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A labor market cooldown: US economy added just 236,000 jobs in March

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:54 GMT

(CNN) — US employers added just 236,000 jobs in March, coming in below expectations and indicating that the labor market is cooling off amid the Federal Reserve’s yearlong rate-hiking campaign to chill inflation.The unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%, according to the March jobs report released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.Economists were expecting a net gain of 239,000 jobs for the month and a jobless rate of 3.6%, according to Refinitiv. This is the first jobs report in 12 months that came in below expectations.While the US labor market has kept trucking along despite other areas of the economy slowing under the weight of interest rate hikes, it is showing some signs of cooling.US employers added just 236,000 jobs in March. Credit: US Bureau of Labor Statistics/CNN“The labor market in March came in like a lion with a banking crisis and more layoffs, and is going out like a lamb with a solid jobs report,” said Daniel Zhao, Glas...

Tampa dentist goes for record pulling car with teeth

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:54 GMT

TAMPA, Florida (WFTS) — Tampa dentist Mike Foley pulls a lot more than just teeth, including his 2,000-pound car.Foley loves showing off the power of his jaws, and you could say it all started with his favorite movie.“The easiest thing to find in Florida is shark teeth,” said Foley. “So we’d go to the beach, we’d find 15, 20 shark teeth every time, and that’s pretty much what hooked me on teeth.”After collecting thousands of shark teeth as a kid, Foley decided to move on to human teeth as an adult—not collecting, but cleaning, at Friendly Smiles Dental Care in Tampa.“It was an easy transition, you know, it’s funny, I end up talking to my patients about my shark tooth passion quite often,” said Foley.He even made some shark dentures, which ended up in Ripley’s Believe It or Not.“I was always inspired by their weird oddities, so a lot of my collection revolves around what they have,” said Foley.However, his latest hobby is the craziest yet: pulling his car with his teeth. ...

76-year-old walks U.S. for the 9th time in hopes to spread love and prevent suicide

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:54 GMT

THOMASVILLE, Georgia (WTXL) — Steve Fugate, age 76, is making it his mission to spread love and compassion despite any challenges you may be facing.Fugate, from Vero Beach, Florida, has walked across the U.S. for what will soon be nine times.When asked why, Fugate points to his sign, Love Life. A sign Fugate started sharing across the country after his oldest son, Steven, committed suicide and years later losing his daughter Michelle from Multiple Sclerosis.“For reasons I’ll never fully understand my son ended his life,” said Fugate.Now, Fugate is making his way from Florida to Oregon once again while sharing his message along the way.One he hopes will make its way to a person who needs it.“I’m making my babies proud and that’s the gist of it,” said Fugate.Fugate said it takes him approximately 6 to 8 months to walk across the U.S. averaging anywhere between 7 to 14 miles a day and resting for about two days at a time. Fugate’s f...

Canada’s home prices could complicate private mortgage renewals: broker

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:54 GMT

Some homeowners in Canada are finding themselves in a tough position as they approach the time to renew their mortgage.The renewal period can be a stressful situation at the best of times. But now, in some cases, private mortgage lenders are choosing not to stick with existing borrowers. This comes down to dropping home prices, explains Reza Sabour, a senior mortgage advisor with TMG The Mortgage Group.“The private lenders typically don’t like to renew private mortgages maybe more than once. So, once they see a client is falling in that renewal loop, they’ll actually usually try their best to convince that client to qualify at a bank,” he told CityNews.“And those clients, if they’re still unable to qualify, they would have a difficult time moving it elsewhere.”Related articles: Expert calls on StatCan to overhaul inflation formula to better reflect housing costsWhat can $1 million get you in Canada’s real estate market?Calls grow for c...

Detroit apartment building fire injures 11, displaces 20

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:54 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — About a dozen people were hurt in an apartment building fire early Friday morning on Detroit’s west side.Twenty people were displaced and 11 people suffered injuries including smoke inhalation, bumps and bruises, Fire Chief James Harris told reporters.The blaze was reported around 3:30 a.m. It left the five-story building heavily damaged.At least some sections of the building’s roof appeared to have collapsed. Harris described the building as a “total loss,” meaning it’s uninhabitable.Most of the building’s residents were taken to a nearby recreational center where the Red Cross was providing help.Betty Smith told the Detroit Free Press that smoke alarms woke her up. She escaped her first-floor apartment with nothing but her dog and the clothes she was wearing.“There’s no coming back from this. Just have to tough it out,” Smith said while sitting on a bench outside the recreation center.The cause of the fire was under investigation Friday morning.The...

