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US consumer confidence wanes with prices still high and signs of a cooling job market

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:48 GMT

Americans are feeling less confident financially as summer comes to a close and high prices and interest rates weigh on their willingness to spend.There were also signs Tuesday of cooling in what has been a very resilient U.S. jobs market. The Conference Board, a business research group, said its consumer confidence index tumbled to 106.1 in August from a revised 114 in July. Analysts were expecting a reading of 116.August’s swoon — which has somewhat mirrored the stock market decline this month — erased gains from June and July.The index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months. Both measures saw significant declines in August.Consumers’ view of current conditions fell to 144.8 from 153, and the index for future expectations slid to 80.2 from 88 in July. Readings below 80 for future expectations historically signals a recession within a year.Consumer spending accounts for around 70% of U.S. economic act...

3M agrees to pay $6 billion to settle earplug lawsuits from U.S. service members

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:48 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Chemical and consumer product manufacturer 3M has agreed to pay $6 billion to settle numerous lawsuits from U.S. service members who say they experienced hearing loss or other serious injuries after using faulty earplugs made by the company.The settlement, consisting of $5 billion in cash and $1 billion in 3M stock, will be made in payments that will run through 2029. The agreement announced by the Minnesota company on Tuesday marks a resolution to one of the largest mass torts in U.S. history.Hundreds of thousands of veterans and current service members have reportedly sued 3M and Aearo Technologies, a company that 3M acquired in 2008, over their Combat Arms Earplug products. The service members alleged that a defective design allowed the products — which were intended to protect ears from close range firearms and other loud noises — to loosen slightly and allow hearing damage, according to Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis, & Overholtz PLLC, one of the law firms represen...

Graduate student charged with murder in killing of University of North Carolina faculty member

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:48 GMT

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Police charged a University of North Carolina graduate student Tuesday with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a faculty member that caused a campus lockdown amid a search for the gunman.Tailei Qi, 34, is due in court later Tuesday for an initial hearing in the Monday killing of Zijie Yan inside a science building on the Chapel Hill campus. In addition to the murder count, he is charged with having a gun on educational property.Yan is listed on the school’s website as an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences, while Qi is listed as a graduate student in Yan’s research group.Qi, who lives in Chapel Hill, was arrested during a roughly three-hour lockdown that followed the shooting, authorities said at a Monday news conference.“To actually have the suspect in custody gives us an opportunity to figure out the why and even the how, and also helps us to uncover a motive and really just why this happened today. Why ...

Dutch prosecutors demand 12-year sentence for Pakistani cricketer for call to kill lawmaker Wilders

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:48 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch prosecutors demanded a 12-year prison sentence Tuesday for a former Pakistani cricketer accused of incitement to murder firebrand anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders.The suspect, identified by Wilders as Khalid Latif, is accused of offering a bounty of some 21,000 euros ($23,000) to anybody who killed Wilders.Latif did not appear in the high-security courtroom near Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport for the trial. He is believed to be in Pakistan.Prosecutors did not name Latif, but said in a statement that a video posted online in 2018 showed a famous Pakistan cricketer offering the money for killing Wilders. The lawmaker has lived under round-the-clock protection for years because of repeated threats to his life sparked by his fierce criticism of Islam.The threat came after Wilders said he would organize a competition of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Many Muslims consider any depictions of Muhammad to be blasphemous. Ultimately, the contest did not g...

US commerce secretary rejects Chinese appeal to ease export controls

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:48 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said she rebuffed an appeal Tuesday by Chinese leaders to reduce U.S. export controls on technology with possible military uses but the two governments agreed to have experts meet to discuss disputes over protecting trade secrets.During a visit to revive frosty relations, Raimondo said she conveyed complaints to officials including China’s No. 2 leader, Premier Li Qiang, about Chinese restrictions on U.S. technology companies. She said conditions for foreign companies are getting worse following an expansion of an anti-spying law and raids on consulting firms.Raimondo joined a series of American officials including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen who have visited Beijing in the past three months. They are trying to restore relations that are at their lowest level in decades due to disputes over technology, security, Taiwan and other issues.A key Chinese complaint is limits on access to processor chips and other U.S. technology on ...

