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Stock market today: Most of Wall Street rises, adding to winning week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:35 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting higher Thursday after more companies reported better profits than expected, while yields climbed after a Federal Reserve official cautioned the end to its interest-rate hikes may not arrive as early as Wall Street hoped.The S&P 500 was 0.5% higher in midday trading, adding to its rally from a day earlier as momentum seems to build for the U.S. government to avert a disastrous default on its debt. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was edging down by 8 points, or less than 0.1%, at 33,411, as of 11:20 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 1.1% higher.Helping to support Wall Street was Walmart, which rose 1% after reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than expected. It also raised its financial forecast for the full year, though it said it’s seeing shoppers remain cautious about spending.Bath & Body Works, another retailer, leaped 10.3% after reporting stronger revenue and earnings for the latest quarter.Much scrutiny h...

Reported hate crimes down slightly in 2022, but have spiked overall since pandemic: TPS report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:35 GMT

The Toronto Police Service’s (TPS) annual hate crime report showed a slight drop in reported hate crimes in 2022, but overall they’ve spiked dramatically since the pandemic began.The report, which was presented to the TPS Board on Thursday, outlines how the numbers skyrocketed after COVID-19 emerged.“The number of reported hate crimes in 2022 is 74 per cent higher than the pre-pandemic level in 2019,” it states.That number is also 40 per cent higher than the 10-year average.The data used in the report is based on hate crimes reported to the TPS between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2022.Despite that daunting overall increase since the pandemic, the TPS noted a slight decrease in the total number of hate crimes reported in 2022 compared to 2021, falling a modest six per cent.The most frequently reported offences motivated by hate in 2022 were mischief to property, assault, and uttering threats, the TPS said, with the Jewish, Black, and 2SLGBTQ+ communities the most frequently targeted.Th...

News site CEO apologizes to Mississippi ex-Gov. Bryant over welfare comments

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:35 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — An executive at a news organization has apologized to former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant for remarks she made about him and the misspending of welfare money that was intended to help some of the poorest people in the U.S.Mississippi Today published the apology from its CEO, Mary Margaret White, on Wednesday, a week after Bryant threatened to sue the nonprofit news website.Bryant said in a certified letter May 11 that White made a “false and defamatory” statement about him when she spoke at a journalism conference in February.“I misspoke at a recent media conference regarding the accusations against former Governor Phil Bryant in the $77 million welfare scandal,” White wrote Wednesday. “He has not been charged with any crime. My remark was inappropriate, and I sincerely apologize.”White also wrote that she requested that the video of her comments at the conference be retracted.A spokesman for Bryant, Denton Gibbes, said Thursday that the former governor’s...

‘Fake job:’ Poilievre won’t meet watchdog investigating foreign interference

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:35 GMT

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he chose not to meet former governor general David Johnston, who is investigating allegations of China’s meddling in Canada’s elections and other matters.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named Johnston as a special rapporteur to look into possible gaps the federal government has when it deals with foreign interference — and possibly recommend a public inquiry.Poilievre says Johnston has a “fake job” and he’s unable to do it independently because he used to be a member of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, which is under scrutiny for accepting a donation reportedly linked to China. Poilievre says he sent a letter to Johnston asking him how he can investigate the organization independently, but did not receive a response.He says Canada needs move on from this “special rapporteur distraction” and get on with a public inquiry. The New Democrats say they initiated a meeting between Johnston, par...

Sophie Gregoire Trudeau signs two-book deal with Penguin Random House Canada

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:35 GMT

OTTAWA — Sophie Gregoire Trudeau has signed a two-book deal with Penguin Random House Canada.The first, “Closer Together: Knowing Ourselves, Loving Each Other,” is set to be released next spring.Penguin Random House describes it as a “self-discovery and wellness book for adults.”The publishing house says the book advocates for acceptance and self-knowledge, and will include interviews with “top psychologists, scientists and thought leaders” interspersed with stories of Gregoire Trudeau’s own personal growth.She’s also set to write a children’s picture book, which is due out in 2025.The publisher says the book will encourage kids “to be as connected to the great outdoors as they are to their inner emotional landscape.”This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2023.The Canadian Press

