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Le Maire hails ‘positive signal’ after S&P preserves France’s credit rating

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire vowed to pursue France’s “credible” public debt strategy after rating agency Standard & Poor’s decided to maintain France’s credit rating.“It’s a positive signal,” Le Maire said in an interview with French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche published late Friday. “Our public finance strategy is clear. It’s ambitious. And it’s credible.”The French government’s aim, Le Maire said, is to “accelerate France’s debt reduction to reach 108 percent of GDP by 2027, and reduce the public deficit to below 3 percent by 2027.”S&P on Friday maintained France’s credit rating at AA, but said the outlook remained “negative” for its public finances due to the country’s “already elevated general government debt.”In spite of recent positive reforms, like the contentious pensions reforms which increased the retirement age from 62 to...

Fitch warns it could still cut US credit rating even after debt deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

Fitch Ratings on Friday warned that it could still downgrade the U.S.’s credit rating even after Congress passed a bill that averts an unprecedented default on government debt.While the deal to raise the debt ceiling and cut spending are “positive considerations,” Fitch said “repeated political standoffs” over the federal government’s borrowing limit “lowers confidence in governance on fiscal and debt matters.”Fitch issued its negative credit watch for U.S. debt last week. The company said it intends to “resolve” its negative watch by the end of September.President Joe Biden is expected to sign the legislation later today.Treasury securities are the lifeblood of financial markets and a benchmark for how everything from municipal debt to credit card rates are priced. A downgrade, which would mark only the second time a ratings service has knocked U.S. bonds from top-tier status, could drive up borrowing costs for consumers, businesses and governments — tightening credit con...

Pope warns of risk of corruption in missionary fundraising after AP investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis warned the Vatican’s missionary fundraisers on Saturday not to allow financial corruption to creep into their work, insisting that spirituality and spreading the Gospel must drive their operations, not mere entrepreneurship.Francis made the comments in a speech to the national directors of the Vatican’s Pontifical Mission Societies, which raise money for the Catholic Church’s missionary work in the developing world, building churches and funding training programs for priests and nuns. Deviating from his prepared remarks, Francis appeared to refer to a recent Associated Press investigation into financial transfers at the U.S. branch of the Pontifical Mission Societies: The former head oversaw the transfer of at least $17 million from a quasi endowment fund and donations into a nonprofit and private equity fund that he created and now heads that invests in church-run agribusinesses in Africa.“Please don’t reduce POM to money,” Francis said, referring t...

Israeli army says exchange of fire along Egypt’s border wounds 2

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli troops were engaged in a shootout in southern Israel along the Egyptian border, the military said Saturday.It gave few details in a short statement, but said two people were wounded. Israel and Egypt signed a peace agreement in 1979 and maintain close security ties. Fighting along their shared border is rare.The exchange of fire reportedly took place around the Nitzana border crossing between Israel and Egypt. The crossing is located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the point where Israel’s border with Egypt and the Gaza Strip converge. It’s used to import goods from Egypt destined for Israel or the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.Israel built a fence along the porous border a decade ago to halt the entry of African migrants and Islamic militants who are active in Egypt’s Sinai desert.The Associated Press

Ask Amy: We haven’t spoken since that disastrous evening. Now she has sent me a note.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

Dear Amy: Five years ago, my husband and I were invited to spend a week at the beautiful home of a couple we know (but don’t know well). They had other guests there, too, and they were wonderful hosts.The last night of our stay, the group (10 adults) went out for dinner. Everyone had a lot to drink. We were all engaged in a spirited discussion about politics.In the course of this, the host raised his voice and directed some extremely personal and completely disparaging remarks at my husband. Truly – it was like a movie.The evening screeched abruptly to a halt. We didn’t react, but were quite stunned, and left early the next day to catch our flight.We have a wide tolerance for mixing it up (we’re both from big families), but this was unprecedented.People had been drinking, and missteps are to be expected, but this was personal and vicious.The wife apologized, the husband didn’t. I sent them a cordial note and gift, thanking them for their generosity.The couple moved away and neither ...

