on Hamas to accept, saying Israel had made "very important" compromises. "There's no time for further haggling. The deal is there," Blinken said Wednesday before leaving for the U.S. An Israeli airstrike, meanwhile, killed at least five people, including a child, in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. The bodies were seen and counted by Associated Press journalists at a hospital. The war broke out on Oct. 7. when Hamas militants broke into southern Israel and killed over 1,200 people, mostly Israelis, taking around 250 others hostage, some released during a cease-fire on November. The Israel-Hamas war was sparked by the Oct. 7 raid into southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. Hamas is believed to still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others. Since then, Israel's campaign in Gaza has wreaked vast destruction and brought a humanitarian disaster, with several hundred thousand Palestinians in northern Gaza facing imminent famine, according to the U.N. More than 80% of the population has been driven from their homes. The "productive basis of the economy has been destroyed" and poverty is rising sharply among Palestinians, according to the report released Thursday by the United Nations Development Program and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. It said that in 2024, the entire Palestinian economy -- including both Gaza and the West Bank --- has so far contracted 25.8%. If the war continues, the loss will reach a "staggering" 29% by July, it said. The West Bank economy has been hit by Israel's decision to cancel the work permits for tens of thousands of laborers who depended on jobs inside Israel. "These new figures warn that the suffering in Gaza will not end when the war does," UNDP administrator Achim Steiner said. He warned of a "serious development crisis that jeopardizes the future of generations to come."
Cohen Recordings Played at Trump Trial 05/03 06:07
Cohen Recordings Played at Trump Trial 05/03 06:07 NEW YORK (AP) -- The prosecution's star witness has yet to take the stand in Donald Trump's hush money trial. But jurors are already hearing Michael Cohen's words as prosecutors work to directly tie Trump to payments to silence women with damaging claims about him before the 2016 election. The second week of testimony in the case will wrap up Friday after jurors heard a potentially crucial piece of evidence: a recording of Trump and Cohen, then his attorney, discussing a plan to pay off an ex-Playboy model who claimed to have an affair with Trump. The former president denies the affair. Prosecutors have spent the week using detailed testimony about meetings, email exchanges, business transactions and bank accounts to build on the foundation of their case accusing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee of a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election. They are setting the stage for pivotal testimony from Cohen, who paid porn actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 for her silence before he went to prison for the hush money scheme. Trump's defense has worked to poke holes in the credibility of prosecutors' witnesses, and show that Trump was trying to protect his reputation and family -- not his campaign -- by keeping the women quiet. The defense also suggested while questioning an attorney who represented two women in hush money negotiations that Trump was, in fact, the victim of extortion. The recording played Thursday was secretly made by Cohen shortly before the 2016 election. Cohen is heard telling Trump about a plan to purchase the rights to former Playboy model Karen McDougal's story from the National Enquirer so that it would never come out. The tabloid had previously bought McDougal's story to bury it on Trump's behalf. At one point in the recording, Cohen revealed that he had spoken to then-Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg about "how to set the whole thing up with funding." Trump can be heard responding: "What do we got to pay for this? One-fifty?" Trump suggested the payment be made with cash, prompting Cohen to object by repeatedly saying "no." Trump then says "check" before the recording cuts off. Prosecutors played the recording after calling to the stand Douglas Daus, a forensic analyst from the Manhattan district attorney's office who performed analyses on iPhones Cohen turned over to authorities during the investigation. Daus will return to the stand Friday morning, and it's not clear who will follow him. Jurors also heard more than six hours of crucial testimony this week from Keith Davidson, a lawyer who represented McDougal and Daniels in their negotiations with Cohen and the National Enquirer -- the tabloid that bought and buried negative stories in an industry practice known as "catch-and-kill." Davidson on Thursday described being shocked that his hidden-hand efforts might have contributed to Trump winning the 2016 election. "What have we done?" Davidson texted the then-editor of the National Enquirer on election night when it became clear that Trump was going to win. "Oh my god," the tabloid editor responded. "There was an understanding that our efforts may have in some way -- strike that -- our activities may have in some way assisted the presidential campaign of Donald Trump," Davidson told jurors. Trump's lawyers sought earlier in the day to blunt the potential harm of Davidson's testimony by getting him to acknowledge that he never had any interactions with Trump -- only Cohen. In fact, Davidson said, he had never been in the same room as Trump until his testimony. "I had no personal interactions with Donald Trump. It either came from my clients, Mr. Cohen or some other source, but certainly not him," Davidson said. Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying internal Trump Organization business records. The charges stem from things like invoices and checks that were deemed legal expenses in Trump Organization records when prosecutors say they were really reimbursements to Cohen for the $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels.
