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European Central Bank slows pace of rate hikes but vows more

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:21 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank slowed the pace of its interest rate increases Thursday, stepping back like the U.S. Federal Reserve from a string of jumbo hikes aimed at snuffing out inflation. But The ECB also says it is “not pausing” even as its efforts are working by making mortgages and business loans harder to get.The quarter-point hike comes a day after the Fed approved the same increase but hinted it may be the last for now. The central bank for the 20 countries that use the euro currency started later and said it has further to go even as economic growth slows to a crawl and U.S. bank instability stirs new fears of financial turmoil.“Based on the information we have today, we have more ground to cover, and we are not pausing,” ECB President Christine Lagarde said at a news conference. She later added, “This is a journey. We have not arrived yet.”Lagarde said there’s no “magic number” but that the bank “will know what that is when we get there.” Inf...

Stock market today: Wall Street dips as bank worries linger

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:21 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are slipping as Wall Street’s worries about the U.S. banking system crank even higher. The S&P 500 was 0.3% lower in early trading Thursday as several market-moving forces swirled, from the latest rate increase by the European Central Bank to a report indicating more U.S. workers got laid off last week than expected. The Dow was off 76 points, or 0.2%, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%. PacWest Bancorp tumbled more than 40%. Investors have the struggling regional bank in their crosshairs following three of the four largest U.S. bank failures in history. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Wall Street tipped lower in premarket trading Thursday as anxiety over the stability of regional banks dragged on a day after the Federal Reserve announced another interest rate hike.Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrials fell 0.3%.Concerns about a rush of withdrawals by customers of regional banks continues to roil the f...

Pilots decry industry push for solo flying

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:21 GMT

MONTREAL — Pilots are speaking out against an aviation industry push toward having a sole crew member in the cockpit.At a news conference in Montreal, leaders of three of the largest pilot unions representing more than 150,000 workers say a proposal to Europe’s aviation regulator aims to boost airline profits at the cost of safety.The European Union Aviation Safety Agency is mulling a pitch by plane makers Airbus and Dassault Aviation for some aircraft to be crewed by just one pilot for part of the flight — though not during takeoff and landing — by 2027, rather than the two-pilot operation now required throughout the trip.Jack Netskar, president of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations, which includes some 6,200 Canadians, says the proposal would create an unacceptable safety risk for passengers.Union leaders say they aim to counter a lobbying campaign by the sector targeting regulators around the world, as well as the International Civil Aviation Orga...

Shelling in Sudanese capital disrupts aid delivery efforts

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:21 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Heavy shelling in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Thursday disrupted efforts to deliver badly needed aid to trapped civilians as yet another fragile and frequently violated truce ran out, residents said. Sudan has plunged into chaos since fighting erupted in mid-April between the country’s two top generals. There is increasing concern for those trapped and displaced by the fighting, and aid workers and civilians have said there is a dire lack of basic services, medical care, food and water.In central areas of the capital, Khartoum, sporadic explosions could be heard Thursday, a day after the United Nations warned that the country’s people are “facing a humanitarian catastrophe,” and the latest in a series of cease-fires expired earlier in the day. “The situation is very dire,” Atiya Abdalla Atiya, secretary of the country’s doctors’ syndicate said. “All forms of shelling can still be heard in Khartoum, whether air or artillery shelling.”Black plumes of smoke r...

Kansas child shot to death while playing in front yard

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:21 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — One or more shooters opened fire on a child playing in the front yard of a Kansas home, killing him, authorities said.The attack Wednesday evening in Kansas City, Kansas, when it was still daylight, doesn’t appear to have been a “random act,” police Maj. Violeta Magee told reporters at the scene. Police didn’t release the name or age of the child but described him as a “young juvenile.”Officers found the wounded boy in the front yard. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Magee said.Police found more than 30 shell casings at the scene. They are looking for a maroon Subaru Legacy with a missing front bumper that may be connected to the attack.Police haven’t said whether they think more than one person was involved in the attack, or whether the intended target was the boy or the adult he was with. Police didn’t immediately respond Thursday to phone and email messages seeking additional information.The Associated Press

