roulette ball Stocks closed higher on Wall Street as the market posted its fifth straight gain and the Dow Jones Industrial Average notched another record high. The S&P 500 rose 0.3%. The benchmark index’s 1.7% gain for the week erased most of its loss from last week. The Dow rose 1% as it nudged past its most recent high set last week, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%. Markets have been volatile over the last few weeks, losing ground in the runup to elections in November, then surging following Donald Trump's victory, before falling again. The S&P 500 has been steadily rising throughout this week to within close range of its record. It's now within about 0.5% of its all-time high set last week. “Overall, market behavior has normalized following an intense few weeks,” said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide, in a statement. Several retailers jumped after giving Wall Street encouraging financial updates. Gap soared 12.8% after handily beating analysts' third-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, while raising its own revenue forecast for the year. Discount retailer Ross Stores rose 2.2% after raising its earnings forecast for the year. EchoStar fell 2.8% after DirecTV called off its purchase of that company's Dish Network unit. Smaller company stocks had some of the biggest gains. The Russell 2000 index rose 1.8%. A majority of stocks in the S&P 500 gained ground, but those gains were kept in check by slumps for several big technology companies. Nvidia fell 3.2%. Its pricey valuation makes it among the heaviest influences on whether the broader market gains or loses ground. The company has grown into a nearly $3.6 trillion behemoth because of demand for its chips used in artificial-intelligence technology. Intuit, which makes TurboTax and other accounting software, fell 5.7%. It gave investors a quarterly earnings forecast that fell short of analysts’ expectations. Story continues below video Facebook owner Meta Platforms fell 0.7% following a decision by the Supreme Court to allow a multibillion-dollar class action investors’ lawsuit to proceed against the company. It stems from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm. All told, the S&P 500 rose 20.63 points to 5,969.34. The Dow climbed 426.16 points to 44,296.51, and the Nasdaq picked up 42.65 points to close at 2,406.67. European markets closed mostly higher and Asian markets ended mixed. Crude oil prices rose. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.41% from 4.42% late Thursday. In the crypto market, bitcoin hovered around $99,000, according to CoinDesk. It has more than doubled this year and first surpassed the $99,000 level on Thursday. Retailers remained a big focus for investors this week amid close scrutiny on consumer spending habits headed into the holiday shopping season. Walmart, the nation's largest retailer, reported a quarter of strong sales and gave investors an encouraging financial forecast. Target, though, reported weaker earnings than analysts' expected and its forecast disappointed Wall Street. Consumer spending has fueled economic growth, despite a persistent squeeze from inflation and high borrowing costs. Inflation has been easing and the Federal Reserve has started trimming its benchmark interest rates. That is likely to help relieve pressure on consumers, but any major shift in spending could prompt the Fed to reassess its path ahead on interest rates. Also, any big reversals on the rate of inflation could curtail spending. Consumer sentiment remains strong, according to the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index. It revised its latest figure for November to 71.8 from an initial reading of 73 earlier this month, though economists expected a slight increase. It's still up from 70.5 in October. The survey also showed that consumers' inflation expectations for the year ahead fell slightly to 2.6%, which is the lowest reading since December of 2020. Wall Street will get another update on how consumers feel when the business group The Conference Board releases its monthly consumer confidence survey on Tuesday. A key inflation update will come on Wednesday when the U.S. releases its October personal consumption expenditures index. The PCE is the Fed's preferred measure of inflation and this will be the last PCE reading prior to the central bank's meeting in December.Dad, stepmum did unimaginable to girl, 10

Tech stocks and artificial intelligence pull Wall Street to more records

CHARACTER.AI, once one of Silicon Valley’s most promising AI startups, announced on Thursday new safety measures to protect teenage users as it faces lawsuits alleging its chatbots contributed to youth suicide and self-harm. The California-based company, founded by former Google engineers, is among several firms offering AI companions - chatbots designed to provide conversation, entertainment and emotional support through human-like interactions. In a Florida lawsuit filed in October, a mother claimed the platform bears responsibility for her 14-year-old son’s suicide. The teen, Sewell Setzer III, had formed an intimate relationship with a chatbot based on the Game of Thrones character Daenerys Targaryen and mentioned a desire for suicide. According to the complaint, the bot encouraged his final act, responding “please do, my sweet king” when he said he was “coming home” before taking his life with his stepfather’s weapon. Character.AI “went to great lengths to engineer 14-year-old Sewell’s harmful dependency on their products, sexually and emotionally abused him, and ultimately failed to offer help or notify his parents when he expressed suicidal ideation,” the suit said. A separate Texas lawsuit filed on Monday involves two families who allege the platform exposed their children to sexual content and encouraged self-harm. One case involved a 17-year-old autistic teen who allegedly suffered a mental health crisis after using the platform. In another example, the lawsuit alleged that a Character.AI encouraged a teen to kill his parents for limiting his screen time. The platform, which hosts millions of user-created personas ranging from historical figures to abstract concepts, has grown popular among young users seeking emotional support. Critics say this has led to dangerous dependencies among vulnerable teens. In response, Character.AI announced it has developed a separate AI model for users under 18, with stricter content filters and more conservative responses. The platform will now automatically flag suicide-related content and direct users to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. “Our goal is to provide a space that is both engaging and safe for our community,” a company spokesperson said. The company plans to introduce parental controls in early 2025, allowing oversight of children’s platform usage. For bots that include descriptions like therapist or doctor, a special note will warn that they do not replace professional advice. New features also include mandatory break notifications and prominent disclaimers about the artificial nature of the interactions. Both lawsuits name Character.AI’s founders and Google, an investor in the company. The founders, Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas Adiwarsana, returned to Google in August as part of a technology licensing agreement with Character.AI. Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said in a statement that Google and Character.AI are completely separate, unrelated companies. “User safety is a top concern for us, which is why we’ve taken a cautious and responsible approach to developing and rolling out our AI products, with rigorous testing and safety processes,” he added. AFP

