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Wall Street starts quarter flat as oil renews inflation fear

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Wall Street is starting the second quarter nearly flat as losses by utilities and the technology sector offset big gains in energy stocks. The S&P 500 is down less than 0.1% and the Nasdaq is off 0.5% at the open Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.3%. Exxon and Chevron soared nearly 4% after Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers said they’ll cut production by 1.15 million barrels per day from May until the end of the year. That sent oil up nearly 6% as of 9:35 a.m. ET. Investors worry that higher prices for gas and other fuels could add to upward pressure on inflation.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story appears below:Oil prices soared nearly 6% on Monday after Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers said they will cut production by 1.15 million barrels per day from May until the end of the year. Shares in Asia were mixed. U.S. benchmark crude oil rose $4.24 to $79.91 per barrel, or 5.6%, in electronic trading on the...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of April 9-15

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

Celebrity birthdays for the week of April 9-15April 9: Actor Michael Learned (“The Waltons”) is 84. Country singer Margo Smith is 81. Actor Dennis Quaid is 69. Humorist Jimmy Tingle (“60 Minutes II”) is 68. Keyboardist Dave Innis of Restless Heart is 64. Talk show host Joe Scarborough (“Morning Joe”) is 60. Actor Mark Pellegrino (“Dexter”) is 58. Actor-model Paulina Porizkova is 58. Actor Cynthia Nixon (“Sex and the City”) is 57. Singer Kevin Martin of Candlebox is 54. TV personality Sunny Anderson (“The Kitchen”) is 48. Singer Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance is 46. Actor Keshia Knight Pulliam (“The Cosby Show”) is 44. Guitarist Albert Hammond Junior of The Strokes is 43. Actor Charlie Hunnam (“Sons of Anarchy”) is 43. Actor Jay Baruchel (“Knocked Up,” ″Tropic Thunder”) is 41. Actor Annie Funke (“Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders”) is 38. Actor Jordan Masterson (“Last Man Standing”) is 37. Actor Leighton Meester (“Gossip Girl”) is 37. Singer-actor Jesse McCartney (“Summerland”) is 36...

With no peace in sight, NATO countries eye more Ukraine help

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s Western allies have sent the country 65 billion euros ($70 billion) in military aid to help thwart Russia’s full-scale invasion, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday, and with no peace negotiations on the horizon the alliance is gearing up to send more.“We cannot allow Russia to continue to chip away at European security,” Stoltenberg told a news conference in Brussels, adding “there are no signs that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is preparing for peace. He is preparing for more war.”NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday “will discuss how we can step up our support, including by continuing to strengthen Ukraine’s armed forces,” Stoltenberg said. “Our support is for the long-haul.”Analysts suspect Putin plans to dig in and hold out against a possible Ukraine counteroffensive in coming months, hoping that the West’s costly support for Kyiv will unravel.Putin’s invasion in February 2022 backfired in some key respects. I...

Police: Man in Puerto Rico steals ambulance after accident

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A man involved in a car accident Monday in Puerto Rico’s capital fled the scene in an ambulance that had arrived to help him, police said.Police pursued him from San Juan to the nearby city of Caguas but found only the abandoned ambulance, authorities said. Police were searching for the suspect.The accident occurred on one of Puerto Rico’s busiest highways. It was not immediately clear if other people were involved in the accident.A police lieutenant investigating the incident could not be immediately reached for comment. The Associated Press

Saputo signs deal to sell two milk processing plants in Australia to Coles Group

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

MONTREAL — Saputo Inc. has signed a deal to sell two milk processing plants in Australia to supermarket giant Coles Group Ltd. for about $95 million.The Canadian diary giant says the fresh milk processing facilities are in the Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales.Saputo says the deal is expected to close in the second half of the year and is subject to customary conditions, including clearance from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.Coles Group includes grocery stores, liquor stores, fuel and convenience retailers, a loyalty program and financial services.Saputo says the sale will help streamline its operations and allow it to reinvest in other areas of its business.CEO Lino Saputo says the company is continually working to ensure it has the right manufacturing footprint and product offering to enhance its position as a high-quality, low-cost processor.“This marks an important step in executing our long-term vision for success in Australia as we maintain...