Vatican recalls stamp celebrating Portugal’s colonial empire after complaints

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:35 GMT

ROME (AP) — The Vatican has recalled a postage stamp promoting this year’s World Youth Day in Portugal following complaints that it celebrated Portugal’s colonial empire and the nationalist dictatorship of Antonio Salazar at a time when the Holy See has been atoning for colonial-era abuses.The stamp, which was still available for purchase online Thursday, features Pope Francis leading a group of children up Lisbon’s Monument to the Discoveries. The giant stone and concrete monument was built in 1960 to mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator, one of the masterminds of Portugal’s maritime expansion in the 15th century.The monument, which is located on the north bank of the Tagus River in Lisbon, is repudiated by some in Portugal because it was built by and during the Salazar dictatorship as part the government’s push to promote national identity and feats such as the country’s colonial expansion in Africa.The postage stamp, which features the World Youth ...

Israeli crowds chant racist slogans, taunt Palestinians during Jerusalem march

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:35 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Thousands of Jewish nationalists, some of them chanting “Death to Arabs” and other racist slogans, paraded on Thursday through the main Palestinian thoroughfare of Jerusalem’s Old City, in an annual display that caused new friction between Jews and Palestinians in the tense city.The marchers, who were overwhelmingly male Orthodox teens and young men, were celebrating “Jerusalem Day,” which marks Israel’s capture of the Old City 56 years ago. The Palestinians see the event as a provocation. Two years ago, the parade helped fuel an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.Throughout the afternoon, dozens of groups hoisting blue and white Israeli flags streamed through Damascus Gate – the entry to the area’s Muslim Quarter – as they made their way across the Old City to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray. The area is normally bustling on Thursday afternoons with Palestinians doing their errands ahead of the weekend.The boister...

Hike again? Take a pause? Fed officials are split about what to do next to fight inflation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:35 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The stubbornness of high inflation is dividing the Federal Reserve over how to manage interest rates in the coming months, leaving the outlook for the Fed’s policies cloudier than at any time since it unleashed a streak of 10 straight rate hikes beginning in March 2022.Many Fed watchers have expected the central bank’s officials to forgo another increase in their benchmark rate when they next meet in mid-June. Yet recent warnings from several of the officials about the continuing threat from high inflation suggest that that outcome is far from certain. And on Thursday, Lorie Logan, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said she believes that the economic data so far doesn’t support a pause in the central bank’s rate hikes next month. “The data in coming weeks could yet show that it is appropriate to skip a meeting,” Logan said in written remarks to the Texas Bankers Association. “As of today, though, we aren’t there yet.” On...

Sam Zell, billionaire Chicago real estate investor, dies at 81

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:35 GMT

Sam Zell, a Chicago real estate magnate who earned a multibillion-dollar fortune and a reputation as “the grave dancer” for his ability to revive moribund properties has died due to complications from a recent illness. He was 81.Bearded and blunt-spoken, Zell reveled in bucking traditional wisdom. He had a golden touch with real estate, and got his start managing apartment buildings as a college student. By the time he reached his 70s, he had amassed a fortune estimated at $3.8 billion.Zell sold Equity Office, the office-tower company he spent three decades building, to Blackstone Group for $39 billion in 2007.A month later, he made another deal that ultimately tarnished his image: the acquisition of the ailing Tribune Co. for $13 billion. The media giant filed for bankruptcy the following year.“Sam Zell was a self-made, visionary entrepreneur. He launched and grew hundreds of companies during his 60-plus-year career and created countless jobs. Although his investments spanned indus...

A Guide to NASCAR's Chicago Street Race

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:35 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago Street Race is coming to the Windy City this summer, and it's all about a new chapter in motorsports in the area. The Chicago Street Race is NASCAR's latest foray into the market with a most unique twist - a street race in the city's iconic downtown area. It's an event that's brought a mix of excitement and curiosity along with a fair amount of opposition to how it will affect The Loop over the course of June and July.WGN News Now has created this guide to the first ever Chicago Street Race event in Chicago with a number of details on the event itself, closures, special performances, and drivers that will participate.Where is NASCAR racing in downtown Chicago?They will be on a 2.2-mile street course that will feature 12 turns with the start/finish line on Columbus Drive in front of Buckingham Fountain. Drivers will go counter-clockwise on the course with time spent on DuSable Lake Shore Drive, Balbo Drive, Michigan Avenue, East Congress Plaza, and Jackson Street. ...