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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Iran raises death toll from new virus to 8, infections to 43

By Associated Press | February 23, 2020

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's health ministry raised the death toll from the new coronavirus to eight Sunday, amid concerns that clusters there as well as in Italy and South Korea could signal a serious new stage in its global spread.There were now 43...

Moscow targets Chinese with raids amid virus fears

By DARIA LITVINOVA and FRANCESCA EBEL | February 23, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — Bus drivers in Moscow kept their WhatsApp group chat buzzing with questions this week about what to do if they spotted passengers who might be from China riding with them in the Russian capital.“Some Asian-looking (people) have just...

Iran says voter turnout dips below 50% in a first since 1979

By Associated Press | February 23, 2020

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s interior ministry said voter turnout in recent parliamentary elections stood at 42.57%, the first time it dipped below the 50% mark since the country's 1979 revolution that ushered in a Shiite theocratic establishment to...

Infections climb in South Korea as world fights virus

By KIM TONG-HYUNG | February 22, 2020

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea reported an eight-fold jump in viral infections Saturday with more than 400 cases mostly linked to a church and a hospital, while the death toll in Iran climbed to six and a dozen towns in Italy effectively went...

Italy towns close down amid virus case clusters, 2 deaths

By LUCA BRUNO and NICOLE WINFIELD | February 22, 2020

CODOGNO, Italy (AP) — A dozen towns in northern Italy effectively went into lockdown Saturday after the deaths of two people infected with the new virus from China and a growing cluster of cases with no direct links to the origin of the outbreak abroad.The...

Health officials worry as untraceable virus clusters emerge

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL and LAURAN NEERGAARD | February 22, 2020

In South Korea, Singapore and Iran, clusters of infections are leading to a jump in cases of the new viral illness outside China. But it’s not the numbers that are worrying experts: It's that increasingly they can't trace where the clusters started.World...

Iran reports another death, 10 new cases of new coronavirus

February 22, 2020

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian health authorities on Saturday reported a fifth death from the new virus that emerged in China, and said the fatality was from among 10 new confirmed cases of the virus in Iran.So far, 28 cases have been confirmed in Iran,...

Outbreak, economic ills dim luster of Japan’s Olympic year

By MARI YAMAGUCHI and ELAINE KURTENBACH | February 21, 2020

TOKYO (AP) — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should be basking in the limelight this year in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Instead, the virus outbreak that has spread from China to even remote parts of Japan has Abe and his ruling Liberal Democratic...

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

Trump signals he’s prepared to give farmers more federal aid

By KEVIN FREKING | February 21, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signaled Friday that he’s prepared to tap federal coffers again to help farmers suffering from the tariff fights that he initiated.The Trump administration over the past two years has committed to providing...

South Korea becomes newest front in shifting virus outbreak

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and MATT SEDENSKY | February 21, 2020

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Cases of a new virus swelled Friday in South Korea, making the country the newest front in a widening global outbreak centered in China and now reverberating elsewhere.South Korea said two people have died and 204 have been...

Fed officials downplay virus even as markets see rate cuts

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER | February 21, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Wall Street expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, should that influence the Fed's decisions?Two Fed officials diverged on that issue in remarks Friday at a monetary policy conference in New York. The disagreement...