Biden: Order Must Prevail at Protests 05/03 06:08
Biden: Order Must Prevail at Protests 05/03 06:08 President Joe Biden on Thursday rejected calls from student protesters to change his approach to the war in Gaza while insisting that "order must prevail" as college campuses across the country face a wave of violence, outrage and fear. WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Joe Biden on Thursday rejected calls from student protesters to change his approach to the war in Gaza while insisting that "order must prevail" as college campuses across the country face a wave of violence, outrage and fear. "Dissent is essential for democracy," Biden said at the White House. "But dissent must never lead to disorder." The Democratic president broke days of silence on the protests with his remarks, which followed mounting criticism from Republicans who have tried to turn scenes of unrest into a campaign cudgel. By focusing on a law-and-order message while defending the right to free speech, Biden is grasping for a middle ground on an intensely divisive issue in the middle of his reelection campaign. He largely sidestepped protesters' demands, which have included ending U.S. support for Israeli military operations. Asked after his remarks whether the demonstrations would prompt him to consider changing course, Biden responded with a simple "no." Biden said that he did not want the National Guard to be deployed to campuses. Some Republicans have called for sending in troops, an idea with a fraught history. Four students were shot and killed at Kent State University by members of the Ohio National Guard during protests over the Vietnam War in 1970. Tensions on college campuses have been building for days as demonstrators refuse to remove encampments and administrators turn to police to clear them by force, leading to clashes that have seized widespread attention. Biden said he rejected efforts to use the situation to "score political points," calling the situation a "moment for clarity." "There's the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos," Biden said shortly before leaving the White House for a trip to North Carolina. "People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across campus safely without fear of being attacked." The White House also maintained its focus on combating antisemitism. Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, spoke to Jewish students and Hillel leaders on Thursday to hear about their experience with threats and hate speech, according to a White House official. Biden will make his own visit to a college campus on May 19 when he's scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse University in Atlanta. His last previous public comment on the demonstrations came more than a week ago, when he condemned "antisemitic protests" and "those who don't understand what's going on with the Palestinians." The White House, which has been peppered with questions by reporters, had gone only slightly further than the president. On Wednesday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden was "monitoring the situation closely" and that some demonstrations had stepped over a line that separated free speech from unlawful behavior. "Forcibly taking over a building," such as what happened at Columbia University in New York, "is not peaceful," she said. "It's just not." Biden's latest remarks weren't well received in some corners of the Democratic Party. "We need to prevent lawlessness in society. We need to have protections against hate speech," said a social media post from Patrick Gaspard, president of the Center for American Progress and a former White House political director under President Barack Obama. "But we need to be able to hold space for active dissent and activism that is discomforting without blanket accusations of hate and violence against all activists." But Biden's team has expressed confidence that his stance appeals to the widest array of voters. It also echoes his approach to nationwide unrest after the murder of George Floyd by a police officer four years ago, a politically volatile situation in the middle of his campaign against then-President Donald Trump. "I want to make it absolutely clear rioting is not protesting, looting is not protesting," Biden said then in remarks that his team turned into an advertisement. "It's lawlessness, plain and simple, and those that do it should be prosecuted." Biden has never been much for protests of any kind. His career in elected office began as a county official when he was only 28 years old, and he's always espoused the political importance of compromise. As college campuses convulsed with anger over the Vietnam War in 1968, Biden was in law school at Syracuse University. "I'm not big on flak jackets and tie-dyed shirts," he said years later. "You know, that's not me." The White House has also maintained its focus on combating antisemitism. Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, spoke to Jewish students and Hillel leaders on Thursday to hear about their experience with threats and hate speech, according to a White House official. Despite the administration's criticism of violent college protests and Biden's refusal to heed demands to cut off U.S. support for Israel, Republicans blame Democrats for the disorder and have used it as a backdrop for press conferences. "We need the president of the United States to speak to the issue and say this is wrong," House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said on Tuesday. "What's happening on college campuses right now is wrong." Johnson visited Columbia University with other members of his caucus last week. House Republicans sparred verbally with protesters while speaking to the media at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. Trump, who is running for another term as president, also criticized Biden in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News. "Biden has to do something," he said. "Biden is supposed to be the voice of our country, and it's certainly not much of a voice. It's a voice that nobody's heard." He repeated his criticisms on Wednesday during a campaign event in Waukesha, Wisconsin. "The radical extremists and far-left agitators are terrorizing college campuses, as you possibly noticed," Trump said. "And Biden's nowhere to be found. He hasn't said anything." Kate Berner, who served as deputy communications director for Biden's campaign in 2020, said Republicans already had tried the same tactic during protests over Floyd's murder. "People rejected that," she said. "They saw that it was just fearmongering. They saw that it wasn't based in reality." Apart from condemning antisemitism, the White House has been reluctant to directly engage on the issue. Jean-Pierre repeatedly deflected questions during a briefing on Monday. Asked whether protesters should be disciplined by their schools, she said "universities and colleges make their own decisions" and "we're not going to weigh in from here." Pressed on whether police should be called in, she said "that's up to the colleges and universities." Asked on Thursday why Biden chose to speak on the matter after police had arrested protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles and at universities in New York City, Jean-Pierre stressed instead the importance of any protests being nonviolent. "We've been very consistent here," she said. "Americans have the right to peacefully protest as long as it's within the law and violence is not protected."
