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Stocks roar, recover nearly all of steep loss from prior day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:59 GMT

By STAN CHOE (AP Business Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rallying Thursday to recover almost all of their steep loss from a day before, when markets tumbled into the close. The S&P 500 was 1.6% higher in morning trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 412 points, or 1.3%, at 32,442, as of 10:54 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 2.3% higher. A day earlier, stocks fell sharply after the Federal Reserve indicated that while the end may be near for its market-rattling hikes to interest rates, it still doesn’t expect to cut rates this year. Markets lost momentum after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that, along with an insistence that it could keep raising rates if inflation stays high. But traders on Thursday were still largely betting the Fed will cut rates later this year. Such cuts can act like steroids for markets, juicing prices for stocks, bonds and other investments. They would relax the pressure on the economy, but they could also give i...

Police block off area around Princess of Wales Theatre due to ‘suspicious package’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:59 GMT

Toronto police have blocked off an area around the Princess of Wales Theatre downtown after a suspicious package was found late-morning on Thursday.The Emergency Disposal Unit was called in just before 11 a.m. to the area of King Street West and John Street.Police say the package was located outside “between buildings.”The intersections of Pearl and Dundas streets, as well as Pearl and John streets, have been shut down.Police tell CityNews they are considering evacuating nearby buildings as a precaution.

12-year-old boy charged in attempted stabbing, robbery in Pickering

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:59 GMT

A 12-year-old is facing several charges after he allegedly tried to stab and rob people on separate occasions in Pickering.Officers responded to a fight in the area of Kingston and Liverpool roads around 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday.Police allege a male suspect was armed with a knife and was trying to stab another male. The suspect was arrested at the scene and officers seized a knife and brass knuckles from him.The victim escaped with minor injuries.After further investigation, it was revealed the same suspect tried to rob someone at knifepoint a day earlier.In Monday’s incident, police allege the suspect tried to steal a computer from a male near Pickering Town Centre. Security was able to intervene and the suspect fled the area.The victim was not injured.Durham Regional Police have charged a 12-year-old boy from Pickering and charged him with assault with a weapon, carrying concealed weapons, weapons dangerous, and robbery.Anyone with additional information is being asked to contac...

‘Vulnerable’ man escapes explosion, fire at Richmond Hill home, hasn’t been seen since

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:59 GMT

Police are searching for a “vulnerable” 21-year-old man who was last seen leaving his home in Richmond Hill after an explosion and fire earlier this week.Fire crews in York Region were called to the home on Deerwood Crescent near Bloomington Road and Bathurst Street just before 1 p.m. on Monday.According to York Regional Police, Daniel Popov was seen leaving his home at 12:50 p.m., which is around the same time the explosion and subsequent fire occurred.Police believe he was the only person at the residence when the fire broke out.“Daniel was witnessed in the area following the incident, but he did not return to the house and has not contacted his family since the incident,” police stated in a release.Investigators don’t believe Popov was injured in the fire, but police and his family are concerned for his well-being.Popov (pictured below) is six-feet tall, 170 pounds, and has short blond hair. At the time of his disappearance, he was wearing a grey jac...

Manhattan DA rejects GOP demand for info on Trump case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Manhattan district attorney investigating Donald Trump rebuffed House Republicans’ request Thursday for documents and testimony about the case, dismissing it as an “unprecedented inquiry” with no legitimate basis.In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, the general counsel for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg slammed the congressional request as “an unlawful incursion into New York’s sovereignty.” “The Letter only came after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested the next day and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene,” Leslie Dubeck wrote in the letter. “Neither fact is a legitimate basis for congressional inquiry.”The Republican chairmen of three House committees on Monday sent a letter to Bragg seeking information about his actions in the Trump case. The Republicans criticized the grand jury investigation as an “unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority.” The chairmen requested testimony as well as do...

