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Stock Market Today: Stocks Shrink From Highs as CPI LoomsWASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Christopher Wray told the bureau workforce Wednesday that he plans to resign at the end of President Joe Biden's term in January, an announcement that came a week and a half after President-elect Donald Trump said he would nominate loyalist Kash Patel for the job. Wray said at a town hall meeting that he would be stepping down "after weeks of careful thought," three years short of the completion of a 10-year term marked by high-profile and politically charged investigations, including that led to two separate indictments of Trump last year. Wray's intended resignation is not unexpected considering that Trump had settled on Patel to be director and had repeatedly aired his ire at Wray, including in a television interview broadcast Sunday. By stepping down rather than waiting to be fired, Wray is trying to avert a collision with the new Trump administration that he said would have further entangled the FBI "deeper into the fray." "My goal is to keep the focus on our mission — the indispensable work you're doing on behalf of the American people every day," Wray told agency employees. "In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work." Wray was put in the job by Trump and began the 10-year term — a length meant to insulate the agency from the political influence of changing administrations — in 2017, after Trump fired then-FBI Director James Comey amid an investigation into ties between Russia and the Republican president's campaign. Trump had telegraphed his anger with Wray on multiple occasions. Trump said in the recent interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" that "I can't say I'm thrilled with him. He invaded my home," a reference to the FBI search of his Florida property, Mar-a-Lago, two years ago for classified documents from Trump's first term as president. But the soft-spoken director rarely seemed to go out of his way to publicly confront the White House. In fact, Wray was quick to distance himself and his leadership team from the FBI's Russia investigation. On the same day of a harshly critical inspector general report on that inquiry, Wray announced more than 40 corrective actions to the FBI's process for applying for warrants for secret national security surveillance. He said mistakes made during the Russia inquiry were unacceptable and he helped tighten controls for investigations into candidates for federal office. FBI officials actively trumpeted those changes to make clear that Wray's leadership had ushered in a different era at the bureau. Even then, though, Wray's criticism of the investigation was occasionally measured — he did not agree, for instance, with Trump's characterization of it as a "witch hunt" — and there were other instances, particularly in response to specific questions, when he memorably broke with the White House. Last December, he said that there was "no indication" that Ukraine had interfered in the 2016 election, countering a frequent talking point at the time from Trump. When the Trump White House blessed the declassification of materials related to the surveillance of a former Trump campaign aide, Wray made known his displeasure. Wray angered Trump for saying that antifa was a movement and an ideology but not an organization. Trump had said he would like to designate the group as a terrorist organization. Wray described in detail Russian efforts to interfere in the 2020 election that Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden, even though Trump and senior officials in his administration, including his attorney general and national security adviser, maintained that China was the more assertive threat. Wray also said the FBI had not seen evidence of widespread voter fraud, a claim that Trump repeatedly pushed. Before being named FBI director, Wray worked at a prestigious law firm, King & Spalding, where he represented former Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., during the "Bridgegate" affair. He also led the Justice Department's criminal division for a period during President George W. Bush's administration.
Social media users report they cannot access Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp, as Meta confirms a mass outage of its platforms. Outage tracking website Downdetector.com was flooded with more than 100,000 reports of problems, which started about 3am (AEST). In a statement posted to X, Meta confirmed it was aware that a “technical issue” was impacting “some users” of their apps. It’s not clear how extensive the outage is, but reports suggest it is worldwide. “We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible and apologise for any inconvenience,” the statement read. Similar statements were issued by Instagram and WhatsApp acknowledging and apologising for the issue. The WhatsApp statement concluded: “We expect things to be back to normal shortly”. Police are trying to catch a motorcyclist who was filmed swerving between oncoming traffic while riding without a helmet. The incident was captured by a dashcam about 2.30pm, November 13, on Gehrke Road in the Lockyer Valley. Police are appealing for anyone who recognises the rider or his passenger, who police said appeared to be female, to come forward. They do not believe anyone was injured in the stunt. An 80-year-old man has been charged with historical child sexual offences almost a month after police arrested him in his Rosemount home, but investigators suspected the man had committed further offences. He was arrested on November 15, after an alleged victim tipped off police and officers executed a search warrant on the man’s property. He was charged with 17 offences – 12 counts of indecent treatment of children, and five counts of unlawful intercourse – with police reporting the man used his involvement in a sports club in the 1990s to repeatedly offend against a child. Sunshine Coast CPIU Detective Senior Sergeant Kerri Della-Vedova thanked the person who had spoken to police and offered information that led to the arrest, but suspected more children had been involved. “If anyone else relates to this offending or has more information, I encourage you to speak to police,” Della-Vedova