More Epstein

items released

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department has released tens of thousands more documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, a tranche that included multiple mentions of President Donald Trump but added little new revelatory information to the long-anticipated public file on the disgraced late financier.

The documents also contain apparent correspondence between an Epstein co-conspirator and the U.K.’s former Prince Andrew. Many of the mentions of Trump come from news clippings. There is also an email from a prosecutor pointing out flights Trump took on Epstein’s private jet.

The Justice Department said one of the letters in the file was fake, but had been included for reasons of transparency.

Libya’s military

chief killed

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A private jet carrying Libya’s military chief and four other military officers has crashed after takeoff from Turkey’s capital, Ankara, killing all on board. Three crew members also died. Turkey said the Libyan delegation was in Ankara on Tuesday for high-level defense talks aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.

Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah confirmed the death of Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad and the others, saying in a statement on Facebook that the “tragic accident” took place as the delegation was returning home and called it a “great loss” for Libya. It wasn’t immediately clear how many crew members were on board when the plane crashed.

Explosion at

nursing home

BRISTOL, Pa. (AP) — A thunderous explosion at a nursing home just outside Philadelphia collapsed part of the building, sent flames shooting out and left people injured and trapped inside, authorities said.

The explosion happened at Bristol Health & Rehab Center in Bristol Township, just as a utility crew had been on site looking for a gas leak, although the cause of the explosion was unclear several hours later, as was the extent of the casualties.

A plume of black smoke rose from the nursing home, as emergency responders, fire trucks and ambulances from across the region rushed there, joined by earthmoving equipment.

Authorities said there were injuries, but had yet to say whether there were any fatalities.

Police Lt. Sean Cosgrove said he didn’t know if anyone was missing, and that residents had been evacuated by emergency responders, bystanders and staff.

S&P 500 hits

record high

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed at another record on Wall Street Tuesday following a surprisingly strong report on economic growth over the summer.

The U.S. government’s first assessment of economic growth during the third quarter also showed that inflation remains high. A separate report showed that consumer confidence continued fading in December. All of it added to a complicated picture of the economy.

The latest record for the S&P 500 came even as most stocks within the benchmark index lost ground. Technology stocks, which have been the main force pushing major indexes to records all year, once again were able to counter weakness elsewhere in the market.

The S&P 500 rose 31.30 points, or 0.5%, to 6,909.79, surpassing the record set earlier in December. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 79.73 points, or 0.2%, to 48,442.41. The Nasdaq composite rose 133.02 points, or 0.6%, to 23,561.84.

Nvidia jumped 3% and was the biggest force helping to push the market higher. It is among several big tech companies with outsized valuations that tend to have more impact on the broader market’s direction. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, rose 1.5%.