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Fear, grief follow deadly quake on Ecuador’s southwest coast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:31 GMT

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Some affectionally call Machala the “Banana Capital of the World.” This port community on Ecuador’s Pacific coast is home to about a quarter million people and normally bustles with commercial activity. But not this weekend, not after the deadly quake.Grief hung in the air on Sunday, a day after a powerful temblor rocked this city, toppling homes and buildings along the coast and as far off as the Ecuadorian higlands and even parts of Peru. Rubble covered some streets of Machala. Neighbors held simple funerals to bury the dead. A pier was no more. And a day after the quake that killed nine residents alone along this hard-hit coast, many in Machala were feeling anguished and uneasy.“The city is quiet, fear and mourning are felt,” resident Luis Becerra said. “You feel the pain, the drama, wherever you go. Everyone is alert, with great fear in case there is a replica.”The 6.8 magnitude The quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey measured at magni...

UBS to buy Credit Suisse for nearly $3.25B to calm turmoil

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:31 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Banking giant UBS is buying troubled rival Credit Suisse for almost $3.25 billion, in a deal orchestrated by regulators in an effort to avoid further market-shaking turmoil in the global banking system.Swiss authorities pushed for UBS to take over its smaller rival after a plan for Credit Suisse to borrow up to 50 billion francs ($54 billion) failed to reassure investors and the bank’s customers. Shares of Credit Suisse and other banks sold off this week after the failure of two banks in the U.S. sparked concerns about other potentially shaky institutions in the global financial system.Credit Suisse is among the 30 financial institutions known as globally systemically important banks, and authorities worried about the fallout if it were to fail.The deal was “one of great breadth for the stability of international finance,” said Swiss President Alain Berset as he announced the deal Sunday night. “An uncontrolled collapse of Credit Suisse would lead to incalc...

Boston celebrates at a chilly St. Patrick’s Day parade

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:31 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Boston held its St. Patrick’s Day parade on Sunday, an event Mayor Michelle Wu called one of the biggest events of the year for the city and a day for bringing people together.Boston is home to one of the country’s largest Irish enclaves, and the parade typically draws about 1 million people.The Democratic mayor said during a broadcast of the event that she was happy for sunny skies despite cold temperatures and blustery winds, adding, “we can handle it here in Boston.”The temperature was 36 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) when the procession stepped off in South Boston on Sunday afternoon. Cheering spectators decked out in green lined the route. Some held up large Irish flags that whipped in the wind. Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Maura Healey said she was thrilled to take part and celebrate the immigrant community and recognize veterans and current service members.Last year the parade returned after a two-year hiatus during the pandemic. Parade organizers deci...

Source: Lawyer invited to testify before Trump grand jury

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:31 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A lawyer who previously advised Michael Cohen, the key government witness in the hush money payment investigation into Donald Trump, has been invited to appear Monday before a Manhattan grand jury that is considering potential charges against the former president, according to a person familiar with the matter.Robert Costello had advised Cohen before the two had a falling out, and is prepared to offer testimony to the grand jury attacking the credibility of Cohen’s statements, according to the person, who insisted on anonymity to discuss secret legal proceedings.Costello had contacted a lawyer for Trump saying that he had information that contradicted Cohen’s current statements and that could be exculpatory for Trump, the person said. The lawyer brought it to the attention of the district attorney’s office, which last week subpoenaed Costello’s law firm for records and invited him to provide testimony on Monday afternoon.The Manhattan district attorney’s offi...

Doc: Man who struck Chicago police officer tried to escape interview through ceiling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:31 GMT

CHICAGO — A man who was charged after hitting a police officer with a car Friday on DuSable Lake Shore Drive tried to escape a police interview through a ceiling tile, according to a court document.Tajze Mullins, 23, faces multiple felonies of aggravated assault of peace officer, escape and a misdemeanor of obstructing identification. He is being held without bail.Police say Mullins was arrested in the 7100 block of South Lafayette Avenue and was identified as the man who minutes earlier struck a police officer with his vehicle near the 1100 block of South DuSable Lake Shore Drive.According to police, the officer broke his leg but is in good condition. Multiple injured in shooting inside South Side Restaurant According to a court document, authorities said another officer fired one shot and it struck a Lyft driver's vehicle. No one was injured.Mullins was placed into custody and charged after a police helicopter tracked him leaving the scene.Once he was placed in an interview room...

