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Yellen says no federal bailout for Silicon Valley Bank

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:21 GMT

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday that the federal government would not bail out Silicon Valley Bank, but is working to help depositors who are concerned about their money.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures deposits up to $250,000, but many of the companies and wealthy people who used the bank — known for its relationships with technology startups and venture capital — had more than that amount in their account. There are fears that some workers across the country won’t receive their paychecks.Yellen, in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation,” provided few details on the government’s next steps. But she emphasized that the situation was much different from the financial crisis almost 15 years ago, which led to bank bailouts to protect the industry.“We’re not going to do that again,” she said. “But we are concerned about depositors, and we’re focused on trying to meet their ...

Quiet Sunday, Nor’easter Coming

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:21 GMT

7Weather – 7Weather- Good morning! Today and most of tomorrow are quiet, before  a nor’easter disrupts travel late Monday through Wednesday morning. Before we get into the timing and impacts of that storm, here’s what the QUIET next 24 hours or so will be like. Today it’s all about location. We start off in the 30s. Inland spots rebound to the mid/upper 40s with partly sunny skies and light wind. Plymouth County, Cape and the Islands stays cooler with a lot of low clouds and more of a NE breeze. Later today, more mid and high level clouds build in, and we’re socked into the clouds for the next few days. Monday starts off chilly in the 30s. Temperatures rebound to the mid 40s. A southeast breeze picks up tomorrow afternoon. Your evening commute will mostly be ok, just wet.Your travel will be impacted all day Tuesday and at least through the Wednesday morning commute.  The big impacts with this storm: heavy wet snow accumulation and strong wind. We’ll watch for coast...

Good return for trading No. 1 pick? What headline-grabbing move is next? 5 Chicago Bears questions before free agency.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:21 GMT

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles made a big splash even before the free-agency negotiating window opens Monday.Poles on Friday agreed to trade the No. 1 pick to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for pick Nos. 9 and 61 this year, a first-rounder in 2024, a second-rounder in 2025 and wide receiver D.J. Moore.As Poles prepares to make more big moves to the bolster the roster this week in free agency, the Tribune’s team of Bears writers addressed five key topics.1. The Bears’ trade with the Panthers was _______.Brad Biggs: A needed step by Poles to see the process through with Justin Fields.The quarterback didn’t have nearly enough talent around him in his second season, and now the franchise is on the way toward changing that. Getting D.J. Moore in the return from the Panthers makes him instantly the best wide receiver on the roster, filling a huge need when considering there isn’t a better option available in free agency.The deal provides Poles with a l...

Moldova police say they foiled Russia-backed unrest plot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:21 GMT

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldovan police said on Sunday they have foiled a plot by groups of Russia-backed actors who were specially trained to cause mass unrest during a protest the same day in the capital against the country’s new pro-Western government.The head of Moldova’s police, Viorel Cernauteanu, said in a news conference that an undercover agent had infiltrated groups of “diversionists,” some Russian citizens, who had been promised $10,000 to organize “mass disorder” to destabilize Moldova during a protest in the capital, Chisinau. Seven people were detained, he said. Separately, police said they arrested 54 protesters on Sunday, including 21 minors, who exhibited “questionable behavior” or were found to be carrying prohibited items, including at least one knife.The protest Sunday is one of several held in recent weeks organized by a group calling itself Movement for the People, which is backed by Moldova’s Russia-friendly Shor Party, which holds six seats in the country’s ...

3 Palestinian militants killed in attack on Israeli troops

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:21 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinian militants Sunday who opened fire on troops in the occupied West Bank, the military said, the latest bloodshed in a year-long wave of violence in the region.The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an armed offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, claimed the men killed as members. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the men were killed by Israeli fire near the city of Nablus and identified them as Jihad Mohammed al-Shami, 24, Uday Othman al-Shami, 22 and Mohammed Raed Dabeek, 18.The military said it confiscated three M16 rifles from the militants after the shootout and that one gunman turned himself in and was arrested.The deaths Sunday bring to 80 the number of Palestinians killed since the start of the year, as Israel has stepped up arrest raids in the West Bank. A spasm of Palestinian attacks against Israelis has killed 14 people in 2023. The fresh violence follows an Israeli military raid last week...

