Stocks Close Friday Near Bear Market 05/20 15:51
Stocks Close Friday Near Bear Market 05/20 15:51 Wall Street rumbled to the edge of a bear market Friday after another drop for stocks briefly sent the S&P 500 more than 20% below its peak set early this year. NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street rumbled to the edge of a bear market Friday after another drop for stocks briefly sent the S&P 500 more than 20% below its peak set early this year. The S&P 500 index, which sits at the heart of most workers' 401(k) accounts, was down as much as 2.3% for the day before a furious comeback in the final hour of trading sent it to a tiny gain of less than 0.1%. It finished 18.7% below its record, set on Jan. 3. The tumultuous trading capped a seventh straight losing week, its longest such streak since 2001. Rising interest rates, high inflation, the war in Ukraine, and a slowdown in China's economy are all punishing stocks and raising fears about a possible U.S. recession. Compounding worries is how the superhero that's flown to Wall Street's rescue in the most recent downturns, the Federal Reserve, looks less likely to help as it's stuck battling the worst inflation in decades. The S&P 500 finished the day up 0.57 points at 3,901.36. The Dow Jones Industrial Average swung from an early loss of 617 points to close 8.77 higher, or less than 0.1%, at 31,261.90. The Nasdaq composite trimmed a big loss to finish 33.88 points lower, or 0.3%, at 11,354.62. Because the S&P 500 did not finish the day more than 20% below its record, the company in charge of the index says a bear market has not officially begun. Of course, the 20% threshold is an arbitrary number. "Whether or not the S&P 500 closes in a bear market does not matter too much," said Brian Jacobsen, senior investment strategist at Allspring Global Investments. "A lot of pain has already been experienced." Many big tech stocks, seen as some of the most vulnerable to rising interest rates, have already fallen much more than 20% this year. That includes a 37.2% tumble for Tesla and 69.1% nosedive for Netflix. It's a sharp turnaround from the powerful run Wall Street enjoyed after emerging from its last bear market in early 2020, at the start of the pandemic. Through it, the S&P 500 more than doubled, as a new generation of investors met seemingly every wobble with the rallying cry to "Buy the dip!" "I think plenty of investors were scratching their heads and wondering why the market was rallying despite the pandemic," Jacobsen said. "Now that the pandemic has hopefully mostly passed, I think a lot of investors are kicking themselves for not having gotten out on signs that the economy was probably slowing and the Fed was making its policy pivot." With inflation at its highest level in four decades, the Fed has aggressively flipped away from keeping interest rates super-low in order to support markets and the economy. Instead it's raising rates and making other moves in hopes of slowing the economy enough to tamp down inflation. The worry is if it goes too far or too quickly. "Certainly the market volatility has all been driven by investor concerns that Fed will tighten policy too much and put the U.S. into a recession," said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors. Bond yields fell as recession worries pushed investors into Treasurys and other things seen as safer. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which helps set mortgage rates, fell to 2.78% from 2.85% late Thursday. Inflation has been painfully high for months. But the market's worries swung higher after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent prices spiraling further at grocery stores and gasoline pumps, because the region is a major source of energy and grains. The world's second-largest economy, meanwhile, has taken a hit as Chinese officials locked down key cities in hopes of halting COVID-19 cases. That's all compounded with some disappointing data on the U.S. economy, though the job market remains hot. Adding pressure onto stocks have been signs that corporate profits are slowing and may finally be getting hurt by inflation. That means the pain has widened beyond tech and high-growth stocks to encompass more of Wall Street. Retail giants Target and Walmart both had warnings this week about inflation cutting into finances. Discount retailer Ross Stores sank 22.5% on Friday after cutting its profit forecast and citing rising inflation as a factor. "The latest earnings from retail companies finally signaled that U.S. consumers and businesses are being negatively impacted by inflation," Arone said. Although its source is different, the gloom on Wall Street is mirroring a sense of exasperation across country. A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Research released Friday found that only about 2 in 10 adults say the U.S. is heading in the right direction or the economy is good, both down from about 3 in 10 a month earlier. Much of Wall Street's bull market since early 2020 was the result of buying by regular investors, many of whom started trading for the first time during the pandic. Alongside many cryptocurrencies, they helped drive darlings like Tesla's stock higher. They even got GameStop to surge suddenly to such a high level that it sent shudders through professional Wall Street. But these traders, called "retail investors" by Wall Street to differentiate them from big institutional investors, have been pulling back as stocks have tumbled. Individual investors have turned from a net buyer of stocks to a net seller over the last six months, according to a recent report from Goldman Sachs.
