- Associated Press - Thursday, April 19, 2018

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2 black men arrested at Starbucks get an apology from police

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Two black men whose arrest at a Starbucks in Philadelphia has triggered a furor over racial profiling say they are pushing for changes to make sure that what they went through doesn’t happen to anyone else. On Thursday, they got an apology from the city’s police commissioner, a black man who initially defended his officers’ handling of the incident earlier this month.

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Southwest Airlines sought more time for engine inspections

DALLAS (AP) - Southwest Airlines sought more time last year to inspect fan blades like the one that snapped off during one of its flights Tuesday in an engine failure that left a passenger dead. The airline opposed a recommendation by the engine manufacturer to require ultrasonic inspections of certain fan blades within 12 months. Southwest said it needed more time to conduct the work.

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IMF’s Lagarde: Trade tensions threaten global economy

WASHINGTON (AP) - The head of the International Monetary Fund is warning that the healthiest global economy in years is being threatened by rising debt levels and a simmering trade dispute between the U.S.- and China. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told reporters that a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies could dent global growth.

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Mattel CEO leaves after being at helm for 14 months

NEW YORK (AP) - Mattel Inc. says that its CEO Margo Georgiadis is stepping down to pursue a new opportunity in the tech sector. The toy giant, based in El Segundo, California, says the board has named Ynon Kreiz, a Mattel director since June 2017, as her successor, effective April 26. Mattel says that Georgiadis will serve in an advisory role through May 10 to ensure a smooth transition.

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Control board meeting to OK austerity plans for Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - New austerity measures are coming for Puerto Rico as a federal control board overseeing the U.S. territory’s finances meets Thursday to approve several fiscal plans that will serve as the island’s economic blueprint for the next five years. Plans call for a 10 percent average cut to a public pension system facing nearly $50 billion in liabilities as well as significant reductions in government subsidies to municipalities and Puerto Rico’s largest public university.

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Russia says US visa delays could halt direct flights

MOSCOW (AP) - The Russian Foreign Ministry says increasing delays by the United States in issuing visas could result in flagship airline Aeroflot ending flights to the US. State-owned Aeroflot is the only airline with scheduled year-round US flights. A ministry statement Thursday complained that the waiting time for interviews for US visa applicants has stretched to 250 days.

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US officials: 16 nations agree to track Venezuela corruption

WASHINGTON (AP) - Two senior U.S. Treasury officials say finance ministers from several Latin American nations as well as the U.S. and Europe have agreed to work jointly to locate and seize assets arising from corruption by Venezuelan government insiders. They say the decision came at a meeting Thursday at which finance officials from 16 nations also discussed ways to provide economic and humanitarian help to Venezuela in the event socialist President Nicolas Maduro is replaced by a more acceptable government.

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’Fearless Girl’ to leave Wall Street’s ’Charging Bull’

NEW YORK (AP) - New York’s “Fearless Girl” statue that has become a global symbol of female business prowess will be moved from her spot staring down Wall Street’s “Charging Bull” to a location facing the New York Stock Exchange. The ponytailed girl in a windblown dress became a tourist draw last spring when the artwork popped up next to the famed bull. State Street Global Advisors, the firm that installed “Fearless Girl” in March 2017, says it will be moved by year’s end.

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Stocks post first loss of the week as tech companies drop

NEW YORK (AP) - Losses among technology and consumer products companies weighed on U.S. stocks, snapping a three-day winning streak for the market. Banks bucked the trend, rising along with bond yields. Energy companies also eked out a slight gain, despite a late-afternoon reversal in oil prices. The broad market slide came as investors pored over the latest corporate quarterly results.

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The S&P 500 index fell 15.51 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,693.13. The Dow Jones industrial average slid 83.18 points, or 0.3 percent, to 24,664.89. The Nasdaq composite lost 57.18 points, or 0.8 percent, to 7,238.06. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gave up 9.74 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,573.82.

Benchmark U.S. crude slipped 18 cents to settle at $68.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 30 cents to close at $73.78 per barrel in London. Heating oil rose 2 cents to $2.11 a gallon. Wholesale gasoline picked up 1 cent to $2.08 a gallon. Natural gas fell 8 cents to $2.66 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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