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Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s tarnished 3-time premier, dies at 86

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:35 GMT

By FRANCES D’EMILIO (Associated Press)ROME (AP) — Silvio Berlusconi cast a spell over Italy — and nearly led it to financial ruin.Many Italians admired the media mogul for his wealth, his charm and his brash, boastful style, and they kept returning him to power, making him the country’s longest-serving premier.Nothing seemed to shake the one-time cruise ship crooner — not his corruption trials or diplomatic gaffes, not accusations that he was wrecking the country, not even the lurid scandals stemming from sex-fueled “bunga bunga” parties with young women at his villas that turned him into a global joke.Berlusconi — whose Mediaset television network announced his death Monday at the age of 86 — had a hold on Italian politics that he summed up in 2009: “The majority of Italians in their hearts would like to be like me.”That affection faded in 2011 when Europe’s debt crisis turned Italy’s economy into a shamb...

Stock market today: Wall Street points higher ahead of inflation data, Fed policy meeting

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:35 GMT

BANGKOK — Wall Street was on track to open higher early Monday with two inflation reports and an interest rate decision by the Federal Reserve on tap in the coming days.Futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.3% while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 0.1% before the bell Monday.Many observers expect the Fed to stand pat given recent data showing the U.S. economy slowing. This week also brings data on prices that might indicate whether the Fed is succeeding in snuffing inflation. On Tuesday, the government releases its monthly report on inflation at the consumer level. Most analysts expect that consumer prices rose modestly in May, easing from a bigger-than-expected jump in April. The government on Wednesday issues its report on inflation at the wholesale level, with many economists predicting a small decline in prices. After its meeting Wednesday afternoon, the Fed will announce its latest interest rate decision. While many expect the Fed to leave rates alone for ...

Mount Washington, known for extreme weather, records its snowiest June

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:35 GMT

GORHAM, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire mountain known for its extreme weather conditions has recorded its snowiest June in 91 years of recordkeeping. Snowfall on Saturday atop Mount Washington brought the total amount to 8.4 inches (21.3 centimeters) for the month of June, according to the Mount Washington Observatory. But with a return to warmer weather, nearly all of it had melted by early Monday. The observatory posted on Facebook that statistically speaking, the last snowfall of the season typically occurs in early to mid-June most years.A quasi-stationary low sat over the region, delivering snow early every day of the month.“With another low and cold air approaching in the days ahead, we could see that total grow further,” the observatory said in a statement. The observatory is at the summit of the Northeast’s highest mountain, at 6,288 feet (1,916.5 meters). The Associated Press

The ChatGPT guy wants to scan your eyeball with an orb. What could go wrong?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:35 GMT

Sam Altman, the CEO of Open AI, the company behind ChatGPT, has co-founded a cryptocurrency project called Worldcoin, which is currently scanning people’s eyeballs using an orb, and digitizing their irises for use as identification. As of this podcast’s release, over 1.8 million people have had their irises scanned in exchange for the promise of receiving some Worldcoin in the future (despite the currency not yet being in existence), some local currency, or small gifts.Jacob Silverman, co-author of Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud and host of CBC podcast The Naked Emperor, says  we should be skeptical when those within Silicon Valley claim altruistic or humanitarian motives. “Crypto typically speaks towards ideas of decentralization and disrupting existing power structures, but I think we’ve seen that in practice it doesn’t often do that, or [it] sometimes replicates existing power structures,” says Silverman.So why does Wo...

JPMorgan reaches settlement with victims of Jeffrey Epstein

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:35 GMT

JPMorgan Chase has reached a settlement in a class action lawsuit with victims of financier Jeffrey Epstein.Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal charges accusing him of paying underage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then molesting them at his homes in Florida and New York. He was found dead in jail on Aug. 10 of that year, at age 66. A medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.The lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court in November sought to hold JPMorgan financially liable for Epstein’s decades-long abuse of teenage girls and young women. A related lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. Virgin Islands.Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.“The parties believe this settlement is in the best interests of all parties, especially the survivors who were the victims of Epstein’s terrible abuse,” the bank said in a statement on Monday. Litigation is still pending between the U.S. Virgin Islands and JPMorgan Chase, as well as JPMorgan Chase’s claims against former...

