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Biden calls to revive bank regulations that Trump weakened

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Weeks after the failure of two banks, President Joe Biden called Thursday for independent regulatory agencies to impose tighter rules on the financial system, telling them that they can act under current law without additional steps taken by Congress.The recommended changes outlined by the White House try to put a clear blame on the Trump administration for weakening supervision of regional banks, issuing a fact sheet that said Biden’s predecessor “weakened many important common-sense requirements and supervision.”Rattling the financial markets and U.S. voters alike, the California-based Silicon Valley Bank and New York-based Signature Bank failed over the course of a weekend and required government intervention. Then another financial institution, First Republic Bank, received an emergency $30 billion infusion of funds from 11 large private banks.Biden wants to revive and expand rules for mid-size banks that face less scrutiny than the industry’s behemoths, with a...

Boston auction of signed Zelenskyy painting to help Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — An original painting of Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed by the Ukrainian president is being sold at auction, and proceeds from the sale will be used to benefit the nation’s people suffering during its war with Russia.Bidding on the 40-by-24-inch (101.5-by-61-centimeter) painting by American artist Oleg Jones starts at $50,000, and the goal is to sell it for at least $100,000, Bobby Livingston, executive vice president of auctioneer RR Auction in Boston, said Thursday.The painting features an image of Zelenskyy against the background of Ukraine’s blue and yellow flag. Several raised stars in the upper left of the piece form a heart around the gold trident from the nation’s coat of arms.The acrylic paints are coated in resin sprinkled with glass dust, giving it a sparkling effect.It is signed, in English, “Zelenskyy, Glory to Ukraine.” It’s also signed by the artist.The auction, which concludes April 12, includes photos of the president signing i...

Kentucky House panel advances medical marijuana bill

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky House committee advanced a medical marijuana bill Thursday, putting lawmakers on the brink of legalizing access to medical cannabis for people suffering from a series of debilitating illnesses.The long-debated measure was sent to the full House, setting up a potentially historic vote on final passage in the waning hours of this year’s legislative session.If the bill clears the Republican-led legislature, it would go to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. The governor took executive action last year to relax the prohibition on medical cannabis, but has said it’s no substitute for outright legalization, which requires legislative approval.Under the measure, medical cannabis could be prescribed for a list of conditions, including cancer, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, epilepsy, chronic nausea and post-traumatic stress disorder.“We need your help to make us be safer, so we don’t have to use all these pharmaceuticals and opioids,” said longtime m...

Lawyer: Mexican official ordered migrants not to be released

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The top immigration official in the Mexican state where a detention center fire killed at least 39 migrants allegedly was told when the fire started but ordered that the migrants not be released, according to a complaint filed by a lawyer representing people involved in the tragedy.The complaint filed Wednesday with federal investigators from the attorney general’s office said retired Navy Rear Adm. Salvador González Guerrero, the Chihuahua state delegate for the National Immigration Institute, “gave the order by way of a phone call that under no circumstances should the migrants ‘housed’ inside the place where the fire started be released.”The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the allegations nor to a request to speak with González.A video from a security camera inside the Ciudad Juarez facility showed guards walking away when the fire started late Monday inside the cell holding the migrants and not making any attempt to release th...

Vatican: Pope improving, could leave hospital in coming days

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has shown a “marked improvement” following intravenous antibiotics for a bronchitis infection and could be released from the hospital in the coming days, the Vatican and his doctors say.The 86-year-old pontiff, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, ate breakfast, read the newspapers, rested and worked from his hospital room at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, according to a statement Thursday from Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.An additional update provided by doctors revealed Francis had been diagnosed with bronchitis after he was admitted to Gemelli on Wednesday. The infection “required the administration of antibiotic therapy on an infusion basis which produced the expected effects with a marked improvement in his state of health,” the statement said.“Based on the expected course, the Holy Father could be discharged in the coming days,” it concluded.Francis was hospitalized after having trouble breathing in recent days.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. A...