US, SKorea Open to More Military Drills05/21 08:50
US, SKorea Open to More Military Drills05/21 08:50 U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said after meeting Saturday that they will consider expanded joint military exercises to deter the nuclear threat from North Korea at a time when there's little hope of real diplomacy on the matter. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said after meeting Saturday that they will consider expanded joint military exercises to deter the nuclear threat from North Korea at a time when there's little hope of real diplomacy on the matter. The announcement reflects a shift in direction by both leaders from their predecessors: Former U.S. President Donald Trump had considered scrapping the exercises and expressed affection for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. And the last South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, remained committed to dialogue with Kim to the end of his term despite being repeatedly rebuffed by the North. Biden said cooperation between the U.S. and South Korea shows "our readiness to take on all threats together." North Korea, which has defended its nuclear weapons and missile development as a necessary deterrence against what it describes as U.S. threats, could well respond angrily to Saturday's announcement. It has long described joint military exercises as rehearsals for an invasion, although the allies have portrayed the drills as defensive. Biden and Yoon affirmed in remarks at a joint news conference that their shared goal is the complete denuclearization of North Korea. The U.S. and South Korea said in a joint statement that they were committed to a "rules-based international order" following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The statement likely sets the stage for how the U.S. and its allies will address any challenges with North Korea. Yet Biden also reiterated his offer of vaccines to North Korea as the coronavirus spreads at a dangerously fast speed through that country, including an offer to route them through China if that was more acceptable to North Korea. Asked if he would be willing to meet with Kim Jong Un, Biden said that would depend on whether the North Korean leader was "sincere" and "serious." "Yes, we've offered vaccines, not only to North Korea but China as well," Biden said. "We're prepared to do that immediately. We've gotten no response." The division of the Korean Peninsula after World War II has led to two radically different countries. In South Korea, Biden is touring factories for computer chips and next-generation autos in a democracy and engaging in talks for greater cooperation. But in the North, there is a deadly coronavirus outbreak in a largely unvaccinated autocracy that can best command the world's attention by flexing its nuclear capabilities. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as Biden flew to South Korea, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the U.S. has coordinated with Seoul and Tokyo on how they'll respond should the North conduct a nuclear test or missile strike while Biden is in the region or soon after. Sullivan also spoke with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi earlier in the week and urged Beijing to use its influence to persuade the North to cease the tests. As part of a five-day visit in Asia, Biden spent Saturday developing his relationship with Yoon, who assumed office little more than a week ago. The U.S. president on Saturday laid a wreath at Seoul National Cemetery, wearing white gloves and a somber expression as he also burned incense and then signed a guest book. Biden then greeted Yoon at the People's House for a nearly two-hour meeting followed by the news conference. The leaders capped the day with a dinner at the National Museum of Korea. Yoon welcomed Biden with a toast, noting that the alliance "was forged in blood on the battlefield of the Korean War." He said this partnership would go beyond security in Korea to include cutting edge technology and a global strategic partnership, then drew a laugh from Biden by quoting Irish poet William Butler Yeats. Biden reciprocated with a toast for the alliance to "flourish for all the decades ahead." Both men ended their toasts with the military motto, "We go together." During the talks, both leaders emphasized economic security and growing trade relations as two Korean industrial stalwarts -- Samsung and Hyundai -- are opening major plants in the U.S. Yoon, a political neophyte with no foreign policy experience, came into the talks with Biden less than two weeks after taking office looking to demonstrate his competency on the world stage. The U.S. president on Saturday also spoke by telephone with Moon Jae-in, South Korea's immediate past president. Biden thanked him for his close partnership, the White House said. Biden faces growing disapproval within the U.S. over inflation near a 40-year high, but his administration sees one clear economic win in the contest with China for influence in the Pacific. Bloomberg Economics Analysis estimates that the U.S. economy will grow faster this year than China for the first time since 1976, a forecast that Biden highlighted at the news conference. The U.S. has struggled to knit together a coalition of countries in Asia that can counterbalance China's growing strength, abandoning the trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership after a political backlash at home. Biden sidestepped a question about resurrecting the agreement, but spoke about the potential for closer ties in the region beyond traditional allies like South Korea and Japan. "Things have changed," he said. "There is a sense among the democracies in the Pacific that there's a need to cooperate much more closely. Not just militarily, but in terms of economically and politically." Biden did not explicitly talk in his remarks about the need to counter China, but Beijing on Saturday offered its own counter-messaging. "We hope that the U.S. will match its words with deeds and work with countries in the region to promote solidarity and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, instead of plotting division and confrontation," Chinese envoy for Korean affairs Liu Xiaoming, said on Twitter. At the start of the administration, many White House