path | Common News Update

Dec142019 by adminNo Comments

Path is clear for a year-end rally with key hurdles like the trade war removed

Finance

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange.Brendan McDermid | ReutersWith trade tensions toned down, stocks have clearance to rally into year-end, a traditionally positive time for stocks.Stocks surged to record highs in the past week, as the U.S. and China moved to announce a phase one trade deal that halts tariffs that were set to go into effect Sunday. Stocks gave up some of their best gains Friday, in a sell-the-news move after U.S. and Chinese officials announced the agreement."Three big geopolitical things are taken off the table — USMCA, phase one and Brexit, and even though we might not like or be fulfilled by phase one, these uncertainties are behind us," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA.Earlier in the week, the House had approved the USMCA, a re...

Oct162019 by adminNo Comments

Southwest Atlantic humpback whales on recovery path

Science

Media playback is unsupported on your device One of the whale populations taken to the edge of extinction by commercial hunting in the early 20th Century has essentially recovered its numbers.It's estimated the humpbacks that frequent the southwest Atlantic once totalled perhaps 27,000 animals.This group was reduced to only a few hundred by the steam-driven boats and harpoons operating out of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia.But a new study suggests the humpbacks are back close to where they were.It's reckoned there are now just short of 25,000 individuals in the southwest Atlantic - more than 90% of the pre-exploitation level. "It's a positive story," said Dr Alex Zerbini, the report's lead author from the National Marine Fishe...

Aug132019 by adminNo Comments

Hong Kong ‘on path of no return’ as violent protests hit busy airport

World

By Russell Hope, news reporter Pro-democracy protesters and riot police have clashed for a second day at Hong Kong airport - one of the world's busiest transport hubs.Thousands of demonstrators, many wearing black and covering their faces, barricaded entrances with luggage trolleys - and at least 120 flights were cancelled after check-ins were suspended. At the peak of Tuesday's violence, officers swinging batons and armed with pepper spray entered the terminal, with a policeman pulling out a gun at one point. Image: Police struggled to take control of the airport from protesters The police seemed overwhelmed at times - and were pelted with bottles as they tried to restore order.Sky's chief corres...

Apr282019 by adminNo Comments

Online hate forges a dark path for suspect in attack plot

Technology

A few months after he turned 17 — and more than two years before he was arrested — Vincent Vetromile recast himself as an online revolutionary. Offline, in this suburb of Rochester, New York, Vetromile was finishing requirements for promotion to Eagle Scout in a troop that met at a local church. He enrolled at Monroe Community College, taking classes to become a heating and air conditioning technician. On weekends, he spent hours in the driveway with his father, a Navy veteran, working on cars. On social media, though, the teenager spoke in world-worn tones about the need to "reclaim our nation at any cost." Eventually he subbed out the grinning selfie in his Twitter profile, replacing it with the image of a colonial militiaman shouldering an AR-15 rifle. And he traded his name for a hand...

Apr242019 by adminNo Comments

Tropical Cyclone Kenneth makes path toward storm-ravaged Mozambique

World

April 24 (UPI) -- The African nation of Mozambique on Tuesday braced for the arrival of another storm while still reeling from the effects of Cyclone Idai. NASA meteorologists forecast that Tropical Cyclone Kenneth is expected to move toward the border of Mozambique and Tanzania and make landfall in northern Mozambique as early as Thursday. "Residents along Mozambique/Tanzania border should make preparations for storm surge along the coasts, heavy rainfall and hurricane-force winds," NASA said. The storm underwent additional strengthening on Wednesday and was rated a tropical cyclone by the French national meteorological service, indicating it has winds of 74 mph to 98 mph or equal to the strength of a Category 1 to 3 hurricane. Additional strengthening is possible as Kenneth approaches...