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Gary Phillips: Mighty Braves show Yankees what a championship-caliber team truly looks like

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:47 GMT

ATLANTA — Before the Yankees began their three-game series with the Braves, Aaron Boone said the opponent had “no real weakness.”“They’re kind of running away with their division for good reason,” the manager said of Atlanta, baseball’s best team.Those comments preceded an 11-3 loss for the Yankees. And a 5-0 loss in which they were one-hit. And a 2-0 loss that capped a wretched 2-7 road trip.“Right now, they’re the class of the league,” Boone said, later adding that there’s a big gap between them and the Yankees. “I mean, clearly. That’s where you want to be, and they’re obviously putting together a pretty great season.”“That’s where you want to be” is a far cry from the championship-caliber labels the Yankees undeservedly gave themselves earlier this year. Such descriptions haven’t been used lately, as the team is now 60-61 and 6.5 games out of the third and final wild...

Hilary upgraded to hurricane: What does this mean for San Diego?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:47 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- What started as a tropical storm off the Pacific coast of Mexico intensified into a hurricane Thursday morning, the National Weather Service announced. Dubbed Hurricane Hilary, weather officials confirmed the update around 5 a.m. PST.The storm is expected to move north along the Baja coast before potentially reaching San Diego County this weekend or by Monday, NWS explained.What can be expected?The region's mountains, inland valleys and deserts can anticipate a lingering heat wave into Friday with isolated thunderstorms possible across the mountains and high desert, according to weather officials. In a video statement Wednesday, NWS officials said "the door is open, the monsoon flow is here." This means there's a potential path for this hurricane to come right up the coast, though Hilary is expected to to weaken as it approaches the peninsula.That doesn't mean, however, that the storms remnants won't be felt. An increasing "offshore flow wind" could create large swells ...

Small plane crashes on a Malaysian highway, killing all 8 people on board and 2 on the ground

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:47 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A small aircraft lost control and crashed Thursday on a highway in Malaysia’s central Selangor state, killing all eight people on board and two on the ground, authorities said.Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan said the six passengers and two crew members on the private chartered plane perished in the crash. The drivers of a motorcycle and a car that were hit when the plane smashed into the highway also died, he said.Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the plane left the northern resort island of Langkawi and had obtained approval to land at Subang airport. Just minutes before landing, it veered off its flight path and plunged to the ground in Shah Alam district, he said.The national Bernama news agency quoted witnesses as saying the airplane exploded upon impact. Nur Alia Nordin said she was in her house and was jolted by a deafening noise and saw thick black smoke.“I heard a loud explosion and as soon as I reached the site, I saw a person ...

Stock market today: Wall Street rises in early trading, though bond yields remain high

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:47 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening slightly higher on Wall Street following some encouraging profit reports from big companies. The S&P 500 was up 0.3% early Thursday, trimming its slump for August. The Dow rose 94 points and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%. Cisco Systems helped lead the way with a gain of 3.6%. The maker of networking products reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Stocks have been retreating in August following a torrid first seven months of the year. A swift rise in bond yields is forcing a reassessment of how much to pay for stocks. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Wall Street pointed modestly higher before the opening bell Thursday after two straight days of losses with the U.S. economy appearing to chug along despite the odds that the Federal Reserve is not done raising interest rates.Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.2% before the bell Thursday and the Dow Jones Industrial Averag...

Report says fintech investments down in first half of 2023 as valuations tumble

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:47 GMT

TORONTO — A report by KPMG in Canada says investment in Canadian fintech companies plunged in the first half of the year as valuations fell to levels not seen since the beginning of the pandemic.According to data compiled by PitchBook for KPMG in Canada, fintech investment in Canada, including venture capital, private equity and merger and acquisition activity, totalled US$353.7 million across 57 deals in the first six months of 2023.The result was down from a total of $1.09 billion across 87 deals in the second half of 2022 and US$834.1 million across 109 deals in the first half of last year.The report says the first half of 2023 was one of the weakest for valuations since the first half of 2020.Geoff Rush, partner and national industry leader for financial services at KPMG in Canada, says the decline in investment is the continuation of a downward trend that started last year.Rush says investors are still concerned about the state of the global economy, with fears of a recession, ...

