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Brazil’s lower house finds compromise in a major reform of the country’s ‘dysfunctional’ tax system

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:17:16 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s lower house of Congress approved a major reform of the nation’s notoriously complicated tax system early Friday, showing compromise is possible between the conservative Congress and leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.The long-awaited tax reform aims to simplify the system, widely considered overly burdensome for both individuals and businesses, and boost economic growth that has drifted between downturns and doldrums for the last decade. “Brazil will have its first tax reform of the democratic period. A historic moment and a great victory for the country,” Lula said on Twitter.The vote in the Chamber of Deputies followed decades of attempts to comprehensively reform the current system. The measure will now go to the Senate. If it makes significant modifications, the proposal will return to the lower house for a final vote.Given last year’s highly divisive electoral campaign, there had been speculation that legislative gridlock could stymie any...

Stock market today: Wall Street opens mixed as job growth cools slightly

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:17:16 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is opening mixed after data suggested the U.S. job market is still plenty warm enough to keep the economy growing but maybe not so hot that it stokes inflation. The S&P 500 was little changed in early trading Friday. The Dow fell 42 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%. A lot is riding on whether the economy can navigate the narrow pathway to avoid a long-predicted recession. Friday’s report showed U.S. employers added 209,000 jobs last month, a slowdown from May and not far off economists’ expectations. Treasury yields were mixed. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.U.S. futures fluctuated after monthly U.S. jobs numbers came in slightly better than expected, likely keeping the Federal Reserve on track to raise its main borrowing rate at its meeting later this month.Futures for the Dow Jones industrials and S&P 500 were largely unchanged before the opening bell Friday after being down marginally befor...

National employment numbers for June from Statistics Canada, at a glance

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:17:16 GMT

OTTAWA — A quick look at Canada’s June employment (numbers from the previous month in brackets):Unemployment rate: 5.4 per cent (5.2)Employment rate: 62.2 per cent (62.1)Participation rate: 65.7 per cent (65.5)Number unemployed: 1,147,100 (1,093,000)Number working: 20,172,800 (20,112,900)Youth (15-24 years) unemployment rate: 11.5 per cent (10.7)Men (25 plus) unemployment rate: 4.4 per cent (4.3)Women (25 plus) unemployment rate: 4.4 per cent (4.2)This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2023.The Canadian Press

Here’s a quick glance at unemployment rates for June, by province

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:17:16 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada’s national unemployment rate was 5.4 per cent in June. Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets):_ Newfoundland and Labrador 8.8 per cent (10.2)_ Prince Edward Island 8.2 per cent (7.2)_ Nova Scotia 6.4 per cent (5.7)_ New Brunswick 6.4 per cent (6.1)_ Quebec 4.4 per cent (4.0)_ Ontario 5.7 per cent (5.5)_ Manitoba 4.3 per cent (4.8)_ Saskatchewan 4.7 per cent (4.4)_ Alberta 5.7 per cent (5.7)_ British Columbia 5.6 per cent (5.0)This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2023.The Canadian Press

Here’s a quick glance at unemployment rates for June, by Canadian city

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:17:16 GMT

OTTAWA — The national unemployment rate was 5.4 per cent in June. Statistics Canada also released seasonally adjusted, three-month moving average unemployment rates for major cities. It cautions, however, that the figures may fluctuate widely because they are based on small statistical samples. Here are the jobless rates last month by city (numbers from the previous month in brackets):_ St. John’s, N.L. 5.0 per cent (5.0)_ Halifax 5.7 per cent (4.9)_ Moncton, N.B. 5.4 per cent (5.5)_ Saint John, N.B. 6.0 per cent (5.2)_ Saguenay, Que. 3.4 per cent (3.4)_ Quebec City 3.1 per cent (2.6)_ Sherbrooke, Que. 4.0 per cent (4.6)_ Trois-Rivières, Que. 3.8 per cent (3.9)_ Montreal 4.4 per cent (4.4)_ Gatineau, Que. 4.2 per cent (3.9)_ Ottawa 4.4 per cent (4.3)_ Kingston, Ont. 3.9 per cent (4.3)_ Belleville, Ont. 6.7 per cent (5.3)_ Peterborough, Ont. 7.4 per cent (7.1)_ Oshawa, Ont. 5.2 per cent (5.1)_ Toronto 6.1 per cent (5.9)_ Hamilton, Ont. 5.0 per cent (5.0)_ St. Catharines-Niagara...