Germany: Russia Must Pay in Cyberattack05/03 06:12
Germany: Russia Must Pay in Cyberattack05/03 06:12 SYDNEY (AP) -- German's top diplomat on Friday said Russia will face consequences after accusing its military intelligence service of masterminding an "absolutely intolerable" cyberattack. Relations between the two European countries were already tense, with Germany providing military support to Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Russian state hackers were behind a cyberattack last year that targeted the Social Democrats, the leading party in the governing coalition. "Russian state hackers attacked Germany in cyberspace," she said at a news conference in the Australian city of Adelaide. "We can attribute this attack to the group called APT28, which is steered by the military intelligence service of Russia." "This is absolutely intolerable and unacceptable and will have consequences," she said. Baerbock is visiting Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, with the trip focusing on security policy as China pushes for influence in the Pacific region. "The defense cooperation between Germany and Australia is close and we would like to deepen it further and together expand it, because we are in a situation where we face similar threats," said Baerbock, who is the first German foreign minister to visit Australia in 13 years. Discussions between Baerbock and Australia counterpart Penny Wong centered on the conflict in Gaza. "I think we all understand that the only path out of this cycle of violence that we see in the Middle East at such great cost is one that ultimately ensures a two-state solution," Wong said.
April Jobs Report Likely Slower 05/03 06:15
April Jobs Report Likely Slower 05/03 06:15 WASHINGTON (AP) -- The American economy likely delivered another solid hiring gain in April, showing continuing durability in the face of the highest interest rates in two decades. The Labor Department is expected to report Friday that employers added a healthy 233,000 jobs last month, down from a sizzling 303,000 in March but still a decidedly healthy total, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet. The unemployment rate is forecast to stay at 3.8%. That would make it the 27th straight month with a jobless rate below 4% -- the longest such streak since the 1960s. The state of the economy is weighing on voters' minds as the November presidential campaign intensifies. Despite the strength of the job market, Americans remain generally exasperated by high prices, and many of them assign blame to President Joe Biden. Yet America's job market has repeatedly proved more robust than almost anyone had predicted. When the Federal Reserve began aggressively raising rates two years ago to fight a punishing inflation surge, most economists expected the resulting jump in borrowing costs to cause a recession and drive unemployment to painfully high levels. The Fed raised its benchmark rate 11 times from March 2022 to July 2023, taking it to the highest level since 2001. Inflation did steadily cool as it was supposed to -- from a year-over-year peak of 9.1% in June 2022 to 3.5% in March. Yet the resilient strength of the job market and the overall economy, fueled by steady consumer spending, has kept inflation persistently above the Fed's 2% target. As a result, the Fed is delaying any consideration of interest rate cuts until it gains more confidence that inflation is steadily slowing toward its target. So far this year, monthly job growth is averaging 276,000, up from an already solid 251,000 last year. "If you look at the last couple of months, it has been a safe bet to take the optimistic side,'' said Aaron Terrazas, chief economist at the employment website Glassdoor. That said, the job market has been showing some signs of eventually slowing. This week, for example, the government reported that job openings fell in March to 8.5 million, the fewest in more than three years. Yet that is still a vast number of vacancies: Before 2021, monthly job openings had never topped 8 million, a threshold they have now exceeded every month since March 2021. The number of Americans quitting their jobs -- a figure that generally reflects confidence in finding a better position elsewhere -- fell in March to its lowest level since January 2021. A more stable workforce, Terrazas said, is helping many businesses run more efficiently. "When firms have high numbers of workers quitting," he said, "that takes up time to find and train new workers. It's incredibly destructive at the company level." Now, "there are finally people in seat who know what they're doing, know the processes, know the systems. You don't need to waste a lot of resources on training.'' Economists have noted that hiring has recently been concentrated in three employment sectors: healthcare and social assistance; leisure and hospitality (largely hotels, restaurants and bars); and government. Those three categories accounted for nearly 70% of job growth in March. More concerningly, the progress against inflation has stalled, raising doubts about the likely timetable for Fed rate cuts, which would, over time, reduce the cost of mortgages, auto loans and other consumer and business borrowing. Most economists envision no rate cuts before fall at the earliest. On a month-over-month basis, consumer inflation hasn't declined since October. The 3.5% year-over-year inflation rate for March was still running well above the Fed's 2% target. The central bank's inflation fighters will be watching Friday's jobs report for any signs that the inflation picture might be shifting. From the Fed's perspective, Terrazas said, "the best outcome we can hope for Friday is slower but still solid payroll growth, steady employment and, most importantly, slowing wage pressure." Many economists say that year-over-year increases in hourly pay must slow to about 3.5% to be consistent with the Fed's inflation goals. That probably didn't happen last month: The forecasters surveyed by FactSet project that hourly wages rose 4% from a year earlier, just below the 4.1% year-over-year rise in March.