officials thought Kim's nuclear ambitions would prove to be perhaps the administration's most vexing challenge and that the North Korean leader would aim to test Biden's mettle early in his time in office. Through the first 14 months of Biden's administration, Pyongyang held off on missile tests even as it ignored efforts by the administration to reach out through back channels in hopes of restarting talks that could lead to the North's denuclearization in return for sanctions relief. But the quiet didn't last. North Korea has tested missiles 16 separate times this year, including in March, when its first flight of an intercontinental ballistic missile since 2017 demonstrated a potential range including the entire U.S. mainland. The Biden administration is calling on China to restrain North Korea from engaging in any missile or nuclear tests. Speaking on Air Force One, Sullivan said Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping could hold a phone call in the coming weeks. While Biden has made clear that he sees China as the United States' greatest economic and national security competitor, he says it is crucial to keep the lines of communication open so the two powers can cooperate on issues of mutual concern. North Korea is perhaps highest on that list. White House officials said Biden won't visit the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Korean Peninsula during the trip. Instead, Biden will visit the Air Operations Center's Combat Operations Floor on Osan Air Base, south of Seoul, on Sunday.
Australia PM Concedes Election Defeat 05/21 08:53
Australia PM Concedes Election Defeat 05/21 08:53 CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Australia's prime minister conceded defeat after an election Saturday that could deliver a minority government. Scott Morrison acted quickly despite millions of votes yet to be counted because an Australian prime minister must attended a Tokyo summit on Tuesday with U.S., Japanese and Indian leaders. "I believe it's very important that this country has certainty. I think it's very important this country can move forward," Morrison said. "And particularly over the course of this week with the important meetings that are being held, I think it's vitally important there's a very clear understanding about the government of this country," he added. Opposition leader Anthony Albanese will be sworn in as prime minister after his Labor party clenched its first electoral win since 2007. Labor has promised more financial assistance and a robust social safety net as Australia grapples with the highest inflation since 2001 and soaring housing prices. The party also plans to increase minimal wages, and on the foreign policy front, it proposed to establish a Pacific defense school to train neighboring armies in response to China's potential military presence on the Solomon Islands on Australia's doorstep. It also wants to tackle climate change with a more ambitious 43% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Morrison's Liberal party-led coalition was seeking a fourth three-year term. It holds the narrowest of majorities -- 76 seats in the 151-member House of Representatives, where parties need a majority to form a government. In early counting on Saturday, the coalition was on track to win 38 seats, Labor 71, seven were unaligned lawmakers and 23 were too close to call. Minor parties and independents appeared to be taking votes from the major parties, which increases the likelihood of a hung parliament and a minority government. Australia most recent hung parliaments were from 2010-13, and during World War II. A record proportion of postal votes because of the pandemic, which won't be added to the count until Sunday, adds to the uncertainty in early counting. As well as campaigning against Labor, Morrison's conservative Liberals fought off a new challenge from so-called teal independent candidates to key government lawmakers' reelection in party strongholds. At least four Liberal lawmakers appeared to have lost their seats to teal independents including Liberal Party deputy leader Josh Frydenberg, who had been considered Morrison's most likely successor. "What we have achieved here is extraordinary," teal candidate and former foreign correspondent Zoe Daniels said in her victory speech. "Safe Liberal seat. Two-term incumbent. Independent," she added. The teal independents are marketed as a greener shade than the Liberal Party's traditional blue color and want stronger government action on reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions than either the government or Labor are proposing. The government's Senate leader Simon Birmingham was concerned by big swings toward several teal candidates. "It is a clear problem that we are losing seats that are heartland seats, that have defined the Liberal Party for generations," Birmingham said. "If we lose those seats -- it is not certain that we will -- but there is clearly a big movement against us and there is clearly a big message in it," Birmingham added. Due to the pandemic, around half of Australia's 17 million electors have voted early or applied for postal votes, which will likely slow the count. Voting is compulsory for adult citizens and 92% of registered voters cast ballots at the last election. Early polling for reasons of travel or work began two weeks ago and the Australian Electoral Commission will continue collecting postal votes for another two weeks. The government changed regulations on Friday to enable people recently infected with COVID-19 to vote over the phone. Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said more than 7,000 polling stations opened as planned and on time across Australia despite 15% of polling staff falling sick this week with COVID-19 and flu. Albanese said he had thought Morrison would have called the election last weekend because Australia's prime minister is expected at a Tokyo summit on Tuesday with U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "If we get a clear outcome today then whoever is prime minister will be on a plane to Tokyo on Monday, which isn't ideal, I've got to say, immediately after a campaign," Albanese said. Analysts have said that Morrison left the election until the latest date available to him to give himself more time to reduce Labor's lead in opinion polls.
