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Stock market today: Wall Street is mixed after Big Tech profits, before Fed decision

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:17 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting Wednesday, as Wall Street waits to hear what the Federal Reserve will do with interest rates later in the afternoon.The S&P 500 was 0.3% lower in midday trading, coming off its best closing level in more than 15 months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 5 points, or less than 0.1%, at 35,443, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.7% lower.Microsoft weighed on the market after falling 4.9%. That was despite reporting stronger profit and revenue for the spring than analysts expected. Analysts said the company made comments that were perhaps intended to rein in huge expectations for upcoming growth from artificial intelligence. Investors also may have been hoping to hear more about when slowing growth at its Azure cloud computing business will trough.Another Big Tech behemoth, Alphabet, helped to limit the market’s losses. Alphabet rose 6% after beating analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue by a wider margin tha...

Movie Review: Horror flick ‘Talk to Me’ is a hand-some high-five for twin Australian filmmakers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:17 GMT

You’ve got to hand it to the Philippou brothers. They’ve taken an old horror cliche — a severed hand — and made something worth, well, applauding.“Talk to Me,” which hits theaters this Friday, is a stylish, well-crafted piece of filmmaking that marks the auspicious arrival of twin Australian filmmakers Michael and Danny Philippou.Directed by the brothers from a script by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman, “Talk to Me” is modern and yet ancient, with just enough jump-cuts and zombies and dread, but not too much. It also downshifts out of madness in the final third to explore loss and guilt just when most films would ramp up the running-from-scary-guys part.Our focus here are a pack of teens in Australia. Teens Down Under are pretty much the same as they are everywhere — snarky, peer-pressure-y and clique-y. But in addition to stealing their parents’ booze and smoking, these guys have a porcelain hand that is a doorway to hell.Curiously, these teens don’t sit ar...

Gap taps Mattel executive as its next president and CEO. The appointment caps a yearlong search

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:17 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Gap has tapped a top Mattel executive who re-energized Barbie and Hot Wheels to be its next president and CEO.The San Francisco-based chain, which operates stores under its namesake as well as Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta, said Wednesday that Richard Dickson will join Gap Inc. on Aug. 22 from his most recent role as president and chief operating officer of toy giant Mattel. In a separate announcement, Mattel, based in El Segundo, California, said that Dickson will depart Aug. 3.Gap’s CEO spot had been vacant since Sonia Syngal left last July. Dickson has been a board member of Gap since November.The move comes as Gap, once an iconic purveyor of khakis and other casual wear in its heyday in the 1990s, has been struggling with a sales slump for years despite numerous initiatives to fix the business through a revolving list of executives. The pandemic and surging supply chain costs exacerbated financial conditions at The Gap, in addition to other disrupti...

African leaders arrive in Russia for summit as Kremlin seeks allies amid fighting in Ukraine

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:17 GMT

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Some African leaders arrived in Russia on Wednesday for a summit with President Vladimir Putin as the Kremlin seeks more allies amid the fighting in Ukraine.Putin has billed the two-day summit that opens Thursday in St. Petersburg as a major event that would help bolster ties with a continent of 1.3 billion people that is increasingly assertive on the global stage.On Wednesday, Putin met separately with Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and said Russia will more than triple the number of Ethiopian students it hosts and cover their education costs.Later in the day, Putin is set to hold talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.Africa’s 54 nations make up the largest voting bloc at the United Nations and have been more divided than any other region on General Assembly resolutions criticizing Russia’s actions in Ukraine. It’s the second Russia-Africa summit since 2019, and the number of heads of states attending shrank from 43 the...

¿Qué ocasionó la nube embudo sobre el Capitolio?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:17 GMT

Una nube de embudo apareció sobre el Capitolio en Washington DC, cuando el tiempo severo atravesó la ciudad el martes por la tarde.Peter Kiley capturó esta foto fuera del Capitolio:(Credit: Peter Kiley)El meteorólogo de Telemundo 44, Joseph Martínez, explicó qué ocasiona este fenómeno. “En ocasiones se desarrollan esas nubes tipo embudo por circulaciones en la atmósfera, pero no provocan daños porque se mantienen suspendidas sin tocar la superficie”, detalló. Asimismo, el Servicio Nacional de Meteorología indicó que una nube de embudo es el resultado de la condensación que se extiende desde la base de un cúmulo elevado asociado con una columna de aire giratoria que no está en contacto con el suelo.La nube de embudo también se pudo ver sobre el Aeropuerto Nacional Ronald Reagan.Algunas tormentas severas se movieron a través del área de DC el martes por la tarde y toda la región estuvo bajo vigilancia de tormenta severa hasta las 8 p.m.Vaya aquí para ver el pronóstico comp...