Colombia Breaks Ties With Israel 05/03 06:18
Colombia Breaks Ties With Israel 05/03 06:18 BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Colombia has become the latest Latin American country to announce it will break diplomatic relations with Israel over its military campaign in Gaza, but the repercussions for the South American nation could be broader than for other countries due to longstanding bilateral agreements over security matters. Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday described Israel's actions in Gaza as "genocide" and announced his government would end diplomatic relations with Israel effective Thursday. But he did not address how his decision could affect Colombia's military, which uses Israeli-built warplanes and machine guns to fight drug cartels and rebel groups, and a free trade agreement between both countries that went into effect in 2020. Also in the region, Bolivia and Belize have also severed diplomatic relations with Israel over the Israel-Hamas war. Here's a look at Colombia's close Israel ties and fallout: WHY IS SECURITY COOPERATION BETWEEN COLOMBIA AND ISRAEL IMPORTANT? Colombia and Israel have signed dozens of agreements on wide-ranging issues, including education and trade, since they established diplomatic relations in 1957. But nothing links them closer than military contracts. Colombia's fighter jets are all Israeli-built. The more than 20 Kfir Israeli-made fighter jets were used by its air force in numerous attacks on remote guerrilla camps that debilitated the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The attacks helped push the rebel group into peace talks that resulted in its disarmament in 2016. But the fleet, purchased in the late 1980s, is aging and requires maintenance, which can only be carried out by an Israeli firm. Manufacturers in France, Sweden and the United States have approached Colombia's government with replacement options, but the spending priorities of Petro's administration are elsewhere. Colombia's military also uses Galil rifles, which were designed in Israel and for which Colombia acquired the rights to manufacture and sell. Israel also assists the South American country with its cybersecurity needs. WILL PETRO'S ANNOUNCEMENT AFFECT COLOMBIA'S MILITARY-RELATED CONTRACTS WITH ISRAEL? It remains unclear. Colombia's Foreign Ministry said Thursday in a statement that "all communications related to this announcement will be made through established official channels and will not be public." The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press, while the Israeli Embassy in Bogota declined to address the issue. However, a day before Petro announced his decision, Colombian Defense Minister Ivn Velsquez told lawmakers that no new contracts will be signed with Israel, though existing ones will be fulfilled, including those for maintenance for the Kfir fighters and one for missile systems. Velsquez said the government has established a "transition" committee that would seek to "diversify" suppliers to avoid depending on Israel. He added that one of the possibilities under consideration is the development of a rifle by the Colombian military industry to replace the Galil. Security cooperation has been at the center of tensions between the two countries. Israel said in October that it would halt security exports to Colombia after Petro refused to condemn Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the war and compared Israel's actions in Gaza to those of Nazi Germany. In February, Petro announced the suspension of arms purchases from Israel. For retired Gen. Guillermo Len, former commander of the Colombian air force, the country's military capabilities will be affected if Petro's administration breaks its contract obligations or even if it complies with them but refuses to sign new ones. "At the end of the year, maintenance and spare parts run out, and from then on, the fleet would rapidly enter a condition where we would no longer have the means to sustain it," he told AP. "This year, three aircraft were withdrawn from service due to compliance with their useful life cycle." WHAT IS THE TRADE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES? A free trade agreement between Colombia and Israel went into effect in August 2020. Israel now buys 1% of Colombia's total exports, which include coal, coffee and flowers. According to Colombia's Ministry of Commerce, exports to Israel last year totaled $499 million, which represents a drop of 53% from 2022. Colombia's imports from Israel include electrical equipment, plastics and fertilizers. Neither government has explained whether the diplomatic feud will affect the trade agreement.