Teen boy among two Toronto suspects accused of stealing vehicle and trying to sell it

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:47 GMT

Two people, including a 15-year-old boy, are accused of stealing a vehicle, then trying to sell it in an online ad, only to take off with the car and the buyer’s money.Toronto police say on Aug. 9, the pair responded to an ad on Facebook Marketplace about a Toyota Camry for sale. They met with the seller and allegedly stole the vehicle.Two days later, on Aug. 11, investigators say the man and the teen then posted an ad on Facebook Marketplace to sell the Toyota Camry, and along with an unidentified individual, met the buyer who paid $5,500 for the vehicle.The three suspects allegedly took off with the buyer’s money and the vehicle.Sadid Sultan Ahmed, 20, and the 15-year-old boy, both from Toronto, have been arrested and each face seven charges that include theft of a motor vehicle and three counts of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. They are both scheduled to appear in court in the fall.The teen cannot be identified due to provisions of the Youth Criminal Just...

The latest news on the Northwest Territories wildfires as Yellowknife evacuates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:47 GMT

YELLOWKNIFE — Here is the latest news on the wildfires in Northwest Territories as evacuations are underway in Yellowknife. 7:40 a.m.A phased evacuation of Yellowknife is underway as a wildfire approaches.Officials in the Northwest Territories capital are urging everyone to be out of the city by noon on Friday.They say without rain, the blaze will likely reach the outskirts of the city by the weekend and, even though a few millimetres of rain are forecast for the region, first responders are taking no chances.They warn significant growth is expected today on the fire’s south flank, towards Great Slave Lake, Highway 3, and the Ingraham Trail.—This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Aug. 17, 2023. The Canadian Press

Over 1.5 million dehumidifiers are under recall after fire reports. Here’s what you need to know

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:47 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — More than 1.5 million dehumidifiers are under recall following reports of nearly two dozen fires, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.The recall impacts 42 models of dehumidifiers sold under five brand names: Kenmore, GE, SoleusAir, Norpole and Seabreeze. These products, all manufactured by the Zhuhai, China-based Gree Electric Appliances, were sold from January 2011 to February 2014 at major retailers nationwide — including Walmart, Home Depot and Sam’s Club, among others.According to the CPSC, the now-recalled dehumidifiers can overheat, smoke and catch fire. Gree has received reports of at least 23 fires, 688 overheating incidents and $168,000 in property damage from the recalled products.Consumers are instructed to unplug and immediately stop using the dehumidifiers — and contact Gree for a refund.The recalled dehumidifiers can be identified by their brand, model number and capacity, which is all listed on the CPSC’s notice. The p...

Sweden raises its terror threat level to high for fear of attacks following recent Quran burnings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:47 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden raised its terrorism alert level on Thursday one notch to the second-highest, following a recent string of public desecrations of the Quran in the Scandinavian country by a handful of anti-Islam activists, sparking angry demonstrations across Muslim countries.Sweden has in recent weeks asked citizens abroad and businesses linked to the country to “be attentive and aware of the information the authorities communicate,” following a string of public burnings of copies of the Quran by an Iraqi asylum-seeker.The Scandinavian country’s domestic security service, SAPO, said the overall security situation has deteriorated and the risk of terrorism in Sweden was now at level four or “high” on its five-point scale, a first since 2016. “We are in a deteriorating situation and this threat will continue for a long time,” SAPO head Charlotte von Essen said, adding that “the threat of attacks from actors within violent Islamism has increased during the yea...

Poland’s lawmakers approve government plan for divisive referendum on election day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:47 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s lawmakers on Thursday approved a government plan to hold a controversial referendum on migration alongside key parliamentary elections in October. One of the questions on the referendum paper will ask voters whether they “support the admission of thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa under the forced relocation mechanism imposed by the European bureaucracy.”Voters will also be asked whether they support the dismantling of a wall recently built along the border with Belarus with the aim of reducing unauthorized migrant arrivals. In the election for both houses of parliament, scheduled for Oct. 15, the populist ruling Law and Justice party is seeking an unprecedented third term. The Polish government has vehemently opposed a proposal agreed by EU member states to share out responsibility for migrants entering the bloc without authorization, either by taking a proportion of the new arrivals or by paying money into a s...