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Expelled Russian diplomats are spies, Norwegians say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:08 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A senior Norwegian spy agency officer said Friday that ”the intelligence threat from Russia is not gone, but significantly reduced” after Norway expelled 15 Russian diplomats on suspicion of spying. “We are sure that they are intelligence officers,” said Inger Haugland, head of the counterintelligence unit with the Norwegian Police Security Service, known as the PST. “We believe that the measure taken yesterday was a good and important measure.” On Thursday, Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said the diplomats were suspected of spying while working at the Russian Embassy in Oslo. Haugland said most of the 15 diplomats were working either as spy handlers or intercepting telephone and data traffic. She said they were employed either by Russia’s civilian spy agency, the FSB (Federal Security Service) or by the GRU, which runs military intelligence. Haugland described them as “specialists” but declined to give further details or say whether they h...

Average home price to end the year 4.8% lower than 2022, will rise 4.7% in 2023: CREA

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:08 GMT

OTTAWA — The Canadian Real Estate Association expects the average price of a home to end the year 4.8 per cent lower than 2022, but says prices will rise by roughly the same amount in 2024.The association’s prediction amounts to an average price of $670,389 this year and $702,214 next year, when prices are expected to increase by 4.7 per cent.The board also foresees home sales falling 1.1 per cent to 492,674 this year and then rising 13.9 per cent to 561,090 in 2023.It says the forecast accounts for little change in month-over-month sales seen since summer 2022 and the modest monthly gains recorded in February and March.The board’s forecast was released as it announced March home sales fell 34.4 per cent to 41,636 from the year before and on a seasonally-adjusted basis, reached 33,833, about one per cent higher than they had been in February.The average home price was $686,371 in March, down 13.7 per cent from the year prior but up almost $75,000 from its January 2023 le...

Wall Street holds Thursday’s gains as bank earnings roll in

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:08 GMT

BEIJING — Wall Street held steady in premarket trading Friday as some of the nation’s biggest banks posted strong first-quarter profits one day after markets surged on reports of slowing inflation.Futures for the Dow Jones industrials ticked up 0.1% and futures for the S&P 500 were essentially flat.JPMorgan Chase reported a 52% jump in profits over last year’s first quarter, while Well Fargo reported its profits increased 32%. The strong showing suggests few signs of potential trouble in the banking system — at least among the nation’s biggest, most complex financial institutions — following the collapse of two banks in March.Shares in Wells jumped 4% in premarket while JPMorgan gained 6%.Shares in Boeing slid 6% in premarket after the aircraft maker said Thursday that production and delivery of a “significant number” of its 737 Max planes could be delayed because of questions about a supplier’s work on the fuselages.Boeing said the supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, used...

Top Fed official sees need for more interest rate increases

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:08 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior Federal Reserve official said Friday that there has been little progress on inflation for more than a year and that more interest rate hikes are needed to get prices under control.Christopher Waller, a member of the Fed’s governing board, did not specify how many more increases he supports, but said in written remarks that inflation “is still much too high and so my job is not done.” Last month, inflation slowed as food and gas prices fell, but excluding those volatile categories, “core” prices kept rising and are 5.6% higher than a year ago. Waller pointed out that core prices have risen at about that same pace, or higher, since December 2021. Waller’s comments expressing support for more rate hikes follow a forecast by the Fed’s staff economists, revealed in Fed minutes Wednesday, for a “mild recession” later this year. Waller said that, like most of his colleagues, he is closely watching whether the collapse of two large banks la...

Guardsman accused in records leak to appear in court

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:08 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts Air National Guardsman arrested in the leak of highly classified military documents is expected in federal court Friday as the Justice Department prepares to outline the criminal case against him.Jack Teixeira, 21, was arrested by heavily armed tactical agents on Thursday following a weeklong criminal investigation into the disclosure of highly sensitive government records, an alarming breach that exposed to the world unvarnished secret assessments on the war in Ukraine, the capabilities and geopolitical interests of other nations and other top national security issues.Justice Department prosecutors are expected to reveal new details about the allegations while unsealing a criminal complaint in Boston charging Teixeira under an Espionage Act provision that makes it a crime to remove, retain or transmit national defense information. It was not immediately clear if Teixeira had a lawyer who could comment on his behalf.Investigators believe Teixeira was th...

Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales down 3.6% in February

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:08 GMT

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales fell 3.6 per cent to $71.5 billion in February, as sales of petroleum and coal products helped lead the drop.The agency says the decline followed a revised 4.5 per cent increase in January. The initial reading for the first month of the year had been for a gain of 4.1 per cent.The drop in February came as 12 of the 21 industries tracked saw moves lower.Sales of petroleum and coal products fell 14.9 per cent to $8.8 billion in February as sales volumes dropped 8.3 per cent.Meanwhile, sales of motor vehicles fell 12.3 per cent to $4.2 billion in February and primary metals declined 4.2 per cent to $5.6 billion. Sales in the machinery industry rose 3.0 per cent to $4.6 billion.In constant dollars, Statistics Canada says overall manufacturing sales decreased 2.4 per cent in February.This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14, 2023.The Canadian Press

Big Indiana plastics fire is fully extinguished, mayor says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:08 GMT

RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) — A major industrial fire fueled by tons of scrap plastics in an Indiana city has been fully extinguished, although an evacuation order for people living nearby remains in place, the city’s mayor said.Richmond Mayor Dave Snow tweeted Thursday night that the fire chief of the eastern Indiana city had informed him that “the fire has been fully extinguished ahead of schedule.”Officials had said earlier Thursday that the fire, which began Tuesday afternoon, was close to being extinguished at the 14-acre former factory site in Richmond, a city of 35,000 about 70 miles (115 kilometers) east of Indianapolis, near the Ohio border.An evacuation order for at least 1,500 people living within a half-mile was still in effect Friday morning, but Snow said in his tweet that “we’re now able to turn our attention to collecting air and water samples to determine when the evacuation order can be lifted.”Fire Chief Tim Brown was not available Friday morning to provide an updat...

Airport reopening as South Florida floods slowly recede

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:08 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — One of Florida’s busiest airports announced plans to reopen Friday morning, two days after an unprecedented deluge left planes and travelers stranded and turned Fort Lauderdale’s streets into rivers.Officials at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport completed final inspections after sunrise Friday and said in a tweet that operations would resume at 9 a.m.“Travelers are advised to check with their airlines for updated flight times BEFORE coming to the airport. Thanks for your patience as we work to restore normal operations,” the tweet said.The airport shut down Wednesday evening as a storm dumped more than 2 feet (60 centimeters) of rain.“Nature has been unkind to us,” Broward County Mayor Lamar Fisher said during a news conference Thursday afternoon at the airport.A flood warning was expiring, but the National Weather Service warned motorists that water-covered roads could still be a hazard. All across Fort Lauderdale, residents an...

Illinois State Police investigate after body found on Dan Ryan Expressway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:08 GMT

CHICAGO — Illinois State Police are investigating a fatal incident on the Dan Ryan Expressway.According to preliminary information, state troopers responded to southbound I-94 at 28th Street around 5 a.m. Friday for a report of a person laying on the roadway.The person was pronounced dead on the scene. Their identity has not yet been released. 1 dead in Northwest Indiana house fire The circumstances surrounding the incident are unclear at this time.An investigation is underway.

59-year-old man dies after Antioch Township shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:08 GMT

ANTIOCH TOWNSHIP, Ill. — A 59-year-old man died after he was shot in the head in unincorporated Antioch Wednesday night.At around 7:35 p.m., police responded to the 40700 block of North Black Oak Avenue, located in unincorporated Antioch, on the report of an unresponsive man.The man, later identified as William Martys, 59, was found with a gunshot wound to the head in his driveway.He was transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville where he was pronounced dead. Gun discovered inside vehicle in Antioch High School’s parking lot The shooting is being investigated as a homicide and no one is in custody.