President Donald Trump says he is firing members of the board of trustees for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and naming himself chairman.He also indicated that he would be dictating programming at one of the nation’s premier cultural institutions, specifically declaring that he would end events featuring performers in drag.Trump’s announcement Friday came as the Republican president has bulldozed his way across official Washington during the first weeks of his second term, trying to shutter federal agencies, freeze spending and ending diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the government.”At my direction, we are going to make…
Author: usaeverydaylife
For decades, sub-Saharan Africa was a singular focus of American foreign aid. The continent received over $8 billion a year, money that was used to feed starving children, supply lifesaving drugs and provide wartime humanitarian assistance.In a few short weeks, President Trump and the South African-born billionaire Elon Musk have burned much of that work to the ground, vowing to completely gut the U.S. Agency for International Aid.“CLOSE IT DOWN!” Mr. Trump wrote on social media on Friday, accusing the agency of unspecified corruption and fraud.A federal judge on Friday halted, for now, some elements of Mr. Trump’s attempt to…
Megacap technology companies funneled billions of dollars into artificial intelligence last year to try and keep up with unfettered demand. The hype isn’t dying down in 2025.Meta, Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft intend to spend as much as $320 billion combined on AI technologies and datacenter buildouts in 2025, based on comments from their CEOs early this year and throughout earnings calls in the past two weeks.That’s up from $230 billion on total capital expenditures in 2024.Tech companies have already poured many billions of dollars into AI projects since ChatGPT’s 2022 debut, as they race to expand data centers with boatloads…
Pavlo Gonchar | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesCompany: Becton Dickinson and Co (BDX)Business: Becton Dickinson develops, manufactures and sells medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment and diagnostic products for health-care institutions, physicians, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical industry and the public worldwide.Stock Market Value: ~$66.65B ($229.85 per share)Stock Chart IconStock chart iconBecton Dickinson shares in the past 12 monthsActivist: Starboard ValueOwnership: ~0.70%Average Cost: n/aActivist Commentary: Starboard is a very successful activist investor and has extensive experience helping companies focus on operational efficiency and margin improvement. Starboard also has significant experience with its strategic activism. In 57 prior campaigns…
The stock market is rather calm but can’t seem to relax. In a noisy and fast-shifting news environment, stocks were quietly flattish last week from point to point, even after Friday’s almost 1% drop, which extends a sideways three-month range during which the S & P 500 has traded no more than 3% above or below its closing level from the day after the U.S. election. The index has been sticky near the 6,000 level, caught between the opposing currents of a deeply split market, in which stocks and sectors are moving their own way rather than as a bloc.…
There’s still plenty of stocks to buy ahead of earnings, according to Bank of America. The firm named several companies it says are “compelling” such as Nvidia. The other buy-rated stocks include: JD.com, Block and Toronto-Dominon. Toronto-Dominion Toronto-Dominion Bank was recently upgraded to buy from neutral by analyst Ebrahim Poonawala. The Canadian bank had been under scrutiny for failing to properly maintain its anti-money-laundering unit, but Poonawala said the company is turning a corner following a series of fines and penalties imposed by the U.S. Department of Justice. New CEO Raymond Chun took the helm on Feb. 1, bolstering Poonawala’s confidence…
Authorities inspect the wreckage of the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan aircraft operated by Bering Air, that suddenly lost altitude and went missing with 10 people on board on Thursday, near Nome, Alaska, on Feb. 7, 2025.U.s. Coast Guard | Via ReutersThe U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska found the wreckage of a small plane atop frozen sea ice on Friday, after the aircraft suddenly lost altitude on Thursday and the crash killed all 10 people on board, officials said.Two U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmers who reached the wreckage could see three bodies inside, and the other seven were presumed to be…
Hamas released three more Israeli hostages on Saturday as part of an exchange for Palestinian prisoners, in a highly theatrical handover in which the men were made to give speeches effectively at gunpoint.The hostage release is the fifth in a tense series of exchanges that are part of a 42-day cease-fire deal that went into effect last month pausing the fighting between Israel and Hamas. Hamas agreed to incrementally release 33 of the nearly 100 remaining hostages in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinians jailed by Israel and a partial Israeli withdrawal.Here’s a closer look at the Israelis released on…
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Market update: Stocks are lower nearly across the board Friday, putting the S & P 500 on track for a flat or small weekly decline. Initially, stocks got a boost after the January nonfarm payroll report showed continued solid job growth and wage gains. But the market dipped at 10 a.m. ET after digesting lower-than-expected University of Michigan consumer sentiment and higher-than-expected one-year inflation expectations. The selling picked up later in the…
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during an interview with Reuters, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine Feb. 7, 2025.Valentyn Ogirenko | ReutersUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pored over a once-classified map of vast deposits of rare earths and other critical minerals during an interview with Reuters on Friday, part of a push to appeal to Donald Trump’s penchant for a deal.The U.S. president, whose administration is pressing for a rapid end to Ukraine’s war with Russia, said on Monday he wanted Ukraine to supply the U.S. with rare earths and other minerals in return for financially supporting its war…