2 dead, 2 injured after fiery crash in Will County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:31 GMT

WILL COUNTY, Ill. — Two people are dead and two people are injured after a fiery crash Sunday morning in Will County.According to the Manhattan Fire Protection District, three vehicles were involved in a crash around 8:20 a.m. near Route 45 and Peotone Wilmington Road. 5 injured, 1 critically, in single-car crash in Arlington Heights One of the cars was on fire and all of the cars had heavy damage, according to a news release from the fire protection district.Two people died at the scene and two people were taken to hospitals, according to the release. Their conditions haven't been released. 2 dead after being trapped in building fire: Vernon Hills police The identities of those involved haven't been released. The crash is under investigation by the Will County Sheriff's Office and Illinois State Police.

80s to make quick return ahead of late week storms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:31 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- This last full day of winter certainly was chilly, but abundant afternoon sun pushed temperatures back up into the upper 50s and low 60s.Clouds will thicken up tonight, but widespread 30s and low 40s can be expected to begin your Monday. BLOG: April showers: Here's the outlook for Central Texas Spring arrives Monday afternoon at 4:24 pm. Expect a mostly cloudy to overcast sky with most temperatures in the mid to upper 50s. It will be colder for most of us thanks to the extra cloudcover.Monday's forecast NEW BLOG: Monday could be one of our coldest spring equinoxes in Austin Tuesday is the transition day between cold and warm with highs in the upper 60s to low 70s. The moist flow from south winds will lead to a chance of drizzle and sprinkles Tuesday morning that may amount to a few hundredths of an inch of rain at most.Wednesday we see temperatures return into the low 80s where we'll stay for several days in a row. For the fourth week in a row we're looking at t...

Austin to mark coldest spring equinox in 30 years on Monday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:31 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The chilly air that has settled into Central Texas to wrap up spring break looks like it will stay with us for the first day of spring.Looking back at data for Austin's Camp Mabry — a dataset that stretches back to 1898 — this could be one of the coldest spring equinoxes ever.The spring equinox doesn't always fall on the same day each year. While most of the time it's on March 20, it can also fall on March 19 or March 21.To figure out the coldest spring equinoxes ever, we had to look at the high temperature data for March 19-21 and cross check those days with the dates of the spring equinox.The coldest first day of spring had a high of 48º back in 1965 and 1970. Those were the only times spring has been in the 40s in Austin.We're currently forecasting a high of 58º this spring equinox, which would make it among the coldest equinoxes in recorded history.Coldest spring equinox in AustinThis would also mean that we're forecasting the coldest spring equinox since 1983 w...

Two top leaders dismissed after allegations of a ‘toxic’ workplace at the Hasting Veterans Home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:31 GMT

Two top officials at the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs have been fired two weeks after current and former caregivers spoke out publicly about allegations of a long-standing toxic work environment at the Hastings Veterans Home.Larry Herke, commissioner of the state Department of Veterans Affairs, said Sunday in a message to workers that Saturday was the last day for Doug Hughes, deputy commissioner for veterans health care, and Mike Anderson, administrator of the Minnesota Veterans Home in Hastings.Doug Hughes, left, deputy commissioner of veterans health care for the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, and Mike Anderson, administrator of the Minnesota Veterans Home in Hastings, testify to the Minnesota House veterans committee in St. Paul Monday, March 6, 2023. Lawmakers are considering a request for $78 million to cover the state’s share of a $220 million project to replace the aging campus in Hastings where about 150 veterans live. (Christopher Magan / Pione...

Literary pick of the week: “Duet in the Little Blue Church”

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:31 GMT

From working-class family life to the grueling history of pioneers who arrived on the Midwest prairie, Sharon Chmielarz’s poetry spans time and place. After four decades and 13 poetry collections, she presents a representative selection of her wide-ranging poetic interests and imagination in “Duet in the Little Blue Church: New and Selected Poems” (Nodin Press, $19.95).Chmielarz will host a launch party for the book at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 26, at Open Book, 1022 Washington Ave. S., Mpls. It’s free and open to the public.This South Dakota-born poet has been applauded by literary stars, including Joyce Carol Oates (“Quite lovely poetry”).Sharon Chmielarz (Lost Lake Photography)Chmielarz’s publisher points out that her poems are often related “in a wry and enigmatic conversational style” that bears comparison to such modern Polish masters as Szymborska and Milosz. The European element is strong, but so is the immigrant experience of...