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Northern Star

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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Latest: Kobe Bryant service ends with Oscar-winning film

February 24, 2020

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on the public memorial for Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna in downtown Los Angeles (all times local):12:45 p.m.A selection from the short film “Dear Basketball” that won Kobe Bryant an Academy Award played on the...

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma starts ad campaign for claims

By GEOFF MULVIHILL | February 24, 2020

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma launched an ad campaign Monday to tell people harmed by their powerful prescription opioid where they can file claims against the company.The $23.8 million campaign is part of Purdue's bankruptcy proceedings as it tries to...

Ex-US envoy to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch has book deal

By HILLEL ITALIE | February 22, 2020

NEW YORK (AP) — Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and career diplomat who during the impeachment hearings of President Donald Trump offered a chilling account of alleged threats from Trump and his allies, has a book deal.Houghton...

Probe finds sexual, physical abuse at school for the deaf

February 22, 2020

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — An investigation has revealed multiple credible allegations of sexual and physical abuse by former faculty and staff spanning decades at a school for deaf children in Connecticut, school officials said Friday.The American...

University of Michigan officials told of abuse decades ago

ANN ARBOR, Michigan (AP) — University of Michigan officials were warned more than four decades ago that one of its doctors was fondling patients during medical exams, but he continued working there despite a demotion and went on to allegedly abuse again...

Opioid settlement still elusive as some lawyers criticize it

By GEOFF MULVIHILL | February 22, 2020

State attorneys general are finding a national settlement over the toll of opioids to be elusive, as some lawyers for state and local governments are renewing public criticism of the proposed deal with a group of companies led by the nation's largest...

Bloomberg : 3 women can be released on non-disclosure deals

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE and KATHLEEN RONAYNE | February 22, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mike Bloomberg said Friday he’d free three women from confidentiality agreements that bar them from speaking publicly about sexual harassment or discrimination suits filed against him over the last three decades.The billionaire former...

For-profit firm seeking to run .org names makes concessions

By ROBERT JABLON | February 21, 2020

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A private equity firm seeking to buy rights to operate the internet's .org suffix said Friday it will cap price hikes and create an advisory board with veto powers to ease concerns from the nonprofit community.Ethos Capital has offered...

Former Iowa governor, US ag secretary to monitor drugmaker

February 21, 2020

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor and U.S agriculture secretary, will monitor Purdue Pharma to ensure the OxyContin maker does not revive an aggressive marketing effort that critics say overstated the benefits of its opioid...

Deere sees some stability on farms in bruising trade fight

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN | February 21, 2020

Deere had a surprisingly strong first quarter after an extended period in which it was bruised by the ongoing trade war between the United States and China.

“Farmer confidence, though still subdued, has improved due in part to hopes for a relaxation of trade tensions and higher agricultural exports,” CEO John May said in a prepared statement Friday.

China announced Friday that it suspended more punitive tariffs on imports of U.S. industrial goods in response to a truce in its trade war with Washington. Under their “Phase 1” agreement signed in January, Washington agreed to cancel additional tariff hikes and Beijing committed to buy more American farm exports.

China's retaliatory tariffs have clobbered exports of soybeans and other commodities, hurting farmers, and in turn, farming equipment manufacturers.

The Trump administration has provided $27 billion in aid to farmers to ease the pain of his trade war. And in a tweet Friday, he promised to expand the bailout if farmers need it as they await the economic benefits of his recent trade deals with Mexico, Canada and China. He said the aid would be financed by revenue from his tariffs on foreign goods — taxes that are paid by American importers.

Deere, based in Moline, Illinois, has posted three consecutive quarters of falling profits and slowing sales growth with trade tensions between the world's two largest economies ongoing.

For the three months ended Feb. 2, Deere & Co. earned $517 million, or $1.63 per share. The per-share earnings easily beat the $1.28 that industry analysts had expected, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research, and it topped last year's quarterly profit of $498 million, or $1.54 per share.

Adjusted revenue —which excludes financial services revenue— was $6.53 billion, also beating Wall Street's estimate of $6.2 billion.

The quarterly performance is in contrast to a year ago, when Deere cautioned on anxious farmers and rising costs.

Looking ahead, the companystill foresees fiscal 2020 earnings of $2.7 billion to $3.1 billion,unchanged from its previous guidance.

Shares of Deere & Co. jumped more than 6% at the opening bell.

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Portions of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on DE at https://www.zacks.com/ap/DE

Bloomberg struggles to respond to politics of #MeToo era

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE and MARYCLAIRE DALE | February 21, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mike Bloomberg's name last appeared on a ballot a decade before #MeToo transformed cultural mores surrounding sexual harassment and the treatment of women. As he campaigns for the presidency, the 78-year-old billionaire is struggling...

Firm wants to recover the Titanic’s iconic telegraph machine

By BEN FINLEY | February 21, 2020

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The salvage firm that has plucked silverware, china and gold coins from the wreckage of the Titanic now wants to recover the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Machine that transmitted the doomed ship's increasingly frantic distress calls.Lawyers...