Congress Leaves; Fiscal Cliff Remains

Alphabet Inc.’s Google has fired 28 employees after they were involved in protests against Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion joint contract with Amazon.com Inc. to provide the Israeli government with AI and cloud services. Read More: Google Contract Shows Deal With Israel Defense Ministry The protests, which were led by the No Tech for Apartheid organization, took place Tuesday across Google offices in New York City, Seattle, and Sunnyvale, California.

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian authorities issued a tsunami alert Wednesday after eruptions at Ruang mountain sent ash thousands of feet high. Officials ordered more than 11,000 people to leave the area. The volcano on the northern side of Sulawesi island had at least five large eruptions in the past 24 hours, Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation said.

Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa ordered businesses and government offices to shut down Thursday and Friday amid a crippling lack of electrical power ahead of a key national referendum scheduled for Sunday. Noboa blamed the unprecedented measure on drought, but also sabotage, without offering evidence. The energy crisis comes on the heels of a security crisis and a fiscal crisis that’s sent it seeking help from the International Monetary Fund.

President Joe Biden called China “xenophobic” while highlighting the Asian nation’s economic woes, as he sought to make the case for U. S. economic strength during a campaign stop in the swing state of Pennsylvania. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “They’ve got a population that is more people in retirement than working. They’re not importing anything.

The Rockies were on the cusp of the most incredible comeback since Rocky Balboa decked Clubber Lang. An exaggeration? Of course. But the underdog Rockies only needed to land one more punch in Rocky’s City of Brotherly Love. But, “Yo, Adrian,” it never came, and the Phillies escaped with a 7-6 win Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park to complete a three-game sweep.

Balkan spirits and Detroit-style slices were served to the various factions of the Denver Nuggets as they learned which opponent they would be facing in the playoffs. Jambalaya is officially off the table. It’s Nuggets vs. Lakers for the third time in five years after Los Angeles knocked off the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night.