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https://sportspyder.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/articles/39833166
| 2022-06-18T19:57:46
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| 0.738227
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https://sportspyder.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/articles/39833513
| 2022-06-18T19:57:52
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https://sportspyder.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/articles/39833570
| 2022-06-18T19:57:58
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https://sportspyder.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/articles/39833572
| 2022-06-18T19:58:04
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https://sportspyder.com/cf/arkansas-razorbacks-football/articles/39832439
| 2022-06-18T19:58:10
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https://sportspyder.com/cf/arkansas-razorbacks-football/articles/39832442
| 2022-06-18T19:58:16
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https://sportspyder.com/cf/arkansas-razorbacks-football/articles/39833068
| 2022-06-18T19:58:22
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https://sportspyder.com/cf/arkansas-razorbacks-football/articles/39833231
| 2022-06-18T19:58:28
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https://sportspyder.com/cf/arkansas-razorbacks-football/articles/39833549
| 2022-06-18T19:58:29
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Sara Ali Khan is one of the most popular actresses in the entertainment industry. The Bollywood diva has impressed everyone with her acting skills, good looks, and style statements.
MUMBAI: Sara Ali Khan is one of the most popular actresses in the entertainment industry. The Bollywood diva has impressed everyone with her acting skills, good looks, and style statements.
While she is one fashionable diva, she is currently making headlines for the wrong reasons. Well, the diva and her brother Ibrahim Ali Khan are already celebrating Father's Day with their daddy Saif Ali Khan. On Saturday, the star kids were spotted in Mumbai as they stepped out for lunch with their father.
The actress was spotted outside Vikram Vedha actor Saif's house and the father-daughter duo headed towards a restaurant. Later, they were joined by Ibrahim. In the pictures, Saif Ali Khan can be seen wearing tank top teamed up with peach-coloured denim shorts. She completed her look with sneakers and a cap. But, it seems as if netizens were not at all impressed with her uber-cool look as they trolled her brutally. The netizens flooded the social media with Tiger Shroff's dialogue from Heropanti 2 'Choti bachi ho kya'. Sara's choice of outfit became a topic of discussion for the trollers.
Take a look below.
What is your take on Saif Ali Khan’s outfit? Hit the comment section.
On the work front, she is known for films like Kedarnath and Simmba, both films were commercially successful. Later, she was seen in the film Atrangi Re and wowed her ardent fans with her performance.
Keep reading this space for more updates.
ALSO READ: Oops Moment! Ex-couple Sara Ali Khan and Kartik Aaryan spotted together, netizens call it a DISASTER
CREDIT: BOLLYWOODLIFE
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https://www.tellychakkar.com/movie/movie-news/omg-sara-ali-khan-steps-out-father-saif-ali-khan-and-brother-ibrahim-ali-khan-gets
| 2022-06-18T20:00:30
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en
| 0.98051
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There is no doubt that Sachin Tendulkar has a crazy fan following. Fans always look forward to his posts on social media.
MUMBAI: There is no doubt that Sachin Tendulkar has a crazy fan following. Fans always look forward to his posts on social media.
Sachin Tendulkar is pretty active on social media. He often shares pictures or videos to treat his fans and followers. While his professional life has given millions an inspiration to follow their dream of becoming a cricketer, his amazing personality also amazes fans. From his golf sessions to travel diaries, his Instagram page often gives fans glimpses of his activities.
Taking to his Instagram handle, Sachin Tendulkar has shared a throwback picture that sums up his happiness. Well, it sees him with little Sara. She was a child when this picture was taken. The father-daughter duo is looking super adorable in the picture. “A picture that sums up my happiness” he wrote in the caption.
Also read: Interesting! Sara Tendulkar’s fans think she resembles Alia Bhatt; WATCH VIDEO
Not just fans even Sourav Ganguly has reacted to the picture. He wrote, “Outstanding picture sachin.” Suresh Raina too has showered the two with love. Meanwhile, Sara Tendulkar dropped three love emojis and wrote, “love you”
Sara Tendulkar has a huge fan following. Her charming personality and style statements have mesmerized her fans and admirers. The diva is quite active on social media. She often shares the prettiest photos and videos with her Instagram family. Sara might not have entered the entertainment industry, but fans can't stop admiring her glamorous avatar. She is indeed one of the stylish star kids.
Keep reading this space for more updates.
Also read: OMG! Sania Mirza’s yoga session went wrong? Details inside
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https://www.tellychakkar.com/tv/sports/delightful-sums-sachin-tendulkar-s-happiness-deets-inside-220619
| 2022-06-18T20:00:30
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| 0.976682
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https://sportspyder.com/nfl/seattle-seahawks/articles/39832269
| 2022-06-18T20:00:32
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https://sportspyder.com/nfl/seattle-seahawks/articles/39832589
| 2022-06-18T20:00:32
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https://sportspyder.com/nfl/seattle-seahawks/articles/39832704
| 2022-06-18T20:00:33
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MALTAVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) – On Friday, crews responding to a fire alarm activation on Easy Street in Maltaville found flames shooting from a structure with heavy fire in the rear about 1200 feet into the woods. Firefighters from multiple area departments were called in to help extinguish the blaze.
At about 9:52 p.m., Round Lake with Malta Ridge and Saratoga Springs fire companies were dispatched to the reported structure fire and found the only access was a narrow logging trail too small for regular fire engines. Officials said small four-wheel-drive pumpers had to be requested from Malta Ridge and Ballston Spa fire stations.
The rest of the equipment was walked in by Firefighters as they continued to battle the heavy blaze they said. At this time the cause of the fire has not been determined. Check back with NEWS10 for updates.
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https://www.news10.com/news/saratoga-county/structure-fire-tears-through-home-in-maltaville/
| 2022-06-18T20:00:38
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| 0.976786
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https://sportspyder.com/nfl/seattle-seahawks/articles/39832843
| 2022-06-18T20:00:50
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https://sportspyder.com/nfl/seattle-seahawks/articles/39833036
| 2022-06-18T20:00:56
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https://sportspyder.com/nfl/seattle-seahawks/articles/39833547
| 2022-06-18T20:01:02
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https://sportspyder.com/nfl/seattle-seahawks/articles/39833834
| 2022-06-18T20:01:08
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/chicago-cubs/articles/39833220
| 2022-06-18T20:01:33
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| 0.738227
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/chicago-cubs/articles/39833222
| 2022-06-18T20:01:39
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/chicago-cubs/articles/39833407
| 2022-06-18T20:01:45
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Cigarette maker Altria’s $13 billion investment in the troubled vaping company Juul has gone up in smoke — now worth less than 5% of its original value as U.S. regulators move to ban its e-cigarettes.
Altria slashed the value of its Juul investment by more than $1.1 billion Thursday, pegging its new value at $450 million as it reported second-quarter earnings. The Marlboro maker had recently valued its stake in the company at a vastly reduced $1.6 billion.
Despite the losses Altria said it would maintain its investment deal with Juul, including an agreement not to sell competing vaping products.
“At this time, we continue to believe that these investment rights are beneficial to us,” Altria said in a prepared statement.
Altria, based in Richmond, Virginia, is Juul’s largest investor with a 35% stake. Altria executives signed the $12.8-billion pact in 2018, betting that Juul’s popular vaping devices presented a lucrative alternate to tobacco products.
Last month, however, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced plans to ban the small cartridge-based e-cigarettes, saying Juul had failed to provide key information about potentially harmful chemicals in its nicotine formula. The decision surprised industry observers and experts given that the FDA has authorized several competing e-cigarettes and Juul spent years gathering data to support its application.
In yet another twist to the company’s fortunes, the FDA reopened its review of Juul’s application earlier this month after a federal court blocked the ban from immediately taking effect. For now, Juul is able to continue selling its products while the FDA review continues.
The Juul decision is part of a sweeping FDA review of all U.S. e-cigarettes aimed at eliminating those that haven’t been shown to help smokers reduce or quit smoking.
Juul rocketed to the top of the U.S. vaping market five years ago on the popularity of flavors like mango, mint and creme brulee. But the company’s rise was fueled by underage use by teenagers who became hooked on Juul’s high-nicotine pods.
Since 2019, the company has been in retreat: halting all U.S. advertising, discontinuing most of its flavors and rebranding itself as a product for older smokers looking to switch from traditional cigarettes.
The financial hit to Juul contributed to a nearly 60% drop in Altria’s quarterly earnings of 49 cents per share.
Excluding Juul and other one-time expenses the company’s adjusted earnings were $1.26 per share, just ahead of Wall Street estimates. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected earnings of $1.25 per share.
Net revenue slid nearly 6% to $6.5 billion due to lower sales of cigarettes and other core company products. The company brand’s include Parliament and Marlboro cigarettes, Black and Mild cigars and Skoal chewing tobacco.
Altria, the nation’s largest cigarette maker, has been attempting to diversify its product offerings into vaping and nicotine pouches as traditional tobacco use continues to fade.
Smoking has been declining for more than five decades. Some 42% of U.S. adults smoked in the early 1960s. That was down to less than 13% in the latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
For the full-year Altria said it expects earnings in the range of $4.79 to $4.93 per share
Shares of Altria Group Inc. were essentially flat before the opening bell Thursday.
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https://www.news10.com/business/ap-business/altrias-13b-juul-investment-has-lost-95-of-its-value/
| 2022-07-28T13:14:48
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| 0.959089
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Wall Street pointed toward a modestly lower open Thursday following the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike and ahead what will be the first look at U.S. economic growth during the rocky second quarter.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial average ticked down 0.1% and futures for S&P 500 lost 0.2% before the bell. Both indexes rebounded from bigger declines earlier.
The Fed’s three-quarters of a percentage point rate hike announced Wednesday lifts the benchmark short-term rate to its highest level since 2018. The aim is to bring surging inflation under control.
An update on the economy will come later Thursday with second quarter U.S. GDP data.
Analysts expect that, after falling backward from January through March, the U.S. economy probably didn’t fare that much better in the spring.
Spirit Airlines shares rose almost 4% in premarket after JetBlue said it agreed to buy the budget airline for $3.8 billion, which would create the nation’s fifth largest airline if approved by U.S. regulators. The agreement Thursday comes a day after Spirit’s attempt to merge with Frontier Airlines fell apart.
Investors also are awaiting a call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
In Europe at midday, Germany’s DAX was unchanged, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.2% and Britain’s FTSE 100 edged 0.1% lower.
In Asian trading, Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng index slipped 0.2% to 20,622.68 after the territory’s Monetary Authority matched the Fed’s 0.75 percentage point rate hike with one of its own. The HKMA aligns its policies with U.S. monetary moves to keep the Hong Kong dollar at a stable rate against the U.S. dollar.
Elsewhere in Asia shares advanced, tracking gains on Wall Street after the Fed did exactly as expected and its chair, Jerome Powell, suggested the Fed’s rate hikes have already had some success in slowing the economy and possibly easing inflationary pressures.
“While a concrete decision on tariff relief is not expected from the meeting, any indications of willingness in working toward that is an added positive for markets,” Jun Rong Yeap of IG said in a commentary.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 picked up 0.4% to 27,815.48, while the Shanghai Composite index added 0.2% to 3,282.58. In Seoul, the Kospi advanced 0.8% to 2,435.27.
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s top producer of smartphones and memory chips, reported Thursday that its operating profit rose 12% in the April-June quarter thanks to strong demand for server chips.
Its shares edged 0.2% higher on Thursday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1% to 6,889.70 after the government reported that retail sales rose in June for the sixth consecutive month. Also, Treasurer Jim Chalmers told Parliament that the government forecasts that inflation will remain unacceptably high for some time to come and the economy will slow but not fall into recession.
Markets in Thailand were closed for a holiday.
On Wall Street, investors welcomed the Fed’s widely expected move with a broad rally on Wednesday.
Powell’s comments were taken by some as a signal the Fed may not have to raise rates so aggressively in coming months, triggering a rally in the final hour of regular trading.
The S&P 500 climbed 2.6% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq surged 4.1%, its biggest gain in over two years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4%. The Russell 2000 of small caps closed 2.4% higher.
The indexes are now all on pace for a weekly gain, extending Wall Street’s strong July rally. The S&P 500 is up 6.3% so far this month.
Rate increases like Wednesday’s, the fourth so far this year, make borrowing more expensive and slow the economy. The hope is that the Fed and other central banks can deftly find the middle ground where the economy slows enough to whip inflation but not enough to cause a recession.
In other trading Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil added $2.16 to $99.42 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained $2.28 to $97.26 on Wednesday.
Brent crude, the international standard for pricing, gained $2.09 to $103.76 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar cost 135.36 Japanese yen, down from 136.55 yen. The euro edged down to $1.0127 from $1.0197.
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https://www.news10.com/business/ap-business/asian-shares-oil-prices-mostly-higher-after-fed-rate-hike/
| 2022-07-28T13:14:53
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| 0.948563
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans applied for jobless benefits last week, but the previous week’s number was revised upward significantly, with claims breaching the 250,000 level in back-to-back weeks for the first time in more than eight months.
Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 23 declined by 5,000 to 256,000 from the previous week’s 261,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The number of claims for the week of July 16 was revised upward by 10,000 from the previously estimated 251,000.
First-time applications generally reflect layoffs.
The four-week average for claims, which smooths out some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 6,250 from the previous week, to 249,500. That number is also at its highest level since November of last year.
The total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits for the week ending July 16 fell by 25,000 from the previous week, to 1,359,000. That figure has been near 50-year lows for months.
Earlier this month, the Labor Department reported that employers added 372,000 jobs in June, a surprisingly robust gain and similar to the pace of the previous two months. Economists had expected job growth to slow sharply last month given the broader signs of economic weakness.
The unemployment rate remained 3.6% for a fourth straight month, matching a near-50-year low that was reached before the pandemic struck in early 2020.
The government also reported earlier in July that U.S. employers advertised fewer jobs in May amid signs that the economy is weakening, though the overall demand for workers remained strong. There are nearly two job openings for every unemployed person.
The government also reported Thursday that the U.S. economy shrank 0.9% in the second quarter, the second straight quarterly contraction.
Consumer prices are still soaring though, up 9.1% in June compared with a year earlier, the biggest yearly increase since 1981, the government reported last week.
All of those figures paint a divergent picture of the post-pandemic economy: Inflation is hammering household budgets, forcing consumers to pull back on spending, and growth is weakening, heightening fears the economy could fall into recession.
In an effort to combat the worst inflation in more than four decades, the Federal Reserve raised its main borrowing rate by another three-quarters of a point on Wednesday. That follows last month’s three-quarter point hike and a half-point increase in May.
Though the labor market is still strong, there have been some high-profile layoffs announced recently by Tesla, Netflix, Carvana, Redfin and Coinbase.
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week rose to the highest level in more than eight months in what may be a sign that the labor market is weakening.
Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 16 rose by 7,000 to 251,000, up from the previous week’s 244,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s the most since Nov. 13, 2021 when 265,000 Americans applied for benefits.
Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet expected the number to come in at 242,000.
First-time applications generally reflect layoffs.
The four-week average for claims, which smooths out some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 4,500 from the previous week, to 240,500.
The total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits for the week ending July 9 rose by 51,000 from the previous week, to 1,384,000. That figure has been near 50-year lows for months.
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https://www.news10.com/business/ap-business/fewer-americans-applied-for-jobless-benefits-last-week/
| 2022-07-28T13:14:56
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en
| 0.970014
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BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s annual inflation rate has declined slightly for the second consecutive month, official data showed Thursday, but July’s pace of 7.5% was still within sight of the nearly half-century high it reached in May.
Inflation in Europe’s biggest economy rose 7.9% in May from a year earlier, the highest level since the early 1970s, before slipping to 7.6% last month. The preliminary monthly figure for July, reported Thursday by the Federal Statistical Office, is usually confirmed in a final report about two weeks later.
Energy prices spiked 35.7% this month from a year earlier and food prices rose 14.8%.
Germany temporarily lowered taxes on diesel fuel and gasoline at the start of June and introduced an ultra-cheap ticket that allows people to use all local and regional public transportation for 9 euros ($9.15) a month. The measures are due to last for three months. The statistics office said it wasn’t yet clear to what extent they dampened inflation.
As in other countries around the world, inflation in Germany has been stoked by Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has led to a rise in energy costs and food prices.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to work with unions and employers to find ways to address the impact of rising prices while preventing an inflationary spiral.
The July inflation rate for all 19 countries that use the euro will be released by the European Union’s statistics office Friday after consecutive months of record highs. It reached 8.6% in June.
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https://www.news10.com/business/ap-business/german-inflation-rate-slips-again-in-july-from-month-before/
| 2022-07-28T13:14:56
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| 0.966253
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JetBlue Airways has agreed to buy Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion and create the nation’s fifth-largest airline if the deal can win approval from antitrust regulators.
The agreement Thursday capped a months-long bidding war and arrives one day after Spirit’s attempt to merge with fellow budget carrier Frontier Airlines fell apart.
Spirit CEO Ted Christie was thrust into the awkward position of defending a sale to JetBlue after arguing vehemently against the deal, saying that antitrust regulators would never let it happen.
“A lots been said over the last few months obviously, always with our stakeholders in mind,” Christie said on CNBC. “We have been listening to the folks at JetBlue, and they have a lot of good thoughts on their plans for that.”
JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes has argued all along that a larger JetBlue would create more competition for the four airlines that control about 80% of the U.S. market — American, United, Delta and Southwest.
Shares of Spirit, based in Miramar, Florida, rose 4% in trading before Thursday’s opening bell, to $25.28, still below the price that JetBlue is offering. JetBlue shares gained about 1%.
JetBlue and Spirit will continue to operate independently until the agreement is approved by regulators and Spirit shareholders, with their separate loyalty programs and customer accounts.
The companies said they expect to conclude the regulatory process and close the transaction no later than the first half of 2024. If that happens, the combined airline would be based in JetBlue’s hometown of New York and led by Hayes. It would have a fleet of 458 planes.
JetBlue said Thursday that it would pay $33.50 per share in cash for Spirit, including a prepayment of $2.50 per share in cash payable once Spirit stockholders approve the transaction. There is also a ticking fee of 10 cents per share each month starting in January 2023 through closing to compensate Spirit shareholders for any delay in winning regulatory approval.
If the deal doesn’t close due to antitrust reasons, JetBlue will pay Spirit a reverse break-up fee of $70 million and pay Spirit shareholders $400 million, minus any amounts paid to the shareholders prior to termination.
Spirit and Frontier announced their plan to merge in February, and Spirit’s board stood by that deal even after JetBlue made a higher-priced offer in April. However, Spirit’s board could never convince the airline’s shareholders to go along. A vote on the merger was postponed four times, then cut short Wednesday when Spirit and Frontier announced they were terminating their agreement, which made a Spirit-JetBlue coupling inevitable.