Biden Signs $40B for Ukraine Aid 05/21 08:53
Biden Signs $40B for Ukraine Aid 05/21 08:53 President Biden on Saturday signed legislation to support Ukraine with an additional $40 billion in U.S. assistance as the Russian invasion approaches its fourth month. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- President Biden on Saturday signed legislation to support Ukraine with an additional $40 billion in U.S. assistance as the Russian invasion approaches its fourth month. The legislation, which was passed by Congress with bipartisan support, deepens the U.S. commitment to Ukraine at a time of uncertainty about the war's future. Ukraine has successfully defended Kyiv, and Russia has refocused its offensive on the country's east, but American officials warn of the potential for a prolonged conflict. The funding is intended to support Ukraine through September, and it dwarfs an earlier emergency measure that provided $13.6 billion. The new legislation will provide $20 billion in military assistance, ensuring a steady stream of advanced weapons that have been used to blunt Russia's advances. There's also $8 billion in general economic support, $5 billion to address global food shortages that could result from the collapse of Ukrainian agriculture and more than $1 billion to help refugees. Biden signed the measure under unusual circumstances. Because he's in the middle of a trip to Asia, a U.S. official brought the bill on a commercial flight to Seoul for the president to sign, according to a White House official. The logistics reflect a sense of urgency around continuing U.S. support for Ukraine, but also the overlapping international challenges facing Biden. Even as he tries to reorient American foreign policy to confront China, he's continuing to direct resources to the largest conflict in Europe since World War II. Biden also signed an unrelated measure, one intended to increase access to baby formula at a time when supplies remain scarce in the United States. The legislation will allow government benefits from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children -- better known as WIC -- to be used to buy more types of infant formula.
Russia Cuts Off Gas Exports to Finland 05/21 08:55
Russia Cuts Off Gas Exports to Finland 05/21 08:55 HELSINKI (AP) -- Russia halted gas exports to neighboring Finland on Saturday, a highly symbolic move that came just days after the Nordic country announced it wanted to join NATO and marked a likely end to Finland's nearly 50 years of importing natural gas from Russia. The measure taken by the Russian energy giant Gazprom was in line with an earlier announcement following Helsinki's refusal to pay for the gas in rubles as Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded European countries do since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. The Finnish state-owned gas company Gasum said that "natural gas supplies to Finland under Gasum's supply contract have been cut off" by Russia on Saturday morning at 7 a.m. local time (0400 GMT). The announcement follows Moscow's decision to cut off electricity exports to Finland earlier this month and an earlier decision by the Finnish state-controlled oil company Neste to replace imports of Russian crude oil with crude oil from elsewhere. After decades of energy cooperation that was seen beneficial for both Helsinki -- particularly in the case of inexpensive Russian crude oil -- and Moscow, Finland's energy ties with Russia are now all but gone. Such a break was easier for Finland than it will be for other European Union nations. Natural gas accounts for just some 5% of total energy consumption in Finland, a country of 5.5 million. Almost all of that gas comes from Russia, and is used mainly by industrial and other companies with only an estimated 4,000 households relying on gas heating. Gasum said it would now supply natural gas to its customers from other sources through the undersea Balticconnector gas pipeline running between Finland and Estonia and connecting the Finnish and Baltic gas grids. Matti Vanhanen, the former Finnish prime minister and current speaker of Parliament, said the effect of Moscow's decision to cut off gas after nearly 50 years since the first deliveries from the Soviet Union began is above all symbolic. In an interview Saturday with the Finnish public broadcaster YLE, Vanhanen said the decision marks an end of "a hugely important period between Finland, the Soviet Union and Russia, not only in energy terms but symbolically." "That pipeline is unlikely to ever open again," Vanhanen told YLE, referring to the two parallel Russia-Finland natural gas pipelines that were launched in 1974. The first connections from Finland's power grid to the Soviet transmission system were also constructed in the 1970s, allowing electricity imports to Finland in case additional capacity was needed. Vanhanen didn't see Moscow's gas stoppage as a retaliatory step from Russia to Finland's bid to join NATO but rather a countermove to Western sanctions imposed on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine. "Russia did the same thing with Finland it has done earlier with some other countries to maintain its own credibility," Vanhanen said, referring to the Kremlin's demands to buy its gas in rubles. Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) with Russia, the longest of any of the EU's 27 members, and has a conflict-ridden history with its huge eastern neighbor. After losing two wars to Soviet Union, in World War II, Finland opted for neutrality with stable and pragmatic political and economic ties with Moscow. Large-scale energy cooperation, also including nuclear power, between the two countries was one of the most visible signs of friendly bilateral ties between former enemies.
