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France votes to fly EU flags on public buildings across the country

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

PARIS — The French National Assembly voted Wednesday to make it mandatory to fly the EU flag on town halls in France, in a move that has riled Euroskeptics at home.The bill, which was tabled by President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party, was approved in a tight vote in parliament, with 130 lawmakers voting in favor and 109 against.In France, the star-spangled European flag is often seen flying alongside the French tricolor in many ministries, town halls and public buildings, but it has been voluntary and left to the discretion of local officials. Wednesday’s decision will make it compulsory to fly the flag for towns and cities with a population of over 1,500.Parliamentary debates ahead of the vote were acrimonious with MPs belonging to Marine Le Pen’s far-right party National Rally accusing the government of trampling on French identity.  “Macron’s MPs are showing their scorn for the French people … There are only three colors that the French bow to in their schools, in cere...

UK confirms it’s delivered long-range missiles to Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

LONDON — The U.K. has delivered long-range missiles to Ukraine in a move which grants Kyiv the ability to strike targets in Russian-occupied Crimea.Britain’s Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told the House of Commons Thursday that the Storm Shadow missiles, promised by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in February, “are now going into or are in the country itself” and will complement other long-range systems already gifted to the country including HIMARS and Harpoon missiles.“The donation of these weapons systems gives the Ukrainians the best chance to defend themselves against Russia’s continued brutality, especially the deliberate targeting of Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, which is against international law,” Wallace said.The Storm Shadow missiles, jointly developed by Britain and France, have arrived in time for Ukraine’s long-anticipated spring counter-offensive against Russian forces. They have a range of about 560 kilometers — the necessary range to strike deep into Russian-occupie...

UK gives cruise missiles to Ukraine; Kyiv delays counteroffensive as it waits for more weapons

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

By SUSIE BLANN and JILL LAWLESS (Associated Press)KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The British government said Thursday that it sent long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine to help drive out Russia’s occupying forces, an announcement made as Kyiv said it had delayed a long-expected spring counteroffensive while awaiting the delivery of more Western weapons.Britain is donating Storm Shadow missiles, a conventionally armed deep-strike weapon with a range of more than 250 kilometers (150 miles), U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told lawmakers in the House of Commons.The air-launched missiles would allow Ukrainian forces to target locations deep behind the front line, including in Russia-occupied Crimea. The invaded country has pledged not to use them to attack Russia itself, U.K. media reported.Wallace said the missiles “are now going into or are in the country itself.” He didn’t say how many were being provided.The announcement came shortly after Ukrainian President ...

More Americans file for jobless claims, but job market remains healthy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

By MATT OTT (AP Business Writer)The number of Americans filing for jobless claims last week rose to its highest level in four months, though the labor market remains healthy by historical standards.Applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending May 6 rose by 22,000 to 264,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s up from the previous week’s 242,000 and the highest since January 14. The weekly claims numbers are seen as representative of the number of U.S. layoffs.The four-week moving average of claims, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, rose by 6,000 to 245,250.For the week of April 29, the total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits rose by 12,000 from the previous week to 1.81 million.American workers are enjoying unusual job security despite rising interest rates, economic uncertainty and fears of a looming recession.

Chicago Bears 2023 schedule: Latest leaks and reports before tonight’s official NFL announcement at 7 p.m.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

The Chicago Bears will announce the dates and times of their 2023 games at 7 p.m. Thursday as part of the NFL’s schedule release.Bears single-game tickets and executive suites for home games at Soldier Field will go on sale after the announcement. A presale for season ticket holders and fans on the season ticket priority list will begin at 7 p.m., followed by sales to the public at 8:30 at chicagobears.com/tickets.The Bears know their home and road opponents in 2023.Along with playing home and away NFC North games against the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings, the Bears will host the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals.The Bears will go on the road to play the Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Chargers, Washington Commanders and Cleveland Browns.The NFL will air its schedule release show at 7 p.m. on NFL Network. The league announced its five international games...