Ukraine Seeks Energy Plants Air Defense05/03 06:20
Ukraine Seeks Energy Plants Air Defense05/03 06:20 At a Ukrainian power plant repeatedly hit by Russian aerial attacks, equipment department chief Oleh has a one-word answer when asked what Ukraine's battered energy industry needs most: "Patriot." KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- At a Ukrainian power plant repeatedly hit by Russian aerial attacks, equipment department chief Oleh has a one-word answer when asked what Ukraine's battered energy industry needs most: "Patriot." Ukrainian energy workers are struggling to repair the damage from intensifying airstrikes aimed at pulverizing Ukraine's energy grid, hobbling the economy and sapping the public's morale. Staff worry they will lose the race to prepare for winter unless allies come up with air-defense systems like the U.S.-made Patriots to stop Russian attacks inflicting more destruction on already damaged plants. "Rockets hit fast. Fixing takes long," Oleh said in limited but forceful English. The U.S. has sent Ukraine some Patriot missile systems, and said last week it would give more after entreaties from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Associated Press on Thursday visited a plant owned by DTEK, the country's biggest private energy supplier, days after a cruise-missile attack left parts of it a mess of smashed glass, shattered bricks and twisted metal. The coal-fired plant is one of four DTEK power stations struck on the same day last week. The AP was given access on the condition that the location of the facility, technical details of the damage and workers' full names are not published due to security concerns. During the visit, State Emergency Service workers in hard hats and harnesses clambered atop the twisted roof of a vast building, assessing the damage and occasionally dislodging chunks of debris with a thunderous clang. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told Foreign Policy magazine that half of the country's energy system has been damaged by Russian attacks. DTEK says it has lost 80% of its electricity-generating capacity in almost 180 aerial attacks since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. It estimates that repairing all the damaged plants would take between six months and two years -- even if there are no more strikes. Shift supervisor Ruslan was on duty in the operations room when the air alarm sounded. He sent his crew to a basement shelter but remained at his post when the blast struck only meters (yards) away. He rushed out to darkness, dust and fire. He said he wasn't scared because "I knew what I needed to do" -- make sure his team was OK and then try to help put out the flames. Russia pummeled Ukraine's energy infrastructure to devastating effect during the "blackout winter" of 2022-23. In March it launched a new wave of attacks, one of which completely destroyed the Trypilska power plant near Kyiv, one of the country's biggest. Russian President Vladimir Putin has framed the attacks as retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries. Oleh said the Russians are "learning all the time" and adapting their tactics. Initially they targeted transformers that distribute power; now they aim for the power-generating equipment itself, with increasing accuracy. The Russians also are sending growing numbers of missiles and exploding drones to exhaust Ukraine's air defenses, and striking the same targets repeatedly. DTEK executive director Dmytro Sakharuk said in March that out of 10 units the company had repaired after earlier strikes, two-thirds had been hit again. More Russian missiles have been getting through in recent months as Ukraine awaited new supplies from allies, including a $61 billion package from the U.S. that was held up for months by wrangling in Congress. It was finally approved in April, but it could be weeks or months before all the new weapons and ammunition arrives. Ukraine's energy firms have all but exhausted their finances, equipment and spare parts fixing the damage Russia has already wrought. The country's power plants urgently need specialist equipment that Ukraine can no longer make at sufficient speed and scale. Some 51 DTEK employees have been wounded in attacks since 2022, and three have been killed. Staff say they keep working despite the danger because they know how crucial their work is. Machine operator Dmytro, who was on shift during the recent attack and took shelter in the basement, said that when he emerged, "my soul was bleeding when I saw the scale of the destruction." He thought of the many people who had poured heart and soul into building the mammoth power plant. "This was destroyed in a few seconds, in an instant," he said. Dmytro, who worked at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant before it was seized by Russia, said he would continue to show up for work every day, "as long as I'm able." "It's our duty towards the country," he said.
