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Stock market today: Wall Street rises with hopes for pause to rate hikes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:47 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is rising Thursday with hopes that the Federal Reserve may soon take it easier on its hikes to interest rates. The S&P 500 was 0.9% higher in afternoon trading after a suite of reports painted a split U.S. economy. The job market remains remarkably solid, but manufacturing is weakening and shoppers of all kinds are feeling more pressure. Altogether, investors saw the data pushing the Fed to refrain from hiking rates at its next meeting in two weeks, which would be the first time that’s happened in more than a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 170 points, or 0.5%, at 33,073, as 1:38 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite was leading the market with a 1.2% gain. It’s full of technology companies and other high-growth stocks that tend to benefit most from lower rates.One positive for the market came late Wednesday when the House of Representatives approved a deal to prevent a possibly catastrophic default on the U.S. government’s...

Man sentenced to life in killing of mother of 2 New Mexico State Police officers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:47 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A Mexican national convicted of the 2019 slaying of the mother of two New Mexico State Police officers in a case that drew national attentione has been sentenced to life in prison.Luis Talamantes-Romero also received an additional prison term of 26 1/2 years on Wednesday for eight other felony convictions in the death of Jacqueline Vigil.He declined to address the court before his sentencing.Talamantes-Romero, 35, was convicted in April of first-degree murder along with aggravated burglary, attempted armed robbery, tampering with evidence, conspiracy and other charges.Authorities said Vigil, 55, was killed outside her northwest Albuquerque home in an attempted burglary in November 2019. She was shot in her driveway as she prepared to leave for a gym.The case went unsolved for months, drawing the attention of then-President Donald Trump as he pushed his tough-on-crime agenda. Vigil’s family also traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with Trump.Prosecutors sai...

Champions League final referee under UEFA scrutiny for links to far-right leader in Poland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:47 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — An anti-racism group called on soccer’s top referee Thursday to distance himself from a far-right politician in Poland, and UEFA said it wanted “urgent clarification” ahead of the Champions League final.“A further announcement will be made (Friday), after reviewing all the evidence,” UEFA said.Szymon Marciniak has been picked by UEFA to referee the biggest game in club soccer between Manchester City and Inter Milan on June 10. He also handled the Argentina-France World Cup final for FIFA this season.The Never Again group in Warsaw said Marciniak “reportedly promoted and participated in a recent event organized by a Polish far-right leader Slawomir Mentzen.”’We are shocked and appalled by Marciniak’s public association with Mentzen and his brand of toxic far-right politics,” Never Again co-founder Rafal Pankowski said in a statement. “It is incompatible with the basic values of fair play such as equality and respect.”Mentzen is a leader of the populist Konfederacja (Con...

‘Two beautiful souls’: Families of couple slain in landlord-tenant dispute speak out

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:47 GMT

The families of two people killed by their landlord after a dispute about mold growing in their rental apartment in Stoney Creek have released a statement through Hamilton police, calling them “two beautiful souls” who were set to marry this summer.Carissa MacDonald, 27, and Aaron Stone, 28, were shot to death on Saturday by their landlord, who lived in the unit above them.On Wednesday, a spokesperson with Hamilton Police confirmed that a dispute over the state of their basement apartment — specifically mold — ultimately led to the fatal shootings.It was also revealed that MacDonald and Stone, identified by police on Tuesday, were preparing to move out of the unit on Thursday, June 1.“They were days away from moving into their new home and starting the next chapter of their lives,” their families said in a joint statement Thursday.“They were planning on getting married this summer,” they added.“They were such family-oriented peop...

Biden tells US Air Force Academy graduates their leadership needed in increasingly confusing world

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:47 GMT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday thanked U.S. Air Force Academy graduates for choosing “service over self” but said they now have the “great privilege” of leading in a world that will only get more confusing in the years to come.“Graduates, you made a noble choice to lead a life of service,” Biden told more than 900 cadets in remarks on the sun-splashed field at Falcon Stadium in Colorado. “Now you also shoulder a great privilege and a mighty responsibility. Leadership, yeah leadership.”“In the years ahead, your airmen and guardians are going to look to you for guidance and inspiration because the world is going to get more confusing,” he added. “They’ll put their trust in you. You, in turn, must strive to always be worthy of their confidence.”Biden said they will need the qualities of resilience, creativity, endurance and commitment that they learned during their four years of training at the academy — learning that was interrupted by the C...