said. “I’d like to reinforce to anyone who has experienced sexual violence or abuse, even decades ago, that police will listen, we will investigate while respecting your wishes, privacy, health and safety needs.” The 80-year-old man was expected to appear before Maroochydore Magistrates Court today. An overnight house fire is being treated as arson by police. Officers believe the property, on Bindi Street in Logan Central, was reportedly set alight about 11.35pm. No one was home at the time and no injuries have been reported. Queensland Police declared a crime scene and investigations were under way at the house. Anyone with information or CCTV was urged to come forward. After confirming he would not stand in front of Indigenous flags if elected prime minister, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has suggested it’s his view that only the Australian flag should be flown on national landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The Aboriginal flag permanently replaced the NSW state flag atop the bridge in June 2022, after a protracted debate about whether it should be flown. The Australian Aboriginal Flag flies high atop the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Credit: Dylan Coker Asked on Seven’s Sunrise if his stance on the Aboriginal flag at press conferences extended to it being flown on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Dutton didn’t directly answer. He noted it was a state government issue before implying his personal preference was that only the Australian flag was flown. “My preference would be that we just, frankly, accept that we have one national flag,” he said. “For us at a federal level, I’m not going to pretend that our country can be united when we’re asking people to identify in different ways.” He concluded that while we should be “very proud of our Indigenous heritage”, he doesn’t believe the country can be united under three flags. The Coalition’s nuclear energy policy, set to be released this week, will be cheaper than Labor’s plan, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has maintained. On Monday, the CSIRO released a report that found nuclear power was still about 50 per cent more expensive than renewables, even after the science organisation changed its modelling to accommodate criticism from the Coalition that it had unfairly favoured wind and solar energy sources. Dutton denied he was reconsidering his promise that energy bills would be cheaper using nuclear power because of the reissued report. He said the “international experience” had shown that they couldn’t meet net zero targets with renewable and that energy was cheaper. Pushed on the fact that most of the countries he regularly cites established their nuclear industries in the 20th century and therefore couldn’t be used to demonstrate the cost of an Australian plant, Dutton promised he would release the Coalition’s costings this week. “The costings show that ... it’s cheaper than what the government’s proposing, and we can deliver stability in the market,” he said. “So you need to decarbonise. We need to make sure that we’ve got stability. We can’t operate an economy with blackouts and brownouts.” Social media users report they cannot access Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp, as Meta confirms a mass outage of its platforms. Outage tracking website Downdetector.com was flooded with more than 100,000 reports of problems, which started about 3am (AEST). In a statement posted to X, Meta confirmed it was aware that a “technical issue” was impacting “some users” of their apps. It’s not clear how extensive the outage is, but reports suggest it is worldwide. “We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible and apologise for any inconvenience,” the statement read. Similar statements were issued by Instagram and WhatsApp acknowledging and apologising for the issue. The WhatsApp statement concluded: “We expect things to be back to normal shortly”. The deluge of earlier this week in Brisbane is in the rear-view mirror, with a sunny day forecast this Thursday The temperature is expected to reach a top of 30 degrees, and the next few days are expected to be even warmer. Here’s your seven-day outlook: Here are the stories making the rounds further afield this morning: Labor will force big tech companies to pay for Australian journalism under a new scheme that seeks to punish platforms such as Facebook for refusing to sign content deals, raising the prospect of a financial penalty if they do not contribute to local news. What really goes on at Mar-a-Lago? Donald Trump’s Palm Beach palace has effectively become a shadow White House as a roll-call of global statesmen, businessmen and political loyalists fly in to pay court, all striving to serve in, or influence, the president-elect. “What do you do? You wack the CEO.” Authorities say writings found in the possession of Luigi Mangione , who police allege gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, hinted at a hatred of corporate greed. The Reserve Bank says it stands ready to respond to any economic turmoil caused by US President-elect Donald Trump’s ambitious tariff plans. Papua New Guinea will officially be granted a National Rugby League licence at an announcement today. Read more about the deal here. Good morning, thanks for joining us for Brisbane Times’ live news blog. It’s Thursday, December 12, and we’re expecting a sunny day and a top temperature of 30 degrees. In this morning’s local headlines: Star Casino has asked cyclists to dismount for 100 metres on the Bicentennial Bikeway at Queen’s Wharf during the Sono Lumo event. Now riders plan to protest in the casino’s driveway. If you’re stuck for Christmas gift ideas, Brisbane Times city reporter Courtney Kruk has compiled some of Brisbane’s best stores for gift-buying – from books and music to antiques and plants. Australian basketball great Leroy Loggins has thrown down the gauntlet to a history-making Brisbane Bullets star, and the way he responds could be what takes his side from the NBL doldrums to championship contention. And Brisbane’s The Gabba is set for a “green mamba” pitch in the third Test against India. Can Nathan McSweeney deal with another Jasprit Bumrah onslaught?
Spears and UTSA knock off Merrimack 76-74