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Stock market today: Asia follows Wall Street up on hopes Fed will ease off rate hikes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:41 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher Friday ahead of a U.S. jobs update after Federal Reserve officials reignited hopes another interest rate hike might be postponed.Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul advanced after U.S. lawmakers approved a deal to avert a government debt default. Oil prices strengthened.Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rallied 1% on Thursday after data showed manufacturing and retail activity weakening. That added to hopes the Fed might decide upward pressure on prices is easing and more rate hikes can be postponed or scaled down.“Skipping a rate hike” at this month’s Fed meeting would let policymakers “see more data before making decisions,” said a board member, Philip Jefferson. The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Patrick Harker, made similar comments.The statements “reignited the prospect of skipping a hike” after strong jobs data last week fed fears of more increases, said James Knig...

Some trans people turn to crowdfunding to leave Florida after anti-LGBTQ+ laws

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:41 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Dozens of transgender people in Florida have turned to crowdfunding appeals to help them leave the state after the passage of new legislation that targets the LGBTQ+ community, including a law that curtails access to gender-affirming care for adults and bans it for minors.For Sage Chelf, the decision to leave hardly felt like a choice, but she didn’t have the funds to cover a move. The 30-year-old trans woman, who lives in the Orlando area, was nearly out of one medication when she found out the clinic that had been prescribing her hormone therapy was ending all treatment for trans patients. “I don’t want to go back to the person that I was forced to be at the time,” Chelf said, of the years before she transitioned in 2021. “It was a very dark time in my life. I would rather just not be alive, I guess, then have to go back to living not trans.”Chelf was among dozens who made an appeal for donations online, saying they needed help to leave Florida in antici...

Fort Bragg to drop Confederate namesake for Fort Liberty, part of US Army base rebranding

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:41 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Fort Bragg will shed its Confederate namesake to become Fort Liberty in a Friday ceremony that some veterans view as a small but important step in making the U.S. Army more welcoming to current and prospective Black service members.The change is part of a broad Department of Defense initiative, motivated by the 2020 George Floyd protests, to rename military installations bearing the name of confederate soldiers. The Black Lives Matter demonstrations that erupted nationwide after Floyd’s killing by a white police officer, coupled with ongoing efforts to remove Confederate monuments, turned the spotlight on the Army installations. A naming commission created by Congress visited the bases and met with members of the surrounding communities for input.While other bases will be renamed for Black soldiers, U.S. presidents and trailblazing women, the North Carolina military installation is the only one not carrying the name of a person. Retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen...

In gun law push, Tennessee governor’s office memo says NRA prefers to ’round up mentally ill people’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:41 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s administration accused the National Rifle Association of wanting to use involuntary commitment laws “to round up mentally ill people and deprive them of other liberties,” according to documents drafted by the Republican’s staffers as part of their initial attempt to pass a gun control proposal earlier this year. The memos, provided by Lee’s office as part of a public records request, reveal a rare criticism of the powerful gun lobby made by the Republican governor. Lee has previously praised the NRA’s efforts to protect the Second Amendment but has since faced opposition from the group as he works to pass gun control legislation in response to a deadly Nashville school shooting that took place in late March.So far, Lee has proposed keeping firearms away from people who could harm themselves or others. He’s currently facing pushback from both the GOP-dominant General Assembly and firearms rights advocacy ...

As legal gambling surges, should schools teach teens about risk?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:41 GMT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — As a high school senior, Nick was blessed with a deadly accurate jump shot from the three-point range — something he was quick to monetize.He and his gym classmates not far from the Jersey Shore would compete to see who could make the most baskets, at $5 or $10 a pop.“It gave a different dynamic to the day, a certain level of excitement,” Nick said. “Little did I know how far it would continue to go.”Nick asked not to be identified by his full name because he has pending criminal charges over stealing money from his job to feed his gambling addiction, a compulsion that has cost him over $700,000 in the past decade. The 27-year-old plans to look for work after his charges are resolved, and he fears the job hunt will be even harder if he’s identified publicly as a compulsive gambler.Ten years ago during Nick’s last year of high school, there was no such thing as courses on the risks of gambling, the consequences of wagering, or the impact on pers...

