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Average 30-year mortgage rate dips as spring season opens

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:28:51 GMT

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate dipped for the fourth straight week, a good sign for potential home buyers and a real estate market that’s been mostly cold since the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates more than a year ago.Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the benchmark 30-year rate dipped to 6.28% from 6.32% the previous week. The average rate last year at this time was 4.72%.The average long-term mortgage rate hit 7.08% in the fall — a two-decade high.The recent decline in mortgage rates is good news for prospective homebuyers, many of whom were pushed to the sidelines during the past year as the Federal Reserve cranked up its main borrowing rate nine straight times in a bid to tamp down persistent, four-decade high inflation.Though supply remains low, home prices appear to be leveling off, another development that could lure buyers back into the market. The national median home price slipped 0.2% from February last year to $3...

FDA forces unproven premature birth drug Makena off market

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:28:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday ordered the immediate market withdrawal of a drug intended to prevent premature births, which has remained available for years despite data showing it doesn’t help pregnant women.The decision follows repeated efforts by Swiss drugmaker Covis Pharma to keep Makena on the U.S. market while it conducted additional studies. The medication was the only drug approved in the U.S. to help reduce the risk of early births in women with a history of preterm deliveries.In recent months, Covis finally bowed to FDA pressure, proposing a “winding down” period of several months so that women taking the drug could complete their treatment. The FDA rejected that and said Thursday that the action against Makena and several generic versions should take effect immediately.“Makena and its generics are no longer approved and cannot lawfully be distributed in interstate commerce,” the agency said in a statement.The injectable drug is a sy...

UN court says it can hear Guyana-Venezuela border dispute

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:28:51 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations’ highest court ruled Thursday that it can hear a case between South American neighbors Guyana and Venezuela about a border dispute that dates back to 1899.The decision to reject Venezuela’s challenge to the case’s admissibility means it will go ahead at the International Court of Justice, though will likely take years to resolve.The ruling was a second defeat for Venezuela’s attempts to have the case tossed out. It came more than two years after judges rejected a challenge by Caracas to the world court’s jurisdiction.In the admissibility challenge rejected Thursday, Venezuela had argued that the court could not hear the case without the involvement of the United Kingdom, which was Guyana’s colonial master at the time of the original border decision. The Guyanese side had argued that Britain ceased to have any involvement in the case once Guyana gained its independence in 1966 and that Venezuela was ...

NTI investigates allegations of ‘potential’ enrolment fraud

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:28:51 GMT

Last Updated on April 6, 2023 by YGK News StaffBy Jeff PelletierLocal Journalism Initiative Reporter with Nunatsiaq NewsNunavut Tunngavik Inc. is investigating what it describes as “potential” enrolment fraud in connection to two sisters who claimed Inuk heritage.According to a news release sent by NTI on Thursday evening, a woman named Karima Manji claimed her twin daughters, Amira and Nadya Gill, were adopted from an Inuk mother.“Today, she initiated the process to have Amira and Nadya removed from the Inuit enrolment list,” NTI’s news release said.“The Iqaluit Community Enrolment Committee will review the removal application and make a decision.”According to a news release sent by NTI on Thursday evening, a woman named Karima Manji claimed her twin daughters, Amira and Nadya Gill, were adopted from an Inuk mother.However, according to the news release, NTI has received information from the woman identified as their birth mother that the Gill sisters are not her children.“Today, s...

Reimagined wooden coaster Twister III opens at Elitch Gardens this summer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:28:51 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — After a summer at Elitch Gardens without the iconic Twister II roller coaster, the theme park announced that the wooden thrill ride is back after being refurbished and reimagined.Riders are invited back to Twister III: Storm Chaser this summer. According to Elitch Gardens, the reimagined coaster will take gutsy guests on a journey starting in the aftermath of a tornado. Guests will go to the Storm Chaser Recruitment Center and join the elite storm chaser team to see what it's like to be in the eye of a tornado.If you make it through the Twister, you will become an official member of the Twister III: Storm Chaser team. Plans for new development around Ball Arena "Reimagining this awesome wooden roller coaster is a great opportunity for us to re-introduce one of the most thrilling rides in the park and also offer a new and exciting experience at the same time," says David Dorman, general manager of Elitch Gardens. "The new name, Twister III: Storm Chaser, pays homag...