Over 100 Nations Urge Safe Migration 05/21 08:56
Over 100 Nations Urge Safe Migration 05/21 08:56 UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- More than 100 nations have approved a declaration calling on governments to intensify efforts for safe and orderly migration, crack down on human smuggling and trafficking, and ensure that migrants are respected and receive health care and other services. The 13-page declaration was adopted by consensus by U.N. member nations attending a four-day meeting to review the first international agreement dealing with migration. The Global Compact was approved by the U.N. General Assembly in December 2018, and participants at this week's meeting recommended that the 193-member world body also endorse Friday's declaration in the coming months. Assembly President Abdulla Shahid said many migrants leave their countries to find work while others are forced to leave due to violence, poverty, environmental degradation and climate change. "Regardless of their circumstances, the international community has a responsibility to ensure that the human rights of everyone involved are respected," he told a news conference earlier Friday. The declaration expresses concern "that progress achieved in facilitating and harnessing the benefits of safe, orderly and regular migration is slow and uneven in many areas" and stresses that "greater efforts are needed by member states to develop ambitious national responses for the implementation of the Global Compact." Antonio Vitorino, director-general of the International Organization for Migration, told a news conference before the adoption that there are several areas where "an extra push" is needed to make the vision of the Global Compact a reality: "respect for human rights, access to basic services, alternatives to the detention of migrants and, above all, I would emphasize, saving lives of migrants." The declaration said as many as 281 million people were international migrants in 2020 globally, of whom 48% were women and girls and 15% were under the age of 20. It recognized "the value and dignity of the labor of all migrant workers in all sectors," and said they transferred over $751 billion in remittances, which are "a critical source of support for families and communities," to their home countries. The 34-page compact addresses all aspects of migration -- why people leave their home countries, how to protect them, integrate them and co-operate in returning them home safely. Its principles include recognizing the sovereignty of nations and reaffirming that migrants have the same human rights as all other people that "must be respected, protected and fulfilled at all times." The compact has 23 objectives "for safe, orderly and regular migration" that seek to boost cooperation in managing legal migration and discourage illegal border crossings. These range from technical issues like collecting data, ensuring migrants have proof of their legal identity, and promoting faster and safer transfer home of earnings by migrant workers, to such matters as preventing and eradicating trafficking, providing access to basic services for migrants, and using migration detention "only as a measure of last resort." Vitorino said 15,000 migrants have died "in dangerous and perilous migratory tragedies" since the Global Compact was adopted. "We believe that there's a need to scale up certain rescue operations particularly to those migrants who go through the sea, through the desert, and through the jungle," he said. "We have a number of hot spots and know where the problems are," Vitorino said, pointing to the Gulf of Aden, the central Mediterranean and the Darin Gap jungle, the inhospitable stretch of land that separates Colombia and Panama. "We need to be more effective in opening regular pathways for migrations," he said. "That's the real alternative to letting migrants be prone to traffickers and smugglers because trafficking and smuggling is the most obnoxious attempt against the fundamental rights of migrants." The U.N.'s top migration official said all migrants move in vulnerable conditions but some are more vulnerable than others including women and girls who have been "particularly prone to abusers, gender-based violence, rapes." The declaration said migrants continue to struggle to get humanitarian assistance, including search and rescue efforts at sea and medical care, "which creates and exacerbates situations of vulnerability." "Limited progress has been made in distinguishing the activities of smuggling networks from the provision of assistance of an exclusively humanitarian nature for migrants along perilous routes and in other situations where their life or safety is in danger," it said. "In many cases, the provision of such assistance has been considered unlawful." In the declaration, governments said they commit to eliminating all forms of discrimination targeting migrants including racism, xenophobia, stigmatization hate speech and hate crimes. They also commit to protecting freedom of expression and "to respecting, protecting and fulfilling the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants." Vitorino said the declaration provides guidelines for action "and we are ready to work over the next four years to make, each day, a difference, making outcomes better, thinking above all of the millions of lives of migrants that depend on international protection and international cooperation."
