Moscow – Russian President Vladimir Putin says he’s willing to sit down with Ukraine’s new president for talks to settle a deadly conflict in eastern Ukraine. Putin responded Thursday to Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s proposal to hold talks with the mediation of U.S., British, French and German leaders, saying that he is open to the idea. He [...]

New York – Technology and communications companies pushed stocks higher on Wall Street in early trading Thursday, extending the market’s gains from the day before. The early buying briefly nudged the Dow Jones Industrial Average above the 27,000 point mark for the first time, a day after the S&P 500 made its first move above [...]

Gaza – Gaza’s Hamas rulers say Israeli troops have shot and killed a militant in the northern Gaza Strip. Hamas’ armed wing says Thursday that the military “deliberately” fired at one of its members, 28-year-old Mahmoud al-Adham, in the town of Beit Hanoun. It vowed to retaliate. The Israeli military says it noticed two “armed [...]

Berlin – German Chancellor Angela Merkel sat down at a ceremony to welcome Denmark’s prime minister on Thursday, a day after she shook visibly when standing to receive Finland’s premier – her third bout of shaking in three weeks. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen sat next to Merkel at the welcoming with military honours on [...]

Washington – Roundups of undocumented immigrant families will start Sunday in 10 U.S. cities, fulfilling a hardline immigration stance from U.S. President Donald Trump which will be a key issue in his 2020 re-election bid, the New York Times reported. The raids will be conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents over a number [...]

Los Angeles – A bill to ensure the right of Californians to hang mezuzahs on their door frames is moving through the state legislature, and looks primed to pass in the coming months. SB 652 bars landlords and condo associations from prohibiting “the display of religious items” of a certain size on doors and door [...]

New York – The usual bio for Mariano Rivera includes retired New York Yankees relief pitcher, all-time saves leader, first player voted unanimously into the Baseball Hall of Fame, 13-time All-Star, five-time World Series champion. Add that he’s a staunch supporter of Israel. Rivera, 49, spoke this week at the Christians United for Israel conference [...]

Washington – The Fourth of July meant hot dogs, fireworks and President Donald Trump for many Fox News viewers. Fox News reached an average of 4.09 million viewers between 6 and 8 p.m. EDT last Thursday for its coverage of Trump’s much-discussed holiday parade in Washington, D.C., the Nielsen company said. The audience was over [...]

Dallas, TX – A Texas man who had been missing for months was eaten, bones and all, by his pack of dogs, sheriff’s deputies said. Medical examiners said Tuesday that DNA testing determined that pieces of bone recovered from the dogs’ feces were those of 57-year-old Freddie Mack, according to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office. [...]

New York – A boom on Wall Street and a thriving technology sector have pushed the unemployment rate in Manhattan to record lows and propelled office leasing activity to its best first six months of a year in a quarter century, brokerage data shows. The new leasing of office space rose to 18.3 million square [...]