Jordan’s capital turns into open-air party for first major royal wedding in years

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:47 GMT

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan’s capital turned into an open-air party on Thursday as crowds gathered to celebrate the desert kingdom’s first major royal wedding in years and bask in the event’s unmistakable demonstration of Jordan’s influence and importance.Jordanians from all walks of life shared an infectious excitement about the union between Crown Prince Hussein and Saudi architect Rajwa Alseif, momentarily forgetting their differences and troubles in a Mideast country regarded as a rare beacon of stability in a turbulent region.The wedding fever had been building for weeks. As the day began, Jordanians decked out in traditional red-and-white scarves and other elaborate get-ups — including T-shirts printed with pictures of the couple and body paint congratulating the prince — gathered around huge screens nationwide to watch the ceremony unfold. Royals and dignitaries from around the world descended on Amman for the occasion.The traditional Islamic wedding service lasted mere minut...

Trinidad’s Francis elected next leader of UN General Assembly

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:47 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Trinidad and Tobago’s Ambassador Dennis Francis was elected Thursday as the next president of the U.N. General Assembly, the 193-member world body that has been at the forefront of the United Nations’ condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is a key venue for all countries to tackle urgent issues from growing global poverty and inequality to climate change.Francis, the longest-serving ambassador of his Caribbean nation, takes over the presidency at the start of the 78th session of the assembly in September and will preside over the annual gathering of world leaders later that month.Francis was elected by acclamation with a bang of the gavel and loud applause. He will succeed Csaba Kőrösi of Hungary, a diplomat for nearly 40 years who was highly praised by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said, “I will miss his advice and guidance.”The General Assembly, which is the U.N.’s most representative body, has taken the spotlight in reac...

Berlin police record jump in angry motorists attacking road-blocking climate activists

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:47 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Figures released Thursday by German police showed a sharp increase in the number of violent attacks on climate protesters in Berlin recorded this year compared with 2022.Police in the capital said they opened 66 investigations into motorists suspected of committing crimes against members of the activist group Last Generation during the first five months of 2023. Eighteen such investigations were launched during all of last year.Last Generation’s tactic of blocking streets has drawn ire from some drivers, who have used force to clear activists off the road.Some tabloid newspapers have suggested that doing so constitutes a form of self-defense. But Berlin daily Tagesspiegel, which first reported the new attack figures, quoted a police spokesperson as saying there was no indication motorists were becoming more radical; instead, an increasing number of blockades could be the reason for the rise in attacks, the spokesperson said.Berlin police said 17 cases of suspecte...

Music review: Foo Fighters’ new album ‘But Here We Are’ grapples with loss

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:47 GMT

“But Here We Are,” by Foo Fighters (Roswell/RCA).There’s hardly a greater purpose for music than expression of feelings, and the Foo Fighters have brought quite a collection of them to their latest album. “But Here We Are” sounds like the most grown-up of the 11 studio records from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band, a vintage recipe of relentless guitar riffs, unsettled yet subtly sweet melodies, and the raging, raspy vocals of front man Dave Grohl. Their first release since the sudden death of beloved drummer Taylor Hawkins while on tour last year is essentially the album they needed to make — and probably the one their families, friends and fans needed to hear. Grohl’s grappling with loss — the album is dedicated to Hawkins and his mother, Virginia — is painfully palpable and artfully woven throughout the 10 songs. There’s no escaping each facet of grief in these characteristically uncomplicated lyrics that are about coping, reflecting and realizing life must...

Process underway for Han Dong’s possible return to the Liberal caucus

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:47 GMT

OTTAWA — A senior government official says Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc is leading a process to determine Independent MP Han Dong’s possible return to the Liberal caucus. The Canadian Press is not naming the source because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the process. Han Dong, a Toronto-area MP, resigned from the government caucus in March saying he wanted to clear his name following allegations published in media reports. Global News reported, citing unnamed national security sources, that Dong told a Chinese diplomat in February 2021 that releasing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor would benefit the Conservatives. The claim was deemed “false” by Canada’s foreign interference watchdog. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has left the door open to Dong rejoining the Liberal caucus, and Dong has expressed that desire in recent media reports. Dong is suing Global News. The outlet said in a recent statement that it took painstaki...