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S&P/TSX composite down, U.S. stock markets mixed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:42 GMT

Canada’s main stock index closed down by almost 50 points, while U.S. stock markets were mixed on the final trading day of what has been a difficult month for investors.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 49.47 points at 19,541.27.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 158.84 points at 33,507.50. The S&P 500 index was down 11.65 points at 4,288.05, while the Nasdaq composite was up 18.05 points at 13,219.32.The day’s trading closed out the third quarter of 2023 and marked the end of what has been a volatile September for markets. The S&P/TSX composite has declined more than three-and-a-half per cent since the end of August, as investors grappled with a growing sense that interest rates may not be coming down anytime soon.Last week, the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated it may not reduce rates by as much as investors previously anticipated. The higher-for-longer mentality is putting pressure on global bond markets and spurring worries that the economy ...

Rounded up! South Dakota cowboys and cowgirls rustle up hundreds of bison in nation’s only roundup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:42 GMT

South Dakota cowboys and cowgirls rounded up a herd of more than 1,500 bison Friday as part of an annual effort to maintain the health of the species, which has rebounded from near-extinction. Visitors from across the world cheered from behind wire fencing as whooping horseback riders chased the thundering, wooly giants across hills and grasslands in Custer State Park. Bison and their calves stopped occassionally to graze on blond grass and roll on the ground, their sharp hooves stirring up dust clouds. “How many times can you get this close to a buffalo herd?” said South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Secretary Kevin Robling, who was among 50 riders herding the animals. “You hear the grunts and the moans and (see) the calves coming and running alongside mamas.”Custer State Park holds the nation’s only Buffalo Roundup once a year to check the health of the bison and vaccinate calves, park Superintendent Matt Snyder said. As many as 60 million bison, sometimes called buffalo in th...

New York City area gets one of its wettest days in decades, as rain swamps subways and streets

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:42 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Rain walloped the New York metropolitan area with a startling punch Friday, knocking out several subway and commuter rail lines, stranding drivers on highways, flooding basements and shuttering a terminal at LaGuardia Airport in one of the city’s wettest days in decades.As much as 6.7 inches (17 cm) of rain had fallen in parts of Brooklyn by midday, with at least one spot seeing 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) in a single hour, according to weather and city officials. The 6 inches (15 cm) of rain at John F. Kennedy Airport surpassed a record set during Hurricane Donna in September 1960, the National Weather Service said. And more downpours were expected. The deluge came two years after the remnants of Hurricane Ida dumped record-breaking rain on the Northeast and killed at least 13 people in New York City, mostly in flooded basement apartments. Although no deaths or severe injuries have been reported so far from Friday’s storm, it stirred frightening memories ...

NATO beefs up its Kosovo force as the US worries about a buildup of Serb troops in the area

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:42 GMT

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — NATO announced Friday that it is beefing up its troop presence in Kosovo after four people were killed in a weekend shootout and as the U.S. expressed concern about a buildup of Serbian forces along the border of its former territory.Kosovo’s prime minister welcomed NATO’s decision, saying that Sunday’s attack, involving around 30 gunmen, is a new sign that Serbia wants to destabilize its former southern province with the help of ally Russia.“These people want to turn back time,” Prime Minister Albin Kurti told The Associated Press. “They are in search of a time machine. They want to turn the clock back by 30 years. But that is not going to happen.”NATO launched a bombing campaign on Serb positions to halt a crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and end their 1998-99 war. The war left around 10,000 people dead, mostly Kosovo Albanians.Earlier on Friday, Kosovo police raided several locations in a Serb-dominated area ...

Airlines claim passenger safety at risk under new passenger rights rules

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:42 GMT

MONTREAL — Aviation companies are making the pitch to Ottawa that stricter rules designed to boost customer compensation and improve service could put passenger safety at risk — an argument consumer advocates reject as “ridiculous.”The push, made in regulatory submissions and meetings on Parliament Hill, comes on the heels of sweeping reforms to the passenger rights charter announced in April and currently being hashed out by Canada’s transport regulator before going into effect next year.The changes appear to scrap a loophole through which airlines have denied customers compensation for flight delays or cancellations when they were required for safety purposes. The sector wants that exemption restored, and says it doesn’t want pilots to feel pressured to choose between flying defective planes and costing their employer money.“We want our pilots to be entirely free from any financial consideration when they take a safety-related decision,” WestJet...

