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Stock market today: Wall Street slips ahead of Fed decision on rates

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:41 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are slipping Tuesday as Wall Street waits for the Federal Reserve’s latest decision on interest rates.The S&P 500 was 0.5% lower in morning trading, a day after barely budging. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 181 points, or 0.5%, at 34,442, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.7% lower.Stocks have been see-sawing for weeks on uncertainty about whether the Fed is done with its market-shaking hikes to interest rates. By pulling its main interest rate to the highest level in more than two decades, the Fed has helped inflation to cool from its peak last year but at the cost of hurting prices for investments and damaging some corners of the economy.The Fed is beginning its latest meeting on interest rates Tuesday, with an announcement scheduled for Wednesday. The overwhelming expectation is for the Fed to announce no change to rates. More focus will be on updated projections Fed officials give for where they see rates heading ...

House Republicans set first Biden impeachment inquiry hearing for Sept. 28

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:41 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans plan to hold their first hearing next week in their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden over his family’s business dealings. The hearing — scheduled for Sept. 28 — is expected to focus on “constitutional and legal questions” that surround allegations of Biden’s involvement in his son Hunter’s overseas businesses, according to a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee. Republicans — led by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — have contended in recent weeks that Biden’s actions from his time as vice president show a “culture of corruption.” The committee also plans to file subpoenas for the personal and business bank records of Hunter Biden and the president’s brother James Biden “as early as this week.” The White House has called the effort by House Republicans in the midst of the presidential campaign “extreme politics at its worst.”“House Republicans have been investigating the president for nine months, and they...

German higher regional court decides lower court can hear hear case against McCann suspect

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:41 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A German higher regional court ruled Tuesday that a state court can hear a sex offenses case against a man who also is a suspect in the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann, overruling the state court’s earlier decision that it didn’t have jurisdiction. The higher regional court in the northern city of Braunschweig said that the state court had wrongly declared itself without jurisdiction when it said in April that it wasn’t responsible for hearing the case, arguing at the time that the region where it is located isn’t the last place where the suspect lived in Germany, news agency dpa reported.In October, prosecutors in Braunschweig charged the German suspect in his mid-40s in several separate cases involving sexual offenses allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.The suspect hasn’t been charged in the McCann case, in which he is under investigation on suspicion of murder. He spent many years in Portugal, including in the re...

Syria’s Assad to head to China as Beijing boosts its reach in the Middle East

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:41 GMT

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria’s President Bashar Assad will head to China later this week in his first visit to Beijing since the start of his country’s 12-year conflict during which China has been one of his main backers, his office said Tuesday.China has been expanding its reach in the Middle East after mediating a deal in March between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and it continues to support Assad in the Syrian conflict, which has killed half a million people and left large parts of the nation in ruins.China could play a major role in the future in Syria’s reconstruction, which is expected to cost tens of billions of dollars. Syria last year joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative in which Beijing expands its influence in developing regions through infrastructure projects.Assad’s office said the Syrian leader was invited by Chinese President Xi JInping for a summit and will head Thursday to Beijing along with a high-ranking Syrian delegation.Syria’s worsening economic crisis...

Israel shuts down main crossing with Gaza after outbreak of border violence

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:41 GMT

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel has barred entry to thousands of Palestinian laborers from the Gaza Strip following an eruption of violent protests that have escalated tensions along the volatile frontier.The string of protests — disrupting weeks of calm at the separation fence — comes during a sensitive holiday season in Israel that began with the Jewish new year last week and continues through the Sukkot festival next week. During Sukkot, large numbers of Jews are expected to visit Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. The compound, home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, is often a focal point for violence.Over the last week, dozens of Palestinians — burning tires and hurling explosive devices at Israeli soldiers — have streamed toward the fence separating Israel from Gaza, which has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since 2007. Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent the ruling Hamas militant group...

Biden to exhort world leaders to stand up to Russia, warns not to allow Ukraine ‘to be carved up’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:41 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Joe Biden will use his annual address before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday to make a robust case that the world must remain united in defending Ukraine against Russian aggression, warning that no nation can be secure if “we allow Ukraine to be carved up.” The U.S. president will call on world leaders to not allow support for Ukraine to diminish, arguing that Russia is counting on countries to grow tired of prolonged conflict in Kyiv which will “allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence.”“But I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the U.N. Charter to appease an aggressor, can any member state feel confident that they are protected?” Biden plans to say in his address, according to excerpts released by the White House. “If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?The answer, Biden will say, is no. “We must stand up to this naked aggression today to deter other would-be aggressors ...

Boebert breaks it off with 'Beetlejuice' date after headlines over her behavior at performance

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:41 GMT

(The Hill) - Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) says she’s scrapping any more romantic outings after getting booted out of a “Beetlejuice” performance, exclaiming, “All future date nights have been canceled.”The Colorado Republican, along with a male companion, was escorted out of a Denver theater last week for vaping, singing and “causing a disturbance” during a performance of “Beetlejuice.” The incident was first reported by The Denver Post.A Boebert spokesperson initially denied that the lawmaker had been vaping, before video surfaced showing her doing so at the theater.Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, leaves the chamber after the Republican-controlled House voted along party lines to censure Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., one of the most outspoken critics of former President Donald Trump, for comments he made several years ago about investigations into Trump's ties to Russia, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 21, 2023...

Remember late folk singer Roger Whittaker

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:41 GMT

CHICAGO — The music world is mourning the death of a singer and songwriter who had a connection to WGN-TV almost 40 years ago.Roger Whittaker, a well-known folk singer and songwriter, died at the age of 87 on September 13, his family announced on his official Facebook page on Monday."His life, artistry and legacy has meant so much to so many all over the world. We are thankful that the gift of his music remains with us," was posted on the announcement of his death on the social media platform.He earned over 250 silver, gold, and platinum awards in a career that started in the early 1960s and continued through the 2010s. Whittaker is remembered for hits like 'Wind Beneath My Wings." "Durham Town (The Leavin')," "New World in the Morning," and "The Last Farewell."Viewers of WGN-TV might remember the last song since it was used for station ID's from 1977-1981.One thing that he was also known for was his ability to whistle during his performances for audiences throughout his 50-year per...

Robin's list of the ten most followed Instagram accounts in the world

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:41 GMT

CHICAGO — There are over two billion people who are on the social media platform that features a variety of pictures and videos from around the world.But there are a few accounts on Instagram that simply get more attention than the others, whether it's based on the fame of the account holder or the content they post. Robin Baumgarten, a user of the social media platform herself, decided to find out who has the most users in the world as of this week. It's an array of stars of screen and sport whose followers number well into the millions and command plenty of attention on Instagram. You can see who Robin found to have the most followers during this edition of "The List" on September 19's WGN Morning News in the video above.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

Ex 'Drug Czar' talks FDA action against e-cigs, Texas law that punishes kids for vaping

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:41 GMT

(KXAN) -- Earlier this year, the U.S Food and Drug Administration announced it would crack down on the illegal sale of disposable e-cigarettes.“The FDA has started the process but sadly, what I'm concerned about are the number of kids that are dying until the FDA takes more aggressive action,” said Jim Carroll, the former director of the National Drug Control Policy.As “Drug Czar,” Carroll served as the principal advisor to former President Trump on drug policy for three years.“The Government needs to get these devices, not only off the shelves of stores, but they need to block these disposable vaping devices coming from China, from even getting into our country.”A recent analysis from the Associated Press found thousands of vapes are entering the U.S illegally.Carroll warned that some of the disposable vapes may contain the dangerous opioid fentanyl. “These disposable vaping devices, if they're coming into the country illegally, we have no earthly idea what's going on. Not only is ...