Amazon will pay 15% less for iRobot as the robot vacuum maker takes on new debt

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:17 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon will pay roughly 15% less to acquire iRobot after the robot vacuum maker incurred new debt. The companies said this week that the Seattle-based tech giant will pay $51.75 per share, revised down from $61.00 per share, or $1.7 billion, that was agreed on last year. iRobot, based in Massachusetts, took on a $200 million loan to fund ongoing operations, the companies said. For Amazon, the lower acquisition price is expected to be offset by the planned increase in iRobot’s net debt, the companies said. The announcement comes as iRobot is struggling to sell more of its home cleaning robots. The company said revenue declined by 45% in the first three months of this year as stores and distributors recorded a decline in demand from consumers. It also attributed the decline to a “scheduled shift” with a customer on certain orders, which are expected to ship in the second quarter. The iRobot acquisition still faces scrutiny in the U.S. by the Federal Trade Commission am...

Brighton signs Brazilian defender Igor Julio from Fiorentina ahead of European campaign

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:17 GMT

BRIGHTON, England (AP) — Brazilian defender Igor Julio completed his move to Brighton from Fiorentina on Wednesday.The Premier League club said the 25-year-old Igor signed a four-year deal and will start training with his teammates next week when they return from the United States.The value of the transfer was not disclosed but British media reported it was about 15 million pounds ($19 million).Igor joins Brighton after a club-best sixth-place finish in the Premier League, earning the team a first entry into European competition.Brighton’s place in the group stage of the Europa League was confirmed by UEFA only this month. Owner Tony Bloom had to reduce his stake in Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise — which also qualified for the Europa League — to comply with UEFA rules on multi-club ownership designed to protect the integrity of games and transfers.Igor helped Fiorentina to the final of the Europa Conference League last season, where the Italian team lost to West Ham. Fiorentina a...

Mollie O’Callaghan sets a world record at the swimming worlds and overcomes injury

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:17 GMT

FUKUOKA, Japan (AP) — Australian swimmer Mollie O’Callaghan picked up a knee injury about five weeks ago, described as anything from a dislocation to a simple tweak. She said it slowed her some in practice, and modified her training schedule.But heck, what’s a little injury matter.The 19-year-old O’Callaghan broke the world record on Wednesday in the 200-meter freestyle at the world championships, clocking 1 minute, 52.85 seconds to erase Federica Pellegrini’s mark of 1:52.98 — the oldest women’s record set in 2009 in the fast-suit era.“I’m just really shocked,” O’Callaghan said. “I was just expecting to have fun tonight and whatever I did I was going to be really happy. To come away with a world record is just amazing.”She also picked up a check for $30,000, which goes to any record setter at this year’s worlds.O’Callaghan overtook Australian teammate Ariarne Titmus — she set a world record in the 400 free on Sunday — in the final 20 meters...

Caught on camera: Female possibly forced into car at shopping center

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:17 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Police are looking for information on what they are calling a suspicious incident after a video showed a female possibly being forced into the backseat of a car. At around 8:45 p.m. on July 21, the incident was caught on camera in the parking lot of the Cornerstar Shopping Center in the 15700 block of E. Briarwood Circle.The video provided by the Aurora Police Department shows four males arriving at the shopping center in a black Mercedes Benz sedan. The group waits in the parking lot next to a silver Nissan SUV when one of the males walked off and approached two females. Woman shot, killed by Westminster officer In the video, the male grabs one of the women by the arm and appears to pull her to the Nissan. He then pulls the female over to the Mercedes and places her in the backseat.APD said the other female is recording the video on her cellphone. All four males get into the Mercedes and drive away.A missing persons report has not been filed to either the Aurora P...

Golden City Council bans sale of flavored nicotine products

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:17 GMT

GOLDEN, Colo. (KDVR) — Golden City Council has voted to ban the sale of flavored nicotine products.The proposal passed unanimously in a meeting late Tuesday night and applies to all flavored nicotine or tobacco products, including vapes, cigarettes, cigars, and cigarillos. The proposal was getting pushback from some retailers who hosted a news conference before the council meeting to express their opposition. "I don't know if I have to file a bankruptcy in 30 days," said a retailer. "There are a lot of [other] retail stores. We are being criminalized and they'll still be selling all their products. So what is the use of banning in a Golden? So are they punishing us? Are they punishing the retail stores and convenience stores within Golden?" 2 decades later, smoking consequences to be posted at tobacco retailers Supporters said the ban would line up with the city's goals of preventing youth from starting use and reducing the number of tobacco-related health issues in the city. G...