Recount Likely in PA Senate GOP Primary05/21 08:59
Recount Likely in PA Senate GOP Primary05/21 08:59 HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Pennsylvania's Republican primary for an open U.S. Senate seat is too close to call and is likely headed for a statewide recount to decide the winner of the contest between heart surgeon-turned-TV celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund CEO David McCormick. A recount would mean that the outcome of the race might not be known until June 8, the deadline for counties to report their results to the state. Oz, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, led McCormick by 1,079 votes, or 0.08 percentage points, out of 1,340,248 ballots counted as of 5 p.m. Friday. The race is close enough to trigger Pennsylvania's automatic recount law, with the separation between the candidates inside the law's 0.5% margin. The Associated Press will not declare a winner in the race until the likely recount is complete. Both campaigns have hired Washington-based lawyers to lead their recount efforts, and both have hired Philadelphia-based campaign strategists who helped lead the operation to observe vote-counting on Election Day for Donald Trump's presidential campaign in 2020. The two campaigns combined already had hundreds of lawyers and volunteers fanned out around the presidential battleground state as election workers and election boards toiled through the remaining ballots. McCormick's lead recount lawyer is Chuck Cooper, a veteran Washington lawyer and a go-to attorney for prominent conservative figures. He represented then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe and former national security adviser John Bolton in a dispute over the publication of his book. He recently successfully argued a campaign finance case on behalf of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz before the U.S. Supreme Court. Oz's lead recount lawyer is Megan Newton, who was general counsel for Jeb Bush's unsuccessful 2016 presidential campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and has represented Trump's campaign and Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. The winner will face Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in November's midterm elections in what Democrats see as their best opportunity to pick up a seat in the closely divided Senate. Fetterman won the Democratic nomination while in the hospital recovering from a stroke four days before the election. The incumbent, Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, is retiring after serving two terms. Trump's clout is again on the line, as he looked for a third straight win in Republican Senate primaries after "Hillbilly Elegy" author JD Vance prevailed in Ohio earlier this month and U.S. Rep. Ted Budd easily scored a victory in North Carolina on Tuesday. County election boards began meeting Friday to sort out problematic or provisional ballots, even as election workers processed the last of the mail-in ballots and election-day ballot tallies from precincts. A federal appeals court threw a wrench into the counting Friday when it ruled in an unrelated case that mail-in ballots without a legally required date on the return envelope can be counted. McCormick's campaign saw it as a positive development, since McCormick has led Oz in mail-in ballots. "When every single vote cast in this U.S. Senate election is finally counted, Dave McCormick will win," his campaign said. Oz's campaign did not comment Friday evening. The state's 67 counties have until Tuesday's deadline in state law to certify their results to the state. Then the state's top election official has until next Thursday to issue a recount order, which is mandatory -- unless the losing candidate asks in writing that it not be carried out. McCormick's campaign said it has no plans to decline a recount. Oz's campaign declined to comment. Counties have until three weeks after the election -- June 7 -- to finish the recount and another day to report results to the state. The initial result could change: A recount of a statewide judicial race last November ended up padding the winner's margin by more than 5,500 votes in a race where more than 2 million ballots were cast. Before that, there could be a flurry of lawsuits contesting the decisions of certain counties on whether to count ballots that may be difficult to read or bear some kind of irregularity. As of yet, neither campaign has gone to court, and both candidates have expressed confidence in victory. The big field of Republican candidates and their super PACs reported spending more than $70 million during the primary campaign. Oz and McCormick dominated the seven-person GOP field, blanketing the state's TV screens with political ads for months and spending millions of their own money, before conservative activist Kathy Barnette surged in the campaign's final days. The