Iraq opens an investigation into the kidnapping of a missing Israeli-Russian academic

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:17:16 GMT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq opened an investigation into the case of a dual Israeli-Russian academic who has been missing in Iraq since March, a government spokesman said Friday.Bassem al-Awadi’s comments were the first official Iraqi statements since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday that Elizabeth Tsurkov is still alive “and we hold Iraq responsible for her safety and well-being.”Netanyahu said Tsurkov is being held by the Shiite group Kataeb Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades, a powerful Iran-backed group that the U.S. government listed as a terrorist organization in 2009.Tsurkov, whose work focuses on the Middle East, and specifically war-torn Syria, is an expert on regional affairs and has been widely quoted over the years by international media. Tsurkov last tweeted on March 21.Tsurkov, who is pursuing a doctorate at Princeton University, is a fellow at the Washington-based think tank New Lines Institute.“Due to the ongoing official investigations into th...

Germany, Austria issue warning to elderly and infirm as heatwave rolls in

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:17:16 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The German government on Friday warned the elderly, people with health conditions, pregnant women and parents with young children to seek out cool places amid forecasts for a sharp rise in temperatures over the weekend.The country’s weather agency, DWD, predicted the mercury could rise to 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) with high humidity particularly in the west of the country Saturday. The heat will spread eastward by Sunday, reaching highs of 37C (99F), it said.Germany’s Health Ministry urged people to stay indoors, consume enough liquids and avoid strenuous activity, particularly during the day. Austria, where temperatures are expected to reach 35C on Monday, advertised a free hotline for people to get tips on how to cope with the heat.The southern state of Carinthia activated a heat protection plan for more than 900 care homes, hospitals and other sites to identify people who might be particularly vulnerable to high temperatures.Each year, thousands of peop...

Poland starts observances of WWII massacres by Ukrainians that have marred neighborly ties

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:17:16 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s prime minister and Catholic church leaders opened several days of observances Friday to honor victims of World War II massacres of tens of thousands of Poles by Ukrainian nationalists, which have marred the tightening strategic relations between the neighboring nations. “We can say that for many years this has been an unhealed wound in Polish-Ukrainian relations,” said Rafal Bochenek, the spokesperson for Poland’s ruling right-wing party. “We would expect truth to be told and things to be called by their proper name,” Bochenek said. Poland says the 1943-44 massacre of some 100,000 Poles by Ukrainian nationalists was genocide. Entire villages were burned down and all their inhabitants killed by nationalists and their helpers who sought to establish an independent Ukraine state. The killings took place in Volhynia and in other regions of what was then eastern Poland under Nazi German and then Soviet occupation, and which are now in west...

What to stream this weekend: Taylor Swift, ‘Lincoln Lawyer,’ ‘Biosphere’ and ‘Wham!’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:17:16 GMT

Taylor Swift’s rerecording of her “Speak Now” and survivalist Bear Grylls taking Bradley Cooper and Rita Ora into the wild are among the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you.Among the offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are the sci-fi comedy ”Biosphere” starring Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass, and a new spin-off series starring Luann de Lesseps and Sonja Morgan from “The Real Housewives of New York City.”NEW MOVIES TO STREAM— Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass are the last two men on Earth in the not-too-distant-future sci-fi comedy ”Biosphere,” available in theaters and on demand on Friday from IFC. John DeFore in The Hollywood Reporter wrote that it’s “a mysterious and hilarious pic that really can’t be discussed much without saying things a prospective viewer would be better off not hearing.” “Biosphere” is the directorial debut of Mel Elsyn, who co-wrote the script with Duplass.— If Par...

US priest who runs outreach for LGBTQ+ Catholics tapped by pope to join major Vatican gathering

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:17:16 GMT

ROME (AP) — An American Jesuit who runs outreach ministry for LGBTQ Catholics was been tapped by Pope Francis on Friday to be among participants at a major Vatican gathering of bishops and laypeople later this year. The Vatican unveiled the names of bishops, priests, nuns and laypersons who will take part in the weeks-long meeting that the pope has called for in October. Among those chosen is the Rev. James Martin, who has long been a prominent advocate of greater inclusion of the LGBTQ community in the Catholic church. Official Catholic teaching considers any sexual act outside of marriage between a man and a woman sinful. Ahead of the gathering, known as a synod, there was an unprecedented canvassing of Catholics worldwide, which found that the faithful want to see concrete steps to promote women to decision-making posts as well as a “radical inclusion” of the LGBTQ+ community in the Church.After the pope, in an interview with The Associated Press in January, decried as “unjust” l...