JetBlue anticipates $600 million to $700 million in annual savings once the transaction is complete. Annual revenue for the combined company is anticipated to be about $11.9 billion, based on 2019 revenues.
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https://www.news10.com/business/ap-business/jetblue-buys-spirit-for-3-8-billion/
| 2022-07-28T13:15:03
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| 0.964921
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Merck’s second-quarter sales and profit easily beat Wall Street expectations Thursday, boosted by sales growth of some of its key drugs.
Merck & Co. posted profit of $3.94 billion, or $1.87 per adjusted share, easily beating the $1.70 that analysts surveyed by data firm FactSet expected. Sales of $14.6 billion, 28% higher than a year ago, also topped expectations. Analysts expected sales of $13.9 billion.
As expected, sales of Merck’s COVID-19 treatment Lageverio treatment fell to about $1.2 billion from $3.25 billion in the first quarter when it became Merck’s second-biggest selling drug behind the cancer blockbuster Keytruda.
The treatment Paxlovid from rival drugmaker Pfizer was shown to be more effective in clinical trials than Lagevrio, which is not authorized for patients under age 18 because it might interfere with bone growth. The drug, which inserts tiny errors into the coronavirus’ genetic code, also isn’t recommended for pregnant women because of the potential for birth defects.
Excluding the drop in Lagevrio revenue, Merck reported sales growth of 18%, helped by sales of Keytruda, which grew 26% to $5.3 billion, and Gardisil, which saw sales growth of 36% to $1.7 billion.
The drugmaker, based in Kenilworth, New Jersey, raised its full year sales outlook to between $57.5 billion and $58.5 billion.
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https://www.news10.com/business/ap-business/merck-beats-expectations-helped-by-keytruda-sales/
| 2022-07-28T13:15:09
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en
| 0.948274
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Dave Muffley thought he had it made when it came to a solid retirement. The Indiana man spent roughly 30 years as a salaried maintenance technician for Delphi Corp., a subsidiary of General Motors Corp., and expected to retire with a comfortable income by the time he hit 62.
But when GM plunged into the biggest industrial bankruptcy proceeding in history in 2009, and the federal government negotiated its restructuring, Muffley’s expected retirement package was slashed, and his life’s trajectory would spiral.
The Russiaville resident, now 68, lost 30% of his retirement savings, his promised health care coverage and his faith in government.
Muffley is one of an estimated 20,000 Delphi workers hurt by the GM bankruptcy, and many have spent the past 13 years fighting to get back what they lost. After taking the issue all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear their case this year, the retirees were cut off from their last legal remedy.
Now, they’re looking to Congress to do for them what the courts would not. Legislation to restore the pension savings of the workers has gained support from the left and the right in Congress. It passed the House on Wednesday and supporters are hopeful the Senate will follow suit.
It’s named the Susan Muffley Act, after Dave’s wife, who became sick and died while they were grappling with the hit to his retirement fund.
The retirees allege that they were discriminated against as salaried employees, compared with union-covered workers whose pensions were preserved through the bankruptcy. The salaried workers are the engineers, technicians and mid-level swath of employees who stood between the well-paid executives and the union-covered workers at the company.
After taking a buyout from Delphi at age 55 to avoid a potential layoff, Muffley says, he took one job after another to tide him over until he could retire at 62. It was in that time that his wife was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died within three years.
“Things fell apart, and things fell apart in a big way,” Muffley says. He estimated he’s lost at least $130,000 in savings due to the pension cuts over the years, and he’s not alone.
Despite the bipartisan support, there is some resistance in Congress to spending tax dollars to bail out pension funds.
For the retirees, the struggle to get the legislation into law is the latest and perhaps last battle in an ordeal that started when the workers got swept up in macroeconomic crosscurrents of the recession.
Muffley and others in 2009 established the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association — something of a support group for workers at the auto parts company who had to get through not only job losses, but retirement cuts and the loss of health plans.
Retirees tell stories of loss, severe depression, divorce and altered courses of their lives. Some retirees’ children put off going to college, other workers faced health difficulties from the stress of the cuts.
The salaried retirees have gotten support from every corner of local government, state legislatures, attorneys general and even sympathetic words from this president and the last.
Presidential candidate Joe Biden in September 2020 said he would work with senators to help restore Delphi workers’ retirement savings. The next month, President Donald Trump issued a memo calling on the Treasury Department and other agencies to act on the issue.
But those words didn’t translate into action. Nothing came of Trump’s memo. Nor did anything happen in the first 18 months of the Biden administration.
A number of legislative proposals to help the Delphi workers have come and gone over the years without becoming law. The latest bill, which cleared the House on a 254-175 vote, would restore the workers’ benefits and retroactively make up for what they’ve lost since 2009.
Members of Congress from both parties, mostly from Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, have sponsored the legislation. Reps. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., and Mike Turner, R-Ohio, and Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and Rob Portman, a Republican, are among those backing it.
Co-sponsors span the spectrum, from Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, a founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, to Rep. Andy Levin of Michigan, a member of the progressive caucus.
The White House on Friday issued its own a statement in support of the bill, saying the administration “supports a secure retirement for affected workers.”
Muffley points to other legislative saves for pension plans, like the bipartisan Butch Lewis Act that was included in the American Rescue Plan. That provision stalled the insolvency of roughly 200 multi-employer pension plans for 30 years, saving the benefits of roughly 3 million workers. Biden spotlighted the measure in a recent visit to Ohio.
But there are skeptics. During House debate on Wednesday, Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., called the measure another “Democrat bailout bill by the sponsors of the nanny state.”
“Why should the constituents of my Virginia 5th District pay for someone else’s retirement plan?” he said.
HOW IT GOT HERE
When GM went through bankruptcy in June 2009 due to massive losses during the Great Recession, the company said it would not assume pension liabilities for the Delphi unit’s salaried workers — largely because it didn’t have an agreement with them, as it had negotiated with unions for hourly workers.
The government’s Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. then assumed responsibility for the 20,000 salaried workers’ pension plan, and cut workers’ and retirees’ monthly benefits if they were larger than the statutory maximum benefit that the agency was guaranteed to pay. As a result, some retirees’ pensions were cut by as much as 70%. But GM did step in to cover pension losses for union workers.
Those who lost benefits were 4,044 workers in Indiana, 5,181 in Ohio, 5,859 in Michigan and thousands of others around the country.
While cutbacks in bankruptcies aren’t uncommon, the Delphi workers argued it was unfair that union workers’ pensions were protected by GM while salaried workers were left with permanent cuts to their retirement fund as well as permanent cuts to their health benefits.
The arrangement played out in conjunction with a deal negotiated by then-Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and then-National Economic Council Director Larry Summers, who led a task force that sank millions of dollars into saving GM.
Part of the rationale at the time was the need to keep union workers from striking, while salaried workers were seen as more expendable.
A 2013 inspector general’s report said that while the union workers had leverage “to prolong Delphi’s bankruptcy or strike, which GM believed would significantly impact its ability to survive, Delphi’s salaried retirees had no leverage, other than what they hoped would be political leverage.”
The report estimated the salaried retirees had lost $440 million in pension benefits. In today’s dollars, the retirees would need $900 million to be made whole.
In a 2011 op-ed in The Washington Post, Geithner said the bankruptcy “meant sacrifices across the board — from managers, unions, stockholders, creditors and dealers.” But the intent was “to stop the American automobile industry from unraveling” and causing a deeper recession that could have cost tens of thousands of additional jobs.
Geithner declined to comment for this story. Summers did not respond to a request for comment.
In January, the Supreme Court denied Delphi retirees’ efforts to review their case. The court effectively upheld a federal court’s ruling that the law allows for distressed pension plans to be closed without court approval.
Kildee, one of the bill’s sponsors, told The Associated Press the case was “particularly egregious because it was the federal government that engineered the bankruptcy.”
Turner said during the House debate that legislation was necessary because “no one else has had the White House pick winners and losers and take away their pensions. It is our responsibility as members of Congress to address this injustice.”
WHAT THE WORKERS SAY
“The reality is that salaried workers were singled out and it’s the government that caused this,” said Bruce Gump, who lost 40% of his pension and serves as chairman of the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association.
“I was 57 when this happened to me and it was a tough time, for this to happen at the bottom of the recession,” he said. “The fact that we’re finally getting the attention of the secretary of treasury and Congress creates some hope in us.”
Julie Naylor, a 68-year-old former nurse who lives in a suburb of Greenville, South Carolina, says restoring her husband’s pension and health care would mean she could afford basic necessities for her family. Her husband, Bruce Naylor, suffered a stroke after a routine outpatient surgery, caused by an undiscovered brain tumor. With her husband now paralyzed on his right side and with limited speech abilities, Julie Naylor says without the health care promised to him, the medical bills have piled up.
Bruce Naylor is 6 feet, 6 inches and too tall for his wheelchair. Julie Naylor says if her family had the money owed to them through his pension, “I wouldn’t have to wait for Medicare” to be approved for a chair that fits. “We could’ve just bought it with what is owed us,” she said.
“We live a very austere life and a very uncertain life,” she said. “I never thought he could lose half of his pension and half of his life savings.”
WHAT’S NEXT
The legislation would require the government to “top up” the pensions of the salaried Delphi workers, as GM did for the unionized workers.
Bill Kadereit, president of the National Retiree Legislative Network, said the Delphi workers’ fight highlights the archaic nature of corporate bankruptcy law, and how it can harm workers.
“In many ways the federal government basically threw them under the bus and made the sacrifice of these people to make a deal,” he said.
To Muffley, that’s what made the deal so painful.
“I can’t believe our government would do something like this,” he said in advance of the House vote.
And Muffley has a warning for others who may think their own promised benefits are secure: “If the government could do this to us, what else could they do to you?”
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Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.
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| 2022-07-28T13:15:16
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LONDON (AP) — Shell posted record profits Thursday for a second straight quarter as the energy giant benefited from soaring prices of oil and natural gas fueled by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
London-based Shell said it’s second-quarter adjusted earnings — which exclude one-time items and fluctuations in the value of inventories — rose to $11.5 billion from $5.5 billion in the same three-month period last year.
The latest earnings smash its record set in the previous quarter, when the company recorded $9.1 billion in adjusted earnings.
Shell also said it would buy back another $6 billion in shares, underlining its healthy cash position.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent oil and natural gas prices soaring as nations spurned Russian energy and supply reductions wreaked havoc in markets. The price increases are driving global inflation, while boosting profits at energy companies.
“It was a turbulent quarter for the world and the global economy,” CEO Ben van Beurden said in a statement. “The war in Ukraine continued, destroying lives and disrupting supplies of food and energy, and aggravating the lives of so many more through high energy prices and the cost-of-living crisis.”
The British government in May announced plans for a temporary 25% tax on the windfall profits of oil and gas companies to help fund payments for people facing soaring energy bills. But its future is unclear after Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned this month and a fight emerged over who will succeed him.
Natural gas prices in Europe jumped this week and were more than five times higher than a year ago as Russia further cut gas flows to Germany and European Union governments moved to reduce natural gas consumption this winter.
The average price for Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, hit $114 a barrel in the second quarter, up from $102.23 in the previous quarter.
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https://www.news10.com/business/ap-business/shell-posts-record-earnings-again-as-energy-prices-soar/
| 2022-07-28T13:15:23
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| 0.960094
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AMSTERDAM (AP) — Automaker Stellantis on Thursday reported higher earnings in the first half of 2022 compared with last year, pointing to a nearly 50% increase in global sales of battery electric vehicles.
Stellantis, which was formed last year with the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Peugeot, said net revenue reached 88 billion euros ($89.86 billion), a 17% increase from the first half of last year. Net profit hit 8 billion euros, up 34%.
The world’s fourth-largest automaker said sales of low-emission and battery electric vehicles have been increasing, with the latter up by nearly 50% from last year to 136,000 units.
Car shipments slipped 18% in Europe amid problems acquiring computer chips during a global shortage, with net revenue down 2% compared to the first half of 2021. But shipments rose 10% in North America, with net revenue up 31%.
Stellantis has plans to sell 5 million electric vehicles by 2030, with 50% of its North American passenger car and light truck sales going fully electric by 2030. It plans to sell only electric passenger cars in Europe by 2030.
“In a demanding global context,” CEO Carlos Tavares said, Stellantis is “delivering an outstanding performance and executing our bold electrification strategy.”
The automaker has stepped up investment in electric vehicles, with projects announced earlier this year in North America.
A joint venture between Stellantis and Samsung plans to spend more than $2.5 billion to build an EV battery factory in Indiana for a range of vehicles produced at Stellantis’ North American assembly plants.
The carmaker also said it would invest billions in upgrading two Canadian assembly plants and a research center as well as building a large EV battery factory in Ontario in a joint venture with South Korea’s LG Energy Solution.
U.S. regulators have opened three investigations into safety issues with about 1.65 million vehicles made by Stellantis, but none has been recalled so far or linked to crashes or injuries.
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https://www.news10.com/business/ap-business/stellantis-earnings-rise-as-electric-vehicle-sales-expand/
| 2022-07-28T13:15:30
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Jerome Powell delivered a tough message at the start of a news conference Wednesday: Inflation is way too high, and the Federal Reserve is laser-focused on taming it with higher borrowing costs.
Yet despite his resolute words, the Fed chair also said for the first time that the central bank’s actions are already having an effect on the economy in ways that could slow the worst inflation the nation has endured in four decades.
With the Fed’s benchmark interest rate now at a level that’s believed to neither stimulate nor restrain growth, Powell said the pace of rate hikes could slow in the coming months. And he pointed to signs that many businesses are having an easier time filling jobs, a trend that would limit pay increases and potentially slow inflation.
“There were some hints that we’re closer to the end than the beginning” of the Fed’s efforts to tighten credit, said Michael Feroli, an economist at JPMorgan Chase and a former Fed staffer.
Powell’s suggestion that the Fed could moderate its future rate hikes after it announced a three-quarter-point hike Wednesday — its second in a row of that substantial size — helped touch off a celebratory rally in the stock market, with the S&P 500 jumping 2.6% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rocketing 4.1%, its biggest gain in more than two years.
Some economists didn’t share the market’s optimism. They noted that Powell kept the door open to another big rate increase when the Fed next meets in September. The Fed chair also indicated that even if the economy were to fall into a recession, the central bank would keep raising rates if it deemed that necessary to curb still-high inflation.
When asked at his news conference whether a recession would alter the Fed’s course of rate hikes, Powell said simply, “We’re going to be focused on getting inflation back down.”
Here are five takeaways from the Fed’s interest-rate setting policy meeting and Powell news conference:
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POWELL: U.S. NOT IN RECESSION
A slew of recent data has signaled the economy is weakening. Economists are increasingly forecasting a recession for later this year or in 2023. Powell, though, pointed Wednesday to the robust labor market as evidence the economy isn’t in recession, at least not yet.
Employers, he noted, added 2.7 million jobs in the first half of the year, the 3.6% U.S. unemployment rate is near a 50-year low and wage growth is strong.
“It doesn’t make sense that the economy could be in recession with this kind of thing happening,” the Fed chair said.
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JOBS OVER GDP
On Thursday, the government will estimate second-quarter gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation’s output of goods and services. Some economists think the GDP report will show that the economy contracted for a second straight quarter, which would meet an informal definition of recession.
But even if it does, the definition of recession that is most widely accepted is the one determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a group of economists whose Business Cycle Dating Committee defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.”
Powell also noted that the government’s estimate of quarterly GDP is often significantly revised later and that the initial reports on economic growth should be taken with “a grain of salt.”
The Fed chair did sound a cautionary note, pointing out that there are signs that momentum in the job market is easing. Job openings have declined modestly, more people are seeking unemployment aid and hiring is lower than it was at the start of the year.
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SLOWER GROWTH, HIRING GOOD
But even those signs of a slightly weaker job market are not all bad news, at least from the Fed’s perspective.
The Fed wants to cool the economy through its rate hikes, which make home mortgages, auto loans and business borrowing more expensive. As consumers and businesses spend less, the resulting pullback in demand can bring inflation down closer to the Fed’s 2% annual target.
“We think it’s necessary to have growth slow down, and growth is going to be slowing this year,” Powell said.
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HOW HIGH WILL RATES GO?
Since early this year, the Fed has steadily ratcheted up its forecasts for how fast and how high it would have to raise rates to conquer inflation. On Wednesday, though, Powell said that estimates that Fed policymakers made a month ago for where rates would go next was still the best guide.
In June officials projected that the Fed’s key rate would reach between 3.25% and 3.5% at the end of this year, which Powell said was a “moderately restrictive” level. And at least two additional rate hikes were forecast for next year.
For the Fed to meet that year-end target would involve a half-point increase in September, and two quarter-point hikes in November and December. Such increases would represent a much more modest pace than the 2.25 percentage points of hikes the Fed has now carried out in just the past four meetings, the fastest pace since the early 1980s.
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THE FED ISN’T ALONE
Other major central banks around the world have also been imposing big rate increases to combat inflation, which has spiked in nearly all advanced economies.
The European Union raised its short-term rate by a half-point last week. Canada’s central bank announced a full percentage point increase earlier this month. Last month, the Swiss National Bank implemented a half-point hike, its first increase in 15 years.
Although higher rates around the world could help throttle inflation, they also carry the threat of causing a global economic slowdown.
This week, the International Monetary Fund downgraded its outlook for world economic growth to 3.2% this year. That was down from a 3.6% estimate in April and much slower than last year’s 6.1% pace.
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https://www.news10.com/business/ap-business/us-not-yet-in-recession-and-4-other-takeaways-from-the-fed/
| 2022-07-28T13:15:37
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| 0.97176
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https://sportspyder.com/nba/toronto-raptors/articles/40207028
| 2022-07-28T13:15:44
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| 0.738227
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NEW YORK (AP) — The head of the nation’s financial watchdog is having second thoughts about how useful fines are in deterring illegal behavior in the financial industry, saying some companies have gotten so big that the money makes little difference.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Rohit Chopra signaled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to deploy an array of tools that could limit the ability of a bank or financial firm to conduct business if they violate the law.
In less than a year at the helm of the CFPB, Chopra has moved to turn the agency back into the assertive regulator it was under President Obama. The bureau took far fewer enforcement actions during the Trump administration.
Some staff that had left the CFPB under President Trump have returned. The bureau has been adding enforcement staff and has reprioritized issues such fair lending that were set aside during the previous administration.