fiery, hard-line pro-Trump alternative blistered both Oz and McCormick as "globalists," pro-Trump pretenders, carpetbaggers and too wealthy to help regular people. She finished a distant third. Oz, who is best known as the host of daytime TV's "The Dr. Oz Show," had to overcome misgivings among hardline Trump backers about his conservative credentials. Rivals also charged that his dual citizenship with Turkey would compromise his loyalties to the United States. If elected, Oz would be the nation's first Muslim senator. McCormick was virtually unknown four months ago and emphasized his credentials as a hometown success story. He not only had to overcome Trump's endorsement of Oz, but Trump also attacked McCormick viciously and repeatedly in the final two weeks of the race, calling him a Wall Street liberal, a sellout to China and the candidate of "special interests and globalists and the Washington establishment." McCormick got help from a super PAC supporting him that spent $20 million, giving him a massive cash advantage, much of it from Wall Street figures that paid for TV ads to attack Oz. Both men reported assets of more than $100 million and moved from out of state to run -- Oz from a mansion in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, above the Hudson River overlooking Manhattan, and McCormick from Connecticut's ritzy Gold Coast.
Russia Claims Full Control of Mariupol 05/21 09:00
Russia Claims Full Control of Mariupol 05/21 09:00 Russia claimed to have captured Mariupol on Friday in what would be its biggest victory yet in its war with Ukraine, after a nearly three-month siege that reduced much of the strategic port city to a smoking ruin, with over 20,000 civilians feared dead. POKROVSK, Ukraine (AP) -- Russia claimed to have captured Mariupol on Friday in what would be its biggest victory yet in its war with Ukraine, after a nearly three-month siege that reduced much of the strategic port city to a smoking ruin, with over 20,000 civilians feared dead. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin the "complete liberation" of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol -- the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance -- and the city as a whole, spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. There was no immediate confirmation from Ukraine. Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti quoted the ministry as saying a total of 2,439 Ukrainian fighters who had been holed up at the steelworks had surrendered since Monday, including over 500 on Friday. As they surrendered, the troops were taken prisoner by the Russians, and at least some were taken to a former penal colony. Others were said to be hospitalized. The defense of the steel mill had been led by Ukraine's Azov Regiment, whose far-right origins have been seized on by the Kremlin as part of an effort to cast its invasion as a battle against Nazi influence in Ukraine. Russia said the Azov commander was taken away from the plant in an armored vehicle. Russian authorities have threatened to investigate some of the steel mill's defenders for war crimes and put them on trial, branding them "Nazis" and criminals. That has stirred international fears about their fate. The steelworks, which sprawled across 11 square kilometers (4 square miles), had been the site of fierce fighting for weeks. The dwindling group of outgunned fighters had held out, drawing Russian airstrikes, artillery and tank fire, before their government ordered them to abandon the plant's defense and save themselves. The complete takeover of Mariupol gives Putin a badly needed victory in the war he began on Feb. 24 -- a conflict that was supposed to have been a lightning conquest for the Kremlin but instead has seen the failure to take the capital of Kyiv, a pullback of forces to refocus on eastern Ukraine, and the sinking of the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet. Military analysts said Mariupol's capture at this point is of mostly symbolic importance, since the city was already effectively under Moscow's control and most of the Russian forces that were tied down by the fighting there had already left. In other developments Friday, the West moved to pour billions more in aid into Ukraine and fighting raged in the Donbas, the industrial heartland in eastern Ukraine that Putin is bent on capturing. Russian forces shelled a vital highway and kept up attacks on a key city in the Luhansk region, hitting a school among other sites, Ukrainian authorities said. Luhansk is part of the Donbas. The Kremlin had sought control of Mariupol to complete a land corridor between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014, and free up troops to join the larger battle for the Donbas. The city's loss also deprives Ukraine of a vital seaport. Mariupol endured some of the worst suffering of the war and became a worldwide symbol of defiance. An estimated 100,000 people remained out a prewar population of 450,000, many trapped without food, water, heat or electricity. Relentless bombardment left rows upon rows of shattered or hollowed-out buildings. A maternity hospital was hit with a lethal Russian airstrike on March 9, producing searing images of pregnant women being evacuated from the place. A week later, about 300 people were reported killed in a bombing of a theater where civilians were taking shelter, although the real death toll could be closer to 600. Satellite images in April showed what appeared to be mass graves just outside Mariupol, where local officials accused Russia of concealing the slaughter by burying up to 9,000 civilians. