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US economy unexpectedly accelerated to a 2.4% growth rate in April-June quarter despite Fed hikes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:24 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy surprisingly accelerated to a 2.4% annual growth rate from April through June, showing continued resilience in the face of steadily higher interest rates resulting from the Federal Reserve’s 16-month-long fight to bring down inflation.Thursday’s estimate from the Commerce Department indicated that the gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services — picked up from the 2% growth rate in the January-March quarter. Last quarter’s expansion was well above the 1.5% annual rate that economists had forecast.Driving last quarter’s growth was a burst of business investment, which surged at a 5.7% annual pace, the fastest rate since late 2021. Companies plowed more money into factories and equipment. Increased spending by state and local governments also helped fuel the economy’s expansion in the April-June quarter.Consumer spending, the heart of the nation’s economy, was also solid last quarter, though it s...

European Central Bank hikes interest rates to combat inflation and leaves door open to more

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:24 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank raised interest rates for the ninth straight time Thursday in its yearlong campaign to stamp out painfully high inflation and kept the door open to further hikes despite increasing fears of recession.ECB President Christine Lagarde had all but promised the quarter-percentage point increase and said the bank’s next moves would be determined by what the data — including inflation and job numbers — will show. “We have an open mind as to what the decisions will be in September and in subsequent meetings,” she told reporters. “So we might hike and we might hold.”Lagarde said that if the bank pauses, “it would not necessarily be for an extended period of time.” Decisions could vary from one meeting to the next, she said, but insisted that the ECB is “very strongly rooted in our determination to break the back of inflation.”“Are we satisfied? Are we claiming victory? No. We want go to the end of the game,” she said.U.S. Federa...

Stock market today: Wall Street rallies as economy keeps growing and profits keep rising

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rallying Thursday following a strong profit report from Facebook’s parent company and the latest signals that the economy continues to defy predictions for a recession.The S&P 500 was 0.9% higher in early trading, close to its highest level in nearly 16 months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 84 points, or 0.2%, at 35,604, as of 9:40 a.m. Eastern time, and on track for a 14th straight gain. The Nasdaq composite, meanwhile, was leading the market with a gain of 1.6% following a strong profit report from Meta Platforms.Earnings rose more for Meta, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp in addition to Facebook, than analysts expected after its services attracted additional active members. Meta is one of Wall Street’s most influential stocks because of its massive size, and it rose 8.2%.McDonald’s was helping to prop up the Dow after it easily topped analysts’ forecasts for profits during the spring. Its sales grew worldwide, and its stock rose 1.7%.In ...

Norfolk Southern says cost of fiery Ohio derailment doubles to $803 million as cleanup continues

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:24 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The costs associated with Norfolk Southern’s fiery February derailment in Ohio have more than doubled to $803 million as the railroad works to clean up the mess and moves forward with all the related lawsuits.Norfolk Southern recorded another $416 million charge related to the East Palestine derailment on Thursday as part of its second-quarter earnings after previously announcing a $387 million charge earlier this year. Most of the costs are related to the cleanup of the hazardous chemicals that were released, but $222 million is a combination of legal fees and the $63 million of assistance it has offered to the community.The derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border prompted a national reckoning on railroad safety after thousands of people had to evacuate when officials decided to blow open several tank cars filled with vinyl chloride because they believed they might explode. The resulting fire sent a towering plume of black smoke over the town three day...

Russian helicopter crashes in Siberia, killing 4 people on board and injuring 10

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:24 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — A helicopter crashed in the Siberia region of Russia on Thursday, killing four of the people on board and injuring 10, Russian emergency officials reported. The Mi-8 helicopter caught fire as it was landing in southern Siberia’s Altai Republic and brushed against a power line, the Altai branch of the Russian Emergency Ministry said. It released a photo showing the chopper’s wreckage.The branch’s initial statement said the helicopter carried 13 people and six were killed and seven were injured. Officials revised the numbers later in the day, saying a total of 16 people were on board and four died. It turned out two people who were believed dead had left the crash site on their own and went to the nearest hospital, an updated statement said. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing the country’s civilian aviation regulator Rosaviatsia, that the helicopter belonged to a private company and was carrying a group of tourists. The Mi-8 is a two...

