USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers posted 11 million open jobs in October, nearly matching a record high reached in July and a sign that companies were confident enough in the economy to expand.

A government report Wednesday also showed that the number of people quitting their jobs dropped slightly in October to 4.2 million, from 4.4 million in September, though that is still the third-highest number of monthly resignations on records dating back to 2000.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Move over, BIF and BBB. Now there’s BBA.

President Joe Biden, trying to rebound from sagging poll numbers, is rebranding his bipartisan infrastructure package as “Building a Better America” ahead of a Wednesday trip to Kansas City, Missouri, to promote the deal.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — TV celebrity and former football great Michael Strahan is going to have to wait another few days before rocketing into space.

Strahan was supposed to blast off Thursday from West Texas with five others for the 10-minute flight. But on Wednesday, Jeff Bezos’ space travel company, Blue Origin, bumped the launch to Saturday because of high wind.

(AP) --- A major outage in Amazon’s cloud computing network Tuesday severely disrupted services at a wide range of U.S. companies for more than five hours, the latest sign of just how concentrated the business of keeping the internet running has become.

CHICAGO (AP) — A prosecutor told jurors Wednesday that there is “overwhelming evidence” that former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett staged a racist, anti-gay attack against himself in downtown Chicago for publicity, then lied to police about it.

(AP) --- Pfizer said Wednesday that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine may protect against the new omicron variant even though the initial two doses appear significantly less effective.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said lab tests showed a booster dose increased by 25-fold the level of so-called neutralizing antibodies against omicron.

Pfizer announced the preliminary laboratory data in a press release and it hasn’t yet undergone scientific review. The companies already are working to create an omicron-specific vaccine in case it’s needed.

08 Dec 2021; MEMO: A US billionaire hedge fund manager has surrendered 180 antiquities worth $70 million after an investigation found that they had been looted and illegally smuggled.

Michael Steinhardt, 81, illegally acquired art that was smuggled from 11 countries, including Egypt, Syria and Turkey, during wars or civil unrest using 12 criminal networks.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 07 (APP): School closures during the coronavirus pandemic could result in a staggering $17 trillion in lost lifetime earnings for today’s students, according to a UN-backed report.

The projection is among the findings of The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery, published by the World Bank, the UN Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The figure is calculated in present value, representing roughly 14 per cent of current Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

WASHINGTON (AP) — In an abrupt reversal, an attorney for former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said his client will not cooperate with a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, citing a breakdown in negotiations with the panel.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence is cooperating with the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Marc Short was at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and accompanied Pence as he fled his post presiding over the Senate and hid from rioters who were calling for his hanging. Short is cooperating with the panel after receiving a subpoena, according to the person, who was granted anonymity to discuss the private interactions.