Ontario to ban gambling commercials featuring athletes, celebrities

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:48 GMT

The province is banning gambling commercials featuring athletes and celebrities, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) announced Tuesday.As part of the announcement, the AGCO said it plans to prohibit the use of athletes in internet gaming (igaming) advertising and marketing in Ontario. The new restrictions will come into effect on February 28, 2024.“Following the first year of Ontario’s open, regulated igaming market, the AGCO identified advertising and marketing approaches that use athletes, as well as celebrities with an appeal to minors, as a potential harm to those under the legal gaming age and is taking this step to reduce the risk,” the AGCO said in a statement.“In April 2023, the AGCO held consultations on its proposal to ban such ads and received submissions from a broad range of stakeholders, including mental health and public health organizations, responsible gambling experts, gaming operators, broadcast and marketing groups, and the...

Canadian anti-crime researcher sentenced to two years in prison in Algeria

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:48 GMT

MONTREAL — The lawyer for a Canadian researcher detained in Algeria since February says his client has been sentenced to two years in prison.Raouf Farrah, who studies migration and criminal economies for an international anti-crime non-governmental organization, had been charged with publishing secret information and being paid to commit offences against public order.His father, Sebti Farrah, a Montreal-area resident, received a one-year suspended sentence from the same court in the eastern Algerian city of Constantine. Farrah’s lawyer, Kouceila Zerguine, says he plans to appeal the verdict.Human Rights Watch has said Farrah’s arrest came amid a larger crackdown against Algeria’s pro-democracy movement and that anyone working for an NGO that isn’t perfectly aligned with government positions is at risk of arrest. Farrah was born in Algeria but moved to Canada when he was 18. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2023. The Canadian Press

A Ugandan man is charged with aggravated homosexuality, and faces the death penalty

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:48 GMT

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan authorities have charged a man with aggravated homosexuality, which carries a possible death penalty, in the first use of the charge since the enactment in May of an anti-gay law that has been condemned by critics as draconian.The law has widespread support in Uganda but has drawn pressure from abroad on Ugandan officials to repeal the measure. The World Bank earlier this month announced a decision not to consider new loans to Uganda because of the law, drawing an angry response from President Yoweri Museveni. The suspect is identified as a 20-year-old “peasant” in the eastern district of Soroti who was charged on Aug. 18 with having unlawful sexual intercourse with a 41-year-old man, according to the charging document issued by police in the Soroti Central Division. Aggravated homosexuality is defined as cases of same-sex sexual relations involving a minor and other categories of vulnerable people, or when the perpetrator is infected with HIV. The cha...

Pilot union launches labour complaint against Jazz, but ratifies deal changes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:48 GMT

MONTREAL — Chorus Aviation Inc. says pilots at its subsidiary Jazz Aviation have ratified changes to their collective agreement, even as the union filed an unfair labour practice complaint against Jazz.Jazz president Randolph deGooyer, whose company provides regional service for Air Canada, says the amended deal recognizes the upward shift in pilot wages and expands the airline’s recruitment and training options.However, the Air Line Pilots Association says the agreement lacked overwhelming support among membership, as underlying issues went unaddressed during bargaining.On Monday — the same day the deal was ratified — the pilots association filed a complaint with the Canada Industrial Relations Board claiming that management at Air Canada and Jazz violated several sections of the Canada Labour Code.The union says the airlines failed to comply with so-called flow agreements in the contract, which spell out the number of pilots who can transition from working at Jazz to working...

Job vacancies, quits plunge in July in stark sign of cooling trend in the US job market

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:48 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Businesses posted far fewer open jobs in July and the number of Americans quitting their jobs fell sharply for the second straight month, clear signs that the labor market is cooling in a way that could reduce inflation. The number of job vacancies dropped to 8.8 million last month, the Labor Department said Tuesday, the fewest since February 2021 and down from 9.2 million in June. Yet the drop appeared to be even steeper because June’s figure was initially reported as 9.6 million. That figure was revised lower Tuesday.July’s figures was still healthy historically — before the pandemic the number of openings had never topped 8 million. And there are still roughly 1.5 available jobs for each unemployed worker, which is also elevated but down from a peak last year of 1.9. Fewer Americans also quit, with 3.5 million people leaving their jobs last month, down from 3.8 million in June. Most Americans quit work for other, better-paying jobs, and during and af...