Trump set to travel to New York; face booking, arraignment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump was planning to leave Florida for New York on Monday for his expected booking and arraignment the following day on charges stemming from hush money payments during his 2016 campaign — answering for a criminal case unlike any his country has seen. Trump, already in the midst of a third presidential campaign to try and reclaim the White House he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020, said he will fly to Manhattan in the afternoon and go to Trump Tower before turning himself in to authorities on Tuesday. Trump Tower was open but authorities were planning to close nearby streets as Trump came and went, and additional security was also in the works. They’ve taken steps to close and secure the courthouse floor where Trump will appear Tuesday.Demonstrators supporting Trump began gathering as the Florida sun was just rising at a West Palm Beach shopping center on the way to the airport, hours before he was set to pass along the ...

Indian opposition leader to avoid prison during appeal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — An Indian court on Monday suspended a two-year prison sentence for Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi as he appeals his criminal conviction for mocking the prime minister’s surname which resulted in his expulsion from Parliament, dealing a huge blow to his Congress party ahead of general elections next year.Gandhi, a fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his main challenger in the 2024 polls, was ousted after a court sentenced him to two years in prison for defamation for a comment made in a 2019 election speech. The prosecution of Gandhi, the great-grandson of India’s first prime minister and scion of the dynastic Congress party, was widely condemned by opponents of Modi as the latest assault against democracy and free speech by a government seeking to crush dissent. The speed of his removal from Parliament shocked Indian politics. Gandhi appeared in a court in the western state of Gujarat on Monday to file an appeal and was granted bail for th...

Political novice ousts veteran in Montenegro vote

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — A crushing defeat of Montenegro’s long-time leader Milo Djukanovic in a weekend presidential election heralds his final departure from the small Balkan state’s political scene after more than 30 years in power, analysts said Monday.Economy expert and political novice Jakov Milatovic won the presidential runoff election on Sunday, defeating Djukanaovic who led Montenegro to independence from much larger Serbia in 2006 and to NATO membership in 2017, despite strong opposition from former Slavic ally Russia.Milatovic won around 60% of the vote, according to the reliable independent pollsters. Djukanovic has conceded defeat. First official results are expected later Monday.Milatovic’s victory is believed to reflect voter fatigue with Djukanovic – who has served as president twice and prime minister seven times – as well as disillusionment with established politicians. Although the presidency is largely a ceremonial position in Montenegro, it infl...

Finland set to join NATO on Tuesday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday Finland will become the 31st member of the world’s biggest military alliance on Tuesday, prompting a warning from Russia that it would bolster its defenses near their joint border if NATO deploys any troops in its new member.“This is a historic week,” Stoltenberg told reporters on the eve of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. “From tomorrow, Finland will be a full member of the alliance.” He said that he hopes Sweden will be able to join NATO in coming months.The former Norwegian prime minister said that on Tuesday afternoon, “we will raise the Finnish flag for the first time here at the NATO headquarters. It will be a good day for Finland’s security, for Nordic security, and for NATO as a whole.”Stoltenberg said that Turkey, the last country to have ratified Finland’s membership, will hand its official texts to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday. Stoltenberg said he would then invite Fi...

Chinese balloon gathered sensitive intelligence despite Biden administration efforts: report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:39 GMT

(The Hill) -- The Chinese surveillance balloon that flew over the U.S. for days before it was shot down off the east coast earlier this year was able to gather intelligence from sensitive military sites, according to a new NBC News report. China received the information collected by the balloon immediately, and was able to control its flight path, NBC News reported, citing two senior U.S. officials and a former senior administration official.The intelligence Beijing was able to access was predominantly from electronic signals, according to the report, and the Biden administration’s work to limit the balloon’s ability to pick up those signals likely prevented much more sensitive intelligence from being gathered.  Seaweed bloom reaches record size: ‘Major beaching events are inevitable’ President Joe Biden ordered the U.S. military to shoot down a Chinese surveillance balloon that had spent days floating across the U.S., prompting concerns about what intel could have been gat...