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Homicides in Brazil at the lowest level in over a decade, report says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:45 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian researchers say the number of violent deaths last year reached the lowest level in more than a decade, puzzling some experts because there has been an explosion of firearms circulating in the country in recent years.About 47,500 people were slain in Latin America’s largest nation in 2022, said a report Thursday by the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, an independent group that tracks crimes. Its statistics are widely used as a benchmark because there are no official statistics on a national level. While the number of killings in 2022 was down 2.4% from the previous year, it remained roughly even with levels recorded since 2019. The last time Brazil had less violent deaths was in 2011, with 47,215 killings.The fall in homicides has left many public security experts somewhat puzzled, as it has been accompanied by a sharp increase in the number of firearms held by Brazilians. Some studies have suggested that more guns circulating among the populati...

Bolivia boosts lithium resources estimate, cementing spot as global leader

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:45 GMT

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — The total of Bolivia’s confirmed lithium resources has increased 2 million tons to 23 million tons, the Andean country’s president said Thursday.The new estimate further cements Bolivia’s position as the country with the world’s biggest known deposits of lithium, which is in high demand for use in batteries.“We are the largest lithium reserve in the world, and we have to know how to manage it intelligently to exploit and transform this resource,” President Luis Arce said at the Coipasa salt flat, around 280 kilometers (175 miles) south of the capital of La Paz.Bolivia has stepped up its search for international partners to help develop its lithium reserves at a time when demand for the metal is soaring amid the transition to renewable energy around the world and the growth in electric vehicles powered by lithium batteries.The increase in the estimate of Bolivia’s reserves came after further geological studies in the Coipasa and Pasto Grandes salt f...

W.R. Berkley: Q2 Earnings Snapshot

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:45 GMT

GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) — GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) — W.R. Berkley Corp. (WRB) on Thursday reported second-quarter net income of $356.3 million.On a per-share basis, the Greenwich, Connecticut-based company said it had profit of $1.30. Earnings, adjusted for investment gains, were $1.14 per share.The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.07 per share.The insurance company posted revenue of $3 billion in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $2.94 billion._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on WRB at https://www.zacks.com/ap/WRBSource

Arson caused house fire that killed Memphis firefighter and injured 3 others, officials say

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:45 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Authorities searched on Thursday for the person who set a fire that killed a Memphis firefighter and sent three others to the hospital.The Memphis Fire Department said arson was to blame for a fire late Tuesday that killed Lt. Jeffrey Norman and injured three other firefighters when they were trapped inside a burning house.The blaze started in a trash bin located outside of the house, fire officials said in a news release Thursday. It spread to a carport and into an addition to the home above the carport.Injuries suffered by Norman and the three firefighters who were hospitalized have not been disclosed. Fire officials asked the public to help identify the person who set the fire.Norman, a 20-year veteran firefighter, was “a courageous and dedicated member of our team,” Memphis Fire Chief Gina Sweat said in a statement. “Jeffrey was a leader and hard worker who took pride in serving his community,” Sweat said Wednesday.Source

Scholastic: Fiscal Q4 Earnings Snapshot

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:45 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — NEW YORK (AP) — Scholastic Corp. (SCHL) on Thursday reported earnings of $75.7 million in its fiscal fourth quarter.On a per-share basis, the New York-based company said it had profit of $2.26.The publishing, education and media company posted revenue of $528.3 million in the period.For the year, the company reported profit of $86.3 million, or $2.49 per share. Revenue was reported as $1.7 billion._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on SCHL at https://www.zacks.com/ap/SCHLSource

Hate speech posted on economics website is traced to some leading universities, research finds

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:45 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Anonymous comments with racist, sexist and abusive messages that were posted for years on a jobs-related website for economists originated from numerous leading U.S. universities, according to research released Thursday. Some economists have long condemned the website, Economics Job Market Rumors, for its toxic content. The site, known by its acronym EJMR, is run by an anonymous individual and is not connected to a university or other institution. That fact had fed speculation that those who posted hateful messages on it were mostly online cranks who might not be economists. Yet the new research indicates that users of the website include individuals at top-tier colleges and universities, including Harvard, Stanford and the University of Chicago.“Our analysis reveals that the users who post on EJMR are predominantly economists, including those working in the upper echelons of academia, government, and the private sector,” the paper concluded. It was written by Flor...

President Biden visits Philly shipyard as he courts organized labor and pushes green jobs

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:45 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Flanked by cranes and shipyard workers, President Joe Biden made the pitch Thursday that unions will be building America’s renewable energy future — a courtship of organized labor at a moment when some major unions are weighing strikes that could disrupt the growth he wants to campaign on in 2024.The president toured the Philly Shipyard, where there was a steel-cutting ceremony for the Acadia, a vessel that will help to build offshore wind farms. Biden ticked through the various union jobs being created by the project, promoting a message he has started to amplify as he seeks a second term.“A lot of my friends in organized labor know, when I think climate, I think jobs,” the president said. “Union workers are the best in the world.”But tensions are rising between unions and companies about a rapidly evolving economy in which artificial intelligence, clean energy and e-commerce are rewriting some of the basic rules of work. Biden is trying to allay those con...

Glacier Bancorp: Q2 Earnings Snapshot

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:45 GMT

KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) — KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) — Glacier Bancorp Inc. (GBCI) on Thursday reported second-quarter net income of $55 million.The bank, based in Kalispell, Montana, said it had earnings of 50 cents per share.The results met Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was also for earnings of 50 cents per share.The bank holding company posted revenue of $276.4 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $201.1 million, missing Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $208.4 million._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on GBCI at https://www.zacks.com/ap/GBCISource

A woman who investigators say burned a Wyoming abortion clinic pleads guilty to arson

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:45 GMT

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — An abortion opponent who told investigators that anxiety and nightmares about plans for Wyoming’s first full-service abortion clinic in years led her to break into and burn the facility pleaded guilty to a federal arson charge Thursday. U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson accepted Lorna Roxanne Green’s agreement with prosecutors at a change-of-plea hearing. Green, 22, will face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when she’s sentenced.“While I deeply regret my actions, I accept complete responsibility for what I have done,” Green told the judge.The fire happened at the Wellspring Health Access clinic in May 2022, weeks before it was to open. The damage kept the clinic from opening for almost a year.Federal investigators say Green admitted to breaking in and lighting gasoline she poured around the inside of the building, according to court documents.The clinic, which opened in April, provides surgical and pill abortions, making it the first of the kind in t...

Club Q shooter could pay nearly $90K in restitution

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:45 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The shooter who killed five people and wounded several others at Club Q could be ordered to pay nearly $86,000 in restitution to the victims.Anderson Lee Aldrich was convicted and given five life sentences without the possibility of parole for murder charges in the Colorado Springs mass shooting, as well as an additional 2,208 years for attempted murder. Club Q announces plan to reopen in the fall On Wednesday, a Colorado Springs court proposed a total of $85,091.17 in restitution, which Aldrich would pay to the 17 victims hurt in the club shooting last November.The totals varied from victim to victim, with the highest amount being $13,523.38 and the lowest amount at $50.99.