Europe Stocks Gain; Oil Jumps On Middle East Tensions

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By JOSH BOAK and NICHOLAS RICCARDI WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden faced a test Thursday that he had avoided so far this year — a solo news conference with questions from the White House press corps. The news conference was meant to reassure a disheartened group of Democratic lawmakers, allies and persuadable voters in this year’s election that Biden still has the strength and stamina to be president.

President Biden on Thursday accidentally used Russian President Vladimir Putin’s name when introducing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the NATO Summit, a flub that comes at a vulnerable moment in his campaign. The mistake is likely to turn up the volume on calls for him to drop out of the race after his disastrous debate performance raised questions about his mental acuity. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “Now I want to hand it over to the President of Ukraine who has as much courage as he has determination.

Anchorage, Alaska — A U. S. Coast Guard cutter on routine patrol in the Bering Sea came across several Chinese military ships in international waters but within the U. S. exclusive economic zone, officials said. The crew detected three vessels approximately 124 miles (200 kilometers) north of the Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands, the Coast Guard said in a statement Wednesday.

Tesla Inc. is postponing its planned robotaxi unveiling to October to allow teams working on the project more time to build additional prototypes, according to people familiar with the decision. The roughly two-month delay has been communicated internally, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information hadn’t been publicly announced.

New York — The nearly complete fossilized remains of a 161-million-year-old stegosaurus discovered in Colorado in 2022 will be auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York next week, auction house officials said. The dinosaur that Sotheby’s calls Apex stands 11 feet (3.3 meters) tall and measures 27 feet (8.2 meters) nose to tail, according to Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s global head of science and popular culture. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The stegosaurus, with its distinctive pointy dorsal plates, is one of the world’s most recognizable dinosaurs. Apex, which Hatton called “a coloring book dinosaur,” was discovered in May 2022 on private land near the town of Dinosaur, Colorado.