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Stock market today: Asian shares track Wall Street gains ahead of Fed decision on interest rates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:32 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher Wednesday after Wall Street advanced to claim back some of the ground it gave up in another losing month. Investors are awaiting a decision later Wednesday by the Federal Reserve on interest rates and updates on the state of the U.S. economy. The overwhelming expectation is that the Fed will keep its overnight interest rate steady. The bigger question is how long it will keep that main rate high. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index added 2.4% to 31,601.65 a day after the Bank of Japan held back from any major changes to its near-zero interest rate policy, though it adjusted its controls on government bond yields.The dollar weakened against the Japanese yen, trading at 151.28 yen. It jumped on Tuesday after the Japanese central bank’s decision. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng edged less than 0.1% higher, to 17,126.70. The Shanghai Composite index gained 0.1% to 3,023.08. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1% to 2,301.56 and the S&P/ASX ...

Israel dice que frustró ataques aéreos de los hutíes de Yemen cerca del mar Rojo

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:32 GMT

(CNN) — El ejército israelí dijo este martes que había frustrado un ataque aéreo de los rebeldes hutíes respaldados por Irán en Yemen, mientras aumentan en toda la región los temores de que la guerra entre Israel y Hamas pueda ampliarse.El general de brigada Yahya Saree, portavoz de las fuerzas hutíes, dijo a Al-Masirah TV, propiedad de los hutíes, que se habían lanzado misiles balísticos y drones contra objetivos en Israel en lo que, según dijo, era la tercera operación en apoyo al pueblo palestino.Añadió que había planes para más ataques hasta que cesara la “agresión israelí”.“Nuestras fuerzas armadas lanzaron una gran cantidad de misiles balísticos y alados y una gran cantidad de drones contra varios objetivos del enemigo israelí”, dijo, refiriéndose a todo Israel como “territorios ocupados”.Los hutíes son una organización política y militar chiíta en Yemen que ha estado librando una guerra civil en el país contra una coalición respaldada por Arabia ...

“Él me comprendía”: la muerte de un ex primer ministro chino desata el luto… y una forma de expresar la frustración con la era de Xi Jinping

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:32 GMT

(CNN) — La repentina muerte del ex primer ministro chino Li Keqiang desató una oleada de dolor y luto en todo el país. Sin embargo, para muchos también parece ofrecer una oportunidad excepcional para expresar el descontento acumulado con el líder Xi Jinping y la dirección que ha tomado el país.Li Keqiang, que fue el segundo al mando nominal de Xi durante una década hasta marzo de 2023, murió de un repentino ataque al corazón el 27 de octubre en Shanghai, según los medios de comunicación estatales. Tenía 68 años.Su muerte, apenas unos meses después de su jubilación, conmocionó a la opinión pública china. Los homenajes han inundado la Internet del país, fuertemente controlada, mientras que un mar de ramos de flores amarillas y blancas en memoriales improvisados han aparecido fuera de su residencia de la infancia y otros lugares relacionados con su pasado.En los mensajes de redes sociales y en las notas manuscritas entre los homenajes florales, muchos recordaban a Li por sus aspi...

St. Anthony Shrine jumps in to Mass and Cass mess

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:32 GMT

St. Anthony Shrine is part of the solution to today’s tent ban along the long-neglected Mass and Cass encampment.“We’re going to get people into programs and change their lives,” said Fr. Thomas Conway, executive director of St. Anthony Shrine. “They just need a trained social worker to give them a little push.”That’s where the Shrine’s Mary Ann Ponti, director of outreach programs at St. Anthony Shrine, goes to work.“God bless Mary Ann,” said Conway. “She’s working on the mayor’s teams and is spending part of the week over on Mass and Cass.”The Shrine, located in Downtown Crossing on Arch Street, has been a respite for the soul and for the hungry for decades. The friars and staff hold their annual fundraising gala tonight and donations go to missions like the one along Mass and Cass.Conway said there’s no one answer to the opioid epidemic — seen in its raw reality in the encampment ̵...

In the news today: Vancouver man worries for family as Israeli airstrikes target Gaza

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:32 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…Vancouver man says his family in Gaza has no waterA Vancouver resident says his family in the Gaza Strip has no water to drink.Omar Mansour says the only liquid the family has is from the canned food they are eating.His family of 11, including his parents, who are in their 70s, are living in a home in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, where they work as farmers. A deluge of Israeli airstrikes Tuesday on a refugee camp near Gaza City demolished apartment buildings, while ground troops battled Hamas militants across northern Gaza. Convoy trial continues with testimony of police witnessesThe testimony of police liaison officers is set to continue in the trial of two high-profile “Freedom Convoy” organizers today. Sgt. Jordan Blonde, who described himself as the “secondary” police contact to Chris Barber, will resume his testimony, and is...

