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Stock market today: Global shares are mixed after central bankers say interest rates must stay high

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:47 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets were mixed Thursday after leaders of major central banks said they need to keep interest rates high to fight persistent inflation despite fears that might tip the global economy into recession.London and Shanghai declined while Paris and Tokyo advanced. Oil prices declined.U.S., European and Japanese central bankers meeting Wednesday in Portugal said with hiring still strong, they have yet to extinguish upward pressure on prices. “Policy hasn’t been restrictive enough for long enough,” said Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.“The end of hiking interest rates is not in sight yet,” Carl B. Weinberg of High-Frequency Economics said in a report.In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London lost 0.2% to 7,486.36 while the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.2% to 7,303.98. The DAX in Frankfurt was unchanged at 15,948.72.On Wall Street, futures for the benchmark S&P 500 index and for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up less than 0.1%.On Wednesday, the S&P 5...

Federal Reserve may tighten financial rules after US bank failures, Powell says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:47 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that the central bank may have to tighten its oversight of the American financial system in the wake of the failure of three large U.S. banks this spring.Powell said in prepared remarks delivered at a banking conference in Madrid that tougher regulations put in place after the 2007-2008 financial crisis have made large multinational banks much more resilient to widespread loan defaults, such as the bursting of the housing bubble that led to that crisis. But the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank exposed different vulnerabilities that the Fed will likely address through new proposals, Powell said. He did not provide details, but other Fed officials have said banks should be required to hold more capital in reserve to guard against loan losses.Such proposals are likely to face resistance from the banking industry and some congressional Republicans, who argue that the Fed had the ne...

Austrian police seize drugs and weapons in a raid on a far-right biker gang

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:47 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Austrian authorities said Thursday they they have seized large amounts of drugs and weapons in a raid on a far-right biker gang tied to organized crime.Public broadcaster ORF reported that police searched properties in Upper Austria and detained 10 people on suspicion of breaching firearms, narcotics and extremism laws.Tabloid daily Krone reported that the suspects were members of the Bandidos biker club, which has been trying to gain a foothold in Austria. It reported that the raids Monday were sparked by investigations resulting from the 2022 discovery of firearms and ammunition in a vehicle belonging to a German man.The Associated Press

In the news today: Potential gravesites found at Alberta residential school

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:47 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…Search suggests 88 graves at Alberta residential schoolUniversity of Alberta researchers have found evidence of 88 potential unmarked graves near a former residential school in northern Alberta.Dr. Kisha Supernant, who led the search, says the project was focused on areas near St. Bruno’s Indian Residential School in Joussard, Alberta. She says the areas were pointed out by residential school survivors and elders of the community. Using ground-penetrating radar, the team found signs of unmarked graves in two spots outside the cemetery area, including near the priest’s residence.Reconciliation sparks Canada Day fireworks rethinkFireworks displays to celebrate Canada Day are facing a rethink as advocates call for other ways to mark the occasion because of concerns over costs, the message they send to Indigenous people and the way they terrify some ani...

US says it’s horrified by conditions in Ethiopia after theft leads to food aid pause and deaths

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:47 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The United States humanitarian agency told The Associated Press it is horrified by conditions in Ethiopia, where local officials have reported hundreds of hunger deaths in recent weeks after the U.S. and the United Nations paused food aid for one-sixth of the country’s population over massive theft of the aid.In an unusually strong statement emailed to the AP, the U.S. Agency for International Development called the aid suspension “wrenching” and a measure of last resort because of the “extreme scale and coordination of food aid diversion identified across the country.”U.S. officials have said in private that this could be the biggest-ever theft of aid in any country.The U.S. and U.N. have not said who was involved in the theft, which was first discovered in March in the northern Tigray region when tons of food meant for needy people were instead found for sale in sacks branded with the U.S. flag.Aid workers said Ethiopian government officials are d...