Millard, Smich murder appeals reopen wounds for victim’s family, 10 years later

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:21 GMT

It’s been more than 10 years since Linda Babcock’s daughter was murdered, a decade’s worth of milestones and memories she says were stolen by the men who killed her child. When Dellen Millard and Mark Smich make their appeals before Ontario’s highest court starting Monday, they will be entitled to reduced sentences for their multiple murder convictions – cutting 50 years and 25 years off their respective parole ineligibility periods.Babcock says when that happens, she’ll feel like justice for her daughter, Laura Babcock, will have been stolen too.“She gets no justice whatsoever,” Linda Babcock said in an interview. “My feeling is if you point a gun and shoot somebody then you do it to somebody else, those are two murders and they should be treated (as such).”A panel of Ontario Appeal Court justices are scheduled this coming week to hear Millard’s and Smich’s appeals of their high-profile convictions for murdering Laura Babc...

Gun reform coming in Michigan after 2nd school mass shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:21 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Armed with two handguns and dozens of rounds of ammunition, 43-year-old Anthony McRae open fired on the Michigan State University campus on the night of Feb. 13, killing three students and wounding five more. The mass shooting has pushed Michigan Democrats, who had already planned to prioritize changes to gun laws, into action. Democrats are expected to bring a sweeping 11-bill gun safety package before the Michigan Legislature this week, emboldened by their sweeping victories in statewide elections in November that gave them legislative control. Responding to two mass school shootings in 15 months, the party’s leaders say it is only the beginning of gun reform in the state.“Nothing is off the table,” said Democratic state Sen. Rosemary Bayer, who leads the firearm safety caucus. “But every state has a culture. So I think we’re trying to be conscious of Michigan and how we do things.”The package aims to establish safe storage laws, universal background ch...

Thousands take part in new Greece protest over train crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:21 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Thousands of people protested on Sunday against safety deficiencies in Greece’s railway network nearly two weeks after dozens were killed in the country’s deadliest train crash. The demonstrators also demanded punishment for those responsible for the head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train that killed 57 people Feb. 28. Police said that more than 8,000 people in Athens gathered outside Parliament to protest on Sunday. The protesters later marched to the offices of privatized train operator Hellenic Train. The company, which has been owned by Italy’s Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane since 2017, isn’t responsible for the maintenance of the railway network. State-owned Hellenic Railways is in charge of upkeep.Authorities shut down four subway stations on two lines running through central Athens because of the protest.The rally was organized by civil servants, a pro-communist union and university students.In Thessaloniki, Greece’s s...

Is Will Smith invited to the 2023 Oscars?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:21 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – A year after he slapped Chris Rock on the Academy Awards stage, don't expect to see Will Smith at the Oscars this year. The actor has been banned from any academy event for 10 years after he walked onto the stage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and hit Rock on live television. The slap came after Rock made a joke about Will Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Later in the show, Smith won best actor for his portrayal of Venus and Serena Williams’ father in “King Richard.” Traditionally, the best actor winner presents one of the major awards in the following year's ceremony, but that will not be the case for Smith in 2023. Everything you need to know about the 2023 Academy Awards “The 94th Oscars were meant to be a celebration of the many individuals in our community who did incredible work this past year; however, those moments were overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior we saw Mr. Smith exhibit on stage,” the academy said in a statement announcing Smi...

Threshold Theater’s 2023 new play reading series to kick off Monday night with ‘strange, sexy’ sci-fi romance

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:21 GMT

Coming to the Black Hart of St. Paul bar on Monday, March 13: A reading of “an unexpectedly pansexual sci-fi romance” play, courtesy of Threshold Theater.Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the reading begins at 7 p.m. Expect a 90-minute show, Threshold’s literary director Matthew Everett said, with a half-hour conversation afterward to debrief. And since the reading is at Black Hart, the soccer bar in Midway, attendees are encouraged to grab a drink and bring it to their seat. Tickets are $10 at the door.The play, “Zero State,” is written by Allison Moon, a former sex educator and neuroscientist by training. The main character — a neuroscientist — inhabits the body of her dead husband and learns more about him than she’d known when he was alive, including his memories and hallucinations. The reading on March 13 is directed by Kim Hines, a local actor, playwright and theater coach.“It’s very funny, it’s very sexy; a lot of strange, thorny ethical issues involved,” Everett said. “It has to ...