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Wall Street opens mostly higher with banks still in focus

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:33 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is opening mostly higher after regulators pushed together two huge banks over the weekend to build confidence in the struggling industry. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% shortly after the opening bell Monday. The Dow added 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.3%. Much of the attention was still on banks, which may be cracking under the pressure of the fastest series of interest rate hikes in decades. Swiss banking giant UBS is buying rival Credit Suisse for almost $3.25 billion in a deal quickly put together by regulators. U.S. bank First Republic fell again after another credit rating downgrade.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets sank Monday after Swiss authorities arranged the takeover of troubled Credit Suisse amid fears of a global banking crisis ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting to decide on more possible interest rate hikes.Hong Kong’s main index slid 2.7%. London, Frankfurt and Pa...

French government fights to survive 2 no-confidence motions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:33 GMT

PARIS (AP) — France’s government is facing a critical, maybe fatal, moment Monday with no-confidence motions filed by lawmakers who are furious that President Emmanuel Macron ordered the use of special constitutional powers to force through an unpopular bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 without giving them a vote.National Assembly lawmakers are set to vote in the afternoon on two no-confidence motions, one from the far-right National Rally and the other, more threatening one from a small group that has gathered support across the left.The Senate, dominated by conservatives who back the retirement plan, passed the legislation last week.The no-confidence motions each need the backing of 287 lawmakers in the National Assembly, the lower chamber, to pass.Although the motions appear unlikely to succeed, the climate of protest that Macron’s pension reforms has sparked in parliament and on the streets means the outcome of voting in the National Assembly is not guaranteed. No su...

Belarus tightens border with Poland after ‘terrorist’ shot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:33 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus has stepped up security along its border with Poland after security forces killed a foreigner in the region who allegedly was planning a terrorist attack, the Belarusian human rights group Viasna said Monday.The Belarusian KGB security agency said the alleged terrorist was killed in a shootout on Sunday in the city of Grodno, just east of the Polish border. It did not identify the suspect’s nationality or give other details, but said its officers along with police and border guards were conducting “special operations” in the city on Monday.Viasna released what it said was a video of the Sunday incident in which dozens of officers could be seen storming the entrance of a five-story apartment building. Sappers and explosives-seeking dogs were called to the residence of the regional governor, Viasna said.Border guards were intensely inspecting vehicles and luggage and scrolling through mobile telephones at the Kazlovichy border crossing with Poland...

Thailand dissolves Parliament ahead of May elections

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:33 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Parliament was dissolved Monday by a government decree, setting the stage for a May general election that poses an opportunity to lessen the military’s influence in politics.The dissolution, just a few days before the end of the four-year term of the House of Representatives, was initiated by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who is seeking a fresh mandate in the election expected to be held May 7 or 14. The date will be announced next week. The election will pit the popular opposition Pheu Thai party, backed by billionaire populist Thaksin Shinawatra, against parties representing the conservative establishment and closely linked to the military.Parties led and backed by Thaksin have won the most seats in every election since 2001, but have been blocked by military coups, unfavorable rulings by the conservative judiciary and election laws drafted to favor army-backed parties.The leading Pheu Thai candidate is Thaksin’s daughter, 36-year-old Paetongtar...

World on ‘thin ice’ as UN climate report gives stark warning

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:33 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Humanity still has a chance, close to the last one, to prevent the worst of climate change ’s future harms, a top United Nations panel of scientists said Monday.But doing so requires quickly slashing carbon pollution and fossil fuel use by nearly two-thirds by 2035, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said. The United Nations chief said it more bluntly, calling for an end to new fossil fuel exploration and rich countries quitting coal, oil and gas by 2040.“Humanity is on thin ice — and that ice is melting fast,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. “Our world needs climate action on all fronts — everything, everywhere, all at once.”Stepping up his pleas for action on fossil fuels, Guterres not only called for “no new coal” but also for eliminating its use in rich countries by 2030 and poor countries by 2040. He urged carbon-free electricity generation in the developed world by 2035, meaning no gas-fired power plants too.That date is key bec...

