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US stocks edge higher following report of cooling inflation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:06 GMT

By STAN CHOE (AP Business Writer)NEW YOR (AP) — Stocks are edging higher Wednesday following the latest update to show inflation continues to cool.The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher in afternoon trading after bouncing between small gains and losses earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 99 points, or 0.3%, at 33,785, as of 12:44 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was relatively unchanged.The main focus on Wall Street for more than a year has been high inflation and how much painful medicine the Federal Reserve will have to dole out to contain it. A report Wednesday morning showed that prices at the consumer level were 5% higher last month than a year earlier. That’s still well above the Federal Reserve’s comfort level, and some underlying trends within the data were also concerning. That weighed down financial markets. But on the upside for investors, the overall inflation number was still better than the 5.2% that economists expected. It also mark...

Emmanuel Macron says his position on Taiwan is unchanged

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:06 GMT

AMSTERDAM (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron commented on his published remarks on China and Taiwan that raised questions after he visited Beijing last week, insisting Wednesday that his views have not changed. “The position of France and the Europeans on Taiwan is the same. We are for the status quo, and this policy is constant,” Macron told reporters in Amsterdam near the end of a two-day state visit to the Netherlands. “It hasn’t changed. It’s the policy of one China and the peaceful settlement of the question.”He was referring to remarks published Sunday from an interview with French newspaper Les Echos and Politico Europe. The remarks elicited doubts about whether Macron’s views were in line with the European Union’s position on Taiwan’s status. Beijing claims that the island is a Chinese territory that must be brought under its control, by force if necessary. “The question we need to answer, as Europeans, is the following: is it in our interest to accele...

Big flames, raining embers in New Jersey Pine Barrens fire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:06 GMT

MANCHESTER, N.J. (AP) — Firefighters in New Jersey were confronted by 200-foot (60-meter) flames as they battled a wildfire tearing through 6 square miles of the state’s Pine Barrens, raining down embers and prompting evacuations but leaving no one injured and property intact, officials said Wednesday.The blaze in Manchester, near Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, forced the evacuation of around 170 homes late Tuesday, with police and fire officials going door-to-door to ask people to take temporary shelter at a nearby high school. Helicopters were filling large containers with water from a nearby lake Wednesday and dropping it on the flames.“We saw the red glow in the sky, and every time the wind would shift, it got worse,” said Jason Cylenica, who lives in the neighborhood closest to the fire. His wife, Cynthia Tiemper, said burning embers were landing in their back yard Tuesday night, making them decide to evacuate even before the fire department knocked on their door at 10:45 p....

Michigan researchers find 1914 shipwrecks in Lake Superior

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:06 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Michigan researchers have found the wreckage of two ships that disappeared into Lake Superior in 1914 and hope the discovery will lead them to a third that sank at the same time, killing nearly 30 people aboard the trio of lumber-shipping vessels.The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society announced the discoveries this month after confirming details with other researchers. Ric Mixter, a board member of the society and a maritime historian, called witnessing the discoveries “a career highlight.”“It not only solved a chapter in the nation’s darkest day in lumber history, but also showcased a team of historians who have dedicated their lives towards making sure these stories aren’t forgotten,” Mixter said.The vessels owned by the Edward Hines Lumber Company sank into the ice-cold lake on Nov. 18, 1914, when a storm swept through as they moved lumber from Baraga, Michigan, to Tonawanda, New York. The steamship C.F. Curtis was towing the schooner barges Selden E. Marvin ...

French investigative site claims Depardieu groped extras

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:06 GMT

PARIS (AP) — A French investigative news website claims that actor Gérard Depardieu has been accused of harassing, groping or sexually assaulting 13 young women, mainly extras.Most of the claims reported by the Mediapart website relate to film shoots between 2004 and 2022. None of the women has filed a complaint. Depardieu himself has denied any criminal behavior. Depardieu, 74, is among France’s most well-known stars. He was placed under investigation in December 2020 for rape and sexual assault, reportedly at his Paris home, following claims by an actress in 2018. The investigation is ongoing.Mediapart, which is regarded as a reliable website, published the accusations in an article on Tuesday. They feed into the long-standing stereotype of an industry full of dirty secrets where silence is golden.The incidents allegedly took place in public places, mainly on film sets.In a Manhattan cabaret for the filming of the 2015 movie “Big House,” Depardieu allegedly tried to fondle three n...