Chopra, in a video interview with The Associated Press, said that the changes at the bureau have been necessary because the financial services industry has been transformed dramatically. Apple is now one of the biggest payment processors and has a credit card, Facebook tried to launch its own digital currency, and Amazon acts a financial middle man between merchants and customers in a way unthinkable a few years ago.
There’s also been the rapid growth of buy now, pay later companies, which offer ways for borrowers to split up a purchase into a small number of equal installments. It’s a product that effectively did not exist in the U.S. even three or four years ago.
In some of his earliest moves, Chopra directed the bureau to investigate whether technology companies such as Apple, Amazon, PayPal, Square and others may be violating privacy laws when it comes to payments. The bureau is also investigating whether buy now, pay later companies are causing consumers to take on too much debt as well as how those loans should be reported on consumers’ credit reports.
“We are trying to make sure that we have a real-world understanding of today’s markets, not in light of what happened in the pandemic, but in light of banking has really changed in the past few years,” he said.
Banks and other businesses have taken notice of the bureau’s shift. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched an advertising campaign this summer deliberately targeting Chopra, who the business lobbying group has alleged is trying to “radically change” the financially services industry.
Chopra is re-evaluating some of the traditional tools at regulators’ disposal. Because of the size of some of these companies, he said that tools such as fines may no longer be sufficient to punish bad actors.
The CFPB is exploring other ways to rein in illegal practices, ranging from limitations on a firm’s growth or banning a company from opening new accounts, as well as imposing fines and liability on individuals instead of just the company.
One option now being considered for repeat gross violations would be to revoke a bank’s deposit insurance, under the premise it is operating in an unsafe and unsound manner. Revoking bank deposit insurance would be a crippling blow for any financial company.
In April, the CFPB sued TransUnion for allegedly engaging in deceptive marketing of credit products, in violation of a 2017 enforcement order. The bureau also sued one of TransUnion’s executives as part of its lawsuit, which is seeking monetary fines as well as an injunction to stop the practices.
“We’re shifting our enforcement focus to these larger actors who knew something was a violation of the law but made a calculated decision to violate that law,” Chopra said.
TransUnion has denied it violated the 2017 order and is fighting the CFPB’s lawsuit.
Chopra’s comments partly reflect his experience as one of the Democratic seats on the Federal Trade Commission under President Trump. During his tenure, Chopra was openly critical of the regulator’s history of big investigations into anticompetitive behavior that ultimately ended in an inconsequential fine against a large company.
In 2019, the FTC fined Facebook $5 billion for the social media company’s extensive privacy violations. While the fine was the largest ever imposed by the agency, it represented less than 10% of the company’s total sales that year, and less than one-third of the company’s annual profits. In the interview, Chopra reiterated that he believes the FTC’s actions did little to stem Facebook’s bad practices.
“It felt like there were two standards at the FTC: hammer the little guy when they break the law, but when a big firm engaged in repeat offenses, it felt like nothing happened,” he said.
Chopra publicly referenced the need for more forms of enforcement than just a fine Wednesday after a company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway was found to have illegally discriminated against potential Black and Latino home owners.
“We will continue to seek new remedies to ensure all lenders meet and fulfill their responsibilities and obligations,” Chopra said.
Other financial regulators have also taken a multifaceted approach. Regulators have fined Wells Fargo billions of dollars for various bad practices, including pressuring its employees to illegally open millions of fake accounts in order to meet unrealistic sales goals.
But the Federal Reserve went further. Wells has remained under constraints set by the Fed since 2018, unable to grow its business until the central bank deems its culture problems to be resolved.
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https://www.news10.com/business/ap-business/watchdog-head-bad-actors-should-face-more-than-big-fines/
| 2022-07-28T13:15:44
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| 0.97499
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/kansas-city-royals/articles/40206820
| 2022-07-28T13:15:50
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| 0.738227
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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Africa still does not have a single dose of the monkeypox vaccine even though it’s the only continent to have documented deaths from the disease that’s newly declared a global emergency, its public health agency announced Thursday.
“Let us get vaccines onto the continent,” the acting head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ahmed Ogwell, said in a weekly media briefing. He described a situation where the African continent of 1.3 billion people is again being left behind in access to doses in an uncomfortable echo of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Less than a week ago, the World Health Organization declared monkeypox an “extraordinary” situation that qualifies as a global health emergency.
To date, more than 20,000 cases have been reported in 77 countries. More than 2,100 monkeypox cases have been recorded in 11 African countries and 75 people have died, the Africa CDC director said.
Although monkeypox has been established in parts of central and west Africa for decades, it was not known to spark large outbreaks beyond the continent or to spread widely among people until May, when authorities detected dozens of epidemics in Europe, North America and elsewhere.
Now the global race is on to obtain monkeypox vaccine doses. The European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, has secured the purchase of 160,000 doses of vaccines for the disease. On Wednesday, U.S. health regulators said nearly 800,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine will soon be available for distribution after what they described as weeks of delays.
Such delays are far more pronounced on the African continent, where the painful disease has been endemic in some countries for years.
Ogwell said the Africa CDC has engaged with international partners in attempts to obtain vaccines, and while he said “good news” is expected in the coming days, “we cannot be able to give you a timeline.”
Even doses of the smallpox vaccine, which has shown effectiveness against monkeypox, are not available in Africa, Ogwell said.
“The solutions need to be global in nature,” he said, in a warning to the international community. “If we’re not safe, the rest of the world is not safe.”
The COVID-19 pandemic and the global hoarding of vaccine doses were a jolt to African leaders, who quickly joined together in an unprecedented effort to obtain doses and establish the production of more vaccines on the continent.
Now, to their dismay, the monkeypox outbreak is again showing how the world’s richer countries hurry to protect their own people first.
WHO has said it is creating a vaccine-sharing mechanism for protection against monkeypox, but the organization has released few details, so there’s no guarantee that African countries will get priority. No countries have yet agreed to share any vaccines with the WHO.
WHO officials have emphasized that monkeypox can infect anyone in close contact with a patient or their contaminated clothing or bedsheets. Researchers are still exploring how it spreads but believe it’s mainly through close, skin-to-skin contact and through contact with bedding and clothing that touched an infected person’s rash or body fluids.
In Africa, monkeypox mainly spreads to people by infected wild animals like rodents in limited outbreaks that typically have not crossed borders. In Europe, North America and elsewhere, however, monkeypox is spreading among people with no links to animals or recent travel to Africa.
In the U.S. and Europe, the vast majority of infections have happened in men who have sex with men, though health officials have stressed that anyone can contract the virus.
___
AP journalist Maria Cheng in London contributed.
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https://www.news10.com/health/ap-health/africas-alone-in-monkeypox-deaths-but-has-no-vaccine-doses/
| 2022-07-28T13:15:51
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| 0.962219
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/kansas-city-royals/articles/40206821
| 2022-07-28T13:15:56
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Baltimore family is suing a Sesame Street-themed amusement park for $25 million over claims of racial discrimination, alleging multiple costumed characters ignored a 5-year-old Black girl during a meet-and-greet event last month.
The lawsuit comes in the wake of a video, shared widely on social media, showing two other Black girls apparently being snubbed by a costumed employee during a parade at the park in Langhorne, outside Philadelphia. Sesame Place apologized in a statement and promised more training for its employees after the video went viral earlier this month.
The suit, which seeks class action status, was filed in a federal court in Philadelphia against SeaWorld Parks, the owner of the Sesame Place, for “pervasive and appalling race discrimination.”
The lawsuit alleges four employees dressed as Sesame Street characters ignored Quinton Burns, his daughter Kennedi Burns and other Black guests during the meet-and-greet on June 18. The lawsuit says “SeaWorld’s performers readily engaged with numerous similarly situated white customers.”
During a press conference held Wednesday, one of the family’s attorneys, Malcolm Ruff, called for transparency from SeaWorld and for the company to compensate the Burns family. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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https://www.news10.com/news/black-family-sues-sesame-place-alleging-discrimination-2/
| 2022-07-28T13:15:59
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/kansas-city-royals/articles/40206827
| 2022-07-28T13:16:02
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LONDON (AP) — Bernard Cribbins, a beloved British entertainer whose seven-decade career ranged from the bawdy “Carry On” comedies to children’s television and “Doctor Who,” has died. He was 93.
Agent Gavin Barker Associates announced Cribbins’ death on Thursday.
“Bernard’s contribution to British entertainment is without question,” it said. “He was unique, typifying the best of his generation, and will be greatly missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing and working with him.”
A warm, avuncular character actor, Cribbins was a childhood presence for several generations of Britons. He played station porter Albert Perks in the 1970 movie classic “The Railway Children” and voiced all the characters in “The Wombles,” a 1970s animated series about a family of burrowing creatures living under London’s Wimbledon Common.
Cribbins also was the voice of road-safety squirrel Tufty Fluffytail in a series of public information films, and held the record for the most appearances — more than 100 — on children’s storytelling TV series “Jackanory.”
Born into a poor family in Oldham, northwest England, in 1928, Cribbins left school in his early teens and got his start as a stage manager and bit player in regional repertory theater.
He moved on to West End productions before appearing in a dizzying range of British films, including 1960 comedy “Two-Way Stretch” alongside Peter Sellers; 1966 “Doctor Who” spinoff “Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 AD”; the 1967 James Bond spoof “Casino Royale”; and one of Alfred Hitchcock’s final thrillers, “Frenzy” in 1972.
He appeared in several movies in the “Carry On” series, was a memorable guest star on classic sitcom “Fawlty Towers” and had top 10 hits with comedy songs “Hole in the Ground” and “Right Said Fred.”
A younger generation knew Cribbins as Wilfred Mott, a companion to David Tennant’s titular Doctor, when ”Doctor Who” was revived in the early 21st century. He appeared in another BBC children’s series, “Old Jack’s Boat,” between 2013 and 2015, and filmed scenes earlier this year for an upcoming “Doctor Who” 60th-anniversary special.
“Doctor Who” showrunner Russell T. Davies remembered Cribbins as “a wonderful actor.”
“I’m so lucky to have known him ,” Davies said. “Thanks for everything, my old soldier. A legend has left the world.”
Cribbins’ wife of 66 years, Gill, died last year.
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https://www.news10.com/news/entertainment/bernard-cribbins-actor-who-delighted-uk-kids-dies-at-93/
| 2022-07-28T13:16:05
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| 0.968395
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/kansas-city-royals/articles/40206981
| 2022-07-28T13:16:08
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Lauren Pearl is giving new meaning to the term high-flying soprano.
Sure, her latest venture calls for her to sing up to a high C, but plenty of operatic heroines have to do that. What’s different in Pearl’s case is that she will be singing while scaling a 60-foot brick wall.
Pearl is performing the role of Louise in “Gould’s Wall,” a work that is receiving its world premiere at Toronto’s adventuresome Tapestry Opera beginning Aug. 4.
The opera is the brainchild of composer Brian Current, who regularly passes the wall on his way to work with students at the Glenn Gould School, which is housed in Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music. The brick facade is a remnant of a building that dates back to 1881, and it was preserved when the conservatory got a new, modern facility.
“That vertical space was just crying out for something to happen,” Current said. “With singers climbing on the walls, and the audience in the atrium looking up.”
He enlisted Liza Balkan, a performer, director and writer, who created a libretto that, as she said, tells “the story of a young artist, a woman, climbing the wall as a journey toward finding her own voice, the readiness to fly and soar.”
Along the way she encounters numerous characters who are harnessed to windows on the wall. Singing from below is Gould himself — the legendary pianist known for perfectionism who remains one of Canada’s most revered classical music figures nearly 40 years after his death.
“He is a presence in the building always,” Balkan said, and in the opera “he is there to support and also interrogate” the artist on her journey.
To play Louise, the company engaged Pearl, who was not a climber but had been training as an aerialist after, as she explained, “I fell in love with a circus performer.”
“I felt the story was very resonant and uplifting and inspiring,” Pearl said. “I thought immediately, I want to do that. But yeah, it’s daunting. It’s a high space.”
She has been practicing on the wall with the help of DangerBoy, a company whose website says it specializes in “stunts, rigging and special effects.” For the performances, Pearl will be securely fastened to a harness with a carabiner for extra protection.
Pearl said she found that singing while suspended from ropes and scaling a wall requires some adjustment in her vocal technique. ”There needs to be a line of energy through my entire body,” she said. “A greater awareness of tension and support.”
Current’s score, which runs about an hour, will be played by an orchestra consisting of five pianos along with an ensemble of brass, winds, strings and percussion.
The audience of just over 100 will be divided into sections, with prime seating on the atrium floor in reclining chairs angled to provide an easy view of the ascent.
“We thought at first of having people lie on mats,” Current said. “But our audience is largely people who aren’t 20.”
Other spectators will be on a balcony of the new building across from the wall. “Then you’re almost at the same level of the singers and also looking down and you can see the orchestra down below,” Current said.
Tom Comet, head rigger for DangerBoy, said the technical aspect of supporting Pearl’s climb is “pretty simple stuff. We’re pulling on a rope, we’re pulling some ropes through some pulleys, we’re redirecting that line.
“That said,” Comet added, “anytime we have human life in our hands … we need to be 100,000% sure that everything’s going to work as we anticipate.
“For me,” Comet said, “the coolest thing is that Lauren is actually belting out opera fearlessly while she’s suspended in the air, 40-50 feet up. It’s gonna be pretty incredible to experience.”
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Mike Silverman writes frequently about opera for The AP. He can be reached at mkslvrmn@gmail.com.
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| 2022-07-28T13:16:12
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/kansas-city-royals/articles/40207042
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tyler Perry will receive an honorary AARP award for uplifting communities and helping people “overcome various obstacles” through his foundation.
The organization announced Thursday that Perry will receive the honorary AARP Purpose Prize award during a virtual ceremony on Oct. 25. The famed filmmaker-actor- philanthropist will be recognized for his work through The Perry Foundation.
Perry’s foundation – which launched in 2006 – has focused on aiding several initiatives such as education, health, human rights, technology and global sustainability. Some of his charitable efforts include building a home for a great-grandmother of seven who lost everything in a fire; surprising kids with a trip to Disney World; and holding a camp quarantine at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta.
Five individuals will be awarded the AARP Purpose Prize, which honors people ages 50 and older who are making a difference through their “knowledge and life experience.” The recipients include Zerqa Abid of Columbus, Ohio, whose MY Project USA empowers youth to become productive citizens and strong community leaders in the U.S.; Jamesetta Ferguson of Louisville, Kentucky, whose Molo Village CDC takes a holistic approach toward community development; Sharron Rush of Austin, Texas, whose Knowbility creates an inclusive digital world for people with disabilities; Bill Toone of Escondido, California, whose ECOLIFE Conservation aims to protect wildlife, natural resources and the people who depend on them; and Imani Woody of Washington, D.C., whose Mary’s House for Older Adults creates affordable and communal housing.
AARP said 10 previously named Purpose Prize fellows will also be honored. Each of them will receive a $10,000 award to further the mission of their organization.
AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins said the recipients “deserve all of the praise and recognition we have to offer for their exemplary work.”
“We celebrate these inspiring individuals, who have used their decades of life experience to give back in a meaningful way, to be leaders in their communities, and to create a better future for us all,” Jenkins said.
AARP also announced the return of its Inspire Award for a second year. The general public can vote for the AARP Purpose Prize winner they want to win the award, which grants the recipient an additional $10,000 for their organization.
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https://www.news10.com/news/entertainment/tyler-perry-to-receive-honorary-aarp-purpose-prize-award/
| 2022-07-28T13:16:18
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/kansas-city-royals/articles/40207043
| 2022-07-28T13:16:21
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BARRE, Mass. (AP) — One by one, items purportedly taken from Native Americans massacred at Wounded Knee Creek emerged from the dark, cluttered display cases where they’ve sat for more than a century in a museum in rural Massachusetts.
Moccasins, necklaces, clothing, ceremonial pipes, tools and other objects were carefully laid out on white backgrounds as a photographer dutifully snapped pictures under bright studio lights.
It was a key step in returning scores of items displayed at the Founders Museum in Barre to tribes in South Dakota that have sought them since the 1990s.
“This is real personal,” said Leola One Feather, of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, as she observed the process as part of a two-person tribal delegation last week. “It may be sad for them to lose these items, but it’s even sadder for us because we’ve been looking for them for so long.”
Recent efforts to repatriate human remains and other culturally significant items such as those at the Founders Museum represent significant and solemn moments for tribes. But they also underscore the slow pace and the monumental task at hand.
Some 870,000 Native American artifacts — including nearly 110,000 human remains — that should be returned to tribes under federal law are still in the possession of colleges, museums and other institutions across the country, according to an Associated Press review of data maintained by the National Park Service.
The University of California, Berkeley tops the list, followed closely by the Ohio History Connection, the state’s historical society. State museums and universities in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Alabama, Illinois and Kansas as well as Harvard University round out the other top institutions.
And that’s not even counting items held by private institutions such as the Founders Museum, which maintains it does not receive federal funds and therefore doesn’t fall under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA, the 1990 law governing the return of tribal objects by institutions receiving federal money.
“They’ve had more than three decades,” says Shannon O’Loughlin, chief executive of the Association on American Indian Affairs, a national group that assists tribes with repatriations. “The time for talk is over. Enough reports and studying. It’s time to repatriate.”
Museum officials say they’ve stepped up efforts with added funding and staff, but continue to struggle with identifying artifacts collected during archaeology’s early years. They also say federal regulations governing repatriations remain time-consuming and cumbersome.
Dan Mogulof, an assistant vice chancellor at UC Berkeley, says the university is committed to repatriating the entire 123,000 artifacts in question “in the coming years at a pace that works for tribes.”
In January, the university repatriated the remains of at least 20 victims of the Indian Island Massacre of 1860 to the Wiyot Tribe in Humboldt County, California. But its Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology still holds more than 9,000 sets of ancestral remains, mainly from Bay-area tribes.
“We acknowledge the great harm and pain we have caused Native American people,” Mogulof said. “Our work will not be complete until all of the ancestors are home.”
At the Ohio History Connection, officials are working to create an inter-tribal burial ground to help bury ancestral remains for tribes forced to move from Ohio as the nation expanded, says Alex Wesaw, the organization’s director of American Indian relations.
The institution took similar steps in 2016 when it established a cemetery in northeast Ohio for the Delaware tribes of Oklahoma to re-bury nearly 90 ancestors who had been stored for centuries in museums in Pennsylvania.
Complicating matters, some of its more than 7,000 ancestral remains and 110,000 objects are thousands of years old, making it difficult to determine which modern-day tribe or tribes they should be returned to, Wesaw said.
At the Founders Museum, some 70 miles (112 kilometers) west of Boston, among the challenges has been determining what’s truly from the Wounded Knee Massacre, says Ann Meilus, the museum’s board president.
