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Stock market today: Asian stocks slide as debt worries mount

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets slid Wednesday as the U.S. government crept closer to a potentially disruptive default on its debt.Tokyo’s main market index lost more than 1%. Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul also declined. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell 1.1% after Speaker Kevin McCarthy of the House of Representatives said, “We’re not there yet” on a deal. That followed a meeting Monday with President Joe Biden that ended with no agreement.“McCarthy’s comments have thrown cold water” on sentiment, said Vishnu Varathan of Mizuho Bank in a report. He said the slide in prices is “paying back for premature optimism around a debt deal.” The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5% to 3,230.46 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 1.1% to 30,619.21. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong shed 0.9% to 19,260.11.The Kospi in Seoul retreated 0.2% to 2,562.60 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 lost 0.5% to 7,222.60. New Zealand and Bangkok gained while Singapore and Jakarta declined.Rep...

Wiemer, Miller homer, Brewers end Astros’ winning streak at 8 with 6-0 victory

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Joey Wiemer and Owen Miller homered, Colin Rea combined on a five-hitter and the Milwaukee Brewers stopped the Houston Astros’ eight-game winning streak with a 6-0 victory on Tuesday night.Houston second baseman Jose Altuve left in the bottom of the sixth inning because he was feeling ill. The 33-year-old, playing his fourth game of the season after recovering from a broken right thumb, walked off the field with athletic trainers during a pitching change.“He was feeling sick. That’s why he called us out there,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “We took him out because we thought it was the best thing to do, for precautionary reasons.”Rea (1-3) gave up four hits in 5 1/3 innings, struck out four batters and walked two. Joel Payamps finished the sixth, and Elvis Peguero, Peter Strzelecki and Bryse Wilson pitched an inning each in Milwaukee’s fifth shutout this season.Houston was blanked for the second time. The other was a 2-0 loss to San Franc...

Colorado Amazon drivers claim of 'dehumanizing' labor violations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Three delivery drivers in Colorado filed a class action complaint against Amazon on Monday, citing violations of labor laws and discriminatory practices in not providing bathroom breaks.The complaint alleges that delivery drivers are forced to urinate and defecate in bags and bottles in the back of delivery vans, "all so Amazon can maintain its breakneck delivery schedules and record-breaking profits," according to a release from Towards Justice law firm. New Amazon palm readers to verify age, pay at Coors Field "I fought for this country in Iraq, but I had an easier time going to the bathroom in a combat zone than I did while working for Amazon," Ryan Schilling, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in a release from the law firm.According to the lawsuit, he has had to use dog waste bags in the back of delivery vans to defecate on the job twice."I knew that if I tried to stop to go to a gas station, I'd get yelled at and maybe lose my job," Schilling said.The violatio...

Could empty Denver office space be turned into housing? City launches study

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Downtown Denver office spaces continue to struggle in a post-pandemic world, with the Downtown Denver Partnership placing vacancies at 21.6%. With more companies switching to remote and hybrid work, the demand simply isn't there, said Denver Community Planning and Development spokesperson Laura Swartz."We've seen a lot of employers adopt hybrid work policies," Swartz said. "We know they’re here to stay, and commercial office buildings are unlikely to return to the way they were.” Denver ranks in top 10 places people looking to leave The city is now paying outside firm Gensler $75,000 to study the feasibility of converting some of those spaces into housing units. "We’re looking at is this an opportunity to take our Central Business District and turn it into something more like a central neighborhood district," Swartz said. The study began in April with a focus on 30 different buildings in downtown Denver. Swartz said cost and practicality are two things the study wi...

Colorado has the 6th-highest resignation rate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Colorado's turnover rate is one of the nation's highest. Americans left their jobs in record numbers in 2021 and 2022 in a pandemic-era trend dubbed the “Great Resignation." Labor management firm TimeForge analyzed U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data in each state to find job resignation rates, or quit rates, to keep an eye on the trend. Colorado is among the states with the top 10 labor resignation rates, with 29 resignations per every 1,000 people, tied with Delaware for the sixth-highest rate. Alaska and Wyoming lead the nation in resignation rates, with 34 per 1,000 each. Resignations happen more among industries with odd hours and lower pay. The accommodation and food services industry has the highest rate nationwide, twice the average among all other industries at 5.7. The leisure and hospitality industry has a similar rate, 5.3. Retail trade has the third-highest rate at 3.7.Colorado's resignation rate is high despite the economy being among the nation's bes...