‘Scott Pilgrim’ set to return as Netflix anime with original cast reprising roles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

Toronto’s favourite problematic dork will live to fight another seven evil exes.Netflix is bringing Scott Pilgrim back to life, this time as an anime, with characters voiced by the same cast as the 2010 movie.The film “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,” which became a cult hit, was based on the series of graphic novels by Canadian writer-illustrator Bryan Lee O’Malley.It follows Scott, a hapless Toronto musician, as he tries to win the love of an Amazon courier by battling her seven former partners. Netflix says Canadian actor Michael Cera will reprise the titular role alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Evans, Brie Larson and Kieran Culkin.Edgar Wright, who directed the original film and is creating the new show “Scott Pilgrim,” says the series will expand on the existing universe.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2023.The Canadian Press

Prince Harry back in court for phone hacking hearing finale

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A London judge said Thursday he would rule as soon as possible on whether to throw out or limit a phone hacking lawsuit brought by Prince Harry, Elton John and other well-known figures against a British tabloid publisher.The Duke of Sussex made a late arrival and early departure for the finale of a four-day High Court hearing on his invasion of privacy case against the company that publishes The Daily Mail. His surprise appearance during three days of the legal wrangling indicates the lawsuit’s importance in the prince’s broader battle against the British press.Harry, John, and actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost are among a group of seven people suing Associated Newspapers Ltd. for allegedly paying private investigators to illegally bug homes and cars and to record phone conversations.The publisher denied the allegations and has argued that lawsuits based on alleged incidents dating as far back as 1993 should be thrown out because the cases were not filed withi...

New FBI docs: Las Vegas mass shooter was angry at casinos

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The high-roller gambler who opened fire on concertgoers on the Las Vegas Strip had lost tens of thousands of dollars while gambling weeks before the mass shooting and was upset about how the casinos had treated him, according to FBI documents made public this week.The documents reveal the strongest indication of a motive for the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. They paint a detailed account of gunman Stephen Paddock’s final days before the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting that killed 60 people and injured hundreds more. A gambler whose name is redacted from the hundreds of pages of documents told the FBI that Paddock “was very upset at the way casinos were treating him and other high rollers.”Neither the FBI nor the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the lead investigating agency, presented an official motive for the shooting. Both agencies have said Paddock acted alone.The 10-minute massacre unfolded on the final night of the three-...

Probe: Delays in district’s schools awards not deliberate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A third-party investigation into delays by a northern Virginia public school district in recognizing student achievements on a standardized test found no evidence the delays were deliberate, the superintendent said this week. Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid also said in a letter to the community that the probe found “no evidence of any inequity or racial bias” in the way schools handled notification to those designated “commended students” by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.Fairfax County was among a handful of northern Virginia public school districts that acknowledged around the start of the year delayed notification of some commended student awards. The issue drew widespread attention after Gov. Glenn Youngkin and other elected officials highlighted parents’ concerns and asked for an investigation. Students who receive the award finish in the top 3% nationally on a standardized test, but below the top 1% that qualif...

FACT FOCUS: No ‘incredible rise’ in transgender shooters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:53 GMT

Moments after the assailant who killed six people at a Nashville private school was identified as transgender, a baseless narrative emerged: that there has been an incredible rise in transgender or nonbinary mass shooters in recent years.Some pundits and political influencers on social media went further, suggesting that movements for trans rights are radicalizing activists into terrorists.The data tells a different story, according to gender and criminology experts. Mass casualty shootings perpetrated by someone identifying as trans or nonbinary are rare, and in fact, those groups are far more likely to be the victims of violence. Here’s a closer look at the facts.CLAIM: Four recent shootings show there has been an “incredible rise” in transgender or nonbinary mass shooters in the past few years, making the group “by far the largest group committing as a percentage of the population.”Donald Trump Jr. spread the narrative widely on Twitter, claiming the supposed “incredible rise” an...