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US futures rise as bank fears ease; US econ data on the way

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:25 GMT

TOKYO — Wall Street is poised to open with gains Thursday as worries over turmoil in the banking industry ease and attention turns toward government economic data coming out the next couple of days.Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 rose 0.6% before the opening bell Thursday.Markets recently have been wracked by worries about banks and fears the industry may be cracking under the pressure of much higher interest rates.Forceful actions by regulators have helped to calm markets as investors have turned their focus to how central banks might adjust their interest rate policies to reflect persisting worries over how higher rates might affect lenders. After regulators in Switzerland brokered a takeover of Credit Suisse by rival UBS, UBS said it’s bringing back its former CEO, Sergio Ermotti, to help it absorb Credit Suisse. Ermotti led a turnaround at UBS following the 2008 financial crisis. The path ahead for the Federal Reserve and other central banks has ...

University bus crashes in Kenya, killing 14 people

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:25 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Fourteen people, including students, have died after a university bus collided with a passenger vehicle in Kenya, west of the capital, on Thursday.Police say 12 people died on the spot and two others succumbed on the way to the hospital.The bus had 30 people on board and the death toll may rise, Rift Valley Police Chief Tom Odera said.The bus was heading toward Nakuru town from the capital, Nairobi, when its driver lost control, hit an oncoming vehicle and rolled into a ditch, he said.Road accidents are common on Kenya’s roads. Traffic police have in the past cracked down on drivers violating speed limits and those driving while drunk.Last week, the National Transport and Safety Authority said that 974 people had died in road crashes across the country since January. The authority has been running a road safety campaign urging motorists to exercise caution especially in the ongoing rainy season.Evelyne Musambi, The Associated Press

US Navy deploys more chaplains for suicide prevention

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:25 GMT

NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, Virginia. (AP) — On Navy ships docked at this vast base, hundreds of sailors in below-deck mazes of windowless passageways perform intense, often monotonous manual labor. It’s necessary work before a ship deploys, but hard to adjust to for many already challenged by the stresses plaguing young adults nationwide. Growing mental health distress in the ranks carries such grave implications that the U.S. chief of naval operations, Adm. Michael Gilday, answered “suicides” when asked earlier this year what in the security environment kept him up at night. One recently embraced prevention strategy is to deploy chaplains as regular members of the crew on more ships. The goal is for the clergy to connect with sailors, believers and non-believers alike, in complete confidentiality.“That makes us accessible as a relief valve,” said earlier this month Capt. David Thames, an Episcopal priest who’s responsible for chaplains for the Navy’s surface fleet in the Atlantic, cove...

Constellation Software reports US$152M Q4 profit, acquisitions help lift revenue

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:25 GMT

TORONTO — Constellation Software Inc. reported a fourth-quarter profit of US$152 million, up from $124 million a year earlier, as acquisitions helped its revenue grow.The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says the profit amounted to US$7.19 per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31.The result compared with a profit of US$5.86 per diluted share in the last three months of 2021.Revenue totalled US$1.85 billion, up from US$1.38 billion a year earlier.Constellation says the increase in revenue was attributable to growth from acquisitions as it experienced organic growth of negative one per cent for the quarter.After adjusting for changes in foreign exchange rates, the company says its organic revenue growth was four per cent.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:CSU)The Canadian Press

US revises down last quarter’s economic growth to 2.6% rate

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy maintained its resilience from October through December despite rising interest rates, growing at a 2.6% annual pace, the government said Thursday in a slight downgrade from its previous estimate.The government had previously estimated that the economy expanded at a 2.7% annual rate last quarter.The rise in the gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services — for the October-December quarter was down from the 3.2% growth rate from July through September. Exports and consumer spending were revised lower in Thursday’s report.For all of 2022, the U.S. economy expanded 2.1%, down significantly from a robust 5.9% in 2021. Most economists say they think growth is slowing sharply in the current January-March quarter, in part because the Federal Reserve has steadily raised interest rates in its drive to curb inflation.The resulting surge in borrowing costs has walloped the housing industry and made it more expensive for con...