Feds fine McDonald’s franchisees with workers as young as 10

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:21 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Two 10-year-olds are among 300 children who worked at McDonald’s restaurants illegally, a Labor Department investigation of franchisees in Kentucky found.Agency investigators found the 10-year-olds received little or no pay at a McDonald’s in Louisville, the Labor Department said. The franchisee for the Louisville store was among three McDonald’s franchisees fined $212,000 in total by the department.Louisville’s Bauer Food LLC, which operates 10 McDonald’s locations, employed 24 minors under the age of 16 to work more hours than legally permitted, the agency said. Among those were two 10-year-old children. The agency said the children sometimes worked as late as 2 a.m., but were not paid.“Below the minimum age for employment, they prepared and distributed food orders, cleaned the store, worked at the drive-thru window and operated a register,” the Labor Department said Tuesday, adding that one child also was allowed to operate a deep fryer, w...

Canadian Natural Resources reports Q1 profit down from year ago, production up

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:21 GMT

CALGARY — Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. reported a first-quarter profit of $1.8 billion, down from $3.1 billion in the same quarter last year.The oilsands company say the profit amounted to $1.62 per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, down from a profit of $2.63 per diluted share a year earlier.Revenue for the quarter totalled $8.6 billion, down from nearly $10.7 billion in the first three months of 2022.Production in the quarter averaged 1,319,391 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up from 1,280,180 in the same quarter last year.On an adjusted basis, the company says it earned $1.69 per diluted share, down from an adjusted profit of $2.86 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of $1.70 per share, based on estimates compiled by financial markets data firm Refinitiv.This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:CNQ)The Canadian Press

Statistics Canada says merchandise trade surplus $972 million in March

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:21 GMT

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says the country posted a merchandise trade surplus in March of $972 million as imports fell more than exports.The agency says the surplus compared with a revised deficit of $487 million in February. The initial reading for February released last month had indicated a surplus of $422 million.The reading for March came as total imports for the month fell 2.9 per cent to $62.6 billion, the lowest level observed since March 2022.Imports of consumer goods fell 11.0 per cent, mainly because imports of pharmaceutical products dropped 31.8 per cent. Imports of electronic and electrical equipment and parts lost 5.2 per cent.Meanwhile, total exports fell 0.7 per cent to $63.6 billion, the lowest level since February 2022. Exports of energy products dropped 5.9 per cent in the month, mainly because of lower exports of crude oil as both prices and volumes were lower in March.In volume terms, overall imports were down 5.3 per cent in March, while exports edged up 0.1 ...

In Ukraine’s forests, fighters race to prepare for next push

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:21 GMT

SOMEWHERE IN CENTRAL UKRAINE (AP) — The fighters depart at dawn, single-file, rifles slung, compasses in hand, and disappear like chameleons into the lush greenery of central Ukraine’s dense forests.They’re training for a long-anticipated campaign that Ukraine hopes will shift the momentum of its war with Russia. It’s a crash course in new assault tactics for the National Guard squad, a mix of volunteers whose ages range from 22 to 51. The squad is part of a brigade that’s been chosen to prepare for a counteroffensive, and it’s had just a few months to train on new skills and incorporate new recruits. By their own admission, the servicemen have outdated weapons, and many feared not enough training or resources. But they said when the time comes, they will be ready to fight.The Associated Press joined a unit of the Stalevy Kordon or Steel Border, a brigade of Ukraine’s National Guard. Over a year since Russia invaded Ukraine, the war’s front lines have been all but static for months,...

Griner using new platform for greater good in return to WNBA

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:21 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Brittney Griner caught a flight to Washington, D.C., to attend the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, landed back at Phoenix around 4 a.m. and was up five hours later for the start of training camp.After going through her first workout with the Phoenix Mercury, she hopped on a plane to New York to attend the Met Gala, schmoozing with Usher, Patrick Mahomes and Dwyane Wade before returning to the desert. Griner didn’t get back until after 1 a.m. and was back on the court with the Mercury later that morning.“It’s been a whirlwind,” Griner said Wednesday at the Mercury’s media day. “I have a lot of respect for the stars that do that. It’s not me. I don’t how they do it. It was amazing, two big honors to be able to go and be there, but I’m taking a big nap today.”Griner mostly kept a low profile since a nearly 10-month detainment in Russia on drug-related charges ended with a prisoner swap in December. Now that the WNBA season is just ...