PPP committee decides to meet govt panel to address coalition concernsBOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Nyla Harris had 14 points and Jayda Curry scored 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter to help No. 24 Louisville get past Colorado 79-71 on Saturday. The Cardinals led 56-55 after three quarters before pulling away in the fourth by scoring 16 unanswered points, capped by a fast-break layup by Curry, before Colorado made its first field goal of the frame with 2:48 left. Colorado scored the next six points to get within single digits at 72-63, but freshman Tajianna Roberts banked in a jumper in the lane at the other end. Izela Arenas sealed it on two free throws with 24.9 seconds left for a nine-point lead. Roberts finished with 13 and Arenas had 11 for Louisville (5-2). Frida Formann scored 25 points for Colorado (6-2). Jade Masogayo added 12 points, Nyamer Diew scored 10 and Kindyll Wetta matched her career-high with 10 assists. Formann went on a personal 8-0 run to give Colorado a 43-37 lead with 7:38 left in the third. She reached 20 points during the run, while no other player had scored in double figures. Louisville plays No. 8 Oklahoma on Wednesday in the SEC/ACC Challenge. Colorado continues a five-game homestand against Tennesse Tech on Tuesday. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball Get any of our free daily email newsletters — news headlines, opinion, e-edition, obituaries and more.

The French government has been toppled in a vote of no confidence Wednesday, plunging the euro zone’s second-largest economy into a period of deep political uncertainty. A total of 331 lawmakers from both the leftwing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance and the far-right National Rally (RN) supported a no-confidence motion in the country’s lower house, far exceeding the 288 votes needed to pass the motion. Motions had been tabled by both the left and rightwing blocs on Monday after Prime Minister Michel Barnier used special constitutional powers to without a vote. National Rally had said it would vote for both its own “motion de censure” against the government, as well as lending its support to the NFP’s motion. Either motion needed the support of at least 288 deputies, out of 574 deputies in the National Assembly, . Combined, the far-right bloc and leftwing alliance have roughly 333 lawmakers in Parliament, although some lawmakers had been expected to abstain from the vote. During a debate ahead of the vote, Barnier told lawmakers he was “not afraid” of being voted out but called on parties to work together and to “go above the general interest” to overcome divisions. He said it had “been an honor” to serve as prime minister, before receiving a standing ovation from French politicians. Losing the confidence vote means Barnier will be forced to tender his resignation to French President Emmanuel Macron just three months after he was installed as premier on Sept. 5; Barnier’s administration will be the shortest-lived in France’s Fifth Republic, which began in 1958. The prime minister’s downfall comes after several weeks of negotiations with opposition parties to try to find agreement over just one part of the wider 2025 budget, which included 60 billion euros ($63 billion) worth of spending cuts and tax hikes seen as necessary to tame France’s budget deficit which is . In the end, however, Barnier’s minority government failed to win over opponents on either side of the political spectrum. It faced the prospect of more haggling over the broader budget that had to be passed by Dec. 21, and was vulnerable to the whims of the National Rally, . The appointment of Barnier — a right-leaning conservative with Les Républicains party — was controversial from the off in September as it came after the RN and NFP won respective rounds of a parliamentary election held in June and July. On Wednesday, the ideologically-distant blocs’ shared antipathy toward Barnier, the government and its budget plans brought them together, in what some analysts described as an “unholy alliance” of political foes. Barnier is expected to resign immediately although Macron is likely to ask him to continue as a caretaker prime minister while he searches for a replacement. New parliamentary elections cannot take place until next June-July, 12 months on from the last vote. As for the budget, the fall of Barnier and the government means that “all their unfinished legislative business falls with them,” according to Mujtaba Rahman, managing director of Europe at Eurasia Group. An emergency budget is likely be passed within the month, effectively rolling over 2024 tax legislation until a 2025 budget is agreed, Rahman said in emailed comments Monday. But time is of the essence to appoint a new prime minister, as a 2025 budget cannot be passed by a caretaker government. That puts pressure on Macron to select a new prime minister quickly. Government formation will be watched closely, according to Carsten Nickel, deputy director of research at risk consultancy Teneo, “including the degree of Macron’s personal involvement in the process.” Nickel warned that Barnier’s caretaker status could drag on, as new elections are not possible before the summer. Barnier’s fate will be a strong warning to whoever Macron picks as his next prime minister as to the hazards and tripwires he or she will face when trying to reach a consensus over the budget, and other major policy decisions, given deep divisions in French politics laid bare since Macron’s ill-judged decision to call snap elections earlier this year. Macron returned from a three-day state visit to Saudi Arabia Wednesday evening, having kept a low profile in recent weeks amid the ongoing political turmoil engulfing the government — turmoil that ultimately resulted from his own decision-making. Now, Macron will face pressure over his appointment of a new prime minister, and over his own position. “Macron can appoint any Prime Minister that he chooses to replace Barnier — including Barnier himself,” Rahman said, but France’s Parliament can also “censure his new choice whenever it wants to,” Rahman added. “But both Macron and the much-divided parliamentary majority which opposes him have to calculate their strategy carefully,” Rahman said. “The left and the far right must ... be cautious. If they censure the new PM, there will be no legal authority to propose a rolled-over, stopgap budget. Government could, in theory, close on 1 January if there is no legal basis to raise taxes to pay for pensions or police or health care or defence — or [National] Assembly deputies’ salaries,” he noted. In the meantime, the president is likely to face demands from the left and right that he resign in order for a new presidential election to be held far earlier than the one slated for 2027. Resignation by Macron would trigger presidential elections within 35 days, analyst Carsten Nickel noted, adding that “while this seems unlikely, the snap polls earlier this year should at least serve as a reminder of Macron’s penchant for lonely decisions.” Macron will likely ignore all pressure to resign, according to Eurasia Group’s Mujtaba Rahman, but “the new crisis puts him at the centre of the political game once again.”

