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Stock market today: Wall Street drifts lower as Fed holds rates steady but hints of hikes ahead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

TOKYO — Wall Street is pointing lower after the U.S. Federal Reserve left its benchmark borrowing rate unchanged for the first time in more than a year, but issued projections of as many as two additional quarter-point rate hikes before 2023 is over.Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials fell 0.2% before the opening bell Thursday and the S&P 500 slipped 0.4%.In standing pat on rates, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the economy will have more time to absorb past hikes, adding, “ideally by taking a little more time, we won’t go well past the level where we need to go.” However, signaling clearly that they do not think the U.S. has escaped the gravitational pull of inflation, Fed policymakers issued projections Wednesday showing they envision as many as two additional quarter-point rate hikes before the year ends. That’s a more aggressive stance than the single rate hike that most had expected.“It is too early to say that Powell is winning the fight against inflation,” said Rusla...

Slovakia’s technocrat government loses mandatory confidence vote, to stay till September snap vote

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s new government of technocrats lost a mandatory confidence vote in Parliament on Thursday, just a month after taking office.President Zuzana Caputova, who swore in the 15-member Cabinet led by Prime Minister Ludovit Odor on May 15, now has to dismiss it. At the same time, the president will ask the government to stay in office with limited powers till a new government is formed following the Sept. 30 early election, Caputova’s office later said. The technocrat Cabinet was created with the aim to lead the country to that election, for which a date was set back in January. Of the 136 lawmakers who were present in the 150-seat Parliament, the government was defeated in a 34-43 vote.Slovakia has been without a proper government since last December, when the coalition government led by Prime Minister Eduard Heger was ousted in a no-confidence vote called by the opposition, following months of political crisis.Caputova initially asked Heger to l...

Recovering Pope visits children’s cancer ward before Friday discharge from hospital

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis visited the children’s cancer ward of Rome’s Gemelli hospital on the eve of his expected discharge following abdominal surgery, the Vatican said Thursday.The Vatican released the first images of Francis since his June 7 hospitalization, showing him in his wheelchair in the corridor of the pediatric oncology ward, meeting with children, their parents and medical staff. In one photo, he is shown elsewhere speaking with a couple in a private room, the man in a wheelchair.The Vatican said Francis also met with with the staff and administration of the hospital and said doctors confirmed he would be discharged Friday morning.The 86-year-old pope was admitted to Gemelli hospital on June 7 for surgery to repair a hernia in his abdominal wall and remove intestinal scar tissue that had caused blockages. It was his third hospitalization at Gemelli as pope, and confirmed a trend that he visits young cancer patients the day before he is discharged.Francis in ...

Toronto approves several new bike lanes as some mayoral candidates vow to stop installation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

Toronto city council has approved several kilometres of new bike lanes despite a number of mayoral candidates saying they would stop the installation if elected.The plan approved on Wednesday includes the installation of close to 8.6 kilometres of new bikeways, including along a stretch of Bloor Street West from Runnymede Road to just east of Kipling Avenue.Ex-Toronto police chief and mayoral candidate Mark Saunders has pledge to deprioritize the Bloor Street West bike lane expansion if he were to be elected. Saunders has also said he would remove bike lanes on University Avenue, reverse the decision to make the Yonge Street bike lanes permanent, and immediately suspend all bike lane expansions.Former MP Olivia Chow remains the frontrunner in the race for mayor with less than two weeks to go until the byelection. Chow, an avid cyclist herself, has said bike lanes are a vital addition to the city’s transportation network.Coun. Stephen Holyday argues that many residents in the w...

Donor nations scramble to find billions of dollars of funding for Syrian aid

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Donor nations from across the globe were scrambling Thursday to find billions of dollars to extend their aid commitment to millions of Syrians who have been battered by hunger, poverty, civil war and a massive earthquake. Amid pressing needs across the globe from Ukraine to Sudan, the annual donor conference hosted by the European Union in Brussels has even more political overtones as Syrian President Bashar Assad is slowly carving his way back from being an international pariah to the regional mainstream. Finding hard cash, though, remains key. “My appeal is simple: Help us help the Syrian people. We are asking for $11.1 billion, our largest appeal worldwide,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres said. “We have no time to spare.” Funding from the conference will help provide aid to Syrians in the war-torn country and to some 5.7 million Syrian refugees living in neighboring countries, particularly Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.But for nations hit by economic difficu...

