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US adds a healthy 236,000 jobs despite Fed’s rate hikes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers added a solid 236,000 jobs in March, reflecting a resilient labor market and suggesting that the Federal Reserve may see the need to keep raising interest rates in the coming months.The unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, not far above the 53-year low of 3.4% set in January. Last month’s job growth was down from February’s sizzling gain of 326,000.Friday’s government report suggested that the economy and the job market remain on solid footing despite nine rate hikes imposed over the past year by the Fed. The March job gain may lead the Fed to conclude that the pace of hiring is still putting upward pressure on wages and inflation and that further rates hikes are necessary. When the central bank tightens credit, it typically leads to higher rates on mortgages, auto loans, credit card borrowing and many business loans.Despite last month’s brisk job growth, the latest economic signs increasingly suggest that an economic slowdown may be upon us. Manufac...

Russia: West must remove obstacles to its grain exports

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Russia may pull out of a wartime deal that allows the export of Ukrainian grain to global markets if the West fails to remove obstacles to Russian agricultural exports, Moscow’s top diplomat suggested Friday.The deal, which was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July, unblocked shipments that were stuck in Ukraine’s blockaded and mined ports, alleviating rising food prices and threat of hunger in some countries.A separate agreement aimed to facilitate the export of Russian fertilizers and grain. Moscow has repeatedly complained that the deal failed to work for Russian agricultural exports, which have had trouble reaching world markets due to Western sanctions. Speaking at a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters that Russia agreed last month to extend the deal for 60 days – instead of the 120 days set under a previous extension – to send a warning signal to the West.“...

As streamers cut costs, TV shows – and residuals – vanish

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

Actor Diana-Maria Riva is all too familiar with a show being canceled. For a performer, it’s painful, unfortunate part of show business. But this was different.In December, Riva was floored when she found out that “Gordita Chronicles” would be removed entirely from HBO Max’s vast streaming library — one of dozens of shows that HBO effectively wiped from existence for U.S. viewers.“It was as if somebody had broken up with you and then came back to remind you a couple of weeks later that we’ve broken up,” says Riva, who played the mother of a plus-sized 12-year-old named Cucu in the critically lauded comedy about a Dominican family adapting to life in 1980s Miami.As streamers face mounting pressure to save money, several have followed HBO’s lead. Erasing original shows can help streamers get tax write-downs and, to a smaller extent, save on residual payments. But it brings criticism that they are sidelining already marginalized voices and shortchanging creatives. The...

Hundreds of thousands without power after Quebec ice storm that left one dead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

MONTREAL — Nearly 675,000 customers are still without power in Quebec this morning after Wednesday’s vicious ice storm, which downed tree branches and hydro lines and left one man dead.Hydro-Québec says its crews restored power to 200,000 clients overnight, and it hopes to more than double that number by day’s end. Wednesday’s freezing rain sent ice-covered tree branches crashing onto power lines, streets and cars across swaths of southern Quebec, especially around Montreal and the Montérégie region to its south.Energy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon called the situation a crisis.Provincial police say a man in his 60s died yesterday morning when he was crushed by a tree branch while attempting to cut down branches on his property in Les Coteaux, southwest of Montreal. Environment Canada says between 20 mm and 25 mm of ice accumulated on trees and buildings on Wednesday in the Montreal area.This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2023.The Canadian ...

Cambodia to deport 19 Japanese cybercrime scam suspects

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Nineteen Japanese men detained in Cambodia in January on suspicion of taking part in organized phone and online scams will be deported to their homeland, a Cambodian immigration police officer said Friday.Arrangements for their return are being made by the Japanese Embassy in Cambodia, but so far no date has been set, Immigration Police spokesperson Gen. Keo Vanthan told The Associated Press.Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported Friday that Tokyo police have obtained arrest warrants for the 19 Japanese on suspicion of running phone scams from Cambodia targeting people in Japan.NHK said Cambodian authorities who searched the men’s hotel rooms “discovered a list of Japanese citizens believed to be targets in a fraud scheme.”The 19 were taken into custody in the southern city of Sihanoukville on Jan. 24 and sent to the capital, Phnom Penh, where they were held after investigation by the interior ministry.Keo Vanthan declined to provide further details abo...

1 man in critical condition after stabbing in Lawrence Heights area

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

A man suffered life-threatening injuries after being stabbed early Friday morning in the Lawrence Heights neighbourhood.Police were called to the Flemington Park and Replin Road area around 6:30 a.m. for reports of a stabbing.Toronto police confirm the victim was taken to hospital in critical condition.The investigation is ongoing and there is no word of suspects at this time.

1st ocean fish farm proposed for East Coast off New England

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire group wants to be the first to bring offshore fish farming to the waters off New England by raising salmon and trout in open-ocean pens miles from land, but critics fear the plan could harm the environment.The vast majority of U.S. aquaculture, the practice of raising and harvesting fish in controlled settings, takes place in coastal waters or on land, in tanks and ponds. But New Hampshire-based Blue Water Fisheries wants to place 40 submersible fish pens in water about 7.5 miles (12 kilometers) off Newburyport, Massachusetts, on two sites that total nearly a square mile, according to federal documents reviewed by The Associated Press.The farm would grow millions of pounds of Atlantic salmon and steelhead trout, two popular seafood species, documents state. The proposal needs a battery of approvals, and would be the first of its kind off the East Coast.Hawaii was the first U.S. state to allow operation of commercial open ocean aquaculture. Sup...

Going, going, gone: Study says climate change juicing homers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

Climate change is making major league sluggers into even hotter hitters, sending an extra 50 or so home runs a year over the fences, a new study found.Hotter, thinner air that allows balls to fly farther contributed a tiny bit to a surge in home runs since 2010, according to a statistical analysis by Dartmouth College scientists published in Friday’s Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. They analyzed 100,000 major league games and more than 200,000 balls put into play in the last few years along with weather conditions, stadiums and other factors.“Global warming is juicing home runs in Major League Baseball,” said study co-author Justin Mankin, a Dartmouth climate scientist.It’s basic physics.When air heats up, molecules move faster and away from each other, making the air less dense. Baseballs launched off a bat go farther through thinner air because there’s less resistance to slow the ball. Just a little bit farther can mean the difference between a homer and a flyout,...

5-year-old boy dies after shooting in Calumet City residence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

CALUMET CITY, Ill. — A five-year-old boy died in Calumet City Thursday night after shooting inside a residence.At around 9 p.m., authorities responded to the 200 block of Paxton on the report of a child shot.Officers at the scene located a 5-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.Police said a preliminary investigation revealed that a gun discharged within the home. Specific details surrounding the shooting are not available at this time."Regardless of the circumstances concerning this tragic death, our hearts are broken as this family must now deal with the loss of this young child. I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family. Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal" said Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones.Calumet City police are holding a press conference at 10:30 a.m.

1 dead after commercial building catches fire on West Side

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

CHICAGO — One person is dead after a commercial building caught fire on the city's West Side overnight. The fire took place in the 111 block of North Kedzie Avenue ad in Garfield Park. 5-year-old boy dies after shooting in Calumet City residence Police are currently investigating the incident and WGN is actively following the situation.