POLITICO Pro Morning Health Care: WHA Ukraine resolution — Shaping healthy markets — Psychedelic MEPs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

Presented by PPTABy HELEN COLLISwith ASHLEIGH FURLONG, SARAH-TAÏSSIR BENCHARIF and JOANNA ROBERTSPRESENTED BY View in your browser or listen to audioSNEAK PEEK— A majority of World Health Organization member countries are likely to send a political signal to Russia today that war is not acceptable.— Markets need to be proactively and collaboratively shaped to prioritize human and planetary health, says new WHO report.— MEPs join forces to form an action group on the medical use of psychedelics.Welcome to Wednesday’s Morning Health Care! Trying to eat less meat? Take a leaf out of this plant’s book. A rare species of vine found in West Africa is a part-time carnivore. Scientists have discovered it produces sticky nodules on its leaves to trap bugs — but only when nutrients in the soil are lacking. Get in touch: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected]. Tweet us @hcollis, @carlomartu, @a...

Hassen: Why the Hollywood writers strike matters

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

Every television series or film begins and ends with writers. They pen the iconic lines that actors deliver, like “Just one more thing,” “There’s no crying in baseball!,” and “Rosebud.”Good stories, like good lines, can last for generations. But for the writers who create them, just making it to the next paycheck has become a struggle.Writers are facing an existential crisis. According to the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the median weekly pay for writers declined 23 percent over the last decade after adjusting for inflation.With the rise of streaming, the big studios are having no trouble maximizing their profits. But streaming productions tend to pay less than traditional film and TV, and with less stable employment due to shorter seasons. Streaming has also taken a huge chunk of revenue writers could once count on from broadcast TV reruns.That’s the context behind this spring’s WGA strike. With 11,500 writers walking out, it’s  Hollywood’s first strike in 15 years. If the studi...

How Celtics stuck together after a humiliating Game 3 loss to keep their season alive

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

MIAMI — The Celtics had a choice of two paths to follow after Sunday’s embarrassing Game 3 loss put them in a hole that no team in NBA history has ever overcome in 150 tries. They could have given in to what seemed inevitable, or fought for their lives.They chose the latter. And after looking so lost and so disconnected in a Game 3 loss, the Celtics came together on Tuesday night.In order to do so, they had to make sure they were on the same page. After their convincing 116-99 victory in Game 4 on Tuesday night, Jaylen Brown revealed the Celtics “galvanized” together the night before. But the Celtics star didn’t say exactly what transpired.“Just all together,” Brown said. “Don’t got to share no details, just we all together at some point during the day yesterday, we was all together as a team, and we wanted to come out and do what we did tonight.”But 24 hours after a humiliating defeat threatened to suddenly end the Celtics’ championship dreams and send them into a summer full...

Surveillance video shows armed man run from downtown San Diego shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Police are on the hunt for a gunman who opened fire on two victims at San Diego Central Library in downtown Tuesday, killing one of them. FOX 5 got access to surveillance video showing a man with a gun running from the scene moments after the shooting.Surveillance footage from Hob Coffee shows customers running from their seats. Moments later, an individual wearing a ski mask with a gun in hand is seen running away.“There was some sort of interaction right in the foyer of the library, right at the entrance, during which our suspect produced a firearm, began firing at the people over there,” said San Diego Police Homicide Unit Lieutenant Jud Campbell. “Obviously striking two of them.”The shooting took place in broad daylight just after noon right outside the library near Petco Park. Neighbors captured cell phone footage showing officers rendering first aid to save the victims’ lives. Sadly, one man died at the scene. Carlsbad High assistant principal shares opposi...

South Korea to conduct satellite launch as North Korea pushes to fire its 1st military spy satellite

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea was set to launch its first commercial-grade satellite Wednesday as rival North Korea pushed plans forward to place its first military spy satellite into orbit.The South Korean satellite will be launched by a domestically made rocket under the country’s space development program. Seoul officials say its launch has no military purpose, but many experts say it will eventually help South Korea acquire technologies and knowhow required to operate military surveillance satellites and build more powerful missiles.The Nuri space launch vehicle was scheduled to lift off early Wednesday evening from a launch facility on a southern South Korean island, if no unexpected weather or other problems occur at the last minute, according to the Science Ministry.Aboard the rocket are the main satellite, called “Next Generation Small Satellite 2,” and seven other smaller, cube-shaped satellites. The main one is tasked with verifying imaging radar technology and obs...