The Debt Limit Bill: Yet Another Triumph for Bipartisanship

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on June 2, 2023.Photo: Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesThis weekend, President Joe Biden is expected to sign a bill raising the federal debt limit for approximately two years. It passed the House 314-117, with 149 of the yes votes coming from Republicans and 165 from Democrats. The bill passed the Senate 63-36. Forty-four Democratic senators voted for it, along with 17 Republicans and two independents.The New York Times concludes that, compared with previous Congressional Budget Office forecasts, it will cut federal spending by $55 billion in 2024 and $81 billion in 2025. Moody’s Analytics estimates that, thanks to the bill, there will be 120,000 fewer jobs at the end of 2024 than there would be without it. According to the CBO, cuts to Internal Revenue Service enforcement will lead to tax revenues falling to the degree that it will actually increase the deficit on net, thereby accomplishing the exact opposite of the bill’s purported ai...

DC rated best city for parks for 3rd straight year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

Photo of series of waterfalls in Meridian Hill Park in northwest Washington D.C. This park is an example of neoclassicist park design and has some of the most beautiful architecture in the city.(Courtesy Getty Images/iStockphoto/Coast-to-Coast) Photo of series of waterfalls in Meridian Hill Park in northwest Washington D.C. This park is an example of neoclassicist park design and has some of the most beautiful architecture in the city.(Courtesy Getty Images/iStockphoto/Coast-to-Coast) D.C. has been rated the top city in the nation for public parks for the third straight year, according to an annual ParkScore ranking by the Trust for Public Land.The nonprofit said the District scored high on a number of factors i...

Second bald eaglet falls to the ground from Dulles Greenway nest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

One of the Dulles Greenway eaglets before two of the birds fell from their nest this week (Courtesy Dulles Greenway) One of the Dulles Greenway eaglets before two of the birds fell from their nest this week (Courtesy Dulles Greenway) For the second time in a week, a section of the bald eagle’s nest along the Dulles Greenway in Leesburg, Virginia, collapsed, this time sending the eaglet known as DG3 tumbling to the ground.The latest collapse happened early Friday morning, according to Terry Hoffman, the public and customer relations manager for the Dulles Greenway.Hoffman explained he woke up at about 5:30 a.m. on Friday morning and checked the eagle cam before heading to his gym for a workout.“So I’m halfway throu...

More Weekend Storms in Store

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

South Florida has endured a stormy stretch of weather much of this week and unfortunately that looks to continue this weekend with scattered to numerous showers and storms. All this while we track Tropical Storm Arlene that is moving to the south and toward Cuba across the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Thankfully, this system will not directly impact South Florida and is forecast to weaken back into a tropical depression later today.In South Florida on this Saturday, expect a mix of sun and clouds this morning with a few spotty showers and thunderstorms, mainly across our local waters and near the Florida Keys. Then during the afternoon, showers and thunderstorms will develop and should affect much of metropolitan South Florida at some point in the afternoon. As of this morning’s model guidance, it appears that our best chance for seeing rain will be during the 2-7pm time period. Given the repeated rounds of heavy rainfall in spots, a Flood Watch remains in effect through tonight ac...

Global plastic treaty talks limp on despite blockade by oil-rich countries

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:58 GMT

PARIS — Getting 170-plus countries to agree on a global treaty to fight plastic pollution was never going to be easy. But negotiators didn’t think clearing the first hurdle would be this hard.A second round of U.N. talks for an international plan to tackle plastic pollution limped toward its conclusion Friday, marred by delays, protests, and geopolitical tensions.A key aim for many countries was to give the go-ahead for the broad strokes of a plastics treaty to be drafted, giving them something to work off of at the next round of talks in Kenya in November.The meeting ended Friday evening with a mandate to draft the text — to the relief of countries in the High Ambition Coalition, which is pushing to “end plastic pollution by 2040,” and NGOs. “After a week of negotiations, the world is one step closer to the unmissable opportunity of a global treaty to end the plastic pollution crisis,” said WWF Special Envoy Marco Lambertini. “The first draft of t...