Judge cancels Montana gas plant permit over climate impacts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:54 GMT

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A judge canceled the air quality permit for a natural gas power plant that’s under construction along the Yellowstone River in Montana citing worries over climate change.State District Judge Michael Moses ruled Thursday that Montana officials failed to adequately consider the 23 million tons of planet-warming greenhouse gases that the project would emit over several decades. Many utilities across the U.S. have replaced coal power with less polluting natural gas plants in recent years. But the industry remains under pressure to abandon fossil fuels altogether as climate change worsens.The $250 million plant is being built by Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based NorthWestern Energy and would operate for at least 30 years. The company will appeal the order, a spokesperson said in a statement Friday, saying that the ruling could jeopardize reliable power service.Montana officials had argued they had no authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. They also said that...

3 killed in Northern Italy after car crashes into farm silo

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:54 GMT

ROME (AP) — Three people were killed at a farm in Northern Italy when their car crashed into a silo, which collapsed and buried the vehicle under an enormous mound of chicken feed, local police and firefighters said Friday.The victims were an 18-year-old and two minors, according to the communications office of the fire department in Forli’, a small town near Bologna. It was unclear how fast the car was going when it crashed.The Forli’ police department could not immediately provide information on the victims’ ages and nationalities. Italian media reported they were North African.Forli’ is in the region of Emilia-Romagna, which borders the Adriatic Sea. The farm where the crash took place, called Casagrande, breeds more than two million chickens per year and produces eggs, fruit, cereals, according to the farm’s website.The Associated Press

Pentagon reviewing whether Ukraine war documents were leaked

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Defense Department is reviewing a handful of documents that were released on several social media sites and appear to detail U.S. and NATO aid to Ukraine, but may have been altered or used as part of a misinformation campaign.The documents, which were posted on sites such as Twitter, are labeled secret and resemble routine updates that the U.S. military’s Joint Staff would produce daily but not distribute publicly. They are dated ranging from Feb. 23 to March 1, and provide what appears to be details on the progress of weapons and equipment going into Ukraine with more precise timelines and amounts than the U.S. generally provides publicly.They are not war plans and they provide no details on any planned Ukraine offensive. And some inaccuracies — including estimates of Russian troops deaths that are significantly lower than numbers publicly stated by U.S. officials — have led some to question the documents’ authenticity.“It is very important to reme...

US to test expedited asylum screenings at Mexico border

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Migrants who enter the United States illegally will be screened by asylum officers while in custody under a limited experiment that provides them access to legal counsel, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday.The new approach will start with a tiny number of migrants next week. Officials said the trial run is part of preparations for the end of a pandemic-related rule expected on May 11 that has suspended rights to seek asylum for many. If expanded, the new screening could bring major change to how people are processed upon reaching U.S. soil to seek asylum.Homeland Security officials said they will begin working with a legal services provider they declined to name that will represent asylum-seekers at initial screenings, known as “credible fear hearings.” Access to legal representation will be critical to the plan moving ahead, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not been publicly announced.The scr...

Israeli authorities say attack wounds at least 7 in Tel Aviv

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:54 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli authorities said late Friday that at least seven people were wounded in a suspected attack in Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial hub. The exact nature of the attack was not immediately clear, but the Israeli Foreign Ministry referred to it as a “terror attack,” a term Israeli officials use for assaults by Palestinians. Israeli police said a car rammed into a group of people near a popular seaside park before flipping over. Police said they shot the driver of the car. Israel’s rescue service described the incident as a shooting attack. The attack came against the backdrop of heightened tensions after Israeli airstrikes on Palestinian militant targets in both Lebanon and Gaza, as well as a shooting attack in the occupied West Bank that killed two Israelis.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel unleashed rare airstrikes on Lebanon and bombarded the Gaza Strip on Friday, an escalation that spar...