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Wall Street steadies itself after painful drop on rate fears

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:55:39 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are steadying on Wall Street Wednesday, a day after sinking to one of their worst days of the year. The S&P 500 was 0.2% lower in afternoon trading after shifting between small gain and losses earlier in trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 196 points, or 0.6%, at 32,660, as of 1:13 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was mostly unchanged.Stocks are coming off a sharp drop the prior day after the head of the Federal Reserve warned it could speed up its hikes to interest rates if pressure on inflation stays high. Such hikes can ease inflation by slowing the economy, but they also hit prices for stocks and other investments and raise the risk of a recession in the future.The Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, said again Wednesday that pressure on inflation appears to be running higher than earlier expected. But he also stressed much more strenuously than he did on Tuesday that the Fed hasn’t made a decision yet on the size of its futur...

Americans found quickly, but Mexico’s missing remain lost

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:55:39 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — When four Americans were kidnapped in the border city of Matamoros, authorities rescued the survivors within days, but thousands of Mexicans remain missing in the state long associated with cartel violence — some in cases dating back more than a decade.Mexican authorities quickly blamed the local Gulf cartel for shooting up the Americans’ minivan after they crossed the border for cosmetic surgery Friday. They found the Americans — two dead, one injured and one apparently unharmed — early Tuesday after a massive search involving squads of Mexican soldiers and National Guard troops.By contrast, more than 112,000 Mexicans remain missing nationwide, in many cases years or decades after they disappeared. Although a convoy of armored Mexican military trucks extracted the Americans, the only ones searching for most of the missing Mexicans are their desperate relatives.“If these people had been Mexicans, they might still be disappeared,” said Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, an ...

Ransomware attack hits engineering company working on military bases, power plants

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:55:39 GMT

OTTAWA — A Canadian engineering giant whose work includes critical military, power and transportation infrastructure across the country has been hit with a ransomware attack.The Department of National Defence says Black & McDonald reported the attack last month, but the company has refused to publicly confirm the incident.The Defence Department and Ontario Power Generation, which also confirmed the attack, say there is no evidence that it compromised sensitive or secret information about their sites and operations.But cybersecurity expert Terry Cutler says the attack is worrying since any secret data held by Black & McDonald about its work with the military and other clients could have been stolen.The firm says it has delivered a large range of electrical and mechanical engineering services to federal, provincial and municipal utilities and departments in recent years.It has provided logistical and building support to Canadian military bases, worked on nuclear power plants a...

Chicago Fire FC training facility continues to draw concerns from community

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:55:39 GMT

CHICAGO -- Residents and housing advocates are asking city leaders to reconsider a plan to build a soccer facility on land once used for public housing.But, a local group argued that there are legal implications of this initiate that haven't been considered.The plan to build the Chicago Fire Football Club training facility at the former site of the ABLA homes have been controversial since it was first introduced, while advocates say it should be mixed income housing rather than a professional soccer training facility.The lease proposal explores using nearly 30 acres of vacant Chicago Housing Authority land as headquarters and a training center for the Chicago Fire Football Club. It would also be used for other community events, including the Fire's youth academy.According to the Chicago Tribune, the plan is estimated to cost around $85 to $90 million and would be privately funded. MORE: Chicago Fire FC starts discussions with the city about a new training facility In September, C...

Concession workers strike looming at United Center ahead of Big Ten tournament

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:55:39 GMT

CHICAGO — Concession workers at the United Center could be back out on the picket line soon.The two sides met Tuesday night but were not able to come to an agreement — which could mean the concessions for this week's Big Ten tournament could be impacted.On Sunday, Unite HERE Local 1 walked the picket line in front of the United Center during the Chicago Bulls vs. Indiana Pacers game. The union represents more than 650 employees at the arena — including cooks, servers and bartenders. They are employed by Levy Restaurants.The two sides have met more than 20 times. Levy said it continues to improve its offer and blames union leadership for not bringing it to the members for a vote. United Center concession workers on strike The two sides are still trying to work out an agreement on wages, health coverage and pensions.The union said it wants the same benefits Levy employees get at Wrigley Field, Guaranteed Rate Field and Navy Pier. The company said it offered ways to get United Center...