Lebanon abruptly nixes plan for $122M airport ‘Terminal 2’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:25 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s caretaker transportation minister on Thursday said a contract for a new terminal at the country’s main airport is cancelled, following criticism that no public bidding was held for the $122 million project. Lebanon’s government last week announced the plan to construct terminal at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport and said it would be operated by daa International, a leading semi-state-owned airport company in Ireland, when it’s completed in four years. The long-awaited project was to be the first expansion of Lebanon’s only international airport since 1998 come as the country faces its worst economic and financial crisis.“We will not go forward with the project and we will consider it nonexistent,” Transportation Minister Ali Hamie told reporters on Thursday. He added that the decision came from the powerful Hezbollah group that he represents in the Cabinet. The announcement came a week after the project was announced and sparked a stream of ...

Blinken compares Bosnia Serb leader to Putin

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:25 GMT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has compared the policies of the Bosnia Serb separatist leader to those of Russian President Vladimir Putin following his moves to curb dissent and LGBTQ rights.Blinken tweeted late Wednesday that “Milorad Dodik’s attacks on basic rights and freedoms in Republika Srpska show he is on President Putin’s authoritarian path.”Republika Srpska is the name for the half of Bosnia that is dominated by the country’s Serbs. Dodik is the entity’s president and leading politician who has repeatedly advocated for the breakup of Bosnia and clashed with Western officials in the Balkan country.Earlier this month, Dodik’s government faced criticism from the U.S. and the European Union for pushing forward with a law to recriminalize libel and insult offences, which was seen as an attack on the freedom of expression and independent media.Dodik also announced a law in the upcoming months to prohibit access for L...

Mitzie Hunter latest to join crowded Toronto mayoral race

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:25 GMT

Ontario Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter has thrown her hat into Toronto’s crowded mayoral race, confirming her intentions to run on Thursday.The Liberal MPP for Scarborough-Guildwood called herself the champion Toronto needs right now.“This election is a turning point for Toronto,” Hunter said in a statement. “We have the choice to either rise to the next level or go off a cliff. I will be the champion that Toronto needs so we can rise to the next level.”Hunter’s platform will focus on TTC safety, increasing housing availability and affordability, reducing homelessness, and strengthening local democracy. She says she will not use strong mayor powers if elected as John Tory’s replacement.RELATED: Olivia Chow considering possible run for Toronto mayorCoun. Brad Bradford confirmed Wednesday his long-expected plan to run. He adds his name to a list of stated candidates that includes Coun. Josh Matlow, former city councillor Ana Bailão, former police c...

NATO, US forces join Romania-led Black Sea military drills

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:25 GMT

MAHMUDIA, Romania (AP) — Romania’s navy led multinational military drills in the Black Sea region Thursday that brought together U.S. and NATO troops as the 30-nation alliance looks to boost security on its southeastern flank amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.The sea and air exercises are part of a series of drills known as Sea Shield 2023 that involve some 3,400 military personnel from 12 NATO member countries and some partner nations. Romania’s navy said Thursday’s drills in the Mahmudia region of the Danube Delta, which flows into the Black Sea, would demonstrate how the combined forces would “neutralize an enemy air landing” in an area adjacent to such a waterway. More than 30 naval ships, 14 aircraft and 15 “fast intervention” boats and other patrol vessels are taking part in Sea Shield 2023, which started March 20 and runs until April 2. Anti-explosive divers have participated in drills, as have chemical, biological, and nuclear defense specialists.In response to Russia’s F...

What really matters in 2023’s federal budget?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:25 GMT

$432 billion in spending. That’s how much the federal government is allocating for 2023. Health care and the cost of living are on most Canadians’ minds, but not everything included in Tuesday’s budget is making headlines.Cormac Mac Sweeney is the Parliament Hill reporter for CityNews. He parsed this massive document, and he’s on today’s Big Story sharing his main takeaways.“The government says… we needed to make investments right now to make sure Canadians are supported,“ he said, “the Conservatives, on the other hand, argue against that, saying… ‘this sort of spending is only going to add to the inflationary pressures.’”So what do you need to know about this budget that can’t be summed up by a headline? And what will its real impact be down the road?You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.