Some tribe members maintain as many as 200 items are from massacre victims, but Meilus said museum officials believe its less than a dozen, based on discussions with a tribe member more than a decade ago.
The collection was donated by Barre native Frank Root, a 19th century traveling showman who claimed he’d acquired the objects from a man tasked with digging mass graves following the massacre.
Among the macabre collection was a lock of hair reportedly cut from the scalp of Chief Spotted Elk, which the museum returned to one of the Lakota Sioux leader’s descendants in 1999. It also includes a “ghost shirt,” a sacred garment that some tribe members tragically believed could make them bulletproof.
“He sort of exaggerated things,” Meilus said of Root. “In reality, we’re not sure if any of the items were from Wounded Knee.”
More than 200 men, women, children and elderly people were killed on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1890 in one of the country’s worst massacres of Native Americans. The killings marked a seminal moment in the frontier battles the U.S. Army waged against tribes.
The U.S. Department of Interior recently proposed changes to the federal repatriation process that lay out more precise deadlines, clearer definitions and heftier penalties for noncompliance.
Tribe leaders say those steps are long overdue, but don’t address other fundamental problems, such as inadequate federal funding for tribes to do repatriation work.
Many tribes also still object to requirements that they explain the cultural significance of an item sought for repatriation, including how they’re used in tribal ceremonies, says Brian Vallo, a former governor of the Pueblo of Acoma in New Mexico who was involved in the 2020 repatriation of 20 ancestors from the National Museum of Finland and their re-burial at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.
“That knowledge is only for us,” he said. “It’s not ever shared.”
Stacy Laravie, the historic preservation officer for the Ponca Tribe in Nebraska, is optimistic museum leaders are sincere in seeking to rectify the past, in the wake of the national reckoning on racism that’s reverberated through the country in recent years.
Last month, she traveled with a tribal delegation to Harvard to receive the tomahawk of her ancestor, the Native American civil rights leader Chief Standing Bear. She’s also working with the university’s Peabody Museum to potentially repatriate other items significant to her tribe.
“We’re playing catch up from decades of things getting thrown under the rug,” Laravie said. “But I do believe their hearts are in the right place.”
Back at the Founders Museum, Jeffrey Not Help Him, an Oglala Sioux member whose family survived the Wounded Knee Massacre, hopes the items could return home this fall, as the museum has suggested.
“We look forward to putting them in a good place,” Not Help Him said. “A place of honor.”
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https://www.news10.com/news/entertainment/wounded-knee-artifacts-highlight-slow-pace-of-repatriations/
| 2022-07-28T13:16:24
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/kansas-city-royals/articles/40207313
| 2022-07-28T13:16:27
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VIENNA (AP) — Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Vienna on Thursday for bilateral talks that focused on migration as well as on the war in Ukraine and its consequences.
The meeting of the two central European leaders came only days after one of Orban’s closest associates resigned in protest over what she called a “pure Nazi” speech given by the Hungarian prime minister in which he railed against Europe becoming a “mixed race” society.
Nehammer sought to quickly distance himself from Orban’s controversial remarks, telling reporters in Vienna that he made clear to the Hungarian prime minister that “we in Austria reject, condemn in the strongest terms, any form of trivialization or relativization of racism or even antisemitism.”
While Orban’s anti-migrant stance and criticism of Western liberal values have long prompted a backlash, Saturday’s speech sparked a fresh wave of outrage throughout Europe and from the opposition in Hungary. In it, Orban declared that countries with large-scale migration from outside of Europe “are no longer nations.”
While Orban did not explicitly repeat these remarks in Vienna on Thursday, he stressed his anti-migration agenda and insisted on what he saw as the need to defend his country’s culture against outside influence.
“I don’t want Hungary to become an immigration country and I don’t want migration to become stronger in Hungary,” he said. “I have always held this point of view and I will continue to do so, this has no biological basis. This is not a racial issue for us. This is a question of culture. Quite simply, our civilization should be preserved as it is now.”
Nehammer, for his part, depicted migration as a “challenge” that needs to be fought.
Austria has taken in over 80,000 refugees from Ukraine and around 30,000 additional asylum applications during the first half of the year, the chancellor pointed out, calling the arrival of these people “challenges that Austria is actually facing now in addition to the energy crisis, in addition to inflation, in addition to the pandemic.”
In comparison, Germany has registered more than 900,000 refugees only from Ukraine since the outbreak of the war.
Both the Austrian and Hungarian leaders said their countries were planning a conference with Serbia on how to “curb irregular migration.”
Nehammer and Orban said they also discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its consequences on Europe, especially regarding sanctions against Russian energy exports, as well the two countries’ economic ties.
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Follow all AP stories on global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration.
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https://www.news10.com/news/international/austrian-hungarian-leaders-discuss-migration-ukraine-war/
| 2022-07-28T13:16:31
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https://sportspyder.com/nfl/houston-texans/articles/40206877
| 2022-07-28T13:16:33
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Cars crashed into tires and other garbage piled on a highway in the northern Netherlands in the early hours of Thursday, police said, as protests by radical farmers against government plans to rein in nitrogen emissions continued.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte branded the protests “unacceptable.”
Police in the northern province of Friesland said nobody was injured when several cars were involved in an accident caused by dumped garbage, but warned motorists to be alert to “extremely dangerous situations” caused by the farmers’ protest actions.
A handful of new protests took place overnight, including farmers burning hay bales near a major highway, despite police and security authorities appealing to farmers Wednesday to halt the dumping.
“Protesting is a fundamental right and as long as it stays within the limits of the law, a lot is possible,” the emergency services said in a joint statement. But they said the latest actions “seriously endanger road safety and can lead to life-threatening situations for road users.”
In a sign of the increasingly radicalized farmer protests, cleanup operations have been hampered by intimidation of contractors hired to clear roads and by the presence of asbestos in some of the piles of debris dumped on roads.
“Wilfully endangering others, damaging our infrastructure and threatening people who help clean up is beyond all limits,” Rutte said in a tweet.
“These life-threatening actions must stop. There are plenty of other ways to express your dissatisfaction within the law. Most farmers do that,” he added.
The farmers are angry at government targets for reining in emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia that they say threaten to decimate the farming industry and their way of life.
The ruling coalition wants to cut emissions of pollutants by 50% nationwide by 2030 to improve soil, air and water quality in an EU nation known for its intensive farming practices. It has called on provincial authorities to draw up plans to reduce emissions and earmarked an extra 24.3 billion euros ($24.6 billion) to fund the changes.
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https://www.news10.com/news/international/cars-hit-tires-dumped-on-dutch-highway-amid-farmer-protests/
| 2022-07-28T13:16:37
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https://sportspyder.com/nfl/houston-texans/articles/40206985
| 2022-07-28T13:16:39
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TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s push to obtain UNESCO World Heritage recognition for a former gold mine key to the nation’s industrialization will be delayed because its application was insufficient, officials said Thursday.
The efforts to obtain a UNESCO listing for the Sado Island mine were protested by South Korea and have added to their diplomatic frictions over Japan’s colonization of the Korean Peninsula and its actions in World War II.
The mine in northern Japan operated for nearly 400 years and was once the world’s largest gold producer before closing in 1989.
South Korea opposed the registration as inappropriate because of Japan’s wartime abuse of Korean laborers. Seoul has said Koreans brought to Japan during its 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula were put to forced labor at the mine.
Historians say Japan used hundreds of thousands of Korean laborers, including those forcibly brought from the Korean Peninsula, at mines and factories to make up for labor shortages, as most working-age men were sent to battlefronts across Asia and the Pacific.
The town and Niigata prefectural sites praise the Sado Island mine for mining technology development before and after industrialization. There is no mention of its wartime use of Korean laborers.
Japan submitted a letter of recommendation to nominate the mine to UNESCO earlier this year and hoped it would be listed next year. On Thursday, however, culture minister Shinsuke Suematsu told reporters registration next year “would be difficult.”
Suematsu said the UNESCO office cited “insufficiency” in the content of the application but he was not more specific. “It is extremely regrettable, but we have decided to resubmit the documents,” he said. An interim document will be submitted by the end of September and a formal version by Feb. 1.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs later said the additional information requested by UNESCO involved sections of a former waterway used to collect gold dust. While Japan provided an explanation for the waterway sections as a set, UNESCO wanted fuller descriptions for each of them separately. The agency said the issue is mostly technical and not related to interpretation of wartime history.
Another Japanese site with similar sensitivities was granted UNESCO recognition in 2015. Gunkanjima, or Battleship Island, in Nagasaki prefecture, was a former coal mine site recognized as important to the Meiji Industrial Revolution in Japan. South Korea protested that the site omitted mention of Koreans toiling on the island, which triggered a UNESCO decision urging Japan to present more balanced history.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government previously considered delaying the Sado Island nomination but apparently reversed itself after facing growing pressure from ultra-conservatives in the ruling party known for their efforts to whitewash Japan’s wartime past.
Relations between Tokyo and Seoul are at their lowest level in years due to disputes stemming from Japan’s sexual abuse of Korean women and use of forced laborers before and during World War II.
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Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/mariyamaguchi
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https://www.news10.com/news/international/japans-push-for-unesco-to-list-divisive-gold-mine-delayed/
| 2022-07-28T13:16:43
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https://sportspyder.com/nfl/houston-texans/articles/40207125
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Biden, Xi to hold fifth talk of their presidencies Thursday
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is speaking Thursday morning with China’s Xi Jinping, the fifth conversation of their presidencies, as the two leaders chart the future of their complicated relationship at a time of simmering economic and geopolitical tensions.
The call, which began at 8:33 a.m. EDT, comes as Biden aims to find new ways to work with the rising global power as well as strategies to contain China’s influence around the world. Differing perspectives on global health, economic policy and human rights have long tested the relationship — with China’s refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine adding further strain.
The latest pressure point has been House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s potential visit to Taiwan, the island that governs itself democratically and receives informal defensive support from the U.S., but which China considers part of its territory. Beijing has said it would view such a trip as a provocation, a threat U.S. officials are taking with heightened seriousness in light of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine.
“If the U.S. insists on going its own way and challenging China’s bottom line, it will surely be met with forceful responses,” Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters earlier this week. “All ensuing consequences shall be borne by the U.S.”
Pelosi would be the highest-ranking U.S. elected official to travel to Taiwan since Republican Newt Gingrich visited the island in 1997 when he was House speaker. Biden last week told reporters that U.S. military officials believed it was “not a good idea” for the speaker to visit the island at the moment.
John Kirby, a U.S. national security spokesman, said Wednesday that it was important for Biden and Xi to regularly touch base.
“The president wants to make sure that the lines of communication with President Xi remain open because they need to,” Kirby told reporters at a White House briefing. “There are issues where we can cooperate with China on, and there are issues where obviously there are friction and tension.”
Biden and Xi last spoke in March, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“This is one of the most consequential bilateral relationships in the world today, with ramifications well beyond both individual countries,” Kirby said.
The conversation comes as Biden has moved to shift U.S. reliance off Chinese manufacturing, including Senate passage Wednesday of legislation to encourage semiconductor companies to build more high-tech plants in the U.S. Biden wants to marshal global democracies to support infrastructure investments in low- and middle-income nations as an alternative to China’s “Belt and Road Initiative,” which aims to boost China trade with other global markets.
Kirby listed a number of areas of U.S,-China friction that he said would be part of the conversation, including “tensions over Taiwan, tensions over ... China’s aggressive course of behavior in the Indo-Pacific outside of Taiwan, tensions in the economic relationship” and over China’s reaction to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Biden, who has kept in place Trump-era tariffs on many Chinese-manufactured goods in order to maintain leverage over Beijing, is weighing whether to ease at least some of them in a move to lessen the impact of soaring inflation on American households.
U.S. officials have also criticized China’s “zero-COVID” policy of mass testing and lockdowns in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19 in its territory, labeling it misguided and fretting that it will further slow global economic growth.
Other points of strain include China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims, which the U.S. has declared a genocide, its militarization in the South China Sea, and global campaign of economic and political espionage.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wlbt.com/2022/07/28/biden-xi-hold-fifth-talk-their-presidencies-thursday/
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PARIS (AP) — A human rights group said it filed a legal complaint with a Paris court on Thursday alleging complicity by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince – who is visiting France – in the gruesome 2018 killing of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The Washington-based group, Democracy for the Arab World Now, or DAWN, called on French authorities to open a criminal investigation of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was scheduled to meet French President Emmanuel Macron for a working dinner later Thursday.
In a statement on its website, the group said it filed a 42-page complaint arguing that the prince was an accomplice to the torture of Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey in 2018 and his disappearance.
DAWN focuses on human rights violations in Gulf Arab autocracies, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It said two other rights groups backed its call for a French investigation and argued that the prince should not have immunity from prosecution because he is not the Saudi head of state.
“As a party to the U.N. Conventions against torture and enforced disappearances, France is obliged to investigate a suspect such as Bin Salman if he is present on French territory,” Sarah Leah Whitson, DAWN’s executive director, said in the statement.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
PARIS (AP) —
French President Emmanuel Macron plans to welcome Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to his presidential palace and offer him dinner Thursday, marking another step in the Saudi leader’s diplomatic rehabilitation less than four years after the killing of writer and critic Jamal Khashoggi.
Macron’s office described the meeting on Thursday evening as “a working dinner.” It will cap a long day for the French leader: He was in Guinea-Bissau, wrapping up a three-day visit to Africa, on Thursday morning.
The Saudi prince is making his first official visit to the European Union — he stopped in Greece before France — since the 2018 killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The U.S.-based journalist’s body was dismembered with a bone saw, according to Turkish officials.
France and other European nations are seeking to secure sources of energy to lessen their dependence on oil and gas supplies from Russia. France is also a major weapons and defense supplier to Gulf nations.
The prince has been steadily attracting big-name investors back to the kingdom since Khashoggi’s killing. He has also reset Saudi relations with Turkey, a key step toward rehabilitating his international standing.
Western intelligence determined that Prince Mohammed was complicit in the killing. The prince lost appalled supporters in the West who had previously been cheering his social reforms inside the kingdom. He maintains he had no knowledge of the operation that was carried out by people who directly reported to him.
Macron was one of the highest-profile world leaders to meet the prince shortly after the killing, during a tense chat caught on camera at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina in 2018. They have met several times since.
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https://www.news10.com/news/international/macron-boosting-saudi-princes-standing-with-dinner-invite/
| 2022-07-28T13:16:49
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https://sportspyder.com/nfl/miami-dolphins/articles/40205866
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Commanders owner Dan Snyder to testify before Congress
ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Washington Commanders Dan Snyder is set to testify Thursday morning before a congressional committee investigating the NFL team’s history of workplace misconduct.
A spokesperson for the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform says Snyder will give a deposition virtually and in private.
The spokesperson said in a statement on behalf of the committee: “Snyder has committed to providing full and complete testimony, and to answer the Committee’s questions about his knowledge of and contributions to the Commanders’ toxic work environment, as well as his efforts to interfere with the NFL’s internal investigation, without hiding behind non-disclosure or other confidentiality agreements.”
Snyder, who is out of the country, will testify voluntarily after committee members came to an agreement with his legal team on those terms. The committee had previously agreed to have Snyder testify under the terms of a subpoena it had initially issued.
The committee has the discretion to decide what, if any, information it releases from Snyder’s deposition.
Snyder is testifying a month after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell appeared before the committee via Zoom to discuss Washington’s workplace culture and the league’s investigation into it. Snyder was invited to testify at the same hearing and, through a lawyer, declined.
The committee launched this investigation last year after the league fined Washington $10 million following its review of workplace misconduct but did not release a written report of attorney Beth Wilkinson’s findings.
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More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Russian, French and American leaders are crisscrossing Africa to win support for their positions on the war in Ukraine, waging what some say is the most intense competition for influence on the continent since the Cold War.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and French President Emmanuel Macron are each visiting several African countries this week. Samantha Power, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, went to Kenya and Somalia last week. The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, will go to Ghana and Uganda next week.
“It’s like a new Cold War is playing out in Africa, where the rival sides are trying to gain influence,” said William Gumede, director of Democracy Works, a foundation promoting good governance.
Lavrov, in his travels across the continent where many countries are suffering drought and hunger, has sought to portray the West as the villain, blaming it for rising food prices, while the Western leaders have accused the Kremlin of cynically using food as a weapon and waging an imperial-style war of conquest — words calculated to appeal to listeners in post-colonial Africa.
Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia has been working to win support in Africa for several years, reinvigorating friendships that date back a half-century, when the Soviet Union backed many African movements fighting to end colonial rule.
“Now that campaign has gone into high gear,” Gumede said.
Moscow’s influence in Africa was on display in March during the U.N. vote to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While 28 African nations voted in favor of the resolution, a significant minority of countries on the continent — 25 — either voted to abstain or did not vote at all.
Russia’s top diplomat this week visited Egypt, Congo, Uganda and Ethiopia, pledging friendship and charging the U.S. and European countries with driving up food prices by pursuing “reckless” environmental policies. He also accused them of hoarding food during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The situation in Ukraine did additionally negatively affect food markets, but not due to the Russian special operation, rather due to the absolutely inadequate reaction of the West, which announced sanctions,” Lavrov said in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.
Lavrov was warmly received in Uganda by President Yoweri Museveni, who for years has been a U.S. ally but has refused to criticize Russia over the invasion. Museveni even suggested at the outbreak of the war that Putin’s actions might be understandable because Ukraine is in Russia’s sphere of influence.
Lavrov voiced support for reform of the U.N. Security Council to give African countries permanent seats and greater influence.
Appearing with Lavrov, the Ugandan leader spoke fondly of old ties with Russia, asking how he could spurn Moscow when he has good relations with countries that participated in slavery.
Museveni, an opinion leader on the continent who has held power for three decades, is an obvious choice for Russia as someone to strengthen ties with, said Ugandan political analyst Asuman Bisiika.
“Uganda is the center of gravity in East Africa,” Bisiika said.
Museveni, 77, has been strictly wearing a mask in public since the COVID-19 outbreak. But he did not have one on when greeting Lavrov in front of photographers, apparently wanting to show warmth to the Russian. Museveni had a mask back on in his next public appearance a day later.
Russia is also courting African public opinion through its state television network, RT, formerly known as Russia Today. RT has announced that it will open a new bureau in Johannesburg.
RT was abruptly removed from Africa’s biggest pay-TV platform in Africa, Johannesburg-based Multichoice, in March after the European Union and Britain imposed sanctions against Russia. It is not clear whether establishing the new bureau will enable RT to resume broadcasts to Africa through Multichoice, which claims nearly 22 million subscribers on the continent.
