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US inflation hits its lowest point since early 2021 as prices ease for gas, groceries and used cars

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:38 GMT

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER (AP Economics Writer)WASHINGTON (AP) — Squeezed by painfully high prices for two years, Americans have gained some much-needed relief with inflation reaching its lowest point since early 2021 — 3% in June compared with a year earlier — thanks in part to easing prices for gasoline, airline fares, used cars and groceries.The inflation figure the government reported Wednesday was down sharply from a 4% annual rate in May, though still above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. From May to June, overall prices rose 0.2%, up from just 0.1% in the previous month but still comparatively mild.Even with Wednesday’s better-than-expected inflation data, the Fed is considered all but sure to raise its benchmark rate when it meets in two weeks. But with price increases slowing — or even falling outright — across a range of goods and services, many economists say they think the central bank could hold off on what had been expected to be...

FBI Director Chris Wray defends the ‘real FBI’ against criticism from House Republicans

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:38 GMT

By FARNOUSH AMIRI, ERIC TUCKER and LISA MASCARO (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Chris Wray defended the “real FBI” during a contentious congressional hearing Wednesday, dismissing a litany of grievances from Republicans who are harshly critical of the bureau, threatening to defund some operations and claiming the Justice Department is unfair to political conservatives. Wray refused to engage in specific questions about ongoing federal investigations, including those involving former President Donald Trump and Hunter Biden. The son of President Joe Biden recently reached an agreement to plead guilty to misdemeanor federal tax charges; Republicans have derided that as a sweetheart deal. In testy exchanges with Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, Wray rejected the GOP assertion that the bureau was favoring the Biden family and said the notion that the bureau was involved the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol was “ludicrous.” &#...

House wakes up from summer slumber to $700M spending bill for vulnerable hospitals

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:38 GMT

The House is scheduled Thursday to wake up from a 78-day slumber for a likely vote on a nearly $700 million spending bill that top House Democrats say helps vulnerable hospitals in the wake of the pandemic and facilitates an international hydro-electric project.In the first seven months of the legislative session, the Legislature has mostly attended to routine and required business like advancing the fiscal 2024 budget and pushing along bills primarily affecting specific municipalities. Major hallmarks have been scarce and a final full state budget is still missing days into the new fiscal year.But on Thursday, lawmakers will trudge back to Beacon Hill to take an expected vote on a spending bill that shuttles $180 million in “urgently needed” support to vulnerable hospitals, according to House Speaker Ronald Mariano’s office.The bill also gives the Department of Public Utilities the flexibility to approve updated contracts for a 1,000 megawatt hydro-electric project that is slated t...

Bank of Canada raises rate to 5%: What we learned about inflation and the economy

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:38 GMT

OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada hiked its key interest rate on Wednesday, by 0.25 of a percentage point to five per cent. Governor Tiff Macklem says inflationary pressures aren’t easing as quickly as the central bank wants, and more rate hikes could be coming if the economic data supports it.Here’s what we learned from the Bank of Canada’s decision and monetary policy report, and remarks from Macklem and senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers as they spoke to reporters after the announcement. Recession likely not in the cardsThe Bank of Canada doesn’t expect a recession, despite the squeeze higher rates are putting on the economy, Macklem said. The central bank expects economic growth to average around one per cent for the next year before picking up after that.“We need a period of growth below trend, below potential, to let supply catch up with demand. That’s what’s going to relieve those price pressures,” Macklem said. “But we do think that there’s a path back to pric...

Ja Morant’s lawyers cite ‘stand your ground’ law, self defense in pickup basketball lawsuit

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:38 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The future of a lawsuit accusing Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant of assaulting a teenager during a pickup basketball game hinges on whether Morant will be allowed to say that he was acting in self defense and can receive immunity under Tennessee law.A judge on Wednesday ruled that Morant’s lawyers can proceed for now with their argument that Morant was acting in self defense when he punched Joshua Holloway during a game at the All-Star player’s Memphis-area home in July 2022.Morant’s lawyers have acknowledged he punched Holloway one time after Holloway threw a basketball at Morant and the ball hit Morant in the chin. In a July 26 motion, the player’s lawyers said he should be immune from liability under the state’s “stand your ground” law, which allows people who feel threatened at their homes to act with force in certain situations.Circuit Court Judge Carol Chumney said the next step would be to hear from lawyers in the case, including...

