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☆ Premarket stocks: Retailers warn Wall Street to expect less shopping this year
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Lowe’s: The home improvement giant projected total sales of $84 billion to $85 billion for 2024 in fourth-quarter results reported on Tuesday. Mortgage rates edge closer to 7%, dampening start of spring homebuying seasonUS mortgage rates climbed for the fourth week in a row, inching closer to 7% just as peak homebuying season gets underway, reports my colleague Anna Bahney. “Mortgage rates continued their ascent this week, reaching a two-month high and flirting with 7% yet again,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, in a statement. Since reaching a 20-year high of 7.79% in October, mortgage rates have been slowly falling. But in recent weeks, as the market absorbs expectations that the Federal Reserve will not cut its benchmark lending rate until later this year, mortgage rates have trended higher.

Persons: they’re, ”, Marvin Ellison, Macy’s, Tony Spring, Corie Barry, ’, ” Barry, Diksha Madhok, Hanna Ziady, “, Thamashi De Silva, Knight Frank, Read, Anna Bahney, Freddie Mac, Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s, Khater Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN — Companies, Federal Reserve, Commerce Department, United States’s, Gross, Capital Economics, “ Locations: New York, That’s, India

☆ Biden in Vietnam Biden Visits Hanoi on Mission to Forge Deeper Ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( Katie Rogers | Peter Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Mr. Biden’s trip to Hanoi, which includes a news conference scheduled for Sunday, is centered on signing a “comprehensive strategic partnership” with the Vietnamese, a symbolic but significant status long coveted by the United States. Since taking office, Mr. Biden has sought to enhance relations with several Southeast Asian nations because of their tactical value as a bulwark against rising Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken accompanied Mr. Biden to the presidential palace, where honor guards marched to martial music before the meeting with Mr. Trong began. Earlier on Sunday, Mr. Biden concluded an eventful trip to New Delhi by joining the Group of 20 leaders at the memorial of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the champion of nonviolent struggle. The G20 summit managed to produce a surprise consensus declaration before the end of its first day.

Persons: Biden, Jon, ”, Nguyen Phu Trong, Antony J, Blinken, Mr, Trong, Narendra Modi, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Lee Wee Organizations: Air Force, U.S ., Communist Party of Vietnam, Group Locations: Vietnam, Russia, Hanoi, United States, New Delhi, U.S, China, India, Ukraine

☆ ‘Where Is the Money?’ Military Graft Becomes a Headache for Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | More About Andrew E. Kramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The removal of Ukraine’s minister of defense after a flurry of reports of graft and financial mismanagement in his department underscores a pivotal challenge for President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wartime leadership: stamping out the corruption that had been widespread in Ukraine for years. But Mr. Zelensky’s announcement Sunday night that he was replacing the defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, elevated the issue to the highest level of Ukrainian politics. It comes at a pivotal moment in the war, as Ukraine prosecutes a counteroffensive in the country’s south and east that relies heavily on Western allies for military assistance. Just last week, the United States’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, met with three high-ranking Ukrainian officials to discuss efforts to stamp out wartime corruption. It comes as some lawmakers in the United States have used graft as an argument for limiting military aid to Ukraine.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky’s, Oleksii, Mr, Jake Sullivan Organizations: United Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, United States

The fallout from Fitch’s downgrade continuesStocks appear set to open lower today, after falling yesterday in the wake of Fitch Ratings downgrading the United States’s AAA credit rating. But others have said Fitch’s move, while largely symbolic, still points to long-term troubles for the nation and its fiscal health. “There is no willingness on any side to really tackle the underlying challenges,” Mr. Francis said. But “it doesn’t really matter much,” Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s C.E.O., told CNBC yesterday, echoing a common refrain to Fitch’s move. Critics of the move noted that according to criteria laid out last year by Fitch itself, including debt-to-G.D.P.

Persons: Richard Francis, Fitch’s, standoffs, ” Mr, Francis, ” Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s, Fitch Organizations: Fitch, United States’s AAA, Wall, U.S, Times, JPMorgan, CNBC Locations: U.S

☆ For Young Arab Americans in Michigan, the Hookah Lounge Feels like Home
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Farah Al Qasimi | Sara Aridi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Many who grew up in Dearborn, Mich., would add to the list: your first hookah. Located just outside downtown Detroit, Dearborn is home to one of the United States’s largest Arab American communities: Nearly 50 percent of residents identify as having Arab ancestry, according to the U.S. census. Middle Eastern shops, where you may find portable hookah cups, dot the streets. There is also the Arab American National Museum (which sells hookah-themed socks) and the Islamic Center of America, one of the nation’s oldest and largest mosques. “A spot like a hookah lounge, it’s sacred,” particularly for immigrants and refugees far from home, said Marrim (pronounced Mariam) Akashi Sani, 25, who is Iraqi-Iranian.

Persons: Marrim, Akashi Sani, ” Organizations: United, Arab American National Museum, Islamic Center of America Locations: Dearborn, Mich, Detroit, Iraqi

☆ Israeli President Works to Ease Tensions With U.S., Calling Bond ‘Irreplaceable’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Karoun Demirjian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Isaac Herzog of Israel used an address to Congress on Wednesday to try to smooth over fresh tensions between his country and the United States, appealing to American lawmakers to continue investing in the “irreplaceable” relationship even as he acknowledged problems at home that have strained that bond. And he elicited applause from both Republicans and Democrats as he lauded the vibrancy of Israel’s democracy and recalled the 75-year alliance with the United States. “We are proud to be the United States’s closest partner and friend,” Mr. Herzog told lawmakers. “When the United States is strong, Israel is stronger. It also appeared aimed at reassuring Israelis, who have taken to the streets by the thousands to protest Mr. Netanyahu’s policies, that the country still values its democratic, pluralistic legacy.

Persons: Isaac Herzog of Israel, Herzog, Abraham, ” Mr, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Organizations: shepherding, Abraham Accords, Republicans, Democrats, Israel Locations: United States, Israel

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