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U.S. applications for jobless claims rise in a labor market that remains very healthy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:34 GMT

More Americans filed for jobless claims last week, but the labor market remains broadly healthy in the face of retreating inflation and elevated interest rates.Applications for unemployment benefits rose by 13,000 to 231,000 for the week ending Nov. 11, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s the most in three months.Jobless claim applications are seen as representative of the number of layoffs in a given week.The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure, rose by 7,750 to 220,250.Overall, 1.87 million people were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended Nov. 4, about 32,000 more than the previous week and the most since March.Analysts suggest that those so-called “continuing claims,” are steadily rising because many of those who are already unemployed may now be having a harder time finding new work.Still, the American labor market continues to show resiliency in the midst of the Federal Reserve’s campaign to get inflation back down to its...

Nicaragua’s exiled clergy and faithful in Miami keep up struggle for human rights at Mass

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:34 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — When the Rev. Silvio Báez finished his homily on a recent Sunday, applause broke out among the hundreds of faithful in St. Agatha Catholic Church, on the outskirts of Miami, that has become the spiritual home of the growing Nicaraguan diaspora.For the auxiliary bishop of Managua, his fellow priests and many worshippers who have fled or been exiled from Nicaragua recently, the Sunday afternoon Mass is not only a way to find solace in community. It’s also a means of pushing back against the regime’s violent suppression of critics, including many Catholic leaders.“For me, it’s the moment when I am closest to the people of Nicaragua. It’s like going back for an hour,” Báez told The Associated Press after greeting a long line of congregants outside the sacristy. “My constant message is, ‘Let’s not lose hope, let’s not get used to a situation that God doesn’t want.’”Báez said he left Nicaragua in the spring of 2019 only because Pope Francis told him to, “to save my life – he ...

Hate crimes, campus fights and division: How the Hamas-Israel conflict is changing Canada

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:34 GMT

In today’s Big Story Story, shots fired at Jewish schools in Montreal. Slurs screamed as Muslims outside a mosque. Clashes of protesters on Canadian campuses and at weekend marches. General demands to pick a side, or be placed on the other one. While every day in Gaza and Israel brings more death and tragedy, and more allegations of atrocities, the fallout from the conflict here is taking its toll on the fabric of Canadian unity.Dr. Mira Sucharov is a professor of political science at Carleton University who specializes in Israeli-Palestinian relations. She says that starting dialogue between people with opposing views on the conflict, needs to start with an acknowledgement of shared values.“You have to go in with a baseline idea that rights need to be respected, everyone deserves the right to individual and collective safety, human and civil rights, and then you can start talking more effectively here in Canada,” says Sucharov.So, where is the line between free speech and hate spee...

Here’s why heavy rain in South Florida has little to do with hurricane season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:34 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Why has it been raining so much in South Florida? Experts say the latest windy, rainy storm system has nothing to do with hurricane season — and it’s finally moving on.The storm system that formed over the Florida Keys this week and dumped up to 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain across parts of South Florida has moved into the Atlantic Ocean, bringing clearing skies to the region on Thursday, the National Weather Service in Miami said.While hurricane season doesn’t officially end until Nov. 30, this storm wasn’t associated with a tropical system, according to Luke Culver, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami.“It’s not considered a tropical system because of the way it formed,” Culver said, noting that the system developed more like a nor’easter, which are more common in the northeastern United States.Heavy rain started falling across South Florida on Tuesday night, continuing into Wednesday before mostl...

Blackwater founder and 4 others on trial in Austria over export of modified crop-spraying planes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:34 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Five people including the founder of the Blackwater security firm went on trial in Austria on Thursday, accused of exporting two crop-spraying aircraft that were allegedly refitted for military purposes without required permits.The trial in Wiener Neustadt, south of Vienna, stems from an investigation into a local company, Airborne Technologies GmbH, which fits out aircraft with sensors and other equipment.Prosecutors say that two Ayres Thrush agricultural aircraft were equipped with armor, extra tanks and a special camera that could be used for marking and illuminating targets. They say one was sent to Malta in 2014 with Kenya as its declared destination and landed in troubled South Sudan, while the other was sent to Bulgaria in 2015.The defendants are accused of violating Austria’s law on war material by exporting such equipment without permission. One of the defendants, an Australian pilot, is accused of flying the two planes across Austria’s borders, wh...