“For Russia, it is the battle to be heard in Africa. It is not important for the actual war effort but for their long-term political influence,” Anton Harber, professor of journalism at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. “They see it as fertile ground to cultivate their influence, and, of course, votes in the U.N. are important.”
On his tour of Africa, France’s Macron accused the Kremlin of using TV channels like RT to spread propaganda in support of the war. And he charged the Kremlin with blackmailing the world by thwarting the export of grain from Ukraine.
“They are blackmailing because they are the ones who blocked cereals in Ukraine. They are the ones who regulate their cereals,” he said in Benin. His itinerary also included Cameroon and Guinea-Bissau.
Macron appealed to Africans to side against Russia.
“I’m telling you here in Africa, a continent that has suffered from colonial imperialism: Russia is one of the last colonial, imperial powers. She decides to invade a neighboring country to defend her interests,” he said. “That’s the reality.”
Power, the top U.S. AID official, was in East Africa to pledge aid to help the region’s fight against hunger amid a devastating multi-year drought. She did not hold back in criticizing Russia.
“By blockading Ukraine’s grain exports and restricting the trade of Russia’s own fertilizer, Putin’s actions have had the consequence of inflicting pain on the people of Kenya and on other countries throughout the world,” Power said in Nairobi. “He is hurting the people of Kenya in order to benefit his own situation.”
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AP journalist Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala, Uganda, contributed.
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https://sportspyder.com/nfl/miami-dolphins/articles/40206550
| 2022-07-28T13:16:57
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Kremlin poker-faced on US swap offer to free Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan
MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin warned Thursday that a possible prisoner swap with the United States involving American basketball star Brittney Griner needs to be negotiated quietly without fanfare.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Washington had offered Russia a deal that would bring home Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan. A person familiar with the matter said the U.S. government proposed trading convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Whelan and Griner.
Asked about the U.S. offer, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied that prisoner swaps were typically negotiated discreetly behind the scenes.
“We know that such issues are discussed without any such release of information,” Peskov told reporters during a conference call. “Normally, the public learns about it when the agreements are already implemented.”
He emphasized that “no agreements have been finalized” and refused to provide further details.
In a separate statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russian and U.S. officials have conducted negotiations about possible prisoner exchanges and “there has been no concrete result yet.”
“We proceed from the assumption that interests of both parties should be taken into account during the negotiations,” Zakharova said.
Blinken’s comments marked the first time the U.S. government publicly revealed any concrete action it has taken to secure Griner’s release. The two-time Olympic gold medalist and player for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury was arrested at a Moscow airport in mid-February when inspectors found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage.
In a sharp reversal of previous policy, Blinken said he expects to speak with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss the proposed prisoner deal and other matters. It would be their first phone call since before Russia sent its troops into Ukraine.
Russia has for years expressed interest in the release of Bout, a Russian arms dealer once labeled the “Merchant of Death.” He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2012 on charges that he schemed to illegally sell millions of dollars in weapons.
Griner’s trial on drug charges started in a court outside Moscow this month, and she testified Wednesday that she didn’t know how the cartridges ended up in her bag but that she had a doctor’s recommendation to use cannabis to treat career-related pain.
The 31-year-old has pleaded guilty but said she had no criminal intent in bringing the cartridges to Russia and packed in haste for her return to play in a Russian basketball league during the WNBA’s offseason. She faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of transporting drugs.
On Wednesday, Griner testified that a language interpreter translated only a fraction of what was being said while she was detained at Moscow’s airport and that officials told her to sign documents, but “no one explained any of it to me.”
Griner also said that besides the poor translation, she received no explanation of her rights or access to a lawyer during the initial hours of her detention. She said she used a translation app on her phone to communicate with a customs officer.
Her arrest came at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington ahead of Russia sending troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. Griner’s five months of detention have raised strong criticism among teammates and supporters in the United States.
The Biden administration has faced political pressure to free Griner and other Americans whom the U.S. has declared to be “wrongfully detained” — a designation sharply rejected by Russian officials.
Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan, was sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges in 2020. He and his family have vigorously asserted his innocence. The U.S. government has denounced the charges as false.
Washington has long resisted prisoner swaps out of concern that they could encourage additional hostage-taking and promote false equivalency between a wrongfully detained American and a foreign national regarded as justly convicted.
In April, however, the government struck a deal to trade U.S. Marine veteran Trevor Reed for jailed Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko.
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Matthew Lee and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wlbt.com/2022/07/28/kremlin-poker-faced-us-swap-offer-free-brittney-griner-paul-whelan/
| 2022-07-28T13:16:59
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In his extensive papal travels, Pope Francis has never journeyed farther north than Iqaluit, capital city of the Inuit-governed territory of Nunavut. On Friday, it will be the final stop of his somber six-day visit to Canada.
It is a distinctive destination – home to about 7,500 people but not a single traffic light, with no road or rail links to the outside world. Its lone Catholic church serves parishioners from at least five continents; more than 100 of them routinely fill the pews each Sunday.
Iqaluit has welcomed world leaders before. Queen Elizabeth, for example, visited for about two and a half hours in 2002, three years after Nunavut was carved out of the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories to become a territory of its own.
The pope’s similarly brief stopover, in contrast, is not intended to be celebratory. He’ll be finishing up a Canadian visit focused on in-person apologies for the abuse and disrespect inflicted on many thousands of Indigenous Canadians – including Inuit youths — who attended Catholic-run boarding schools from the late 1800s to the 1970s.
Given the visit’s purpose, there are mixed feelings about it in Iqaluit, among Inuit leaders and also on the part of the Rev. Daniel Perreault, who oversees the parish of Our Lady of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church.
He said only a handful of his parishioners are Inuit. Most of the others hail from Africa, South America, Asia and other faraway places, have no links to the past problems of the boarding schools and would like to welcome Pope Francis joyously on Friday, Perreault said.
But the region’s Inuit organizations want the visit to be focused on their own community, said the priest. “They do not want it being an occasion of a Catholic feast.”
Iqaluit’s deputy mayor, Solomon Awa, said the Inuit community – which comprises more than half of the city’s population – abounds with swirling emotions. There is gratitude that an apology is forthcoming, and frustration that it took so long to come about.
“It will be very exciting for the people,” Awa said. “I hope that this will get us moving forward to lift ourselves as Inuit, to the point where we say, ‘Yes, we had many downsides in the past but we must move on.’”
Unlike two of his brothers, Awa was spared from attending a boarding school – his father insisted on keeping him at home as a helping hand.
“There are people still with broken hearts who went to residential schools… some of them still hold grudges with what happened,” Awa said. “They are happy that the pope is coming, finally, to say sorry for what happened.”
Iqaluit is by far the largest municipality in Nunavut, a vast territory straddling the Arctic Circle. It is roughly the size of Alaska and California combined, with a mostly Inuit population of about 40,000.
For much of the year, the weather can be severe. In February 2010, Iqaluit hosted a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of Seven nations; several of the dignitaries went dog-sledding in sub-zero temperatures.
Pope Francis, however, is expected to encounter cloudy skies and mild temperatures – about 57 F or 14 C.
“My gosh, he picked the softest kind of a moment to go,” teased David Phillips, senior climatologist for Environment Canada. “Until he feels what it’s like in February, it’s no badge of courage.”
Nunavut’s premier, P.J. Akeeagok, is pleased and grateful that Iqaluit was chosen as one of the three main stops on the pope’s itinerary.
“When people from around the world think of the north, they often think it’s vast, white and barren, when it’s totally opposite,” he told The Associated Press. “We have so much life, in terms of the resiliency of the people… We have incredible opportunities both culturally and economically.”
Along with opportunities, Iqaluit has its share of problems. Last fall, government officials declared a state of emergency after water in the capital was deemed undrinkable and potentially tainted with petroleum. They issued a do-not-consume order, and potable water was flown in by plane.
In May, the city issued an advisory warning that some local youths were throwing rocks at taxis – the main source of public transportation in Iqaluit.
As for the papal visit, community preparations have been low-key. The city says the main street will be closed to regular traffic for five hours on Friday, and in the run-up to the visit volunteers were invited to join in a clean-up of the downtown area.
Perreault, the Catholic priest, said his parishioners have been pitching in, offering to provide food and lodging to priests and other Catholic personnel traveling to Iqaluit from afar for the pope’s visit.
“Life is not always exciting here,” Perreault said. “But people here are happy and enjoy being in a community, sharing and praying together. It’s a very nice, joyful community.”
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Gillies reported from Toronto, where he is AP’s bureau chief. Crary, who reported from New York, is a former Toronto bureau chief who covered the creation of Nunavut in 1999.
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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https://www.news10.com/news/international/pope-ends-canadian-visit-with-stop-in-small-far-north-city/
| 2022-07-28T13:17:02
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/toronto-blue-jays/articles/40206584
| 2022-07-28T13:17:03
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/toronto-blue-jays/articles/40206645
| 2022-07-28T13:17:09
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/toronto-blue-jays/articles/40206697
| 2022-07-28T13:17:09
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces launched a missile attack on the Kyiv area for the first time in weeks Thursday and pounded the northern Chernihiv region as well, in what Ukraine said was revenge for standing up to the Kremlin.
Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, announced a counteroffensive to take back the occupied Kherson region in the country’s south, territory seized by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces early in the war.
The Vyshgorod district on the outskirts of Kyiv was targeted early in the morning, and an “infrastructure object” was hit, regional Gov. Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram. There was no immediate word on any casualties. Vyshgorod is 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the capital’s center.
Kuleba linked the strikes to the Day of Statehood, a commemoration that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instituted last year and Ukraine marked for the time on Thursday.
“Russia, with the help of missiles, is mounting revenge for the widespread popular resistance, which the Ukrainians were able to organize precisely because of their statehood,” Kuleba told Ukrainian television. “Ukraine has already broken Russia’s plans and will continue to defend itself.”
Chernihiv regional Gov. Vyacheslav Chaus reported that the Russians also fired missiles from the territory of Belarus at the village of Honcharivska. The Chernihiv region had not been targeted in weeks.
Russian troops withdrew from the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions months ago after failing to capture either. The renewed strikes come a day after the leader of pro-Kremlin separatists in the east, Denis Pushilin, urged Russian forces to “liberate Russian cities founded by the Russian people — Kyiv, Chernihiv, Poltava, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk.”
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, also came under a barrage of shelling overnight, according to the mayor. The southern city of Mykolaiv was fired on as well, with one person reported injured.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military kept up a counterattack in the Kherson region, knocking out of commission a key bridge over the Dnieper River on Wednesday.
Ukrainian media quoted Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich as saying the operation to liberate Kherson is underway, with Kyiv’s forces planning to isolate Russian troops and leave them with three options — “retreat, if possible, surrender or be destroyed.”
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said the Russians are concentrating maximum forces in the direction of Kherson, warning: “A very large-scale movement of their troops has begun.”
The British military said Ukraine has used its new, Western-supplied long-range artillery to damage at least three of the bridges across the Dnieper that Russia relies on to supply its forces.
Ukraine’s presidential office said Thursday morning that Russian shelling of cities and villages over the past 24 hours killed at least five civilians, all of them in the eastern Donetsk province, and wounded nine.
Fighting in recent weeks has focused on Donetsk province. It has intensified in recent days as Russian forces appeared to emerge from a reported “operational pause” after capturing neighboring Luhansk province.
A missile struck a residential building in Toretsk early Thursday morning, destroying two floors.
“Missile terror again. We will not give up. … We will not be intimidated,” Donetsk regional Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram.
Military analysts believe Russian forces are focusing their efforts on capturing the cities of Bakhmut and Siversk in Donetsk province.
Zelenskyy instituted the Day of Statehood to remind Ukrainians about the country’s history as an independent state. The commemoration honors Prince Vladimir, who made Christianity the official religion of the medieval state of Kyivan Rus more than 1,000 years ago.
The Kremlin also lays claim to the heritage of Kyivan Rus. In 2016, Putin erected a monument to Prince Vladimir near the Kremlin.
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Follow the AP’s coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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https://www.news10.com/news/international/russia-steps-up-strikes-on-ukraine-amid-counterattacks/
| 2022-07-28T13:17:08
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/toronto-blue-jays/articles/40206802
| 2022-07-28T13:17:15
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LONDON (AP) — A British judge jailed a man who killed his grandfather for life Thursday in the first crown court sentencing to be televised in Britain.
Judge Sarah Munro’s remarks were the first to be broadcast live on news channels after a change in law to allow cameras in British crown courts, which deal with serious criminal cases.
The legal change was made in 2020, but it was only implemented Thursday because of delays due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Munro sentenced Ben Oliver, 25, to life in prison with a minimum term of 10 years and eight months for the manslaughter of his 74-year-old grandfather.
The case was heard at the Central Criminal Court in London, which routinely hears the country’s most high-profile cases including murders and terrorism trials.
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said the move will help the public better understand the decisions judges make in complex criminal cases.
“Opening up the courtroom to cameras to film the sentencing of some of the country’s most serious offenders will improve transparency and reinforce confidence in the justice system,” Raab said in a statement.
Under the change in the law, crown court judges can be filmed delivering their sentencing remarks. Only the judge will be on camera to protect the privacy of victims, witnesses and jurors.
Previously court proceedings were only broadcast from certain Court of Appeal cases.
Broadcasters hailed the change as a “landmark moment for open justice.”
“Court reporting is vital to democracy and the rule of law and this long overdue change is welcomed,” said John Battle, chair of the Media Lawyers Association.
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https://www.news10.com/news/international/uk-crown-court-judges-sentencing-broadcast-for-first-time/
| 2022-07-28T13:17:16
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| 0.965136
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/toronto-blue-jays/articles/40207098
| 2022-07-28T13:17:21
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BERLIN (AP) — A large wildfire on the German-Czech border is spreading and threatening to destroy a forested national park popular with tourists.
The fire in the region, called Bohemian Switzerland on the Czech side and the Saxon Switzerland national park on the German side, started last weekend. It had seemed to be under control but spread again early Thursday, German news agency dpa reported.
Hundreds of firefighters on both sides of the border battled the flames with help from reinforcements from neighboring Poland and Slovakia. Eight firefighting helicopters were working to douse the flames in the hilly and rocky region that is difficult to access and where about 250 hectares (618 acres) of forest were burning Thursday.
Local authorities warned tourists to stay away from the area.
Saxony state officials banned hikers from entering several forests in the region. To prevent additional blazes, they also asked local residents not to set off fireworks at private parties,
“It’s all very tense,. We can by no means speak of an easing” of the fire yet ”firefighters have reached the limits of their capabilities, Saxony Interior Minister Armin Schuster said.
Another large forest fire in the Elbe-Elster district of the eastern German state of Brandenburg was under control Thursday after flaring up again on Wednesday evening, local authorities said. The fire was still burning an area of 500 hectares (1,236 acres).
A police helicopter scouted the area with a thermal camera to look for pockets of embers that could ignite into flames. Some areas are contaminated with World War II ammunition and are too dangerous for firefighters to enter because the heat or human contact could cause explosions.
Germany’s army has sent several military helicopters to both fires to support local units.
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https://www.news10.com/news/international/wildfires-in-germany-czechia-threatening-tourist-region/
| 2022-07-28T13:17:22
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| 0.963342
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/toronto-blue-jays/articles/40207134
| 2022-07-28T13:17:27
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama is set to execute a man Thursday evening who was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend nearly three decades ago, despite a request from the victim’s family to spare his life.
Joe Nathan James Jr. is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at 6 p.m. CDT at a south Alabama prison. James was convicted and sentenced to death in the 1994 shooting death of Faith Hall, 26, in Birmingham. Hall’s daughters have said they would rather James serve life in prison. But Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Wednesday she planned to let the execution proceed.
Prosecutors said James briefly dated Hall and that he became obsessed after she rejected him, stalking and harassing her for months before killing her. On Aug. 15, 1994, after Hall had been out shopping with a friend, James forced his way inside the friend’s apartment, pulled a gun from his waistband and shot Hall three times, according to court documents.
A Jefferson County jury first convicted James of capital murder in 1996 and voted to recommend the death penalty, which a judge imposed. The conviction was overturned when a state appeals court ruled a judge had wrongly admitted some police reports into evidence. James was retried and again sentenced to death in 1999, when jurors rejected defense claims that he was under emotional duress at the time of the shooting.
Hall’s two daughters, who were 3 and 6 when their mother was killed, had said recently they would rather James serve life in prison.
“I just feel like we can’t play God. We can’t take a life. And it’s not going to bring my mom back,” one of the daughters, Terryln Hall, told The Associated Press in a recent telephone interview.
“We thought about it and prayed about it, and we found it in ourselves to forgive him for what he did. We really wish there was something that we could do to stop it,” Hall had said, adding the road to forgiveness was long.
“I did hate him. I did. And I know hate is such a strong feeling word, but I really did have hate in my heart. As I got older and realized, you can’t walk around with hate in your heart. You still got to live. And once I had kids of my own, you know, I can’t pass it down to my kids and have them walk around with hate in their hearts,” she said.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall had urged Ivey to let the execution go forward, writing that “it is our obligation to ensure that justice is done for the people of Alabama.”
“The jury in James’s case unanimously decided that his brutal murder of Faith Hall warranted a sentence of death,” Marshall said.
In response to a reporter’s question, Ivey said Wednesday she would not intervene.
“My staff and I have researched all the records and all the facts and there’s no reason to change the procedure or modify the outcome. The execution will go forward,” she said.
James has acted as his own attorney in his bid to stop his execution, mailing handwritten lawsuits and appeal notices to the courts from death row. A lawyer on Wednesday filed the latest appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on his behalf.
James asked justices for a stay, noting the opposition of Hall’s family and arguing that Alabama did not give inmates adequate notice of their right to select an alternate execution method.
He argued that Alabama officials, after lawmakers approved nitrogen hypoxia as a new execution method, gave inmates only a brief window of time to select the new method and inmates did not know what was at stake when they were handed a selection form without any explanation. Alabama is not scheduling executions for inmates who selected nitrogen. The state has not developed a system for using nitrogen to carry out death sentences.
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https://www.news10.com/news/national/alabama-execution-set-over-opposition-from-victims-family/
| 2022-07-28T13:17:28
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/toronto-blue-jays/articles/40207219
| 2022-07-28T13:17:30
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HONOLULU (AP) — A U.S. defense contractor and his wife who lived for decades under the identities of two dead Texas children have been charged with identity theft and conspiring against the government, according to federal court records unsealed in Honolulu.
Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison, both in their 60s, who allegedly lived for decades under the names Bobby Edward Fort and Julie Lyn Montague, respectively, were arrested Friday in Kapolei on the island of Oahu.