Syria’s rapprochement advances with Tunisia, Saudi Arabia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:06 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria will reopen its embassy in Tunisia, state media reported Wednesday, as Syria’s top diplomat visited Saudi Arabia seeking to restore ties that have been severed for more than a decade.Tunisia has become the latest Arab state to reestablish diplomatic ties with Syria, after cutting off relations in 2012. Tunisian President Kais Saied announced earlier this month that he had directed the country’s foreign ministry to appoint a new ambassador to Syria.His move to appoint a new ambassador to Syria was reciprocated by the Syrian government, a joint statement from the two countries’ foreign ministries said Wednesday, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.The announcement was the latest in a regional trend of rapprochement with the war-torn country, which has picked up pace since the massive Feb. 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and the Chinese-brokered reestablishment of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran.Syria was widely shunned by Arab governments over Syr...

Whitby restaurant owner faces more than a dozen new historical sex charges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:06 GMT

A Whitby restaurant owner is facing new workplace sexual assault charges in connection to an ongoing investigation by Durham Regional Police.Police originally charged James Chatterpaul in January 2023 after a person came forward claiming they were sexually assaulted by him at his restaurant.Chatterpaul is the owner of Chatterpaul’s restaurant at 3500 Brock St. in Whitby.He was hit with more charges in March, 2023 after investigators say four more alleged victims came forward, claiming they were sexually assaulted by Chatterpaul between 2005 and 2019.On Wednesday, police announced 13 new charges, saying six more alleged victims came forward with historical allegations against Chatterpaul.The newest charges stem from alleged incidents dating back between 2002 and 2018, police said.Police say Chatterpaul often goes by the names “Chef Chad” or “Chad” and note that he was previously employed at an Oshawa restaurant.Investigators said some of the alleged victims in the latest charges R...

Judge: No separate defamation trials for Fox News, Fox Corp.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:06 GMT

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The judge presiding over a voting machine company’s defamation lawsuit against Fox denied the company’s request Wednesday to hold separate trials — one for Fox News and another for the network’s parent company.The request by Dominion Voting Systems came a day after its attorneys told the judge that Fox attorneys had withheld critical information about the role company founder Rupert Murdoch, who is chairman of Fox. Corp., played at Fox News.Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis, who consolidated the cases against both entities in December, refused Dominion’s request to hold a separate trial during which Murdoch would testify as a Fox News witness.The request came after Dominion attorneys told the judge that they learned just this week that Murdoch also was an officer of Fox News, holding the title of executive chair. That was contrary to repeated assertions by Fox attorneys.Murdoch’s role and that of other top Fox executives i...

Space race! Meteorites hit Maine, museum offers $25K reward

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:06 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Somewhere in a remote stretch of forest near Maine’s border with Canada, rocks from space crashed to Earth and may be scattered across the ground — just waiting to be picked up.If you’re the first to find a really big one, a museum says it’ll pay out a $25,000 reward. The unusually bright fireball could be seen in broad daylight around noon Saturday, said Darryl Pitt, chair of the meteorite division at the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum in Bethel. NASA said the falling meteors was observed on radar — a first for Maine — and witnesses heard sonic booms.The museum wants to add to its collection of moon and Mars rocks, Pitt said, so the first meteorite hunters to deliver a 1-kilogram (2.2-pound) specimen will claim the $25,000 prize. According to Pitt, the fact that radar detected the fiery descent assures the meteorites can be found on the ground.“With more people having an awareness, the more people will look — and the greater the likeliho...

Juul Labs agrees to pay $462 million settlement to 6 states

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:06 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Embattled electronic cigarette-maker Juul Labs Inc. will pay $462 million to six states and the District of Columbia, marking the largest settlement the company has reached so far for its role in the youth vaping surge, New York Attorney General Letitia James said Wednesday. The agreement with New York, California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico and Washington, D.C. marks the latest in a string of recent legal settlements Juul has reached across the country with cities and states. The vaping company, which has laid off hundreds of employees, will pay $7.9 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the company violated the state’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act by marketing its products to underage users, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced Monday. Last month, the company paid Chicago $23.8 million to settle a lawsuit. Minnesota’s case against Juul went to trial last month with the state’s Attorney General Keith Ellison a...