SIU investigating after man critically injured in apparent fall at downtown hotel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

The province’s Special Investigations Unit is investigating after a man was sent to hospital with life-threatening injuries following an interaction with police at downtown Toronto hotel.Officers were called to the Holiday Inn Express in the area of Jarvis and Richmond streets around 3 a.m. on Wednesday for reports of a person in crisis.Paramedics confirm a man was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. A source tells CityNews the man sustained his injuries in an apparent fall.Photos from the scene show broken glass, pillows and other debris scattered on the street and sidewalk. A third floor window of the hotel appears to be smashed.The Special Investigations Unit is investigating after Toronto police responded to a call on Jarvis Street in downtown Toronto on June 15, 2023. CITYNEWS/Bertram DandyThere remains a large police presence in the area,Jarvis is closed in both directions from Richmond to Adelaide Street for the investigation.The SIU is called in to invest...

Landmark home built before Great Chicago Fire damaged in Austin blaze

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

CHICAGO — Fire crews battled a fire at one of Chicago's oldest homes early Thursday morning. The fire started around 1 a.m. on the top floor of the Seth P. Warner House in the 600 block of North Central in the Austin neighborhood.The two people inside the home were able to make it out safely and no other injuries were reported. The 150-year-old home was damaged in the fire. The house was designated landmark status by the city last year. It was built in 1869 and is one of just a few homes still standing that predate the Great Chicago Fire. It is said to be the oldest home in the Austin neighborhood.The home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places back in 1992. ‘I had 6 surgeries’: Chicago teen, family speak out after hit-and-run incident near Midway Seth Warner was one of Chicago's earliest settlers. According to city documents, the home has been somewhat of a museum, a place for fine arts and music, as well as a home to several families.The current owners have lived...

2 men rob Walgreens store in West Ridge: Chicago Police

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

CHICAGO -- Police are searching for two men after a Walgreens store in West Ridge was robbed late Wednesday night.According to police, two men entered the store in the 3000 block of West Peterson Avenue around 10:52 p.m. and announced a robbery while displaying a weapon. Landmark home built before Great Chicago Fire damaged in blaze in Austin neighborhood Reports say the men took an unknown amount of money from the register before fleeing.There were no injuries and there is currently no one in custody. Police are investigating the incident.

Thursday Forecast: Temps in low 80s, hazy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

Thursday: Mostly cloudy, 20% thunderstorms, temp crash, NNE 10-15 G25. High: 81, Low: 76Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, NNE 10-15 G20. Low: 53Chicago Weather | Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center's Forecast (wgntv.com)Friday: Morning clouds, afternoon sun, NE 5-10 G15. High: 72, Low: 67wgntv.com/weather

'I’ve cried because of frustration,' Austin’s MetroAccess riders say service is repeatedly late

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) --- In the lobby of Sanchez Elementary School, Rebecca Ramirez waits on the MetroAccess bus to pick her up from work.Ramirez has used the paratransit service for people with mobility disabilities since 2019 when she began using a wheelchair.She says from the start – the service has been unreliable for her. For years, she describes often being left stranded with no other option but to wait.“I’ve cried because of frustration,” Ramirez said. Rebecca Ramirez gets on the MetroAccess bus after work. (KXAN Photo/Frank Martinez) CapMetro said its MetroAccess service has provided over 2 million rides since 2019. The agency said its complaint record is below 1%.Records KXAN obtained show more than 900 complaints from 2019 to the start of 2023 from riders who said the paratransit bus shows up late repeatedly. Other riders said that even when they are picked up within their scheduled window, they spend hours in the vehicle and ultimately a...