Dozens of Afghans who were illegally in Pakistan are detained and deported in nationwide sweeps

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:32 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani security forces on Wednesday rounded up, detained and deported dozens of Afghans who were living in the country illegally, after a government-set deadline for them to leave expired, authorities said.The sweep is part of a new anti-migrant crackdown that targets all undocumented or unregistered foreigners, according to Islamabad, though it mostly affects some 2 million Afghans who are in Pakistan without documentation. The crackdown has drawn widespread criticism from U.N. agencies, rights groups and the Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s interior minister confirmed that the deportations have begun. “Today, we said goodbye to 64 Afghan nationals as they began their journey back home,” Interim Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This action is a testament to Pakistan’s determination to repatriate any individuals residing in the country without proper documentation.”The authorities said Wednesday’s ...

Tories hold lead over Liberals, Canadians report limited trust in institutions: poll

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:32 GMT

OTTAWA — The Conservative party is maintaining a steady lead over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, a new poll suggests, at a time when Canadians are reporting limited trust in their institutions. Pierre Poilievre’s Tories are 14 percentage points ahead of the governing party, with 40 per cent of respondents in the survey saying they would vote Conservative, 26 per cent Liberal and 17 per cent NDP if an election were held that day.The poll conducted from Friday to Sunday also suggested that people in Canada are generally more trusting of institutions than their neighbours to the south — especially when it comes to federal election administrators, the countries’ top courts and the police. Nonetheless, majorities of Canadians said they don’t trust federal legislative bodies, provincial governments, the media and large corporations.A total of 1,632 Canadian respondents participated in the web survey, along with 1,002 Americans. It cannot be assigned a ma...

Saskatchewan gas utility could face steep fines and jail for not remitting carbon tax

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:32 GMT

REGINA — Saskatchewan’s natural gas utility could face hefty fines for not remitting the carbon tax to the federal government, and its executives may also face jail for failing to do so, federal legislation says. Premier Scott Moe announced this week that SaskEnergy would not remit the carbon tax on natural gas starting Jan. 1, unless Ottawa exempts the fuel.Legal professors say if SaskEnergy doesn’t remit the charges, it could face big consequences. “The stakes are actually quite high for failing to remit the carbon tax,” Gerard Kennedy, a law professor at the University of Alberta, said Tuesday.“But that is not to say that it would necessarily escalate to that.”Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last week the carbon tax would be exempt for three years on home heating oil to address affordability needs.The move largely helps those in Atlantic provinces, where it’s a main source for home heating.Moe and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith ha...

‘They haven’t had water for the last week:’ Vancouver resident says of family in Gaza

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:32 GMT

After four days trying to call his family in the Gaza Strip, Vancouver resident Omar Mansour said he was able to hear his brother’s voice for a few minutes Monday morning.Those minutes with his brother, Firas, were a relief: his family had survived the blackout.Israel temporarily knocked out most communications in the territory late Friday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Saturday a “second stage” in the three-week-old war and said Israel is determined to bring back 239 hostages taken by the militant group during its murderous Oct. 7 incursion. Four of the hostages have been released.Mansour, who works as an IT consultant, said Firas’s voice sounded “robotic” because the 2G network in the Gaza Strip is under immense pressure from families trying to contact each other at the same time. “I call them 50 times and they only get a connection once out of these 50 times.”His family of 11, including his parents, who are in their...

‘Freedom Convoy’ trial resumes with more testimony from police liaison officers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:32 GMT

OTTAWA — The testimony of police liaison officers is set to continue in the trial of two high-profile “Freedom Convoy” organizers today. Sgt. Jordan Blonde, who described himself as the “secondary” police contact to Chris Barber, will resume his testimony, and is expected to be cross-examined by defence lawyers. Barber and Tamara Lich face multiple charges including mischief, counselling others to commit mischief and intimidation in relation to the 2022 protests against COVID-19 public-health measures. Justice Heather Perkins-McVey ordered access to heavily redacted internal police documents on Tuesday so that she can determine whether they should be admitted as evidence. Defence lawyers said they will not be able to complete their cross-examination of liaison officers until she rules on the admissibility of the documents, which the Crown and Ottawa Police Service argue are covered by solicitor-client privilege.Three police liaison officers who had direct cor...