Dec. 24, 2014
MISSOURI POLICE KILL ANOTHER BLACK TEEN
A crowd of about 300 angry protesters gathered near Ferguson, Missouri, in the early hours this morning after St. Louis police shot and killed a teenager in the nearby town of Berkeley, NBC News reports. Local media reported that the victim, who police say was threatening an officer with a handgun, was a black teenager. The shooting comes amid still-raw racial tension nationwide after unarmed black teenager Michael Brown was shot and killed in August, just three miles from this latest deadly encounter.
MY GRAND-PÈRE’S WORLD
WORLD MARKETS MIXED AFTER DOW HITS RECORD
Christmas came early for investors this year in the U.S, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 18,000 milestone for the first time ever yesterday. But Wall Street’s so-called “Santa rally” didn’t translate to Europe, as shares were mixed today, with the markets open for just half the day.On the last trading session before Christmas, Asian indices largely rose, with the exception of China, CNBC reports. But trading volumes were low, with markets in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore only open for half day ahead of Christmas.
In addition to the Dow Jones record Tuesday, the S&P 500 also finished at a record high. The two indexes are now up nearly 9% and 13% in 2014, respectively. The market was reacting to news that the U.S. economy grew at a brisk 5% in the third quarter, the strongest quarter of growth since 2003.
WORLDCRUNCH-TO-GO
Our fair-minded but ever subjective staff of journalists, translators and editors has compiled some of the best Worldcrunch stories this year from all over the world. Check them out here: Worldcrunch Staff Picks 21 Best Reads Of 2014.
ISIS CAPTURES PILOT
ISIS terrorists say they have captured a Jordanian pilot after shooting down a coalition warplane in Syria yesterday, CNN reports, citing a statement posted on an ISIS-affiliated Twitter account. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported this morning that ISIS had shot down an unidentified plane near the jihadist group's stronghold of Raqqa.
ELDER BUSH HOSPITALIZED AS PRECAUTION
Former President George H.W. Bush, 90, was hospitalized Tuesday night after experiencing what a spokesman called a "shortness of breath," the Houston Chronicle reports. Bush was taken by ambulance to Houston Methodist Hospital as a precaution and will remain there under observation.
2014 IN VIDEO REVIEW
It was a year of far too much bad news for the history books, crunched into this expand=1] 57-second video. And there's more (not always so grim) history to cover. We are launching a daily video feature that squeezes all of world history — well, almost — into less than a minute each day. It's called ON THIS DAY: Your 57-Second Shot of History — check out this expand=1] sample video, and sign up to get it delivered free in your inbox.