Hot employment market shows signs of cooling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

By DAMIAN J. TROISE (AP Business Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — The hot jobs market has been defying a weakening economy and confounding the Federal Reserve for months, but now shows signs of cooling.The latest set of employment data from the government shows that job openings fell in March to their lowest level since April 2021. Layoffs rose to 1.8 million, their highest level since December 2020.Employers are also slowing the pace of hiring. While hiring remained strong in April, the government lowered its hiring figures for February and March. More broadly, job gains for February through April marked the weakest three-month average since January 2021.The persistently strong labor market has bewildered the Fed and economists for more than a year as higher interest rates meant to slow economic growth did little to loosen a historically tight job market with record low unemployment. That resistance is now slowly fading, according to analysts.“The labor market is usually the last to break in...

Stock market today: Wall Street futures lower ahead of second look at US inflation data this week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

TOKYO — Wall Street edged lower in premarket trading Thursday ahead of the U.S. government’s second release of data on inflation in two days. Futures for the Dow Jones industrials fell 0.3%, while the S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1% before the bell.On Wednesday, most major U.S. indices finished higher after new data suggested inflation in the United States was cooling, though it remains uncomfortably high. A report on inflation at the wholesale level arrives Thursday, along with the weekly jobless claims data.Traders upped the probability they see of the Fed holding rates steady in June to nearly 94%, according to data from CME Group. The Fed has jacked up rates at a furious pace in hopes of driving down inflation. But high rates do that by slowing the entire economy and hitting investment prices broadly. They’ve already sent stock prices tumbling, caused turmoil in the banking system and dragged on the economy enough that many investors expect a recession to hit this year....

Canadian Tire reports first-quarter profit and revenue down from year ago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

TORONTO — Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. says its first-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as it faced unseasonably mild winter weather, a slow start to spring in several regions of Canada and a fire at a key distribution centre in Ontario.The retailer reported net income attributable to shareholders of $7.8 million or 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended April 1, down from $182.1 million or $3.03 per diluted share a year ago.Revenue for the quarter totalled $3.71 billion, down from $3.84 billion in the same quarter last year.The drop in revenue came as comparable sales at its Canadian Tire stores fell 4.8 per cent. Comparable sales at its Mark’s banner gained 4.8 per cent, while SportCheck comparable sales grew 3.7 per cent. Helly Hansen revenue rose 22.9 per cent compared with a year ago.Canadian Tire says its normalized earnings for the quarter amounted to $1.00 per diluted share, down from a normalized profit of $3.06 per diluted share a year ago.Analysts o...

Quebecor reports $120.9M Q1 profit, down from $121.4M a year ago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

MONTREAL — Quebecor Inc. reported its first-quarter profit attributable to shareholders fell to $120.9 million compared with $121.4 million in the same quarter a year ago.The company says the profit amounted to 52 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, up from 51 cents per share a year earlier when it had more shares outstanding.Revenue for the quarter totalled $1.12 billion, up from $1.09 billion in the same quarter last year.On an adjusted basis, Quebecor says its income from continuing operations amounted to 59 cents per share, up from 54 cents per share in the first three months of 2022.The result matched the average analyst estimate for the company’s adjusted profit, while the average estimate for revenue was $1.10 billion, according to estimates compiled by financial markets data firm Refinitiv.Quebecor’s Videotron subsidiary completed its acquisition of Freedom Mobile in April for a total purchase price of $2.85 billion.This report by The Canadian...

Maple Leaf Foods reports $57.7M Q1 loss compared with $13.7M profit a year ago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Maple Leaf Foods Inc. reported a loss in its first quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it faced a difficult pork market, cost inflation and higher startup expenses.The company says it lost $57.7 million or 48 cents per share for the quarter ended March 31 compared with a profit of $13.7 million or 11 cents per share in the same quarter last year.Sales in the quarter totalled $1.17 billion, up from $1.13 billion in the first three months of 2022.The company says the increase came as sales in its meat protein group rose to $1.14 billion compared with $1.09 billion in the same quarter last year. Plant protein sales fell to $37.4 million compared with $44.9 million a year earlier.On an adjusted basis, Maple Leaf says it lost 12 cents per share compared with an adjusted profit of three cents per share in its first quarter last year.Analysts on average had expected an adjusted loss of 10 cents per share and $1.16 billion in revenue, according to estimates comp...