Mozambicans vow to keep marching for deceased protest rapper

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:59 GMT

MAPUTO, Mozambique (AP) — Mozambican fans of deceased protest rapper Azagaia have vowed to keep marching in his honor, even though police violently dispersed demonstrations in Maputo and other cities last week.Peaceful demonstrations will go ahead with or without police authorization, said David Fardo, an organiser of the marches. He did not say when or where new marches would take place.Thousands assembled in cities across Mozambique last week to pay tribute to Azagaia, a rare outspoken government critic who died on March 9 at the age of 38. Although the assemblies were peaceful police fired tear gas and arrested some marchers.In the capital, Maputo, at least 19 people were injured, two of them seriously. One of those injured lost an eye after a tear gas canister struck his face, according to local reports. Police also beat an unarmed man lying on the ground before dragging him into a police car, according to march organizers and a video circulating online.Across Mozambique, 36 peo...

‘Appalling’: Southern Africa counts toll of Cyclone Freddy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:59 GMT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — The death toll from Tropical Cyclone Freddy, which ravaged Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique over the past two months, now stands at more than 600 people, the World Health Organization said Thursday.Aid agencies are scrambling to meet the soaring humanitarian needs amid fears of rising cholera cases, malnutrition and large numbers of displaced families. “The cyclone has left an appalling humanitarian situation in its wake … increased and concerted humanitarian assistance is needed” to support affected people recover and cope with the disaster, WHO regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti said in an online briefing.The long-lasting, brutal cyclone destroyed houses, roads, farmland and hospitals and has “stretched the capacity of health facilities,” claiming 605 lives among the more than 1.4 million affected people as of Mar. 20 in the three countries, she said.Cyclone Freddy first hit Madagascar and Mozambique in February. The storm went back out to the ...

Tech gains help S&P/TSX composite rise more than 100 points, U.S. stocks also up

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:59 GMT

TORONTO — Strength in the technology sector helped lead a broad-based rally as Canada’s main stock index gained more than 100 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets also surged higher.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 137.31 points at 19,670.09.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 419.91 points at 32,450.02. The S&P 500 index was up 63.20 points at 4,000.17, while the Nasdaq composite was up 261.15 points at 11,931.11.The Canadian dollar traded for 73.35 cents US compared with 72.93 cents US on Wednesday.The May crude contract was up 33 cents at US$71.23 per barrel and the May natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.36 per mmBTU.The April gold contract was up US$32.20 at US$1,981.80 an ounce and the May copper contract was up five cents at US$4.10 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press

President seals Finland’s NATO bid by signing required laws

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:59 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — The Finnish president on Thursday formally sealed the Nordic country’s historic bid to join NATO by signing into law the required national legal amendments needed for membership in the Western military alliance.The move by President Sauli Niinistö means Finland has completed national measures needed to join NATO, and is now just awaiting approval from Turkey and Hungary, the only two of NATO’s 30 existing members that haven’t ratified its bid.In Turkey Thursday, a parliamentary committee approved Finland’s NATO application, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported, bringing Helsinki a step closer to joining the alliance.Members of the Turkish parliament’s committee on foreign affairs voted in favor of Finland’s bid a week after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would move forward with ratifying it.Finland’s application could be ratified by the full Turkish assembly, where Erdogan’s party and its allies hold a majority, as early as next week. ...

RCMP arrest suspect in Montreal on terrorism allegations after tip from FBI

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:59 GMT

MONTREAL — The RCMP say they arrested a man in Montreal today on terrorism allegations after receiving intelligence from the FBI.Police say officers arrested 18-year-old Mohamed Amine Assal, who is from Montreal’s St-Laurent borough.They say their operation was to disrupt Assal’s “suspicious activities” and get him to sign a peace bond that could include several conditions.The RCMP say their investigation gave them reasonable grounds to fear that Assal may commit a terrorism offence.They say he has not been charged but could be at a later date.An RCMP news release says the police force is committed to countering religiously motivated violent extremism.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2023.The Canadian Press