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Powell reinforces Fed’s cautious approach toward further interest rate hikes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:24:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested Thursday that the Fed is in no hurry to further raise its benchmark interest rate, given evidence that inflation pressures are continuing to ease at a gradual pace. At the same time, in a panel discussion at the International Monetary Fund, Powell did not rule out another rate hike to help reduce inflation to the Fed’s 2% target level. “We are not confident,” he said, that the Fed’s benchmark rate is high enough to steadily reduce inflation to its 2% target.Powell added: “We know that ongoing progress toward our 2% goal is not assured. Inflation has given us a few head fakes.”He noted, for example, that inflation had declined for five straight months during 2021 before reversing later that year and heading higher.Powell said that “if it becomes appropriate” to raise rates further, “we will not hesitate to do so” but said that for now it isn’t ”appropriate” to increase the Fed’s benchmark ra...

123 migrants found trapped in a trailer in central Mexico

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:24:57 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities found 123 Central and South American migrants trapped in a trailer in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosi, Mexico’s immigration agency said Thursday. Officials from the state attorney general’s office found the migrants in Matehuala, a city on the border of Nuevo Leon, on Wednesday after a local reported hearing cries for help from a locked trailer box.The majority of migrants rescued were from the Central American nations of Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador, as well as four from Ecuador and one Cuban, according to Mexico’s National Immigration Institute. Among them were 34 children.The immigration agency did not say how the migrants came to be stuck there nor where they were heading, but such groups of migrants typically hope to reach the United States.The same day police in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas arrested three alleged human smugglers after finding 11 Guatemalan migrants trapped i...

Shohei Ohtani is donating 60,000 baseball gloves to Japanese schoolchildren

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:24:57 GMT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Two-way star and coveted free agent Shohei Ohtani is donating about 60,000 baseball gloves to Japanese elementary schools.Ohtani, a free agent who has spent the past six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, announced Wednesday on Instagram that he’s donating the youth gloves to schools throughout Japan.“I’m happy to announce that I will be donating approximately 60,000 youth gloves to every elementary school in Japan,” Ohtani said. “That comes out to around 20,000 elementary schools. I’m hoping the kids can spend their days happily with a lot of energy through baseball.”The gloves Ohtani is donating are from New Balance, one of his corporate partners.The 29-year-old Ohtani is coming off a season in which he batted .304 with 44 homers and also went 10-5 on the mound with a 3.14 ERA. He had Tommy John surgery in September for the second time in six years.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlbThe Associated Press

Independent inquiry launched into shipwreck off Greece that left hundreds of migrants feared dead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:24:57 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s state ombudsman said Thursday that it’s launching an independent investigation into the coast guard’s handling of a maritime tragedy in June in which hundreds of migrants trying to reach Europe in an overloaded boat are feared to have drowned.The independent authority said that it took the decision following “the expressed denial” of the Greek coast guard to initiate a disciplinary investigation in response to the ombudsman’s written requests.A military court with jurisdiction over Greece’s navy and coast guard is conducting a preliminary investigation into the June 14 shipwreck, from which 104 survivors and 78 bodies were recovered.Up to 750 people were believed to have been on the rusty fishing vessel, mostly below decks, when it sharply listed and quickly sank in the night. That would make it one of the worst disasters of its kind in the Mediterranean.The court is also handling a lawsuit by 40 survivors, who accuse the ...

Man arrested after he pulls gun, fires 2 shots trying to prevent purse snatching on NYC subway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:24:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who pulled out a pistol and fired two shots on a New York City subway platform in an apparent attempt to stop someone from stealing a woman’s purse faces criminal charges that he endangered people in the station and possessed the gun illegally.No one was struck by the gunshots Tuesday inside the station, located a few blocks north of Times Square.Authorities said John Rote, 43, intervened when a man who had been asking riders for money near the turnstiles at around 9 p.m. tried to grab a 40-year-old woman’s purse.Security camera video captured some of what happened next. The recording, published in the New York Post shows a man in shorts and a green T-shirt standing on a train platform. The man rummages in his backpack, pulls out a handgun, fires one shot, lowers the gun, then raises it and fires a second shot.“I’ve looked at the video,” New York City Transit President Richard Davey said at a news conference Wednesday. “It’s, I would say unusual. He sort ...

