The Nasdaq closed lower Monday in the US, plummeting more than 200 points in a major selloff in tech stocks, despite reaching a record high earlier. 

The tech-heavy index lost 202 points, or 1.26%, to end the day at 15,854. It hit an all-time high of 16,212.23 points shortly after the opening bell.

The S&P 500 fell 15, or 0.32%, to close at 4,682 points despite climbing to a record of 4,743.83.

The Dow Jones, on the other hand, gained 17, or 0.05%, to finish at 35,619.

Among tech stocks, Zoom Video, Uber and BlackBerry lost more than 3% apiece, while Netflix, Amazon and Twitter fell over 2% each.

Coinbase saw shares dive 5.2% as the cryptocurrency market capitalization shed 5.5% compared to its previous day.

The price of Bitcoin retested the critical level of $55,600 shortly after the final bell, which was last seen Friday.

Amid the tech selloff and high uncertainty, the VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, jumped 7.2% to 19.20.

The dollar index, on the other hand, gained 0.5% to 96.52, while the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes climbed above the threshold of 1.6% -- adding 5.8% to 1.625%.

The price of Brent crude was up 0.57% at $79.34 a barrel and the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.55% to $76.36.

Precious metals extended losses with gold losing 2.2% to $1,8a05 an ounce and silver falling 1.9% to $24.16./aa

The man suspected of plowing an SUV through a crowded Christmas parade in the state of Wisconsin is being charged Monday with five counts of intentional homicide, and is expected to face additional charges. 

Authorities identified the suspect as Darrell Brooks Jr, 39, and Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said he "intentionally" drove the vehicle through barricades and into the crowd of people in the Milwaukee suburb. Additional charges would be forthcoming "based on the investigation" that is underway, he said.

Brooks Jr. was taken into custody a "short distance" from the scene and police said they are confident he acted alone.

"There's no evidence this is a terrorist incident," said Thompson.

On Sunday, five people were killed and 48 other victims were injured when a red Ford SUV slammed through a crowded parade in Waukesha. The deceased were identified as four elderly women aged 52 to 79 who were part of a "Dancing Grannies" club, and an 81-year-old man.

Two of the victims who were injured are children and they are in critical condition, according to the police chief.

Brooks Jr. was involved in what police are calling a "domestic disturbance" just minutes before the parade tragedy. An officer attempted to stop the vehicle and fired shots but stopped shooting due to the number of bystanders nearby, said Thompson.

Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reily sharply denounced the "senseless tragedy," saying the "Norman Rockwell-type Christmas parade" was transformed into "a nightmare" on Sunday.

"Last night lives were lost during the middle of what should have been a celebration," he said. "All who were there were traumatized. We experienced a horrific tragedy. We have so much healing that needs to occur."/agencies

Stores in California's San Francisco Bay Area have been hit with three days of mob-style smash-and-grab robberies with police searching for dozens of suspects in the mass lootings.

Three suspects have been taken into custody in connection with a theft at the Broadway Plaza Nordstrom in Walnut Creek on Saturday evening, the police department there said on Sunday. Two of the store's employees were assaulted and a third was hit with pepper spray by the mob, police said.

Two of those who were apprehended at the scene were taken into custody as they attempted to flee by car. One had a firearm in their possession, the Walnut Creek Police Department said in a statement. The third person was arrested "a short time later" while "in possession of stolen Nordstrom property."

Police identified the suspects that were taken into custody as Dana Dawson, 30, Joshua Underwood, 32, and Rodney Robinson, 18. Dawson faces gun charges.

Additional suspects fled the scene in cars driven "at high speeds," police added.

The department later said it was "actively monitoring intelligence that indicates the group of thieves who stole from the Broadway Plaza Nordstrom last night are considering similar activity later today."

It is unclear which areas they were monitoring, but two other stores were hit on Sunday, including a mall in the city of Hayward, and a Lululemon retailer in San Jose.

