Business & Financial News, U.S & International Breaking News

(Reuters) -The benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq were set to end a year ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic with strong gains, thanks to unprecedented stimulus and vaccine rollouts that have boosted hopes of an economy recovery.

Ontario's Finance Minister Rod Phillips resigned on Thursday after public outrage over a Caribbean vacation he took earlier this month in violation of his own government's coronavirus travel warnings.

The United Kingdom exits the European Union's orbit on Thursday, turning its back on a tempestuous 48-year liaison with the European project for an uncertain post-Brexit future in its most significant geopolitical shift since the loss of empire.

ADEN (Reuters) -Saudi-led coalition warplanes struck targets in Yemen's Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Thursday in retaliation for attacks in the southern port city of Aden the previous day that took place as officials in a government backed by Riyadh arrived there.

The year 2020 was a wild one for Wall Street, bookended by the end of the longest bull market in history with the battering of equities by the COVID-19 shutdowns, and a bungee-cord rebound on hopes for economic recovery that resulted in the shortest bear market on record.

Movie theater operators, after a year of dismal ticket sales during the pandemic, are hoping a lineup of superheroes, fighter pilots and cinema's most famous spy will help them stage a comeback in 2021.