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Cohen to testify before grand jury in Trump hush money probe

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is poised to testify Monday before a Manhattan grand jury investigating hush money payments he arranged and made on the former president’s behalf.Cohen’s impending grand jury appearance was confirmed by two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly about grand jury proceedings and did so on condition of anonymity.Cohen’s closed-door testimony is coming at a critical time as the Manhattan district attorney’s office closes in on a decision on whether to seek charges against Trump.A Trump loyalist turned adversary, Cohen is likely to provide critical details about whatever involvement the Republican presidential candidate may have had in the payments, made in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign, to two women who alleged affairs with him.Cohen has given prosecutors evidence, including voice recordings of conversations he had with a lawyer for one of the women, as well ...

Iran says 22,000 arrested in protests pardoned by top leader

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:57 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran announced Monday that the country’s supreme leader has pardoned 22,000 people arrested in the recent anti-government protests that swept the Islamic Republic. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the mass release. The statement by Iran’s judiciary head Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi offered for the first time a glimpse of the full scope of the government’s crackdown that followed the demonstrations over the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by the country’s morality police. It also suggests that Iran’s theocracy now feels secure enough to admit the scale of the unrest, which represented one of the most-serious challenges to the establishment since the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Tens of thousands also were detained in the purges that followed the revolution. However, anger still remains in the country as it struggles through the collapse of the nation’s curr...

Bank stocks drop in Europe over jitters on US bank failure

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:57 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Bank stocks sagged in Europe and U.S. stock futures fell Monday ahead of the market’s open in New York, shaken by a Wall Street tumble that set off worries the biggest U.S. bank failure in nearly 15 years might have ripple effects around the world. Broader markets, however, were mixed.The STOXX Banks index of 21 major European lenders was off 4.4%, with some members seeing intraday drops in double digits. Germany’s Commzerbank was down 10.5%, and Spain’s Banco de Sabadell down 10.1%.Dow futures were off 1.1% in premarket trading, and the S&P 500 was 1.4% lower.France’s CAC 40 lost 2.6% to 7,030.32. Germany’s DAX dropped 2.7% to 15,012.94. Britain’s FTSE 100 dove 2.3% to 7,570.18. In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 1.1% to finish at 27,832.96. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.5% to 7,108.80. South Korea’s Kospi recouped earlier losses to gain 0.7% to 2,410.60. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2% to ...

Nepal’s newly elected president takes oath of office

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:57 GMT

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal’s newly elected president — the third since the Himalayan nation abolished its centuries-old monarchy in 2008 and became a republic — took the oath of office Monday in Kathmandu. Ram Chandra Poudel was elected Thursday by members of the Federal Parliament and provincial assemblies. Top officials, diplomats and Parliament members lined up to congratulate the new president at the ceremony where the military band played national songs and gave him a salute. Outgoing President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, having completed the maximum completed two terms in office, passed the position on immediately after the swearing-in ceremony.The president is largely a figurehead with little political power. But the election triggered a feud among partners in the governing alliance headed by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who took office in December after a hung parliament left a fragile coalition government.Dahal backed Poudel, who is also now the supreme commander of the ...

BBC reverses Gary Lineker’s suspension for post on Twitter

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:57 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Gary Lineker will return to airwaves after the BBC reversed the former soccer great’s suspension on Monday for a post on Twitter that had criticized the British government’s new asylum policy.“Gary is a valued part of the BBC and I know how much the BBC means to Gary, and I look forward to him presenting our coverage this coming weekend,” BBC director general Tim Davie said.Britain’s national broadcaster was forced to scrap much of its weekend sports programming after commentators, analysts and Premier League players refused to appear as a show of support of Lineker.Lineker, one of English soccer’s most lauded players and the corporation’s highest-paid television presenter, was suspended Friday after he compared the Conservative government’s language about migrants to that used in Nazi Germany. The BBC said the tweet breached its impartiality rules, but critics accused it of suppressing free speech.Davie said there would be an independent review of the BBC’s soci...