Stock market today: Wall Street wraps its miserable September with another weak finish

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:42 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street closed out its worst month and quarter of the year with more losses on Friday. The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% after a gain from the morning withered, and the majority of stocks within the index sank. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 158 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite edged higher by 0.1%.Solid gains for stocks early on faded as pressure built from within the bond market. After easing earlier in the day on encouraging signals about inflation, Treasury yields got back to rising as the day progressed.The yield on the 10-year Treasury yield returned to 4.58%, where it was late Thursday, after dipping to 4.52%. It’s again near its highest level since 2007. Treasurys are seen as some of the safest investments possible, and when they pay higher yields, investors are less likely to pay high prices for stocks and other riskier investments. That’s a big reason why the S&P 500 dropped 4.9% in September to drag what had been a big gain for the...

Baton Rouge officers charged for allegedly covering up excessive force during a strip search

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:42 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The scandal-plagued Baton Rouge Police Department has arrested three of its own officers, including a deputy chief, and charged them with trying to cover up excessive force during a strip search inside a department bathroom, the police chief announced Friday.The department is under intensifying scrutiny as the FBI opened a civil rights investigation last week into allegations that officers assaulted detainees in an obscure warehouse known as the “ Brave Cave.” The officers who were arrested Thursday were part of the same since-disbanded street crimes unit that ran the warehouse. “Lets be crystal clear, there is no room for misconduct or unethical behavior in our department,” Chief Murphy Paul said at a news conference Friday. “No one is above the law.”The findings announced Friday stemmed from one of several administrative and criminal inquiries surrounding the street crimes unit. In one case under FBI scrutiny, a man says he was taken to the warehouse and be...

IRS contractor charged with leaking tax return information of wealthy people

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former contractor for the Internal Revenue Service was charged Friday with leaking tax information to news outlets about a government official and thousands of the country’s wealthiest people. Charles Edward Littlejohn, 38, of Washington, D.C., is accused of stealing the tax return information and giving it to two different news outlets between 2018 and 2020, the Justice Department said in a statement. Littlejohn declined to comment. The Associated Press also reached out to his attorney. Both organizations, which are not named in charging documents, published numerous articles describing the tax information, charging documents state. Some of the information dated back more than 15 years. Littlejohn is charged with one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and return information. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted. The IRS declined to comment specifically on the case, but Commissioner Danny Werfel said “any disclosure of taxpayer info...

Maryland governor’s office releases more details on new 30-year agreement with Orioles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:42 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s office released a few details Friday about the agreement with the Baltimore Orioles keeping the team in the city for at least 30 more years.The Orioles made a surprise announcement about the deal on the scoreboard at Camden Yards during Thursday night’s game against Boston, not long before the team won and clinched the AL East title. A day later, Moore’s office said the governor, the team and the Maryland Stadium Authority have finalized a memorandum of understanding “that will keep the Orioles in Baltimore for at least 30 years, modernize facility operations at the best price for Maryland taxpayers, and boost private sector development to revitalize downtown Baltimore.”“I could not be more thrilled to spend decades watching the Orioles win titles in Baltimore,” Moore said. “This deal is not only a good use of state resources, but will also drive economic growth in downtown and across the city.”The team’s...

New Mexico man charged with attempted murder in shooting at protest over Spanish conquistador statue

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:42 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico man was charged Friday with attempted murder in a shooting that wounded one person at a protest over plans to install a statue of a Spanish conquistador outside government offices in the city of Española.Defendant Ryan David Martinez, from Sandia Park, was read the felony charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon at his first appearance in municipal court. No plea was entered.A temporary public defender assigned to Martinez could not be reached immediately by phone and didn’t respond to voice messages. An apparent relative of the defendant answered the phone but declined to comment or confirm her family relation.Martinez was arrested Thursday after chaos erupted and a shot was fired during protests in Española about plans to install a bronze likeness of conquistador Juan de Oñate, who is both revered and reviled for his role in establishing early settlements along the Upper Rio Grande starting in 1598.Installation of the st...