Roadway bombs planted by drug cartel kill 6 law enforcement officers in Mexico, officials say

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:38 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A coordinated series of roadway bomb blasts in western Mexico that officials said were a trap organized by a drug cartel killed six police officers and prosecutors’ agents, the latest example of the increasingly open, military-style challenge posed by the country’s drug cartels.The governor of Jalisco state said the blasts late Tuesday in Tlajomulco, a city near the state capital, Guadalajara, were set up by an anonymous caller who gave a volunteer search group a tip about a supposed clandestine burial site near the roadway. The bombs also wounded 12 people.For years, police have been unable to locate the more than 110,000 missing people in Mexico, but they accompany volunteer search groups that look for such hidden graves. The volunteers, usually the mothers of missing people, often get anonymous tips about where their relatives may be buried.Jalisco Gov. Enrique Alfaro said a total of eight “improvised explosive devices” were planted on the roadway, seven ...

Milan Kundera, renowned but reclusive Czech writer and former dissident, dies in Paris at 94

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:38 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Milan Kundera, the renowned but reclusive author whose dissident writings transformed him into an exiled satirist of totalitarianism and explorer of identity and the human condition, has died in Paris. He was 94. Kundera died Tuesday afternoon, his long-standing publishing house Gallimard said in a one-sentence statement on Wednesday. It confirmed that he died in Paris, where he has lived for decades, but provided no further information.The European Parliament held a moment of silence upon news of his passing. Kundera held both French and Czech nationality, which he lost and then regained.Kundera was a man of few words whose novels were translated into dozens of languages, but he abhorred the publicity that came with it, refusing interviews.“I dream of a world where writers are obliged by law to keep their identity secret and use pseudonyms,” he wrote in the 1986 essay, “The Art of the Novel.” Kundera used the sentence to respond to questions put to him in 2011 by Le Mo...

Actors Martin Short, Lamar Johnson and Luke Kirby among Canadian Emmy nominees

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:38 GMT

Actors Martin Short, Luke Kirby and Lamar Johnson are among the Canadian actors heading to this year’s Emmy Awards. Hamilton-born Short is nominated again for his leading role in the murder-mystery comedy “Only Murders in the Building.” The Emmys veteran also scored a nod for the same role as an eccentric theatre director last year.Meanwhile, Ontario-raised Kirby landed a guest actor nomination in a comedy series for his role as Lenny Bruce in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Rising Toronto star Johnson is recognized for his guest appearance as an outlaw in the dystopian drama “The Last of Us.” Among the other notable Canadian nominees are composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer for the catchy opening tune of “The White Lotus” titled  “In The Sandbox” and reality star Antoni Porowski, who is one of the fab five hosts of makeover series “Queer Eye.”The annual TV awards celebrate their 75th anniversary this year, and winners will be announced...

Calgary company inks deal with Adidas to produce C02-embedded running shoes

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:38 GMT

CALGARY — A Calgary-based technology company has signed a deal with Adidas that will see the sneaker giant manufacture some of its shoes using ink embedded with captured carbon emissions.The partnership is a major win for Oco, the consumer-facing offshoot of Carbon Upcycling Technologies, a company that specializes in carbon capture and utilization solutions for heavy industry sectors.Currently focused on the cement industry, Carbon Upcycling uses patented technology installed at Enmax’s Shepard Energy Centre east of Calgary to capture carbon dioxide emissions produced by Alberta’s largest natural gas-fired power generating facility and sequester them in industrial byproducts for use in concrete production.But the company also aims to engage the public with products that help people see the potential of carbon capture technology.Oco takes the solid powder created from its parent company’s carbon sequestration process and markets it to brands looking to improve thei...

Public health agency investigates after Air France passenger sat in blood soaked area

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:38 GMT

Canada’s public health agency has opened an investigation after a passenger on an Air France flight from Paris to Toronto says he sat amid the uncleaned remnants of a previous passenger’s hemorrhage.The Public Health Agency of Canada says it is aware of the incident on the June 30 flight and cited its mandate to ensure that anything brought into the country on a conveyance does not threaten public health.Passenger Habib Battah told The Canadian Press that after boarding the eight-hour flight he smelt a strong manure-like odor and noticed a large stain on the floor in front of his seat.Battah says he alerted the cabin crew about the stain and was then given cleaning supplies in response.He says that after wiping the floor beneath his seat, the cloth came out “blood red.”He says cabin crew later told him that someone suffered a hemorrhage in his seat on a previous flight and that he could not change seats as the flight was full – they instead gave him mor...