Harry & Meghan's daughter christened, will use royal title

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:55:39 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan announced Wednesday that their daughter had been christened in a private ceremony in California, publicly calling her a princess and revealing for the first time that they will use royal titles for their children.Princess Lilibet Diana, who turns two in June, was baptized on Friday by the Archbishop of Los Angeles, the Rev John Taylor, Harry and Meghan said in a statement. Lilibet’s title and that of her brother, Archie, who will be four in May, will be updated on the Buckingham Palace website later.The announcement marked the first time that the children’s titles had been used in public.The question of the children’s titles took center stage two years ago during Harry and Meghan’s television interview with Oprah Winfrey. Meghan, who is biracial, said that when she was pregnant with Archie “they” — presumably the palace — “were saying they didn’t want him to be a prince … which would be different from protocol.”Meghan suggested that thi...

WATCH LIVE | 2023 International Women of Courage award ceremony at the White House

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:55:39 GMT

WASHINGTON D.C. — First Lady Jill Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken host the 17th annual International Women of Courage (IWOC) Award Ceremony. The ceremony takes place at the White House for the first time in the award's history. Girl Scout cookie shortage sparks resale market The following is an excerpt from the U.S. Department of State's website:Now in its 17th year, the Secretary of State’s IWOC Award recognizes women from around the world who have demonstrated exceptional courage, strength, and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equity and equality, and the empowerment of women and girls, in all their diversity, and more, often at great personal risk and sacrifice.In a typical year, the IWOC awardees are invited to Washington D.C. to receive their awards from the Secretary of State and the First Lady in a ceremony held on or in proximity to International Women’s Day (March 8th). The recipients then travel across the United States to par...

City airport commission to discuss Feb. runway incident, AUS construction updates, other agenda items

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:55:39 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The City of Austin’s Airport Advisory Commission (AAC) will meet Wednesday at 3 p.m. to discuss several agenda items, including airport construction updates, as well as AUS staffing changes.The AAC said it would also provide an update on the possible runway incursion and overflight at AUS in February.The National Transportation Safety Board initially tweeted about the incident Feb. 4 and said it involved a Southwest Airlines plane and a FedEx cargo plane.This rendering from the National Transportation Safety Board shows the flight paths of a Southwest plane in red and a FedEx cargo plane in purple when they came close to colliding Feb. 4, 2023. (NTSB Photo) Timeline shared of near-miss between 2 planes at Austin’s airport An action item on Wednesday’s agenda was to authorize the execution of a construction contract for the Airport Expansion and Development Program Building Demolition project.The AAC said the project’s contract with STR Constructors, LLC, ...

RESULTS: This is the best KXAN viewer photo of February 2023, as voted by you

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:55:39 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Here at KXAN, we get hundreds of photos sent to us each month by viewers just like you.We want to showcase some of the best pictures we receive, so we narrowed them down to our 10 favorites for the month. Unsurprisingly, February's picks are dominated by the ice storm. We received thousands — no really, thousands — of photos during and after the storm.The winning photo moves on to represent February in the best viewer photos of the year competition once 2023 is said and done. Here are the results:#10. Damage from Above (1.9% of votes)Northwest Austin, Feb. 1. Courtesy Scott Ramsay Images.Tree damage in northwest Austin on Feb. 2, 2023. (Courtesy Scott Ramsay Images)#9: Hutto Storm Clouds (2.0% of votes)Hutto, Feb. 22. Courtesy Sergio Martinez.Storm clouds seen from Adam Orgain Park in Hutto on Feb. 22, 2023. (Courtesy Sergio Martinez)#8: Northwest Sunset (3.1% of votes)Northwest Austin, Feb. 4. Courtesy Frankie Hinds.Sunset seen through tree branches in northwest Aus...

Report: Women in Central Texas paid 40% less than men, 1 in 3 women below poverty line

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:55:39 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A report released by the Women’s Fund at Austin Community Foundation (ACF) on Wednesday provides a snapshot of the status of women in Central Texas, and makes a startling claim: per dollar, women here make 40% less than men, nearly double the national pay gap of 20%.The report is titled "Women’s Issues are Community Issues" and was created with data from The University of Texas at Austin's RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service CONNECT Fellows program. The study also used publicly available datasets.Other key takeaways from the study include:Women's labor force participation has not returned to pre-COVID numbersIncreased barriers around reproductive health make it harder for women to decide their health and family sizeWomen outpace men in educational attainmentTravis County has the highest number of childcare deserts Can the U.S. close a gender pay gap widened by the pandemic? Meagan Anderson Longley, vice president of community impact at ACF, said that ...