Prosecutors are seeking to have the couple held without bail, which could indicate the case is about more than fraudulently obtaining drivers’ licenses, passports and Defense Department credentials.
Those documents helped Primrose get secret security clearance with the U.S. Coast Guard and as a defense contractor and old photos show the couple wearing uniforms of the KGB, the former Russian spy agency, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Muehleck said in court papers. Faded Polaroids of each in uniform were included in the motion to have them held.
A “close associate” said Morrison lived in Romania while it was a Soviet bloc country, Muehleck said.
Morrison’s attorney said her client never lived in Romania and that she and Primrose tried the same jacket on as a joke and posed for photos in it. Even if the couple used new identities, attorney Megan Kau told The Associated Press, they have lived law-abiding lives for three decades.
“She wants everyone to know she’s not a spy,” Kau said. “This has all been blown way out of proportion. It’s government overreaching.”
Prosecutors said there is a high risk the couple would flee if freed. They also suggested that Primrose, who was an avionics electrical technician in the Coast Guard, was highly skilled to communicate secretly if released.
The couple is also believed to have other aliases, Muehleck said.
A lawyer for Primrose declined comment. A bail hearing was scheduled for Thursday in U.S. District Court.
The secret clearance Primrose had provides access to information that is “enormously valuable to our enemies,” said Kevin O’Grady, a Honolulu defense attorney not involved in the case.
The Coast Guard works closely with the Army and Navy, helps with counterintelligence and serves as the country’s maritime border patrol, said O’Grady, an Army reservist and lieutenant colonel judge advocate.
“The Coast Guard has a unique perspective on our vulnerabilities,” he said, including how to infiltrate the country through water ports. Hawaii, a major military center, “is a prime target for a lot of espionage and such,” he said.
For one family whose deceased child’s name was stolen, the news Wednesday came as a shock.
John Montague, who lost his daughter Julie in 1968 at 3 weeks of age, was stunned to learn someone had been living under her name for so long.
“I still can’t believe it happened,” Montague, 91, told AP. “The odds are like one-in-a-trillion that they found her and used her name. People stoop to do anything nowadays. Let kids rest in peace.”
Primrose and Morrison were born in 1955 and they attended high school together in Port Lavaca, Texas, and then went to Stephen F. Austin University, according to court records. They married in 1980.
There is no indication in court papers why the couple in 1987 assumed the identities of deceased children who would have been more than a decade younger than them. But an affidavit filed by Special Agent Dennis Thomas of the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service noted that the couple lost their home in Nacogdoches, Texas, to foreclosure that year.
They remarried under their assumed names in 1988, Thomas said.
Court records don’t provide any information about what happened from the time they assumed their new identities until 1994, when Primrose, then about 39, enlisted in the Coast Guard as Fort, who would have been about 27.
If there was an obvious age discrepancy between what Primrose looked like and the birth certificate he presented, “that’s an abject failure,” O’Grady said.
“That’s something if they can figure it out now, they should have caught it then,” he said.
Montague said that “somebody’s not doing their jobs.”
Primrose and Morrison applied for and received multiple passports under their assumed names, according to court records. But in 1999 Primrose also applied for and was issued a passport under his legal name while also holding a passport in Fort’s name.
Primrose was in the service until 2016, when he began work for an unnamed defense contractor at the U.S. Coast Guard Air station at Barbers Point.
“While he held that secret clearance with the U.S. Coast Guard, defendant Primrose was required to report any foreign travel,” prosecutors wrote. “Investigation has revealed that defendant Primrose did not report several trips to Canada while he did report other foreign travel.”
The couple lived in a Honolulu suburb in a modest two-bedroom bungalow beneath palm trees. They owned a neighboring house they rented to military personnel, said Mai Ly Schara, who lived next door.
She knew them as Bob and Lynn, with Morrison apparently Julie Lyn Montague’s middle name.
Primrose did yard work for Schara for $50 a month, she said. Morrison took in, fed and spayed and neutered cats. She also had several rabbits and dedicated a room to the pets.
“They kept to themselves, but they were friendly,” Schara said. “They just kind of were, like, a little nerdy.”
Schara wasn’t sure what Primrose did for a living, but thought it was military related. Morrison once worked as a parking attendant at a Waikiki hotel but had been tutoring neighborhood children.
The FBI created a scene in the quiet neighborhood when they searched the house and took photos.
“It was just shocking, like, oh my gosh,” Schara said. “It was pretty crazy.”
The State Department declined to comment on the arrests.
The couple is charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the U.S., false statement in passport application and aggravated identity theft.
Fort, who lived fewer than three months, died in October 1967 at the same hospital where Julie Montague passed away about three months later in January 1968. They are buried 14 miles (23 kilometers) apart.
When Tonda Ferguson learned from her father that Morrison had used her late sister’s birth certificate to create an alias, she thought of her mother, who died in 2003, and how many years had gone by.
“For all the mothers who are living and have to know this happened to their babies, I can’t even begin to imagine,” Ferguson said. “I’m glad my mama’s with the Lord. This would be so traumatic for her.”
Ferguson was in eighth grade when her sister died. She never got to see her little sister or hold her. She was buried in Burnet, Texas, the small town where they lived at the time outside of Austin.
“She came from a place of love, deep love,” Ferguson said. “For someone to turn around to steal her identity for evil, it’s tough. It’s hurtful. … I hope they rot.”
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Melley reported from Los Angeles. Caleb Jones in Kapolei, Hawaii, and Rhonda Shafner in New York City contributed to this report.
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https://www.news10.com/news/national/hawaii-pair-accused-of-conspiracy-taking-ids-of-dead-babies/
| 2022-07-28T13:17:35
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/toronto-blue-jays/articles/40207229
| 2022-07-28T13:17:36
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ATLANTA — A Clayton County Police officer is in critical condition after being shot by a woman who they believed was suicidal. That woman then drove to Atlanta where she was shot by an APD officer, officials explained.
It all happened Wednesday night at a home in Clayton County with a suicide call around 11 p.m. in Jonesboro off Newbury Drive. Police say they got three different calls about the woman. A final caller said they heard multiple shots fired and that an officer was down in the yard.
The suspect, identified as 25-year-old Aiyanah Pryor, left the home and began heading northbound on Interstate 75. Police in surrounding jurisdictions were notified of the situation and that's when APD officers spotted the vehicle in southwest Atlanta.
APD officers confronted the woman off Polar Rock Road. They demanded she show her hands, but as an officer approached, the suspect fired at the officers, police said. Atlanta officers returned fire and struck the woman.
No officers in Atlanta were injured in the shootout, however, the officer in Clayton County, identified as Demika Lloyd, is at Grady Hospital in serious but stable condition. She underwent surgery and was listed in critical but stable condition. The suspect is also in critical condition at Atlanta Medical Center after she was shot. Police describe her injuries as "life threatening."
11Alive spoke with the Clayton County police chief who said Officer Lloyd has been with the department for a year and a half working the overnight shift. He said he is hopeful that she will make a full recovery.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is now handling the incident.
This is a developing story. Check back often for new information.
Also download the 11Alive News app and sign up to receive alerts for the latest on this story and other breaking news in Atlanta and north Georgia.
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https://www.kens5.com/article/news/crime/clayton-officer-shot-suspect-shootout-in-atlanta/85-0a0a6d5f-cc97-4cc7-8cee-d191bd519d4b
| 2022-07-28T13:17:38
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1015 LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) _ AC Immune SA (ACIU) on Thursday reported a loss of $20.4 million in its second quarter.
The 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland-based company said it had a loss of 24 cents per share.
The results matched Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was also for a loss of 24 cents per share.
The company's shares closed at $3.38. A year ago, they were trading at $7.16.
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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on ACIU at https://www.zacks.com/ap/ACIU
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https://www.myjournalcourier.com/business/article/AC-Immune-Q2-Earnings-Snapshot-17334585.php
| 2022-07-28T13:17:39
|
en
| 0.960353
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DULUTH, Ga. (AP) _ Agco Corp. (AGCO) on Thursday reported second-quarter profit of $177.7 million.
On a per-share basis, the Duluth, Georgia-based company said it had net income of $2.37. Earnings, adjusted for restructuring costs, were $2.38 per share.
The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.18 per share.
The farm equipment maker posted revenue of $2.95 billion in the period, which missed Street forecasts. Eight analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.96 billion.
Agco expects full-year earnings in the range of $11.70 to $11.90 per share, with revenue in the range of $12.4 billion to $12.6 billion.
Agco shares have decreased 11% since the beginning of the year. The stock has decreased 17% in the last 12 months.
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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on AGCO at https://www.zacks.com/ap/AGCO
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https://www.myjournalcourier.com/business/article/Agco-Q2-Earnings-Snapshot-17334594.php
| 2022-07-28T13:17:40
|
en
| 0.953756
|
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) _ Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALNY) on Thursday reported a loss of $277.4 million in its second quarter.
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company said it had a loss of $2.29 per share.
The results did not meet Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of $1.62 per share.
The RNA interference drug developer posted revenue of $224.8 million in the period, which also fell short of Street forecasts. Nine analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $258.7 million.
Alnylam shares have declined 16% since the beginning of the year. The stock has dropped 20% in the last 12 months.
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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on ALNY at https://www.zacks.com/ap/ALNY
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https://www.myjournalcourier.com/business/article/Alnylam-Q2-Earnings-Snapshot-17334656.php
| 2022-07-28T13:17:40
|
en
| 0.960407
|
MADISON, N.J. (AP) _ Anywhere Real Estate Inc. (HOUS) on Thursday reported second-quarter net income of $88 million.
On a per-share basis, the Madison, New Jersey-based company said it had net income of 75 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to 69 cents per share.
The real estate brokerage operator posted revenue of $2.14 billion in the period.
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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on HOUS at https://www.zacks.com/ap/HOUS
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https://www.myjournalcourier.com/business/article/Anywhere-Real-Estate-Q2-Earnings-Snapshot-17334609.php
| 2022-07-28T13:17:41
|
en
| 0.909542
|
LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Ares Management LP (ARES) on Thursday reported second-quarter net income of $39.7 million.
The Los Angeles-based company said it had profit of 21 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 74 cents per share.
The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 70 cents per share.
The private equity firm posted revenue of $601.4 million in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $618.2 million.
Ares Management shares have dropped 19% since the beginning of the year. The stock has decreased 2% in the last 12 months.
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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on ARES at https://www.zacks.com/ap/ARES
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https://www.myjournalcourier.com/business/article/Ares-Management-Q2-Earnings-Snapshot-17334598.php
| 2022-07-28T13:17:43
|
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| 0.939152
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CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Abortion bans set to take effect this week in Wyoming and North Dakota have been temporarily blocked by judges in those states amid lawsuits arguing that the bans violate their state constitutions.
A judge in Wyoming on Wednesday sided with a firebombed women’s health clinic and others who argued the ban would harm health care workers and their patients, while a North Dakota judge sided with the state’s only abortion clinic, Red River Women’s Clinic in Fargo.
The Wyoming law was set to take effect Wednesday. The North Dakota law was set to take effect Thursday.
Meanwhile, West Virginia lawmakers moved ahead with a ban amid protests and dozens speaking against the measure.
During hours of debate leading up to the 69-23 vote in the Republican-dominated House of Delegates in West Virginia, the sound of screams and chants from protesters standing outside the chamber rang through the room.
“Face us,” the crowd yelled.
The latest court action in North Dakota and Wyoming put them among several states including Kentucky, Louisiana and Utah where judges have temporarily blocked implementation of “trigger laws” while lawsuits play out.
Attorneys arguing before Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens, in Jackson, Wyoming, disagreed over whether the state constitution provided a right to abortion that would nullify the state’s abortion “trigger” law that took effect Wednesday.
Owens proved most sympathetic, though, with arguments that the ban left pregnant patients with dangerous complications and their doctors in a difficult position as they balanced serious medical risks against the possibility of prosecution.
“That is a possible irreparable injury to the plaintiffs. They are left with no guidance,” Owens said.
Several states including Wyoming recently passed abortion “trigger” bans should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade, which happened June 24. The U.S. Supreme Court formally issued its judgment Tuesday.
After a more than three-week review, Gov. Mark Gordon, a Republican, last week gave the go-ahead for the Wyoming abortion ban he signed into law in March to take effect Wednesday but it is instead on hold after the ruling.
The Wyoming law would outlaw abortions except in cases of rape or incest or to protect the mother’s life or health, not including psychological conditions. Doctors and others who provide illegal abortions under Wyoming’s new law could get up to 14 years in prison.
The four Wyoming women and two nonprofits that sued Monday to contest the new law claim it violates several rights guaranteed by the state constitution. Wyoming Special Assistant Attorney General Jay Jerde was skeptical, saying the state constitution neither explicitly nor implicitly allowed abortion.
“No such right exists. You can’t infringe what isn’t there,” Jerde told Owens.
The lawsuit claims the abortion ban will harm the women — two obstetricians, a pregnant nurse and a University of Wyoming law student — by outlawing potentially life-saving treatment options for their patients or themselves.
Those suing include a nonprofit opening a Casper women’s and LGBTQ health clinic, Wellspring Health Access, that would have offered abortions. A May arson attack has set back the clinic’s opening from mid-June until at least the end of this year.
In North Dakota, Burleigh County District Judge Bruce Romanick sided with the state’s only abortion clinic that the state had moved fast to let the law take effect. The clinic had argued that a 30-day clock should not have started until the U.S. Supreme Court issued its certified judgment on Tuesday.
The ruling will give the Red River clinic more time to relocate a few miles away to Moorhead, Minnesota, where abortion remains legal. North Dakota’s law would make abortion illegal in the state except in cases of rape, incest and the life of the mother.
Meetra Mehdizadeh, attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is helping the clinic with the suit, said the plaintiffs “will do everything in our power to fight this ban and keep abortion accessible in North Dakota for as long as possible.”
In West Virginia, meanwhile, lawmakers on Wednesday debated a sweeping abortion ban bill on the House floor that would make providing the procedure a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The bill makes exceptions for rape or incest up to 14 weeks of gestation and for certain medical complications.
“What’s ringing in my ears is not the noise of the people here,” said one of the bill’s supporters, Republican Del. Brandon Steele of Raleigh County. “It’s the cries of the unborn, tens of thousands of unborn children that are dead today.”
The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said a 19th century law banned abortion in the state. Last week, a state judge barred the state from enforcing that ban, saying it was superseded by conflicting, newer laws.
Hundreds of people descended on the state Capitol for the debate. Many stood outside the House chamber and Speaker Roger Hanshaw’s office chanting and holding signs reading “we will not go quietly” and “stop stealing our health care.” Security officers escorted some from the House chambers.
Dozens spoke against the bill on the House floor including Katie Quiñonez, executive director of the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia, who was cut off and asked to step down as she started to talk about the abortion she got when she was 17.
“I chose life,” she said, raising her voice to speak over the interruption. “I chose my life, because my life is sacred.”
___
Associated Press reporter Dave Kolpack contributed to this report from Fargo, North Dakota. Willingham reported from Charleston, West Virginia. Follow Mead Gruver on Twitter at https://twitter.com/meadgruver.
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https://www.news10.com/news/national/judges-block-abortion-bans-in-wyoming-north-dakota/
| 2022-07-28T13:17:42
|
en
| 0.961293
|
SAN ANTONIO — Officials say speed may have been in a factor in a rollover crash that trapped three inside a car overnight.
It happened around 3:12 a.m. at Vista Del Norte and Wurzbach Pkwy north of downtown.
When crews arrived at the scene, they found two young men and one young lady trapped inside a car that was on its side. Police did not provide any details on the ages of the individuals.
A heavy rescue crew responded to cut pieces off the car to get the three out, who were taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition.
Police are saying that speed may have played a factor in the rollover, as the exit does curve around.
Traffic Investigations arrived and took over the scene to look into exactly what caused the crash.
Learn more about KENS 5:
Since going on the air in 1950, KENS 5 has strived to be the best, most trusted news and entertainment source for generations of San Antonians.
KENS 5 has brought numerous firsts to South Texas television, including being the first local station with a helicopter, the first with its own Doppler radar and the first to air a local morning news program.
Over the years, KENS 5 has worked to transform local news. Our cameras have been the lens bringing history into local viewers' homes. We're proud of our legacy as we serve San Antonians today.
Today, KENS 5 continues to set the standard in local broadcasting and is recognized by its peers for excellence and innovation. The KENS 5 News team focuses on stories that really matter to our community.
You can find KENS 5 in more places than ever before, including KENS5.com, the KENS 5 app, the KENS 5 YouTube channel, KENS 5's Roku and Fire TV apps, and across social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more!
Want to get in touch with someone at KENS 5? You can send a message using our Contacts page or email one of our team members.
|
https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/officials-say-speed-may-have-been-factor-in-rollover-crash-that-injured-three-san-antonio-texas-accident-teens/273-a1750695-a7b2-44b5-817c-fa478b29b9ce
| 2022-07-28T13:17:45
|
en
| 0.97114
|
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Turning around South Carolina’s chronically dangerous juvenile prisons is now the job of a prosecutor who sent some of those children to jail.
Department of Juvenile Justice Director Eden Hendrick is leading the troubled agency after two of her predecessors resigned following state audits that found major faults, from a “useless and ineffective” in-house police force to an inability to keep children safe.
“We’ve been fighting this battle for a long time,” Hendrick said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I’m very hopeful that now that it’s actually getting some traction, and that we’ll be able to actually start to provide these youths the real services that they need.”
Horrors detailed in testimony to lawmakers and investigators include holding kids in solitary confinement in small concrete cells for months on end and scores of violent attacks by peers and guards. Staffers have hogtied, choked, slapped and even bitten children in their care, the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division found.
Hendrick was confirmed in May shortly before the agency agreed to sweeping reforms at the main juvenile prison. Fixes include installing a modern surveillance system, revising use of force rules, reducing solitary confinement and making sure kids get physical and recreational activity.
Hendrick, who took over as interim director in September, is asking for time, to change both the prisons and the culture of an agency whose employees often feel forgotten and unappreciated.
Reform advocates want to give Hendrick a chance, but meanwhile sued the stateover the scope of the settlement, demanding a complete overhaul that includes four other facilities.
Hendrix said the surveillance system upgrade lawmakers funded two years ago is nearly finished and will ensure there is no place cameras can’t monitor, eliminating blind spots where juveniles and staff know an assault won’t be recorded.
Hendrick also got $20 million this month for one of her top priorities — building a separate 20-bed treatment facility for juveniles with serious mental illness. Such inmates get inadequate care at regular prisons, creating time-consuming and dangerous disruptions for staff and other juveniles.
