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Judge gives deadline extension to organizers trying to stop ‘Cop City’ with signature campaign

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:20 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday significantly extended the deadline for Atlanta organizers who have been trying to gather more than 70,000 signatures to force a vote on the construction of a police and firefighter training center that critics call “ Cop City.”U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen ruled that the city had imposed an unlawful requirement that those collecting signatures have to be residents of Atlanta. A group of people who live in DeKalb County just outside the city had sued — saying they should be allowed to join in the canvassing effort and noting that the planned site for the training center itself is in unincorporated DeKalb County, outside the city limits.“Requiring signature gatherers to be residents of the city imposes a severe burden on core political speech and does little to protect the city’s interest in self-governance,” Cohen wrote, adding: “The city has offered no specifics as to why permitting nonresident plaintiffs to gather signatures … will...

6 killed in Damascus suburb bombing near Shiite Muslim shrine ahead of the holy day of Ashura

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:20 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Explosives planted in a taxi detonated in a Damascus suburb near a Shiite Muslim shrine Thursday, killing at least six people and wounding dozens a day before the solemn holy day of Ashura, state media reported, citing the interior ministry. State-run Al-Ikhbariya TV and the state news agency said Syrian Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabash also reported that 26 people wounded in the blast in the Sayida Zeinab neighborhood were being treated at several hospitals. Twenty others were treated on site or discharged, he said.The Britain-based opposition war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that a woman was among those who died and that her three children were wounded. The Observatory said the explosion occurred close to positions of Iranian militias, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad alongside Russia in Syria’s civil conflict now in its 13th year.Photos shared by Al-Ikhbariya and pro-government media show a charred taxi surrounded by large crowd...

Big banks will need to hold more capital to guard against risk under new Fed proposal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:20 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s biggest and most complex banks will need to hold additional capital on their balance sheets under an initial proposal by the Federal Reserve designed to help banks better withstand risks to their businesses that go beyond a recession or financial crisis. The proposal released Thursday, boiled down from highly complex and technical nuances, roughly means that Wall Street collectively will have to set aside tens of billions of dollars to meet the Fed’s new rules. Banks that rely more on fee income will see a greater impact than those holding bonds and other securities. The main question addressed by the proposal is how banks over $100 billion in assets should value what are known as risk-weighted assets on their balance sheet when determining how much of a buffer the bank has to withstand market gyrations and economic fluctuations. Risk-weighed assets came out of what is known as the Basel Accords, an international agreement among banks, whose ...

REVIEW: The Beanie Bubble, a billionaire boy and his babies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:20 GMT

Billionaires don’t understand the world like most people do. A billionaire is a person who never has to their laundry, because they’ve got someone on the payroll to do that. They don’t know what it’s like to be on a crowded bus smelling the growing amount of sweat. A billionaire is someone who sees the world in a way the majority of people don’t. Can we really trust a billionaire to understand something like an economic bubble?The Beanie Bubble, courtesy of Apple Studios.This is the the question that the Beanie Bubble asks of those who watch it. This film stars Zach Galifianakis (from the Hangover series and Baskets) as Ty Warner, the creator of the Beanie Baby. A tiny version of a stuffed animal that took the world by storm, the film depicts his rise and fall from the lends of three women who impacted his life in large ways.First, there’s the business partner (played by Elizabeth Banks from the Hunger Games series) who helped him launch his compa...

First victim of Nova Scotia floods identified as member of local rock band

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:20 GMT

HALIFAX — A man who died during a torrential rainstorm last weekend in rural Nova Scotia has been identified as Nicholas Anthony Holland.Holland was one of four people, including two small children, who went missing early Saturday after the vehicles they were in were swept off a road and submerged as they fled their homes.His former wife, Julie Giffin Holland, confirmed to The Canadian Press that the 52-year-old, a member of the local rock band Hogtooth, died trying to escape the floodwater.He leaves behind a partner and two children.An obituary on a funeral home website describes Holland as a talented musician who played in many bands over the years and for whom music was his life’s passion.Holland’s body was recovered Monday in Brooklyn, N.S., and in the obituary his family thanked search and rescue teams, private citizens and Holland’s bandmates for their efforts to find him.A youth aged under 18 who was travelling with Holland remains missing, while the remains...