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday the evacuation of his forces from the miles of tunnels and bunkers beneath Azovstal was done to save the lives of the fighters. Earlier this month, hundreds of civilians were evacuated from the plant during humanitarian cease-fires and spoke of the terror of ceaseless bombardment, the dank conditions underground and the fear that they wouldn't make it out alive. As the end drew near at Azovstal, wives of fighters who held out at the steelworks told of what they feared would be their last contact with their husbands. Olga Boiko, wife of a marine, wiped away tears as she said that her husband had written her on Thursday: "Hello. We surrender, I don't know when I will get in touch with you and if I will at all. Love you. Kiss you. Bye." Natalia Zaritskaya, wife of another fighter at Azovstal, said that based on the messages she had seen over the past two days, "Now they are on the path from hell to hell. Every inch of this path is deadly." She said that two days ago, her husband reported that of the 32 soldiers with whom he had served, only eight survived, most of them seriously wounded. While Russia described the troops leaving the steel plant as a mass surrender, the Ukrainians called it a mission fulfilled. They said the fighters had tied down Moscow's forces and hindered their bid to seize the east. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskyy, described the defense of Mariupol as "the Thermopylae of the 21st century" -- a reference to one of history's most glorious defeats, in which 300 Spartans held off a much larger Persian force in 480 B.C. before finally succumbing. In other developments Friday: -- Zelenskyy said Russia should be made to pay for every home, school, hospital and business it destroys. He called on Ukraine's partners to seize Russian funds and property under their jurisdiction and use them to create a fund to compensate those who suffered. Russia "would feel the true weight of every missile, every bomb, every shell that it has fired at us," he said in his nightly video address. -- The Group of Seven major economies and global financial institutions agreed to provide more money to bolster Ukraine's finances, bringing the total to $19.8 billion. In the U.S., President Joe Biden was expected to sign a $40 billion package of military and economic aid to Ukraine and its allies. -- Russia will cut off natural gas to Finland on Saturday, the Finnish state energy company said, just days after Finland applied to join NATO. Finland had refused Moscow's demand that it pay for gas in rubles. The cutoff is not expected to have any major immediate effect. Natural gas accounted for just 6% of Finland's total energy consumption in 2020, Finnish broadcaster YLE said. -- A captured Russian soldier accused of killing a civilian awaited his fate in Ukraine's first war crimes trial. Sgt. Vadim Shishimarin, 21, could get life in prison. -- Russian lawmakers proposed a bill to lift the age limit of 40 for Russians volunteering for military service. Currently, all Russian men 18 to 27 must undergo a year of service, though many get college deferments and other exemptions. Heavy fighting was reported Friday in the Donbas, a mostly Russian-speaking expanse of coal mines and factories. Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk, said Russian forces shelled the Lysychansk-Bakhmut highway from multiple directions, taking aim at the only road for evacuating people and delivering humanitarian supplies. "The Russians are trying to cut us off from it, to encircle the Luhansk region," he said via email. Moscow's troops have also been trying for weeks to seize Severodonetsk, a key city in the Donbas, and at least 12 people were killed there on Friday, Haidai said. A school that was sheltering more than 200 people, many of them children, was hit, and more than 60 houses were destroyed across the region, he added. But he said the Russians took losses in the attack on Severodonetsk and were forced to retreat. His account could not be independently verified. Another city, Rubizhne, has been "completely destroyed," Haidai said. "Its fate can be compared to that of Mariupol."