US, South Korea hold drills as North sub test-fires missiles

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:57 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The South Korean and U.S. militaries launched their biggest joint exercises in years Monday while North Korea said it tested submarine-fired cruise missiles in an apparent protest of the drills it views as an invasion rehearsal. North Korea’s launches Sunday signal the country likely will conduct provocative weapons testing during the U.S.-South Korean drills that are expected to run for 11 days. Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his troops to be ready to repel rivals’ “frantic war preparation moves.”North Korea’s increasing nuclear threats, along with concerns about China’s ambitions, is pushing the United States to beef up its Asian alliances. In the past year, North Korea has been steadily expanding its nuclear arsenal, as China and Russia repeatedly blocked U.S.-led efforts to toughen sanctions on the North despite its barrage of banned missile tests.The South Korean-U.S. drills include a computer simulation and several combined field t...

UK boosts defense spending in response to Russia and China

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:57 GMT

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged Monday to increase U.K. military funding by 5 billion pounds ($6 billion) over the next two years in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the “epoch-defining challenge” posed by China.The increase, part of a major update to U.K. foreign and defense policy, is less than military officials wanted. Sunak said the U.K. would increase military spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product “in the longer term,” but did not set a date. Britain currently spends just over 2% of GDP on defense, and military chiefs want it to rise to 3%.The extra money will be used, in part, to replenish Britain’s ammunition stocks, depleted from supplying Ukraine in its defense against Russia. Some will also go towards a U.K.-U.S.-Australia deal to build nuclear-powered submarines.Sunak will meet U.S. President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in San Diego on Monday to confirm next steps for the military pact, known as AUKU...

US, UK try to halt fallout from Silicon Valley Bank collapse

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Governments in the UK and U.S. took extraordinary steps to stop a potential banking crisis after the historic failure of Silicon Valley Bank, even as another major bank was shut down.The UK Treasury and the Bank of England announced early Monday that they had facilitated the sale of Silicon Valley Bank UK to HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, ensuring the security of 6.7 billion pounds ($8.1 billion) of deposits.British officials worked throughout the weekend to find a buyer for the UK subsidiary of the California-based bank. Its collapse was the second-largest bank failure in history.U.S. regulators also worked all weekend to try to find a buyer. Those efforts appeared to have failed Sunday, but U.S. officials assured all depositors that they could access all their money quickly. Silicon Valley Bank depositors will have access to all funds starting Monday: fed agencies The announcement came amid fears that the factors that caused the Santa Clara, California-based bank t...

Chicago man sues Buffalo Wild Wings over boneless wings

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:57 GMT

CHICAGO (WGN) — A Chicago man has filed a class-action lawsuit against Buffalo Wild Wings, claiming the restaurant chain falsely advertises its boneless wings as the real deal, when in reality, he believes the wings are nothing more than chicken nuggets.According to court documents obtained by Nexstar's WGN, the plaintiff, Aimen Halim, filed a complaint Friday in the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois against Buffalo Wild Wings and its parent company Inspire Brands Inc.Halim claims Buffalo Wild Wings' description of the product leads customers to believe their boneless wings are deboned chicken wings made up completely of chicken wing meat, when the product is actually slices of chicken breast deep fried like chicken wings, and are compositionally more like chicken nuggets. 3 children, mother die in fire at Chicago firefighter’s home This all stems back to January 2023 when Halim bought boneless wings from a Buffalo Wild Wings in Mount Prospect, Illinois and thought just tha...

Ruth E. Carter becomes first Black woman to win 2 Oscars

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:57 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ruth E. Carter made history: The costume designer behind the “Black Panther” films became the first Black woman to win two Oscars.Carter took home best costume design Sunday night at the 95th Academy Awards for the Marvel sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Carter also won in 2018 for “Black Panther,” which made her the first African American to win in the category. Photos from the 2023 Oscars: red carpet, ceremony, and more In her acceptance speech, Carter thanked the film's director Ryan Coogler and asked if “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman could look after her mother, Mabel Carter, who she said died “this past week.” Boseman died in 2020 of cancer at 43.“This is for my mother. She was 101,” Carter said. "This film prepared me for this moment. Chadwick, please take care of mom.”Carter then paid tribute to her mother backstage.“I had a great relationship with her in her final years. The same relationship I always had with her. I was her ride...