Wildfire threat grows as Florida drought gets steadily worse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:28:51 GMT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The threat of wildfires is growing in Florida over the coming weeks as more than half the state is experiencing severe to extreme drought conditions likely to persist until rainy season resumes around mid-May, state and federal officials said Thursday.The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center reported Thursday that 55% of Florida is in the severe to extreme drought category, with most of the rest of the state listed as “abnormally dry.” The driest conditions are in southwest Florida, the same region hammered by Hurricane Ian in September.“When you look at a drought map of the state of Florida, you have very dry conditions all across the state,” said Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, whose agency includes the Florida Forest Service. “We’ve had numerous fires already.”Indeed, since Jan. 1 more than 1,000 wildfires in Florida have burned over 33,000 acres (13,300 hectares), according to state statistics. ...

Rockets fired at Israel from Lebanon raise risk of conflict

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:28:51 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Militants in Lebanon fired a heavy barrage of rockets at Israel on Thursday, the Israeli military said, forcing people across Israel’s northern frontier into bomb shelters, wounding at least two people and ratcheting up regional tensions a day after Israeli police raided Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site.Israel’s military said 34 rockets had been fired across the border, and that 25 were shot down by its Iron Dome aerial defense system. Another five rockets struck Israeli territory and the rest of the strikes were being investigated, security forces added. The army’s response would come after “a situational assessment” and meeting by Israel’s Security Cabinet later Thursday, it said.The unusually large salvo of rockets raised fears of a wider conflagration, as Israel’s bitter enemy, the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, holds sway over much of southern Lebanon. Over the past two days, tensions have skyrocketed at the sacred compo...

Finland joins NATO — Ukraine foreign minister in Brussels — EU’s China visit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:28:51 GMT

Listen on Spotify Apple Music Google Play EN_Google_Podcasts_Badge Created with Sketch. Stitcher .st0{fill:#EB8A23;} .st1{fill:#FAC617;} .st2{fill:#612368;} .st3{fill:#3792C4;} .st4{fill:#C33727;} Acast This week, Finland joins NATO while Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, joins us here in the POLITICO studio to talk about his own country’s NATO ambitions. We also follow EU chief Ursula...

Ukraine is preparing to strike back against Russia. Timing will be key

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:28:51 GMT

(CNN) — Weather the storm, exhaust the enemy and then strike back.That has been the mantra of Ukraine’s military for months, one echoed by senior US and NATO officials since the winter.So much for the idea. But can it be executed and if so where, when and with what? Even the Ukrainians themselves may not yet know as they study the 1,000-kilometer front line for Russian vulnerabilities, just as they did when suddenly launching the surprise September offensive in the northeast region of Kharkiv.But they are aware it will be a crucial chapter in the conflict. Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, said in an interview last month that Russia and Ukraine will fight “a decisive battle this spring, and this battle will be the final one before this war ends.”That suggests the Ukrainians may take their time to maximize capabilities. Predictions are a fool’s errand; there will be plenty of bluff and disinformation about ...

For the ages: Heat’s Erik Spoelstra turns to a bench duo that is 71 years old

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:28:51 GMT

When it comes to depth, Erik Spoelstra has leaned on veterans throughout his Miami Heat coaching tenure, from older contributors such as Ray Allen, Shane Battier and Chris Andersen to even a pre-retirement Dwyane Wade.At the moment, Spoelstra is bringing a duo for the ages off his bench, having moved to 37-year-old Kyle Lowry and 34-year-old Kevin Love as his first two reserves.It has added, Spoelstra said, an element of trust.“I mean, they’re both so highly decorated in terms of experience level and their skill level, their ability to read defenses and know how to manipulate defenses,” Spoelstra said ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. “When you get that kind of experience together you don’t have to overcoach it. They’re going to make it all work.“And that’s been a tremendous boost for our second unit. They’ve really helped stabilize that group and helped that group be much ...