Stock market today: Wall Street rally fades as investors review upbeat economic, earnings reports

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:20 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A rally for stocks fizzled out in afternoon trading Thursday as Wall Street reviewed fatter-than-expected profit reports from big companies and the latest signals that the economy is so far refusing to ditch into a recession.The S&P 500 was 0.1% lower in afternoon trading after earlier touching its highest level in nearly 16 months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 98 points, or 0.3%, at 35,423, as of 2:19 p.m. Eastern time, and on track for a 14th straight gain. The Nasdaq composite, meanwhile, was holding onto a gain of 0.2% following a strong profit report from Meta Platforms.Earnings rose more for Meta, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp in addition to Facebook, than analysts expected after its services attracted additional active members. Meta is one of Wall Street’s most influential stocks because of its massive size, and it rose 5.3%.McDonald’s was helping to offset some losses in the Dow after it easily topped analysts’ forecasts for profits durin...

Investigators say poor track conditions caused a 2021 Amtrak derailment in Montana that killed three

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:20 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A derailment of an Amtrak train in Montana that killed three people in 2021 was caused by poor track conditions near the accident site, federal investigators said Thursday in a final report.The National Transportation Safety Board’s finding Thursday follows an earlier report that identified a bent track near scene of the accident. The poor track conditions included a worn rail, vertical track deflection, misalignment and instability, the report found. It also found that a train inspector’s workload prevented him from doing a walking inspection of the area before the derailment. Amtrak’s Empire Builder derailed Sept. 25, 2021, in northern Montana while en route from Chicago to Seattle and Portland, Oregon, with 154 people on board. Thusday’s finding follows what was revealed earlier this year in the agency’s investigative documents. Investigators identified a bent track based on video footage, including from two BNSF freight trains that went around the acci...

Former Mississippi governor sues news site over welfare fraud comments

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:20 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is suing a local news organization, claiming it defamed him in public comments on the misspending of $77 million of federal welfare funds intended to help some of the poorest people in the U.S.The lawsuit comes just over two months after Mississippi Today and one of its reporters, Anna Wolfe, won a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the welfare misspending. Bryant’s attorney filed a complaint Wednesday in the Circuit Court of Madison County against the outlet’s CEO, Mary Margaret White, and Deep South Today, the outlet’s nonprofit owner. The lawsuit, which does not appear to challenge the veracity of Mississippi Today’s findings about the welfare scandal, claims White and other employees made “slanderous” or unfounded comments about Bryant when discussing the outlet’s reporting in several public settings. “Governor Bryant believes he has been libeled by Mississippi Today,” wrote Denton Gibbes, a ...

Small plane crash reported near DeKalb Airport; injuries unknown

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:20 GMT

CORTLAND, Ill. — A plane crash has been reported near DeKalb Airport, though injuries or the cause of the wreck is unknown at this time.The crash occurred in the 200 block of W. Lincoln Highway in Cortland. According to online records obtained by WGN News, the plane is registered to a flight club out of Evansville, Indiana. SkyCam9 is above the scene.SEE ALSO: Video shows crop dusting plane nearly clipping semi-truck in Northwest IndianaThis is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Larry Nassar survivors sue Michigan State over alleged 'secret decisions' on releasing documents

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:20 GMT

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Women who were sexually assaulted by former Michigan State University sports doctor Larry Nassar filed a lawsuit Thursday saying school officials made “secret decisions” about releasing documents in the case.The group of survivors and parents says the lawsuit seeks accountability — not money — from the university. They say the school refused to give the state attorney general’s office more than 6,000 documents for an investigation into how Nassar was allowed to get away with his behavior, and later wouldn't turn over emails about the board of trustees' decision-making. The school has said the documents are protected by attorney-client privilege.“It’s really, really hard to heal when you know there’s still answers to a lot of your questions out there,” Nassar survivor Elizabeth Maurer said at a press conference Thursday in East Lansing.Nassar was sentenced in 2018 to 40 to 175 years in prison after he admitted to molesting some of the nation’s top gymnasts ...