The budget also includes $8 million for additional security, $1.6 million for raises and hiring bonuses and $1.5 million to upgrade the system for virtual prison visits.
Elsewhere, she’s making do where she can — like installing microwaves so that staff can eat hot lunches while keeping an eye on their charges — and looking forward to being able to offer the salaries needed to hire more people.
South Carolina’s juvenile prisons carry the legacy of more than a decade under federal oversight around 20 years ago. Judges were stunned that children were being treated like hardened criminals who can’t be reformed if given counseling, drug treatment and education and work opportunities.
“Eden is new to her role, but this is a system, a department that has been in shambles and failing to abide by what the Constitution requires for decades. I’m not particularly amenable to the ‘trust us, we’re fixing it’ argument,” said Allen Chaney, an attorney with the ACLU of South Carolina.
The past two directors were forced out — Sylvia Murray in 2017 after failing to control gang-related riots, and Freddie Pough last year with lawmakers angry over an employee walkout.
“What our kids are interested in is things being better, not promises,” Chaney said.
Similar problems are evident across the country. In Texas, federal authorities recently began investigating five juvenile lockups, said Amy Borror, an expert in juvenile court systems at The Gault Center, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.
“You can’t move quickly enough when children are being housed in these conditions,” Borror said. “We’re harming them every single day, we’re causing trauma, we’re asking for more problems down the road.”
Extra money doesn’t guarantee better results. Texas has spent 31% more on juvenile justice and South Carolina 27% more over the past decade, according to the Justice Policy Institute, which aims to make jailing children a last resort.
But spending can help: Georgia has spent 24% more, focusing on community programs instead of youth prisons, and has seen a 20% drop in the number of juveniles in jail, according to the group’s Sticker Shock report.
Advocates note that the abuse and neglect disproportionately impact Black children, who represent most of the South Carolina agency’s charges.
In the ACLU lawsuit, one lawyer said current conditions are “eerily reminiscent” of what her clients on death row face, and what children experienced in the 1990s. The suit describes fights between entire wings of children, and juveniles fearing nighttime attacks if they take sleep medications.
One mother said her 14-year-old son was attacked dozens of times by other children and guards during his years in custody and was placed for his own protection in solitary confinement, where he struggled to get an education using occasional worksheets.
One guard held the boy down during an attack by youths. Children beat him with milk crates, locks and pipes yanked from the ceiling, the mother reported in court papers. Because of the pandemic, she could only see his injuries in video calls.
Nationwide, the number of children held in restrictive jail or prison-like settings has dropped significantly in the last two decades.
South Carolina isn’t following that trend.
A 2019 change raising the minimum age that teenagers could be tried as adults from 17 to 18 put more children into the juvenile system, and court shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic kept them there, according to Hendrick.
Legislation to decrease the number of incarcerated juveniles, establish diversion programs and a children’s Bill of Rights, limit probation terms and ban commitments for status offenses died after making it out of a Senate committee this spring.
Despite the setbacks, Alexsandra Chauhan, who shared courtrooms with Hendrick as a public defender, credits her for putting fewer children in isolation and more in therapy, along with the security camera overhaul.
“She’s been gaining my respect day by day. I truly see the changes she’s been implementing and I truly recognize the hardship of her job,” said Chauhan, who works with juvenile defenders at the state’s Commission on Indigent Defense.
—-
Michelle Liu was a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her at twitter.com/@mchelleliu
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https://www.news10.com/news/national/new-south-carolina-juvenile-justice-chief-pushes-reforms/
| 2022-07-28T13:17:50
|
en
| 0.961638
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FERRIS, Texas — Dry conditions and triple digit temperatures are among issues fueling grass fires across North Texas. The emergencies are also putting a strain on local resources.
Meantime, the reality of the fires is keeping residents across communities on high alert.
“You can prepare for it, and prepare for it. You’re still going to find yourself behind the 8-ball in an event like this,” said Ferris Fire Chief Brian Horton.
Firefighters in Ferris, Texas were busy Tuesday tackling two large fires, back-to-back.
“It’s dry. Everybody knows that,” Horton said.
One home was destroyed after someone started burning trash outdoors. Winds and dry conditions helped spread the flames.
“We were so lucky this didn’t turn into a Balch Springs,” Horton explained.
Huge grass fires in Balch Springs, Texas damaged 26 homes this week. City leaders believe sparks from a crew’s lawnmower was the cause there.
“It’s concerning when these things pop up, because we know it will be taxing in all ways,” explained Brooks Williams, City Manager for the City of Ferris.
Williams said first responders were also tied up when embers from a neighbor cutting metal spread. A large fire ignited.
“It’s really creating an environment where people need to start thinking about their behaviors, and really stopping and asking themselves is what I’m doing right now absolutely necessary,” Williams added.
The City Manager and Fire Chief said the heat, dry conditions and grass fires are stressing local resources. Equipment is maxed. Mutual aid, at times, is a must. However, the safety of residents and first responders remain top of mind.
“Being here yesterday, I got to see first-hand. I had exhausted first responders. Some of them having to get IVs to recuperate. I had families who were exhausted. There was a family in this house that had to be taken out by one of the members of our first responders’ team. It’s just a scary situation when that happens,” Williams explained.
While fire dangers remain a reality, some believe only a significant rain event may help slow things down.
Chief Horton said the potential for that could be months away.
”It’s not going to get any better. It’s going to get a lot worse, before it gets better.”
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https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/scary-situation-grass-fires-testing-limits-first-responders-north-texas/287-91cf6cbe-1ae7-43f1-b856-7e2df0a9dba1
| 2022-07-28T13:17:51
|
en
| 0.971562
|
SAN ANTONIO — A teenage girl is in critical condition after she was left in a parking lot with a gun shot wound to her chest.
The shooting happened a block away at I-10 near at Woodstone on the north side of town around 2:25 a.m.
Police say there were five people in a car, two boys and three girls, and at some point, someone else pulled up in a different car. Not long after that, some sort of argument took place and a suspect in that car got out and began shooting, hitting a teenage girl in the chest.
That’s when the car she was in drove away, then dropped her and another girl off at an Ashley Furniture store parking lot.
They drove off and left the injured girl there.
San Antonio police arrived at the store, and found the girl with the gun shot wound and took her to the hospital in critical condition.
Police tell us the girls aren’t providing much information about who they were in the car with.
Their investigation continues as they try to find the person who fired the shots and the other people who were in the car.
Learn more about KENS 5:
Since going on the air in 1950, KENS 5 has strived to be the best, most trusted news and entertainment source for generations of San Antonians.
KENS 5 has brought numerous firsts to South Texas television, including being the first local station with a helicopter, the first with its own Doppler radar and the first to air a local morning news program.
Over the years, KENS 5 has worked to transform local news. Our cameras have been the lens bringing history into local viewers' homes. We're proud of our legacy as we serve San Antonians today.
Today, KENS 5 continues to set the standard in local broadcasting and is recognized by its peers for excellence and innovation. The KENS 5 News team focuses on stories that really matter to our community.
You can find KENS 5 in more places than ever before, including KENS5.com, the KENS 5 app, the KENS 5 YouTube channel, KENS 5's Roku and Fire TV apps, and across social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more!
Want to get in touch with someone at KENS 5? You can send a message using our Contacts page or email one of our team members.
|
https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/teenage-girl-in-critical-condition-after-shot-in-chest-while-joyriding-police-say-san-antonio-texas-shooting-gun-weapon/273-4eb9af16-5cb1-42c8-9609-98bb66e3a2b7
| 2022-07-28T13:17:57
|
en
| 0.976484
|
MAPUTO, Mozambique (AP) — Sections of a renowned peatland tropical forest in the Congo Basin that plays a crucial role in Africa’s climate system go up for oil and gas auction in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Thursday.
The DRC government will auction 30 oil and gas blocks in the Cuvette-Centrale Peatlands in the Congo Basin forest — the world’s largest tropical peatland. Peatland soils are known as ‘carbon sinks’ because packed into them are immense stores of carbon that get released into the atmosphere when the ecosystem is disturbed.
Some of the areas, or blocs, marked for oil leasing lie within Africa’s iconic first conservation area, the Virunga National Park, created in 1925 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, home to the last bastion of mountain gorillas.
The Congo basin covers 530 million hectares (1.3 billion acres) in central Africa and represents 70% of the continent’s forested land. It hosts over a thousand bird species and more primates than any other place in the world, including the great apes: gorillas, chimpanzees and Bonobos.
People are at risk, too. Members of the Mbuti and Baka people could be displaced or evicted.
The move by the Congo-Kinshasa Ministry of Hydrocarbons has angered environmentalists and climate activists who say that oil drilling will pose significant risks to a continent already inundated by harsh climate effects. The Centre for International Forest Research puts the massive Cuvette-Centrale carbon sink at 145,000 square kilometers (56,000 square miles) and said it stores up to 20 years’ equivalent of the carbon emissions emitted by the United States.
Other blocs the DRC plans to auction include some located on Lake Kivu, Lake Tanganyika, and one in a coastal region alongside the Albertine-Grabben region, the western side of the Eastern African Rift Valley system.
“These are the last refuges of nature biodiversity,” and our last carbon sinks, said Ken Mwathe, of BirdLife International in Africa. “We must not sacrifice these valuable natural assets for damaging development.”
The auction of part of the Congo Basin rainforest, which represents 5% of the global tropical forests, comes barely a week after the International Union for the Conservation of Nature hosted the inaugural Africa Protected Areas Congress in Kigali, Rwanda. There, attendees resolved to strengthen protection of Africa’s key biodiversity hotspots.
The DRC is one of 17 nations in the world classified as “megadiverse.” In September last year, at the World Conservation Congress meeting in France, 137 resolutions dubbed the “Marseille Manifesto” highlighted the significant role the Congo Basin is expected to play in the global commitment to protect 30% of the Earth by 2030.
Last year at the U.N. climate conference COP26, a dozen donors dubbed the Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use, pledged some $1.5 billion “to working collectively to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.”
The Democratic Republic’s carbon sponge is also at risk from large-scale logging, expansion of agriculture and the planned diversion of the Congo River’s waters into the shrinking Lake Chad.
___
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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https://www.news10.com/news/oil-block-auction-in-drc-punctures-africas-climate-goals/
| 2022-07-28T13:17:57
|
en
| 0.913882
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) _ Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (BFH) on Thursday reported second-quarter profit of $12 million.
On a per-share basis, the Columbus, Ohio-based company said it had net income of 25 cents.
The results missed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.25 per share.
The manager of loyalty and rewards programs for retailers and others posted revenue of $988 million in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $893 million, also missing Street forecasts. Fourteen analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $900.7 million.
Bread Financial shares have dropped 36% since the beginning of the year. The stock has fallen 57% in the last 12 months.
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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on BFH at https://www.zacks.com/ap/BFH
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https://www.myjournalcourier.com/business/article/Bread-Financial-Q2-Earnings-Snapshot-17334610.php
| 2022-07-28T13:17:58
|
en
| 0.952161
|
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy shrank from April through June for a second straight quarter, contracting at a 0.9% annual pace and raising fears that the nation may be approaching a recession.
The decline that the Commerce Department reported Thursday in the gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of the economy — followed a 1.6% annual drop from January through March. Consecutive quarters of falling GDP constitute one informal, though not definitive, indicator of a recession.
The report comes at a critical time. Consumers and businesses have been struggling under the weight of punishing inflation and higher borrowing costs. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by a sizable three-quarters of a point for a second straight time in its push to conquer the worst inflation outbreak in four decades.
The Fed is hoping to achieve a notoriously difficult “soft landing”: An economic slowdown that manages to rein in rocketing prices without triggering a recession.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell and many economists have said that while the economy is showing some weakening, they doubt it’s in recession. Many of them point, in particular, to a still-robust labor market, with 11 million job openings and an uncommonly low 3.6% unemployment rate, to suggest that a recession, if one does occur, is still a ways off.
Thursday’s first of three government estimates of GDP for the April-June quarter marks a drastic weakening from the 5.7% growth the economy achieved last year. That was the fastest calendar-year expansion since 1984, reflecting how vigorously the economy roared back from the brief but brutal pandemic recession of 2020.
But since then, the combination of mounting prices and higher borrowing costs have taken a toll. The Labor Department’s consumer price index skyrocketed 9.1% in June from a year earlier, a pace not matched since 1981. And despite widespread pay raises, prices are surging faster than wages. In June, average hourly earnings, after adjusting for inflation, slid 3.6% from a year earlier, the 15th straight year-over-year drop.
The inflation surge and fear of a recession have eroded consumer confidence and stirred public anxiety about the economy, which is sending frustratingly mixed signals. And with the November midterm elections nearing, Americans’ discontent has diminished President Joe Biden’s public approval ratings and increased the likelihood that the Democrats will lose control of the House and Senate.
Consumer spending is still growing. But Americans are losing confidence: Their assessment of economic conditions six months from now has reached its lowest point since 2013, according to the Conference Board, a research group.
Recession risks have been growing as the Fed’s policymakers have pursued a campaign of rate hikes that will likely extend into 2023. The Fed’s hikes have already led to higher rates on credit cards and auto loans and to a doubling of the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage in the past year, to 5.5. Home sales, which are especially sensitive to interest rate changes, have tumbled.
Even with the economy recording a second straight quarter of negative GDP, many economists do not regard it as constituting a recession. The definition of recession that is most widely accepted is the one determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a group of economists whose Business Cycle Dating Committee defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.”
The committee assesses a range of factors before publicly declaring the death of an economic expansion and the birth of a recession — and it often does so well after the fact.
This week, Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, lowered its profit outlook, saying that higher gas and food prices were forcing shoppers to spend less on many discretionary items, like new clothing.
Manufacturing is slowing, too. America’s factories have enjoyed 25 consecutive months of expansion, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index, though supply chain bottlenecks have made it hard for factories to fill orders.
But now, the factory boom is showing signs of strain. The ISM’s index dropped last month to its lowest level in two years. New orders declined. Factory hiring dropped for a second straight month.
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https://www.kens5.com/article/news/nation-world/us-economy-shrinks/507-3b21ddcc-d9ee-4bbe-8494-3c01026c1cc3
| 2022-07-28T13:18:03
|
en
| 0.961682
|
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden was speaking Thursday morning with China’s Xi Jinping, the fifth conversation of their presidencies, as the two leaders chart the future of their complicated relationship at a time of simmering economic and geopolitical tensions.
The call, which began at 8:33 a.m. EDT, comes as Biden aims to find new ways to work with the rising global power as well as strategies to contain China’s influence around the world. Differing perspectives on global health, economic policy and human rights have long tested the relationship — with China’s refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine adding further strain.
The latest pressure point has been House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s potential visit to Taiwan, the island that governs itself democratically and receives informal defensive support from the U.S., but which China considers part of its territory. Beijing has said it would view such a trip as a provocation, a threat U.S. officials are taking with heightened seriousness in light of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine.
“If the U.S. insists on going its own way and challenging China’s bottom line, it will surely be met with forceful responses,” Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters earlier this week. “All ensuing consequences shall be borne by the U.S.”
Pelosi would be the highest-ranking U.S. elected official to travel to Taiwan since Republican Newt Gingrich visited the island in 1997 when he was House speaker. Biden last week told reporters that U.S. military officials believed it was “not a good idea” for the speaker to visit the island at the moment.
John Kirby, a U.S. national security spokesman, said Wednesday that it was important for Biden and Xi to regularly touch base.
“The president wants to make sure that the lines of communication with President Xi remain open because they need to,” Kirby told reporters at a White House briefing. “There are issues where we can cooperate with China on, and there are issues where obviously there are friction and tension.”
Biden and Xi last spoke in March, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“This is one of the most consequential bilateral relationships in the world today, with ramifications well beyond both individual countries,” Kirby said.
The conversation comes as Biden has moved to shift U.S. reliance off Chinese manufacturing, including Senate passage Wednesday of legislation to encourage semiconductor companies to build more high-tech plants in the U.S. Biden wants to marshal global democracies to support infrastructure investments in low- and middle-income nations as an alternative to China’s “Belt and Road Initiative,” which aims to boost China trade with other global markets.
Kirby listed a number of areas of U.S,-China friction that he said would be part of the conversation, including “tensions over Taiwan, tensions over … China’s aggressive course of behavior in the Indo-Pacific outside of Taiwan, tensions in the economic relationship” and over China’s reaction to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Biden, who has kept in place Trump-era tariffs on many Chinese-manufactured goods in order to maintain leverage over Beijing, is weighing whether to ease at least some of them in a move to lessen the impact of soaring inflation on American households.
U.S. officials have also criticized China’s “zero-COVID” policy of mass testing and lockdowns in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19 in its territory, labeling it misguided and fretting that it will further slow global economic growth.
Other points of strain include China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims, which the U.S. has declared a genocide, its militarization in the South China Sea, and global campaign of economic and political espionage.
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https://www.news10.com/news/politics/biden-xi-to-hold-fifth-talk-of-their-presidencies-thursday/
| 2022-07-28T13:18:04
|
en
| 0.961997
|
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. (AP) _ Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc. (BWB) on Thursday reported second-quarter net income of $12.9 million.
The bank, based in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, said it had earnings of 41 cents per share.
The results met Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was also for earnings of 41 cents per share.
The company posted revenue of $39.4 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $34.2 million, which topped Street forecasts.
Bridgewater shares have dropped 3% since the beginning of the year. The stock has climbed 6% in the last 12 months.
_____
This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on BWB at https://www.zacks.com/ap/BWB
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https://www.myjournalcourier.com/business/article/Bridgewater-Q2-Earnings-Snapshot-17334583.php
| 2022-07-28T13:18:04
|
en
| 0.954574
|
MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin warned Thursday that a possible prisoner swap with the United States involving American basketball star Brittney Griner needs to be negotiated quietly without fanfare.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Washington had offered Russia a deal that would bring home Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan. A person familiar with the matter said the U.S. government proposed trading convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Whelan and Griner.
Asked about the U.S. offer, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied that prisoner swaps were typically negotiated discreetly behind the scenes.
“We know that such issues are discussed without any such release of information,” Peskov told reporters during a conference call. “Normally, the public learns about it when the agreements are already implemented.”
He emphasized that “no agreements have been finalized” and refused to provide further details.
In a separate statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russian and U.S. officials have conducted negotiations about possible prisoner exchanges and “there has been no concrete result yet.”
“We proceed from the assumption that interests of both parties should be taken into account during the negotiations,” Zakharova said.