Nikola Jokic’s beautiful game at heart of Nuggets’ Game 1 win: “That’s how I learned to play basketball”

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:41 GMT

Nikola Jokic had already decoded Miami’s vaunted zone defense for a Game 1 triple-double, but there was still another basketball lesson to digest.Most of Denver’s locker room had cleared out after the Nuggets’ 104-93 win when an assistant coach grabbed a blue dry-erase board marker and headed to Jack White’s locker – the stall stationed directly to Jokic’s right.There, in the back of White’s locker and before Jokic was fully dressed, the assistant diagrammed a half-court set. He depicted how Miami had tried to stymie Jokic, generally with Bam Adebayo, while illustrating all the various actions available to him.It was, effectively, Jokic beginning his preparations for Game 2, a counter adjustment to the Heat’s impending counter.“Yeah, we’re definitely going to have to go to school on it,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They are in a pretty good rhythm, especially in that first half.”Jokic finished Game 1 with a 27-point, 14-assist, 10-rebound tri...

Michael Porter Jr. was so good in Game 1 despite poor shooting that Nikola Jokic thought MPJ made seven 3-pointers: “Crazy”

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:41 GMT

Nikola Jokic, ever studious, takes an instinctive first glance over the box score placed in front of him every time he sits for a postgame news conference. Something startled him Thursday night.The two-time MVP lauded for his hoops IQ was alarmed when he saw Michael Porter Jr.’s 3-point stats after Game 1 of the NBA Finals.“Mike was 2-for-11, and I thought he made, like, seven threes,” Jokic said, taking one of his patented long pauses.“Crazy.”That’s how good MPJ was in a 104-93 Nuggets win over the Miami Heat. Good enough to trick the Joker into imagining phantom 3-pointers.Porter managed a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double with stellar defense in spite of ghastly efficiency in the one area of the game where the most is expected of him.“He’s doing more than just knocking down shots,” Jamal Murray said, “and that’s dangerous.”A pitiful perimeter night was mitigated by excellence in every other way. Recovery has...

PHOTOS: Denver Nuggets smother Miami Heat 104-93 in NBA Finals Game 1

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:41 GMT

The No. 1-seeded Denver Nuggets made their first-ever appearance in the NBA Finals Thursday, June 1, 2023, at Ball Arena in Denver. The Nuggets hosted the winners of the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat, and won 104-93 after a commanding performance.Read more about how the Nuggets seized Game 1 of NBA Finals behind Nikola Jokic’s triple-double.Related ArticlesDenver Nuggets | Michael Porter Jr. was so good in Game 1 despite poor shooting that Nikola Jokic thought MPJ made seven 3-pointers: “Crazy” Denver Nuggets | Nuggets-Heat NBA Finals Game 1 superlatives: A heaping dose of Aaron Gordon bully ball jump-starts Denver’s title quest Denver Nuggets | Nuggets seize Game 1 of NBA Finals behind Nikola Jokic’s triple-double Denver Nuggets | Keeler: Like Nikola Jokic, Nuggets fans from Littleton to Tel Aviv showed up to NBA Finals looking for a steal. “It’s priceless.” Denver Nuggets...

EU wants to sanction Russians involved in child abductions, says Dutch prime minister

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:41 GMT

The European Union is looking to broaden sanctions against Russia to target people involved in the abduction of children from Ukraine, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte (pictured) said on Wednesday (31 May)."The eleventh package of sanctions we are working on includes the option to go after those responsible for child abductions," Rutte said at a joint news conference with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in The Hague."That's something we are working on. The other point of focus is sanction circumvention. Making it possible to go after the people responsible."The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant in March against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.The ICC at the time said those children had been taken from orphanages and children’s homes to Russia, with many alleged to have been given up for adoption there.Moscow has repeatedly denied these accusations.

2 people hospitalized after gunfire erupts in Mid-City neighborhood

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:41 GMT

Two gunshot victims, an adult and a juvenile, were taken to the hospital after gunfire erupted in a Mid-City neighborhood Thursday evening while residents on the street watched the terrifying incident play out. Officers responded to the area of Guthrie Avenue and Corning Street at around 6:42 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Police Department.  At the scene, police located two victims, a 14-year-old and a 30-year-old who were conscious and breathing. Both were taken to the hospital by personnel with the Los Angeles Fire Department.  Aerial footage from Sky5 showed officers on the scene of the shooting where a portion of Guthrie Avenue had been cordoned off for the investigation.  A witness to the shooting, George Valle, told KTLA that he had a feeling something bad was going to happen when he saw coming up the street. "Like, they were driving at walking speed. They come, they stop," he said. "The first thing I see is just the gun pointed out the car. Then I heard se...