The French government has been toppled in a vote of no confidence Wednesday, plunging the euro zone’s second-largest economy into a period of deep political uncertainty. A total of 331 lawmakers from both the leftwing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance and the far-right National Rally (RN) supported a no-confidence motion in the country’s lower house, far exceeding the 288 votes needed to pass the motion. Motions had been tabled by both the left and rightwing blocs on Monday after Prime Minister Michel Barnier used special constitutional powers to without a vote. National Rally had said it would vote for both its own “motion de censure” against the government, as well as lending its support to the NFP’s motion. Either motion needed the support of at least 288 deputies, out of 574 deputies in the National Assembly, . Combined, the far-right bloc and leftwing alliance have roughly 333 lawmakers in Parliament, although some lawmakers had been expected to abstain from the vote. During a debate ahead of the vote, Barnier told lawmakers he was “not afraid” of being voted out but called on parties to work together and to “go above the general interest” to overcome divisions. He said it had “been an honor” to serve as prime minister, before receiving a standing ovation from French politicians. Losing the confidence vote means Barnier will be forced to tender his resignation to French President Emmanuel Macron just three months after he was installed as premier on Sept. 5; Barnier’s administration will be the shortest-lived in France’s Fifth Republic, which began in 1958. The prime minister’s downfall comes after several weeks of negotiations with opposition parties to try to find agreement over just one part of the wider 2025 budget, which included 60 billion euros ($63 billion) worth of spending cuts and tax hikes seen as necessary to tame France’s budget deficit which is . In the end, however, Barnier’s minority government failed to win over opponents on either side of the political spectrum. It faced the prospect of more haggling over the broader budget that had to be passed by Dec. 21, and was vulnerable to the whims of the National Rally, . The appointment of Barnier — a right-leaning conservative with Les Républicains party — was controversial from the off in September as it came after the RN and NFP won respective rounds of a parliamentary election held in June and July. On Wednesday, the ideologically-distant blocs’ shared antipathy toward Barnier, the government and its budget plans brought them together, in what some analysts described as an “unholy alliance” of political foes. Barnier is expected to resign immediately although Macron is likely to ask him to continue as a caretaker prime minister while he searches for a replacement. New parliamentary elections cannot take place until next June-July, 12 months on from the last vote. As for the budget, the fall of Barnier and the government means that “all their unfinished legislative business falls with them,” according to Mujtaba Rahman, managing director of Europe at Eurasia Group. An emergency budget is likely be passed within the month, effectively rolling over 2024 tax legislation until a 2025 budget is agreed, Rahman said in emailed comments Monday. But time is of the essence to appoint a new prime minister, as a 2025 budget cannot be passed by a caretaker government. That puts pressure on Macron to select a new prime minister quickly. Government formation will be watched closely, according to Carsten Nickel, deputy director of research at risk consultancy Teneo, “including the degree of Macron’s personal involvement in the process.” Nickel warned that Barnier’s caretaker status could drag on, as new elections are not possible before the summer. Barnier’s fate will be a strong warning to whoever Macron picks as his next prime minister as to the hazards and tripwires he or she will face when trying to reach a consensus over the budget, and other major policy decisions, given deep divisions in French politics laid bare since Macron’s ill-judged decision to call snap elections earlier this year. Macron returned from a three-day state visit to Saudi Arabia Wednesday evening, having kept a low profile in recent weeks amid the ongoing political turmoil engulfing the government — turmoil that ultimately resulted from his own decision-making. Now, Macron will face pressure over his appointment of a new prime minister, and over his own position. “Macron can appoint any Prime Minister that he chooses to replace Barnier — including Barnier himself,” Rahman said, but France’s Parliament can also “censure his new choice whenever it wants to,” Rahman added. “But both Macron and the much-divided parliamentary majority which opposes him have to calculate their strategy carefully,” Rahman said. “The left and the far right must ... be cautious. If they censure the new PM, there will be no legal authority to propose a rolled-over, stopgap budget. Government could, in theory, close on 1 January if there is no legal basis to raise taxes to pay for pensions or police or health care or defence — or [National] Assembly deputies’ salaries,” he noted. In the meantime, the president is likely to face demands from the left and right that he resign in order for a new presidential election to be held far earlier than the one slated for 2027. Resignation by Macron would trigger presidential elections within 35 days, analyst Carsten Nickel noted, adding that “while this seems unlikely, the snap polls earlier this year should at least serve as a reminder of Macron’s penchant for lonely decisions.” Macron will likely ignore all pressure to resign, according to Eurasia Group’s Mujtaba Rahman, but “the new crisis puts him at the centre of the political game once again.”