Putin claims fighting in southeastern Ukraine has intensified, with Kyiv suffering heavy losses

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:24 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Fierce fighting raged Thursday in southeastern Ukraine, where a Western official said Kyiv has launched a major push and Russian President Vladimir Putin said “hostilities have intensified significantly.”Battles in recent weeks have taken place on multiple points along the 1,500-kilometer (930-mile) front line as Ukraine wages a counteroffensive with Western-supplied weapons and Western-trained troops against Russian forces who invaded 17 months ago.Putin praised the “heroism” with which Russian soldiers were repelling attacks in the Zaporizhzhia region of the southeast, claiming Moscow’s troops not only destroyed Ukraine’s military equipment but also inflicted heavy losses to Kyiv’s forces.He insisted on state TV Ukraine’s push in the area “wasn’t successful,” although it was not possible to independently verify his report. Putin was in St. Petersburg at a summit of African leaders. Putin has insisted for weeks that Kyiv’s counteroffensive is failing, without p...

India protests China’s issuing of separate visas to Indians from disputed northeastern state

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:24 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India protested on Thursday China’s practice to continue to issue separate visas that are stapled onto passports of Indian citizens from the northeastern Arunachal Pradesh state, which China claims to be part of its South Tibet. Three members of an Indian sports team set to compete at the World University Games this week in China were denied regular visas — which are stamped onto passports — by the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi. Instead, they got their visas stapled to a page in their passports. For India, that presents a problem because if it sends athletes with stapled visas to China, it would imply accepting China’s claim on the territory.There was no immediate comment from Beijing but China has insisted the decision to issue stapled visas does not undermine its position on the disputed territory. “This is unacceptable, and we have lodged our strong protest with the Chinese side reiterating our consistent position on the matter. India reserves the righ...

Far-right activist Ammon Bundy loses Idaho hospital defamation case, must pay millions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:24 GMT

SALEM, Ore. — Far-right activist Ammon Bundy, who led the takeover of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, an associate and three of their groups must pay over $50 million in damages for accusing a hospital of child trafficking and harassing medical staff, a jury has decided.The lawsuit brought by St. Luke’s Regional Health accused Bundy and Diego Rodriguez of making defamatory statements against the hospital and its employees after Rodriguez’s infant grandson was removed from his family for several days and taken to St. Luke’s amid concerns for his health. The emergency room physician, Dr. Rachel Thomas, testified that the 10-month-old baby’s stomach was distended, his eyes were hollow and he was unable to sit up, reminding her of severely malnourished babies she had treated in Haiti, according to the Idaho Statesman newspaper. Police said at the time that medical personnel determined the child was malnourished and had lost weight.Bundy responded by urging his followers to pr...

21 dead and 40 rescued after a wind-tossed boat overturns in the Philippines

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:24 GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — At least 21 people died and 40 others were rescued after a Philippine passenger boat overturned Thursday when it was lashed by strong winds in Laguna Lake southeast of Manila, police said.Police said rescue operations were continuing, but did not immediately provide figures for the total number of people on board the MBCA Aya when it capsized in Rizal province. The boat capsized when its passengers moved to one side of the boat in panic when it was battered by fierce winds about 46 meters (about 150 feet) from Kalinawan village in Binangonan town, the coast guard said.The Rizal provincial police said it immediately launched a search and rescue operation with the help of the coast guard and other local authorities and at that least 40 people were saved but 21 others drowned.“The operation is still ongoing for the possible rescue of other passengers,” the Rizal police said in a statement. It did not provide other details like how many passengers and crewmemb...

Niger’s president vows democracy will prevail after mutinous soldiers detain him and declare a coup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:24 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Niger’s president defiantly declared Thursday that democracy would prevail, a day after mutinous soldiers detained him and announced they had seized power in a coup over the West African country’s deteriorating security situation.While many people in the capital of Niamey went about their usual business, it remained unclear who was in control of the country and which side the majority might support. A statement tweeted by the army command’s account declared that it would back the coup in order to avoid a “murderous confrontation” that could lead to a “bloodbath.” It was not possible to confirm that the statement was genuine.Meanwhile, President Mohamed Bazoum — who was elected in 2021 in Niger’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since its independence from France and is a key ally of the West — appeared to have the backing of several political parties.“The hard-won achievements will be safeguarded. All Nigerians who love democracy and freedom wi...