Dow industrial closes above 13,000

Dow industrial closes above 13,000

new york

The Dow Jones industrial average rode a surge of confidence in the economy Tuesday to close above 13,000, a threshold it last crossed four months before the financial crisis of 2008 and the darkest days of the Great Recession.

The milestone extended a strong rally in stocks since the start of the year, and it came after a fitful week in which the Dow repeatedly floated above 13,000 only to fall back by the end of the trading day.

The Dow closed at 13,005.12, a close enough call that the gain of a single stock, Johnson & Johnson, made the difference. The Dow last closed above 13,000 in May 2008, four months before the fall of the Lehman Brothers investment bank.

Interpol arrests 25 in hacking crimes

PARIS

Interpol said Tuesday that 25 suspected members of the loose-knit Anonymous hacker movement have been arrested in a sweep across Europe and South America.

The international police agency said in a statement that the arrests in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain were carried out by national law enforcement officers working under the support of Interpol’s Latin American Working Group of Experts on Information Technology Crime.

The suspects, between age 17 and 40, are suspected of planning coordinated cyberattacks against institutions including Colombia’s defense ministry and presidential websites, Chile’s Endesa electricity company and national library, as well as other targets.

US slams Syria over meeting walkout

GENEVA

The United States criticized Syria’s envoy for storming out of an emergency U.N. meeting about the crisis in his country Tuesday, saying the walkout and a fiery speech that preceded it demonstrated the “delusional” nature of President Bashar Assad’s regime.

Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Fayssal al-Hamwi, had accused members of the U.N. Human Rights Council of promoting terrorism and prolonging the crisis by organizing the debate on the situation in his country, where the global body says more than 7,500 people have died since March.

Va. Senate passes abortion mandate

RICHMOND, Va.

Virginia’s Senate has passed legislation that would require women seeking abortions to undergo noninvasive ultrasounds, days after eliminating a stipulation that the exams be conducted through a vaginal procedure that had drawn the scorn of commentators and TV comedians.

The chamber narrowly controlled by Republicans split 21-19, mostly along party lines, in approving the amended measure Tuesday.

The bill returns to Virginia’s House for expected concurrence on amendments added last week that would eliminate mandatory invasive vaginal ultrasounds and would exempt victims of rape and incest who reported the crimes to police.

Venezuelan leader has tumor removed

CARACAS, Venezuela

Doctors successfully extracted a tumor from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s pelvic region, and he was stable and recovering in Cuba on Tuesday with family at his side, his vice president announced.

“President Chavez is in good physical condition,” Vice President Elias Jaua told the main chamber of the National Assembly, prompting a standing ovation and cries of “Onward, comandante!”

The precise nature of Chavez’s cancer has not been divulged.

Associated Press