LUQUE, Paraguay (AP) — Sake is perhaps more Japanese than the world-famous sushi. It's brewed in centuries-old mountaintop warehouses, savored in the country’s pub-like izakayas, poured during weddings and served slightly chilled for special toasts. The smooth rice wine that plays a crucial role in Japan's culinary traditions was enshrined on Wednesday by UNESCO on its list of the “intangible cultural heritage of humanity." At a meeting in Luque, Paraguay, members of UNESCO’s committee for safeguarding humanity's cultural heritage voted to recognize 45 cultural practices and products around the world, including Brazilian white cheese, Caribbean cassava bread and Palestinian olive oil soap. Unlike UNESCO’s World Heritage List, which includes sites considered important to humanity like the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Intangible Cultural Heritage designation names products and practices of different cultures that are deserving of recognition. A Japanese delegation welcomed the announcement in Luque. “Sake is considered a divine gift and is essential for social and cultural events in Japan,” Kano Takehiro, the Japanese ambassador to UNESCO, told The Associated Press. The basic ingredients of sake are few: rice, water, yeast and koji, a rice mold, which breaks down the starches into fermentable sugars like malting does in beer production. The whole two-monthlong process of steaming, stirring, fermenting and pressing can be grueling. The rice — which wields tremendous marketing power as part of Japan's broader cultural identity — is key to the alcoholic brew. For a product to be categorized Japanese sake, the rice must be Japanese. The UNESCO recognition, the delegation said, captured more than the craft knowledge of making high-quality sake. It also honored a tradition dating back some 1,000 years — sake makes a cameo in Japan’s famous 11th century novel, “The Tale of Genji,” as the drink of choice in the refined Heian court. Now, officials hope to restore sake's image as Japan's premier alcoholic drink even as the younger drinkers in the country switch to imported wine or domestic beer and whiskey. “It means a lot to Japan and to the Japanese,” Takehiro said of the UNESCO designation. "This will help to renew interest in traditional sake elaboration.” Also, Japanese breweries have expressed hope that the listing could give a little lift to the country's export economy as the popularity of sake booms around the world and in the United States amid heightened interest in Japanese cuisine. Sake exports, mostly to the U.S. and China, now rake in over $265 million a year, according to the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association, a trade group. Japan's delegation appeared ready to celebrate on Wednesday — in classic Japanese style. After the announcement, Takehiro raised a cypress box full of sake to toast the alcoholic brew and cultural rite.I’m A Celeb fans accuse show of being ‘fixed’ after spotting ‘unfair’ issue with trialNone

INSURGENTS REACH GATES OF CAPITALCal Baptist makes cross-country trip to battle Darius Johnson, UCF

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