Child seriously injured after being struck by vehicle in Etobicoke

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:35 GMT

A child has serious injuries after they were struck by a vehicle in Etobicoke.Emergency crews responded to a crash at Kipling Avenue and Burnhamthorpe Road around 8 a.m. Monday.Police say the child is being brought to hospital via emergency run. Paramedics say the suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.The driver involved remained at the scene.Southbound Kipling is closed at Burnhamthorpe for the investigation.COLLISION:Kipling Ave & Burnhamthorpe Rd8:05am– reports of a child struck by vehicle– driver remained on scene – child is being transported to hospital via emerg run– s/b traffic on Kipling Ave is closed– delays in the area– consider alternate routes#GO1342046^se— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) June 12, 2023

Gardiner traffic snarled after truck crashes through centre median

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:35 GMT

Commuters are running into a big mess on the Gardiner Expressway on Monday morning after a truck crashed through a barrier on the highway and blocked traffic in both directions.Toronto police responded to the crash just after 7:30 a.m. on the westbound Gardiner near Park Lawn Road.Listen to CityNews 680 for the latest traffic updates#listen-box {box-shadow: 0 0 0 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);animation: pulse 2s infinite;margin:20px;padding:15px;}@keyframes pulse { 0% { box-shadow: 0 0 0 0 rgba(0, 157, 79, 0.7); } 70% { box-shadow: 0 0 0 10px rgba(0, 157, 79, 0); } 100% { box-shadow: 0 0 0 0 rgba(0, 157, 79, 0); }}Listen to CityNews 680 LIVE now!Police say a westbound tractor-trailer lost control and crashed into the centre median. The truck landed on top of the divider with its front-end sticking into the eastbound lanes and back-end impeding westbound lanes.Multiple lanes are blocked in either direction for the collision cleanup. Traffic is still squeez...

8-month-old found dead on Far South Side: CPD

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:35 GMT

CHICAGO -- An 8-month-old girl was found dead in a home in the city's Washington Heights neighborhood Saturday morning. Man charged after double fatal car crash that killed teen couple in Hoffman Estates Police said 8-moth-old Taya Morris was found dead in the 9100 block of South Ada Street around 5:03 a.m. Saturday morning. The incident is actively under investigation and WGN will update as more information is provided.

JPMorgan reaches settlement with Epstein victims

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:35 GMT

(The Hill) -- JPMorgan Chase has reached a settlement in a class action lawsuit with victims of Jeffrey Epstein.“The parties believe this settlement is in the best interests of all parties, especially the survivors who were the victims of Epstein’s terrible abuse,” the bank said in a statement Monday, according to The Associated Press. The victims had accused JPMorgan of facilitating Epstein's sex trafficking when he was a client of the bank, CNN and other news outlets noted.Epstein died in prison after he was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. His longtime associate, socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, was found guilty and sentenced for grooming young girls for Epstein to abuse — many as young as 14 when the abuse began.The Associated Press contributed to this developing report.

Student loan borrowers will struggle with repayment, CFPB warns

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:35 GMT

(NerdWallet) - After more than three years on the back burner, monthly federal student loan payments will finally resume 60 days after June 30 — and 1 in 5 borrowers could struggle when that happens, according to a new analysis from the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.Many borrowers could also fall behind on other debt obligations when student loan payments resume. More than 1 in 13 student loan borrowers are currently behind on other bills, an increase from before the pandemic, per the June 7 CFPB report, which analyzed a sample of about 32 million borrowers with outstanding federal student loans.President Joe Biden’s one-time debt cancellation plan could impact these findings. The Supreme Court is expected to decide by the end of June whether the proposal to erase up to $20,000 in student loan debt per borrower can be implemented. But even if the Supreme Court upholds Biden’s student debt plan, payments will still resume on any remaining debt later this summer.The CFP...