Blinken’s comments marked the first time the U.S. government publicly revealed any concrete action it has taken to secure Griner’s release. The two-time Olympic gold medalist and player for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury was arrested at a Moscow airport in mid-February when inspectors found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage.
In a sharp reversal of previous policy, Blinken said he expects to speak with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss the proposed prisoner deal and other matters. It would be their first phone call since before Russia sent its troops into Ukraine.
Russia has for years expressed interest in the release of Bout, a Russian arms dealer once labeled the “Merchant of Death.” He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2012 on charges that he schemed to illegally sell millions of dollars in weapons.
Griner’s trial on drug charges started in a court outside Moscow this month, and she testified Wednesday that she didn’t know how the cartridges ended up in her bag but that she had a doctor’s recommendation to use cannabis to treat career-related pain.
The 31-year-old has pleaded guilty but said she had no criminal intent in bringing the cartridges to Russia and packed in haste for her return to play in a Russian basketball league during the WNBA’s offseason. She faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of transporting drugs.
On Wednesday, Griner testified that a language interpreter translated only a fraction of what was being said while she was detained at Moscow’s airport and that officials told her to sign documents, but “no one explained any of it to me.”
Griner also said that besides the poor translation, she received no explanation of her rights or access to a lawyer during the initial hours of her detention. She said she used a translation app on her phone to communicate with a customs officer.
Her arrest came at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington ahead of Russia sending troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. Griner’s five months of detention have raised strong criticism among teammates and supporters in the United States.
The Biden administration has faced political pressure to free Griner and other Americans whom the U.S. has declared to be “wrongfully detained” — a designation sharply rejected by Russian officials.
Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan, was sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges in 2020. He and his family have vigorously asserted his innocence. The U.S. government has denounced the charges as false.
Washington has long resisted prisoner swaps out of concern that they could encourage additional hostage-taking and promote false equivalency between a wrongfully detained American and a foreign national regarded as justly convicted.
In April, however, the government struck a deal to trade U.S. Marine veteran Trevor Reed for jailed Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko.
___
Matthew Lee and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
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https://www.news10.com/news/politics/kremlin-poker-faced-on-us-swap-offer-to-free-griner-whelan/
| 2022-07-28T13:18:10
|
en
| 0.972449
|
BOSTON (AP) _ BrightSphere Investment Group (BSIG) on Thursday reported second-quarter net income of $28.6 million.
The Boston-based company said it had net income of 67 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to 41 cents per share.
The asset manager posted revenue of $95.5 million in the period.
BrightSphere Investment Group shares have declined 26% since the beginning of the year. The stock has declined 22% in the last 12 months.
_____
This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on BSIG at https://www.zacks.com/ap/BSIG
|
https://www.myjournalcourier.com/business/article/BrightSphere-Investment-Group-Q2-Earnings-17334616.php
| 2022-07-28T13:18:11
|
en
| 0.938093
|
JACKSON, Mich. (AP) _ CMS Energy Corp. (CMS) on Thursday reported second-quarter earnings of $148 million.
The Jackson, Michigan-based company said it had net income of 50 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were 53 cents per share.
The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 44 cents per share.
The energy company posted revenue of $1.92 billion in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.61 billion.
CMS Energy expects full-year earnings in the range of $2.85 to $2.89 per share.
_____
This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CMS at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CMS
|
https://www.myjournalcourier.com/business/article/CMS-Energy-Q2-Earnings-Snapshot-17334637.php
| 2022-07-28T13:18:17
|
en
| 0.945015
|
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Heat wave duration records could be broken in the Pacific Northwest this week and authorities are expanding capacity at some cooling centers as temperatures near triple digits are forecast to extend into the weekend.
“For the next several days through Saturday we’re going to be within a few degrees of 100 every day,” said Colby Neuman, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Portland, Oregon.
Temperatures in Oregon’s largest city are forecast to soar to 101 degrees Fahrenheit (38.3 Celsius) again on Friday. On Tuesday, Portland set daily record 102 F (38.9 C).
Seattle on Tuesday also reported a new record daily high of 94 F (34.4 C). The heat spell was forecast to last into Saturday in western Washington as well.
The National Weather Service has extended the excessive heat warnings from Thursday through Saturday evening.
The duration of the heat wave puts Portland “in the running” for tying its longest streak of six consecutive days of 95 F (35 C) or higher, Neuman said.
Climate change is fueling longer heat waves in the Pacific Northwest, a region where weeklong heat spells were historically rare, according to climate experts.
On Wednesday, the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office said at least two people have died from suspected hyperthermia during the heat wave, KGW reported. One death occurred in Portland on Monday, the Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s Office said. The state medical examiner’s office said the heat-related death designation is preliminary and could change after further investigation.
Heat-related 911 calls in Portland have tripled in recent days, from an estimated eight calls on Sunday to 28 calls on Tuesday, said Dan Douthit, a spokesperson for the city’s Bureau of Emergency Management. Most calls involved a medical response, Douthit added.
Multnomah County said more people have been visiting emergency departments for heat-related symptoms.
Emergency department visits “have remained elevated since Sunday,” the county said in a statement. “In the past three days, hospitals have treated 13 people for heat illness, when they would normally expect to see two or three.”
People working or exercising outside, along with older people, were among those taken to emergency departments, the statement added.
People in Portland’s iconic food cart industry are among those who work outside. Many food trucks have shut down as sidewalks sizzle.
Rico Loverde, the chef and owner of the food cart Monster Smash Burgers, said the temperature inside his cart is generally 20 degrees hotter than the outdoor temperature, making it 120 F (48.9 C) inside his tiny business this week.
Loverde said he closes down if it reaches above 95 F (35 C) because his refrigerators overheat and shut down. Last week, even with slightly cooler temperatures in the mid-90s, Loverde got heat stroke from working in his cart for hours, he said.
“It hurts; it definitely hurts. I still pay my employees when we’re closed like this because they have to pay the bills too, but for a small business it’s not good,” he said Tuesday.
Multnomah County said its four emergency overnight cooling shelters were at half capacity on Tuesday with 130 people spending the night. But anticipating more demand, officials decided to expand capacity at the four sites to accommodate nearly 300 people.
William Nonluecha, who lives in a tent in Portland, sought out shade with some friends as the temperature soared Wednesday afternoon. Nonluecha was less than a minute’s walk from a cooling shelter set up by local authorities but wasn’t aware it was open. He said the heat in his tent was almost unbearable.
His friend Mel Taylor, who was homeless last year but now has transitional housing, said during a record-breaking heat wave last summer a man in a tent near his died from heat exhaustion and no one realized it. He’s afraid the same thing might happen this summer.
“He was in his tent for like a week and the smell, that’s how they figured out that he was dead,” Taylor said. “It’s sad.”
Residents and officials in the Northwest have been trying to adjust to the likely reality of longer, hotter heat waves following last summer’s deadly “heat dome” weather phenomenon that prompted record temperatures and deaths.
About 800 people died in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia during that heat wave, which hit in late June and early July. The temperature at the time soared to an all-time high of 116 F (46.7 C) in Portland and smashed heat records in cities and towns across the region. Many of those who died were older and lived alone.
Other regions of the U.S. often experience temperatures of 100 degrees. But in regions like the Pacific Northwest, people are not as acclimated to the heat and are more susceptible to it, said Craig Crandall, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
“There’s a much greater risk for individuals in areas such as the Northwest to have higher instances of heat-related injuries and death,” Crandall said.
Officials in Seattle and Portland on Tuesday issued air quality advisories expected to last through Saturday, warning that smog may reach levels that could be unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Farther south, the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory on Wednesday for western Nevada and northeast California that is set to last from the late Thursday morning until Saturday night. Across the region, near record daytime high temperatures will range from 99 to 104 degrees F (37.22 to 40 C).
___
AP reporter Gabe Stern contributed from Carson City, Nevada.
___
Claire Rush is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter.
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https://www.news10.com/news/science/temperatures-could-hit-triple-digits-again-in-northwest/
| 2022-07-28T13:18:16
|
en
| 0.972782
|
CALGARY ALBERTA, Alberta (AP) _ Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP) on Thursday reported second-quarter profit of $599.5 million.
The Calgary Alberta, Alberta-based company said it had net income of 64 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 74 cents per share.
The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 69 cents per share.
The railroad posted revenue of $1.73 billion in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.67 billion.
_____
This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CP at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CP
|
https://www.myjournalcourier.com/business/article/Canadian-Pacific-Q2-Earnings-Snapshot-17334658.php
| 2022-07-28T13:18:23
|
en
| 0.946357
|
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Gaza’s Hamas rulers have imposed a slew of new taxes on imported clothes and office supplies just ahead of the new school year, sparking limited but rare protests in the impoverished coastal strip.
The move by the militant group comes at a time when Gaza’s 2.3 million people are suffering not only from a 15-year Israeli-Egyptian blockade, but also from a new jump in prices caused by global supply-chain issues and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“This is a wrong, oppressive decision that destroys the national economy,” said Nahed al-Sawada, who imports clothes from China and Turkey.
A list by the Ministry of Economy includes planned taxes on items like packaged nuts, with an import tariff of 2,000 shekels (nearly $600) per ton. In the past, nuts were imported tax free. The tariff on a ton of toilet paper rose from $90 to $580. The taxes are set to go into effect on Aug. 1.
The list also includes a tax of about $3 on pair of jeans, and $230 on a ton of plastic folders used to store papers. Demand for these items increases ahead of the school year.
Emad Abdelhadi, a representative for Gaza’s union of clothes’ merchants, said a new pair of jeans sells for $3 to $10, and the new tax will pose an unfair burden on struggling consumers.
In a territory suffering from rampant poverty and unemployment approaching 50%, he said many Gazans already look for used clothes. The new taxes, he said, “will deprive them of the ability to buy.”
Gaza’s economy has been hit hard by the Israeli-Egyptian blockade, imposed when Hamas seized power in 2007. Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from arming, but critics say the restrictions, which include tight limits on exports, amount to collective punishment.
Hamas’ government is not internationally recognized and Israel and its Western allies consider the group, which opposes Israel’s existence and has in the past staged deadly suicide bombings against Israelis, a terrorist organization.
Israel and Hamas have fought four wars since the Hamas takeover, further straining the territory’s rundown infrastructure. Electricity is in short supply, tap water undrinkable and the health care system is in shambles.
With tens of thousands of civil servants to support, as well as its heavy spending on its military wing, it is no surprise that Hamas is seeking new sources of revenue. Still, the timing is questionable, coming at a time when the Russian invasion of Ukraine has driven up consumer prices worldwide.
Hamas authorities say the new taxes are meant to protect the local industries. But experts and business people challenge this argument, since badly needed raw materials are now being taxed.
Mohammed Abu Jayyab, an economist, said the taxes have failed to protect local manufacturers because the government still taxes raw materials and production lines.
A spokesman for the Economy Ministry did not return requests for comment.
Hamas doesn’t release figures on its funding resources or budgets, but the latest steps are part of a series of taxes targeting a wide array of sectors, from street vendors selling hot drinks to restaurants, home building and cars.
The government offers few services in exchange, and most aid and relief projects are covered by the international community. The funds help Hamas operate a government and powerful armed wing.
Protests against Hamas are rare and often met by force. But earlier this month, about two dozen members of the clothes merchants’ union expressed their frustration in public. They stood inside the building housing their union in Gaza City and held new pairs of jeans, with the price tags still on them, in the air for about half an hour.
Two days later, the merchants gathered outside the offices of Hamas lawmakers. Police prevented the media from filming and ordered the protest to stop after allowing representatives of the union inside to talk to the lawmakers. The protest ended peacefully.
“The lawmakers acknowledged the taxes were high, and said they will look into it,” said Abdelhadi, the union representative.
But he said he did not expect a positive outcome. “By these decisions, they have issued a death sentence against the industry.”
|
https://www.news10.com/news/seeking-new-funds-hamas-raises-taxes-in-impoverished-gaza/
| 2022-07-28T13:18:23
|
en
| 0.962021
|
PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Carpenter Technology Corp. (CRS) on Thursday reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $2.6 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.
The Philadelphia-based company said it had profit of 5 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to less than 1 cent on a per-share basis.
The maker of stainless steels and special alloys posted revenue of $563.8 million in the period.
For the year, the company reported that its loss narrowed to $49.1 million, or $1.01 per share. Revenue was reported as $1.84 billion.
_____
This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CRS at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CRS
|
https://www.myjournalcourier.com/business/article/Carpenter-Fiscal-Q4-Earnings-Snapshot-17334678.php
| 2022-07-28T13:18:29
|
en
| 0.950033
|
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian judge on Thursday ordered Samsung to pay 14 million Australian dollars ($9.8 million) in penalties for misleading advertising over how water-resistant some models of smartphones are.
Federal Court Justice Brendan Murphy gave Samsung Electronics Australia, a subsidiary of South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co., 30 days to pay the fines.
Samsung must also pay AU$200,000 ($140,000) toward the costs of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the consumer watchdog that initiated an investigation of the phones four years ago.
Samsung admitted to making false and misleading claims in nine advertisements between 2016 and 2018 about the water resistance of seven models of Galaxy smartphones. They are the S7, S7 Edge, A5 (2017), A7 (2017), S8, S8 Plus and Note 8.
Samsung and the commission also agreed to the penalties imposed.
The misleading ads promoted the phones’ water resistance and suitability for use in swimming pools and seawater. But the charging ports could be damaged and stop working if the phones were recharged while the ports were still wet.
Samsung said the charging port issue only effected the seven models identified in the case that were launched between 2016 and 2017.
“The issue does not arise for Samsung’s current phones,” a Samsung statement said.
Samsung sold 3.1 million of the vulnerable phones in Australia, but the court could not determine how many customers found faults in their charging ports.
An unknown number of customers had their ports replaced by authorized Samsung repairers. Some repairers did the job for free while others charged between AU$180 ($126) and AU$245 ($171), the court heard.
Murphy said customers were entitled to assume that a large company such as Samsung would not advertise that its Galaxy phones could safely be submerged in water if they could not.
“A great many consumers are likely to have seen the offending advertisements and a significant number of those who did so are likely to have purchased one of the Galaxy phones,” Murphy said in his judgment.
Commission Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said her investigation had received hundreds of complaints from phone owners.
“They experienced issues with their Galaxy phones after it was exposed to water and, in may cases, they reported their Galaxy phones stopped working entirely,” Cass-Gottlieb said in a statement.
The judge said the penalty exceeded Samsung’s profit during the course of the misleading advertising campaign.
Samsung’s lawyers had initially denied the ads were misleading and that the phones could be damaged by immersion in water, the judge said.
“I do not consider Samsung Australia should be given much credit for its cooperation,” Murphy said.
Samsung said it had cooperated with the commission’s investigations, which originally included more than 600 ads and 15 Galaxy phone models.
“Samsung endeavours to deliver the best possible experience to all our customers and we regret that a small number of our Galaxy users experienced an issue with their device pertaining to this matter,” Samsung said.
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https://www.news10.com/news/technology/samsung-fined-9-8m-for-misleading-australian-phone-ads/
| 2022-07-28T13:18:31
|
en
| 0.97266
|
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) _ Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE) on Thursday reported second-quarter net income of $1.91 billion.
On a per-share basis, the Calgary, Alberta-based company said it had net income of 93 cents.
The oil company posted revenue of $15.02 billion in the period.
_____
This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CVE at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CVE
|
https://www.myjournalcourier.com/business/article/Cenovus-Q2-Earnings-Snapshot-17334760.php
| 2022-07-28T13:18:35
|
en
| 0.925664
|
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy shrank from April through June for a second straight quarter, contracting at a 0.9% annual pace and raising fears that the nation may be approaching a recession.
The decline that the Commerce Department reported Thursday in the gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of the economy — followed a 1.6% annual drop from January through March. Consecutive quarters of falling GDP constitute one informal, though not definitive, indicator of a recession.
The report comes at a critical time. Consumers and businesses have been struggling under the weight of punishing inflation and higher borrowing costs. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by a sizable three-quarters of a point for a second straight time in its push to conquer the worst inflation outbreak in four decades.
The Fed is hoping to achieve a notoriously difficult “soft landing”: An economic slowdown that manages to rein in rocketing prices without triggering a recession.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell and many economists have said that while the economy is showing some weakening, they doubt it’s in recession. Many of them point, in particular, to a still-robust labor market, with 11 million job openings and an uncommonly low 3.6% unemployment rate, to suggest that a recession, if one does occur, is still a ways off.
Thursday’s first of three government estimates of GDP for the April-June quarter marks a drastic weakening from the 5.7% growth the economy achieved last year. That was the fastest calendar-year expansion since 1984, reflecting how vigorously the economy roared back from the brief but brutal pandemic recession of 2020.
But since then, the combination of mounting prices and higher borrowing costs have taken a toll. The Labor Department’s consumer price index skyrocketed 9.1% in June from a year earlier, a pace not matched since 1981. And despite widespread pay raises, prices are surging faster than wages. In June, average hourly earnings, after adjusting for inflation, slid 3.6% from a year earlier, the 15th straight year-over-year drop.
The inflation surge and fear of a recession have eroded consumer confidence and stirred public anxiety about the economy, which is sending frustratingly mixed signals. And with the November midterm elections nearing, Americans’ discontent has diminished President Joe Biden’s public approval ratings and increased the likelihood that the Democrats will lose control of the House and Senate.
Consumer spending is still growing. But Americans are losing confidence: Their assessment of economic conditions six months from now has reached its lowest point since 2013, according to the Conference Board, a research group.
Recession risks have been growing as the Fed’s policymakers have pursued a campaign of rate hikes that will likely extend into 2023. The Fed’s hikes have already led to higher rates on credit cards and auto loans and to a doubling of the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage in the past year, to 5.5. Home sales, which are especially sensitive to interest rate changes, have tumbled.
Even with the economy recording a second straight quarter of negative GDP, many economists do not regard it as constituting a recession. The definition of recession that is most widely accepted is the one determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a group of economists whose Business Cycle Dating Committee defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.”
The committee assesses a range of factors before publicly declaring the death of an economic expansion and the birth of a recession — and it often does so well after the fact.
This week, Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, lowered its profit outlook, saying that higher gas and food prices were forcing shoppers to spend less on many discretionary items, like new clothing.
Manufacturing is slowing, too. America’s factories have enjoyed 25 consecutive months of expansion, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index, though supply chain bottlenecks have made it hard for factories to fill orders.
But now, the factory boom is showing signs of strain. The ISM’s index dropped last month to its lowest level in two years. New orders declined. Factory hiring dropped for a second straight month.
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https://www.news10.com/news/us-economy-likely-grew-modestly-if-at-all-last-quarter/
| 2022-07-28T13:18:38
|
en
| 0.961706
|
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