Financial Markets 05/03 15:23
Financial Markets 05/03 15:23 Stocks closed sharply higher on Wall Street, erasing their losses for the week, after the government reported a cooldown in hiring last month. For markets that was a welcome sign that the Federal Reserve's efforts to fight inflation by slowing the economy with high interest rates might be making some progress. The S&P 500 rose 1.3% Friday, its biggest gain since February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2%. and the Nasdaq composite climbed 2%. U.S. employers added 175,000 jobs last month, down sharply from a big increase in March. Apple jumped after announcing a mammoth $110 billion stock buyback. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below. Stocks are rising on Wall Street Friday following a government report showing job growth rose modestly in April, a sign that persistently high interest rates may be starting to take a bigger toll on the world's largest economy. The S&P 500 was 1.3% higher in afternoon trading and on track to erase its losses for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 468 points, or 1.2%, as of 2:55 p.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite added 2.1%. The nation's employers added 175,000 jobs last month, down sharply from the blockbuster increase of 315,000 in March. It was also well below the 233,000 gain that economists had predicted. April's average hourly earnings also rose less than expected. The report suggests that the Federal Reserve's aggressive streak of rate hikes may finally be cooling the pace of hiring. "The demand for labor is slowing, which will eventually ease inflation pressures, giving the Fed some leeway to cut rates later this year," said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for LPL Financial. "Slower payroll growth and fewer hours worked imply the economy is slowing at a measured pace. This jobs report is consistent with the soft landing narrative." Treasury yields in the bond market mostly fell following the jobs report. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which lenders use as a guide for pricing home loans, eased to 4.5% from 4.59% late Thursday. The two-year yield, which moves more closely with expectations for the Fed, fell to 4.81% from 4.88%. The U.S. economy is in a tight spot, where the hope is that it remains strong enough to stay out of a recession but not so strong that it worsens the already stalled progress on inflation. That is essentially the "soft landing" the Fed is hoping to achieve as it tries to cool the rate of inflation to its target of 2%. Inflation at the consumer level stood at 3.5% in March, far below the peak of 9.1% nearly two years ago. Stubbornly high readings on inflation this year pushed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to say on Wednesday that it will likely take "longer than previously expected" to get enough confidence about inflation to cut interest rates. "Some of this data coming out of the employment report dampens that narrative a little bit," said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist for Allianz Investment Management. "They want to cut interest rates, but they need more confidence in the inflation data and today's wage data is a little bit more confidence for them." The Fed's main interest rate has been sitting at its highest level since 2001, and cuts would release some pressure on the economy and financial markets. The benchmark S&P 500 fell 4.2% in April, its first monthly loss since October, as signals of stubbornly high inflation forced traders to ratchet back expectations for when the Fed could begin easing interest rates. After coming into the year forecasting six or more cuts to rates in 2024, traders are now largely betting on just one or two, if any, according to data from CME Group. Technology stocks accounted for much of the rally Friday. Apple jumped 7.2% after announcing a mammoth $110 billion stock buyback. The tech giant reported late Thursday its steepest quarterly decline in iPhone sales since the outset of the pandemic. Microsoft rose 2.1% and Nvidia added 3.6%. Several companies notched gains after reporting strong quarterly results. Amgen climbed 12.4% after the biotechnology company gave investors an encouraging update on a potential obesity drug. Live Nation Entertainment added 7.6% after the ticket seller and concert promoter beat analysts' first-quarter revenue forecasts. Motorola Solutions was 5% higher after the communications equipment maker raised its profit forecast for the year. Booking Holdings rose 3.7% after reporting better-than-expected first-quarter bookings and revenue. Another online travel company, Expedia Group, didn't fare as well. Its shares slumped 14.6% after the company's latest quarterly results beat Wall Street targets but lowered its full-year bookings guidance because its Vrbo rental unit has been slow to recover from its migration to Expedia's platform. In Europe, Germany's DAX gained 0.6%, while the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.5% and London's FTSE 100 added 0.5%. Markets in Tokyo and mainland China were closed for holidays. The Japanese yen strengthened slightly against the dollar. --------- itemid:ac3cb3e24d7a9100a19b027ec350901c