Walmart attracts more shoppers seeking to cut spending in Q3, but muted expectations spook investors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:34 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart extended its streak of strong quarterly gains heading into the holiday season as its low prices attract shoppers looking for deals in a tough economic environment.The company, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, reported better-than-expected financial results for the period. It upped its annual outlook, though it was slightly below what analysts expected. Shares fell nearly 3% in premarket trading.The nation’s largest retailer is among the first batch of major U.S. retailers to report quarterly results. Industry analysts are dissecting the data, seeking to shed more light on how consumers are feeling as the holiday approaches.Shoppers have remained resilient, propped up by a strong labor market and steady wages. That’s confounded economists, Federal Reserve officials and seems at times at odds with the sour sentiments that Americans themselves have expressed in opinion polls. But higher prices on food and other necessities, though easing, as well as h...

2 men charged in armed carjacking of family in Beverly neighborhood

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:34 GMT

CHICAGO — Two men have been charged in an armed robbery in the city's Beverly neighborhood.Damarri Conner, 20, and Kenneth Merritt, 26, both face one felony count of vehicular hijacking and two felony counts of armed robbery. Connor also faces three misdeameanor counts of resisting an officer.Police said the incident happened on Nov. 2 in the 9300 Block of South Pleasant Avenue. A 46-year-old woman and her 12-year-old daughter were arriving home from a volleyball open gym when she was targeted by Conner and Merritt. ‘They’re absolutely fearless’: Beverly family targeted by car thieves twice in under 2 weeks According to police, the two men held the victim up at gunpoint and pushed her to the ground before demanding car keys. The woman's 46-year-old husband came out of the house and the men took their vehicle.The incident was caught on surveillance video. Man dies after being attacked near House of Blues Police said Connor and Merritt were arrested Tuesday after they made off wit...

Legendary NASCAR broadcaster Ken Squier dead at 88: Report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:34 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WJZY) – The motorsports world is mourning the loss of longtime NASCAR broadcaster Ken Squier after a close friend announced his death Thursday morning.Squier, who worked at CBS Sports covering NASCAR for many years, reportedly died in Vermont at age 88."Ken earned his wings last night at 8:20 PM ET, surrounded by his incredible, loving family," Sirius/XM NASCAR Radio host Dave Moody wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "I grieve for the loss of my dear friend and lifelong mentor, but rejoice in the fact that his pain and struggle are over." Winston Cup Museum announces closure due to financial concerns NASCAR great Dale Earnhardt Jr. also posted about the broadcaster's death on social media."Ken Squier was there when Nascar was introduced to the rest of the world in 1979 for the Daytona 500," Earnhardt said on X. Earnhardt said Squier significantly impacted NASCAR."I’m convinced that race would have not had its lasting impact had Ken not been our lead narrator," he said...

Trump signals he's out for revenge in second term

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:34 GMT

Former President Trump told his supporters earlier this year he would be their “retribution” if reelected.He told supporters last week he would direct the Justice Department (DOJ) to investigate “every Marxist prosecutor in America.”And Trump over the weekend vowed to “root out … the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.”Trump’s own words have made increasingly clear how fixated he is on revenge and targeting his perceived enemies if he wins a second term in the White House next November. The former president has openly mused in recent days that his own indictment has “released the genie out of the box” and would allow him to weaponize the government against his opponents.His comments have raised alarms among critics, some of whom fear a second Trump administration will lack some of the guardrails that existed during his first four years in office.“His policies are not centered around improving the lives of his supporters or Americans in genera...

Austin man describes 'life-changing treatment' through medical cannabis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:34 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — September 11, 2001 is a day Shawn Collins will never forget."I saw the second tower collapse and it was like a movie,” he said. “I was so freaked out, people were collapsing on the street, screaming and running into each other."More than two decades later, living in Austin, Collins was still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Look inside a Texas medical cannabis facility as lawmakers move to expand access Flashbacks from the tragic day prevented him from sleeping while causing severe emotional distress."I knew it was unhealthy to be drinking alcohol like a fish,” he said. “I thought at some point these thoughts were going to calm down in my head and everything was going to get back to normal."Back in 2021, the Texas Compassionate Use Program expanded to include those with PTSD.With this in mind, Collins’ therapist recommended medical cannabis as a treatment."I felt so at peace that night and slept well,” he said. “Usually I'd have very disrupted sleep o...