Review: The Hunger Games return in ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,’ with the odds in its favor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:24:57 GMT

Two hours and 37 minutes is pretty long for a “ballad,” but you can’t call it “The Hunger Games: The Three-Cycle Opera of Songbirds and Snakes” now, can you?Concision was never much in favor in the four “Hunger Games” films, which reached a seeming finale with 2015’s “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2.” The intervening years have done nothing to shrink the ambitions of this unapologetically gaudy dystopic series where the brutal deaths of kids are watched over by outrageously styled Capitol denizens with names like Effie Trinket.That clash of YA allegory and color palette is just as pronounced, if not more so, in “The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” a prequel set 64 years before the original books, adapted from Suzanne Collins’ 2020 book of the same name.“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” which opens in theaters Nov. 16, is an origin story of the Hunger Games, themselves, as well as numerous characters — primarily the devious President Coriolanus Snow, played b...

Maine court hears arguments on removing time limits on child sex abuse lawsuits

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:24:57 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A lawyer for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland told supreme court justices Thursday that Maine’s elimination of time limits on child sex abuse lawsuits is unconstitutional and imposes new liabilities, a reference to costly lawsuits that have driven some dioceses into bankruptcy.But an attorney whose law firm represents about 100 plaintiffs characterized the law as the “will of the people” versus the diocese’s expectation of brushing past conduct under a rug.“There’s never been a right to enabling child sex abuse. The diocese wants you to create a vested right in getting away with it,” attorney Michael Bigos told the court.The Supreme Judicial Court heard highly technical arguments at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor during a packed hearing that underscored the stakes of its ultimate decision.Roman Catholic dioceses in Baltimore; Buffalo, New York; and elsewhere have filed for bankruptcy under the weight of lawsuits and settlements stemming from the...

Veteran's Day Deals 2023: Where to get free food and discounts across Chicagoland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:24:57 GMT

CHICAGO – It's an annual 'thank you' to all military service members, past and present, in the form of a delicious meal, beverage, and more. In honor of Veterans Day on Saturday, Nov. 11, several restaurants across the Chicagoland area will offer complimentary food with proof of military service. For 2023, a list of the available Veterans Day deals for this year is listed below:Applebee’s:Free meal from a special menu of 8 entrées for active duty members and veterans. Dine-in only.Bar Louie:Free Craft Burger of their choice for active duty members and veterans. Dine-in only.Bonefish Grill:A complimentary order of Bang Bang Shrimp with a soft drink for active duty members and veterans.Boston Market:Buy one individual meal with a drink and get a second free using a promo code. No ID is required. Buffalo Wild Wings:Free order of 10 boneless wings and fries for active duty members and veterans. Dine-in only.Chili’s:Free entrée from a select menu for active duty members and veterans. Din...

President Biden speaks at Stellantis plant in Illinois

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:24:57 GMT

CHICAGO — President Joe Biden is in Illinois Thursday to boost his reelection campaign.Biden has two stops in Illinois: one in Belvidere at a Stellantis Plant, one of several involved in the most recent auto workers strike. Governor JB Pritzker and United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain are also schedule to be there.Biden is expected to discuss how the recent agreement shows his economic strategy.After his stop in Belvidere, he will head to Chicago for private fundraising events.The president will be trying to boost his poll numbers when it comes to economy, which Republicans believe makes him vulnerable. Five takeaways from the GOP debate in Miami Donald Trump is leading Biden in the latest New York Times poll in several areas, including the economy where 59 percent of voters said they trusted the former president compared to Biden's 37 percent.

President of Chicago local SAG-AFTRA on Hollywood strike ending

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:24:57 GMT

Charles Andrew Gardener, the President of the Chicago Local of SAG-AFTRA, joins WGN's Dean Richards to talk about the Hollywood strike ending after 118 days. Hollywood actors strike is over as union reaches tentative deal with studios Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!