What is open/closed this Canada Day weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:47 GMT

Canada Day is fast-approaching and it falls on a Saturday this year, meaning the holiday is on Monday. There will be lots of activities and events to keep you busy in the city this weekend.But, keep in mind, there will be some closures for the observed holiday Monday and Canada Day this year.Attractions open on Saturday and MondayCanada’s Wonderland: Open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.Splash Works: Open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.Casa Loma: Open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.CN Tower: Open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.Hockey Hall of Fame: Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.Ontario Place/Trillium Park: Open 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.Ontario Science Centre: Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.Ripley’s Aquarium: Open 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.Royal Ontario Museum: Open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.Art Gallery of Ontario: 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.Toronto Zoo: Open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.Beer/LCBOSelect Beer Store locations will be open on Saturday, click here to locate one in your areaLCBO stores will be closed on Saturday.TransitThe TTC will run on a holiday service schedule on MondayGO Transit ...

‘Vision of Inuit’: Nunavut’s historic land-use plan submitted after 16 years

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:47 GMT

IQALUIT, Nunavut — The federal and Nunavut governments, as well as a group representing Inuit in the territory, are reviewing a massive plan to formally guide where, how and when land and water can be used in Canada’s easternmost territory. The Nunavut land-use plan covers some 2.1 million square kilometres — a fifth of Canada’s land mass. It has been years in the making and has gone through four different drafts since 2007. During that time, the Nunavut Planning Commission has held hundreds of meetings, technical workshops, hearings and interviews across the territory’s 25 communities and in northern Manitoba. “We are confident the NPC has submitted a balanced, responsible and approvable 2023 land-use plan that reflects the vision of Inuit,” commission chair Andrew Nakashuk said in a statement. Sharon Ehaloak, executive director of the commission, said balancing diverse and sometimes competing interests has been an overarching challenge. Governments, r...

Reconciliation sparks a reckoning for Canada Day fireworks displays

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:47 GMT

VANCOUVER — Chief Don Tom of the Tsartlip First Nation on Vancouver Island says he’s been known to “partake” in watching fireworks, as a way to bring families together.But on Canada Day, he wants people to mark the occasion in a different way, perhaps by donating to an Indigenous organization or taking time to learn about First Nation perspectives.Tom is among those urging a reckoning for fireworks on July 1, to consider what sort of message they send to First Nations communities. Pyrotechnics are also under pressure on other fronts, as the few minutes of awe they inspire are weighed against their cost, the terror they cause some animals, traffic and overcrowding woes.“I think there are different ways (if you want) to celebrate,” said Tom, adding that he hoped people would “educate themselves on Canada’s history with Indigenous people.”Activist group the Indigenous Foundation also says people shouldn’t buy July 1 fireworks and instead should...

Conservative voters less likely to be proud to be Canadian, new survey suggests

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:47 GMT

TORONTO — Canadians’ pride in their nationality, like most things these days, seems to be divided down partisan lines, a new poll suggests. While a strong majority of the 1,512 respondents to the survey by Leger said they were proud to be Canadian — 81 per cent — the poll suggests the feeling is less common among Conservative supporters than their Liberal counterparts. Experts say that while the results of the survey may be surprising given Conservatives’ reputation as a patriotic party, it reflects their malcontent with the direction in which Canada is headed. The poll found 97 per cent of those who listed their voting intentions as Liberal said they were very or somewhat proud to be Canadian, as did 87 per cent of NDP-leaning respondents. That number dipped among Conservative voters, just 76 per cent of whom answered in the affirmative. An even smaller portion of the 30 respondents who said they vote for the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) said they were proud to...

Search suggests 88 potential graves at residential school in northern Alberta

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:47 GMT

Sucker Creek First Nation Chief Roderick Willier remembers never feeling safe during the decade he spent at a residential school in northern Alberta.“I always had to stay on high alert when I was there,” Willier said, as he recalled his time between the age of seven and 17 at St. Bruno’s Indian Residential School in Joussard, Alta., about 335 kilometres northwest of Edmonton. “I was always told, ‘Oh, you got to be careful of them (at residential school).'”University of Alberta researchers recently found evidence of 88 potential unmarked graves near the former school.Dr. Kisha Supernant, who led the search, said the project focused on the areas pointed out by residential school survivors and elders of the community.Supernant’s team surveyed 4,500 square metres of land, using ground-penetrating radar to look for pits or grave shafts.She said the team found signs of unmarked graves outside of the school cemetery area at two locations — one of t...