Witnesses described seeing a group of 40 to 50 people ransacking Sam's Jewelers in the Hayward mall as they used hammers to smash through protective glass before fleeing the scene, according to CBS News. A Macy's store was also reportedly looted there.

In San Francisco, a Louis Vuitton store in the city's Union Square was hit on Friday evening with "multiple suspects" being taken into custody in relation to that robbery, police said./agencies

EU officials are holding technical talks with Belarus to solve the migration crisis along its borders, an EU official told a daily news briefing Monday.

“We have been actually in touch with a number of Belarusian interlocutors, including the Foreign Ministry in different levels,” Peter Stano, the European Commission’s chief spokesperson on foreign policy, said when asked about Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s claims that he had reached out to the EU in vain.

Contrary to Lukashenko’s remarks, the European External Action Service (EEAS) has been in touch at various levels with their counterparts at Belarus’ Foreign Ministry, said Stano.

“We are looking into the possibility of holding technical talks with UN agencies and Belarusian counterparts at the technical and expert level in order to see how we can assist in their efforts to facilitate the repatriation of people stuck on Belarus back to safety,” he said.

Stano also confirmed that EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had two phone calls over the last seven days with Belarus’ Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, while other EEAS officials also held technical talks “with their counterparts of lower level” in Belarus’ Foreign Ministry.

“The most recent discussion took place on Friday about the necessary logistics,” he added.

Hybrid attack

Belarusian authorities announced on Thursday that they had moved migrants from the border with Poland to a nearby warehouse turned into a processing center.

On the same day, the first repatriation flights to Iraq took off with hundreds of people on board.

Over 2,000 people, including women and children, spent a week in the Belarusian-Polish border area in dire conditions.

The EU accuses Lukashenko of seeking retribution for EU sanctions on his regime by inviting “tourists” from countries that are the main sources of migration to the bloc and then herding them towards the borders of EU countries, in particular Poland.

In parallel to the talks with the Belarusian government, Borrell and European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas traveled to countries of origin and transit to raise authorities’ awareness of Belarus’ dangerous tactics and to stop the flights to Belarus.

Schinas last week visited Turkey, which the EU has praised for taking action to stop would-be migrants from taking flights to Belarus.

EU countries bordering Belarus – Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland – have been reporting a dramatically growing number of irregular crossings since August.

Over 8,000 people tried to enter the bloc via the Belarus-EU border so far this year, up sharply from just 150 last year.

NATO and the EU consider Belarus’ approach towards migrants as a hybrid attack meant to destabilize and undermine security in European countries through non-military means.​​​​​​​/aa

  Kuwait Sunday reburied the remains of 19 citizens who were captured or went missing during Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of the neighbouring country, local media.

The remains were identified by DNA tests after they were handed over by Iraqi authorities amid improving ties between the two countries.

Kuwaiti Interior Minister Thamer Al Aly, who is also the acting defence minister, Sunday led senior officials in a funeral held for the 19 people before their reburial in a cemetery in Sulaibikhat, a district of Kuwait City, Al Rai newspaper said.

Earlier this week, Rabeah Al Adasani, the head of a committee on prisoners of war and those missing in action at the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry, said the remains of the 19 were among those brought from Iraq in recent months after “intense efforts” about their burial sites in Iraq.

He added that the ministry had notified their families after they had been identified.

The official added that the forensic evidence department at the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry is doing the identification job under tough circumstances. “They have to deal with a situation wherein long years have elapsed after burials took place in Iraq,” he said. “Kuwait will continue its efforts to determine the fate of all captives, be they Kuwaitis or citizens of other countries,” he added.

In 1991, the US led a multinational military coalition that evicted Saddam’s forces from Kuwait.

In the run-up to the war, the coalition’s airpower was estimated at more than 3,000 warplanes.

At the time, the Iraqi army was classified as the world’s fifth largest with more than 1 million troops.

During the 43-day campaign to liberate Kuwait, the coalition mounted nearly 110,000 air raids, including 1,000 sorties in the first 24 hours, crippling Saddam’s forces./Arab Times