China’s Xi visits Moscow to bolster Putin amid Ukraine war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:33 GMT

MOSCOW — Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on Monday to show off Beijing’s new diplomatic swagger and give a political lift to Russian President Vladimir Putin against the West just days after an international arrest warrant was issued for the Kremlin leader on war crimes charges related to Ukraine.The two major powers have described Xi’s three-day trip as an opportunity to deepen their “no-limits friendship.” China looks to Russia as a source of oil and gas for its energy-hungry economy, and as a partner in standing up to what both see as U.S. domination of global affairs. The two countries, which are among the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, also have held joint military drills.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that over dinner on Monday, Putin and Xi will likely include a “detailed explanation” of Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.Broader talks involving officials from both countries on a range of subjects are scheduled for Tuesday, Peskov ...

With overdoses up, states look at harsher fentanyl penalties

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:33 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — State lawmakers nationwide are responding to the deadliest overdose crisis in U.S. history by pushing harsher penalties for possessing fentanyl and other powerful lab-made opioids that are connected to about 70,000 deaths a year.Imposing longer prison sentences for possessing smaller amounts of drugs represents a shift in states that in recent years have rolled back drug possession penalties. Proponents of tougher penalties say this crisis is different and that, in most places, the stiffer sentences are intended to punish drug dealers, not just users.“There is no other drug — no other illicit drug — that has the same type of effects on our communities,” said Mark Jackson, the district attorney for Douglas County, Nevada, and president of the Nevada District Attorneys Association, which is pushing for stricter penalties for fentanyl-related crimes.But the strategy is alarming recovery advocates who say focusing on the criminal angle of drugs has historically backfir...

Community needed to help solve 2010 murder of Orangeville nurse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:33 GMT

This week on the Tracking a Killer: The Cold Case Files podcast, Fil Martino and Madison Fitzpatrick take a look at the unsolved murder of 42-year-old Sonia Varaschin.Sonia Varaschin was a paediatric nurse from Orangeville, Ont. who was reported missing on August 30, 2010 after she did not show up for work.Police found her blood-stained car parked behind the Orangeville Town Hall. Days later, her body was found in a wooded area in nearby Caledon. Her killer has never been found.Nadine Giguere went to college with Sonia. She said her friend was kind and loving and made friends everywhere she went. She continues to ask, “Who could have done this?”“It’s just really sad to think how her life ended,” said Giguere.Detective Inspector Shawn Glassford with the Ontario Provincial Police is working on Sonia’s case. He said it is not too late for people to come forward with information about this unsolved crime.“Don’t worry you are not going to b...

Ohio State student found dead while on spring break in Mexico

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:33 GMT

(NewsNation) — An American college student was found dead while on spring break in Mexico, amid the State Departments' warnings to avoid the country due to violence. Henry Meacock was a student at Ohio State University, visiting Mexico earlier this week for spring break, according to reports. The university confirmed his death but exact details of when, where and how Meacock died have not been released. “The Ohio State community has suffered a tragic loss, and we extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Henry Meacock,” OSU said in a statement. The university is also directing students to the counseling center for support. Miami Beach declares curfew over spring break violence Thousands of students are still going to Mexico to for spring break.Another student is on life support at a Florida hospital after being airlifted out of Mexico. Liza Burke, a senior at the University of Georgia, traveled to Cabo San Lucas earlier this month to celebrate spring break with h...

North Korea describes latest missile launch as simulated nuclear attack on South

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:33 GMT

North Korea on Monday said it used a ballistic missile launch to simulate a nuclear attack on neighbor South Korea over the weekend. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the drill, according to Korean state media, as the country perceives “aggression” from enemies. It’s the latest demonstration in protest of joint military exercises from the U.S. and South Korea in the Korean Peninsula.North Korea’s drill was “carried out under the tense situation in which a large-scale war drill is being frantically scaled up by the U.S.-South Korean allied forces to invade the DPRK and U.S. nuclear strategic assets are massively brought to South Korea,” according to state outlet Rodong Sinmun. The U.S. has moved to work with South Korea amid tensions in the Asian region, as China builds its relationship with Russia during its war on Ukraine and underscores its upset over Taiwan. North Korea said the ballistic missile launched as the nuclear simulator, tipped with a mock nuclear w...