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GOP lawmakers accuse Fed of being lax before bank failure

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:33 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican lawmakers accused top bank regulators Wednesday of dawdling as Silicon Valley Bank hurtled toward the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history and questioned whether tougher regulations would have made a difference.Regulators closed the bank March 10, shaking the U.S. financial system and triggering fears of a broader banking crisis. But Federal Reserve supervisors had first raised questions about Silicon Valley’s risky practices far earlier — in 2021 — and had warned the bank’s management about them in the fall of that year.“That doesn’t sound like a very urgent supervisory process,” Rep. French Hill, an Arkansas Republican, said at Wednesday’s hearing of the House Financial Services Committee into the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and of New York-based Signature Bank on March 12. Signature Bank’s collapse was the third-biggest in the nation’s history.In response to the crisis, some Democrats are calling for stri...

Fight against toxic mining runoff from Canada persists, say U.S. Indigenous leaders

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:33 GMT

WASHINGTON — U.S. Indigenous leaders from the Pacific Northwest say they won’t give up trying to convince Canada’s federal government to agree to a bilateral investigation of toxic mining runoff from the B.C. Interior. Representatives from several U.S. tribes were in D.C. Tuesday and Wednesday to meet with officials from the White House, the State Department and the Department of the Interior, as well as with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Their cause is the same as it was 11 years ago: a bilateral investigation under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty into mining pollution from B.C. that they say is poisoning the waters of a vital cross-border watershed. Communities in B.C., Washington state, Idaho and Montana have been contending for more than a decade with selenium and other toxins leaching into their watershed from coal mining operations in the province’s Elk Valley.“I’m just afraid of studying this to death. Our river is dying,” said Gary Aitken Jr....

Police: Wizards’ Bradley Beal faces possible battery charge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:33 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal is facing a possible misdemeanor charge in central Florida after a fan accused the NBA All-Star of hitting him during an argument after a game against the Orlando Magic.Probable cause exists to charge Beal with simple battery for the March 21 confrontation, an Orlando police case report said. Beal has not been arrested or charged as of Wednesday. The report said the case would be filed with the local State Attorney’s Office, but prosecutors said they didn’t have a record of the case late Tuesday.The Wizards acknowledged they knew about the situation with Beal in Orlando but declined to comment.According to the police report, Beal was walking down a tunnel at the Amway Center to the Wizards’ locker room following the team’s 122-112 loss to the Magic. A fan swore at Beal and accused him of causing the fan to lose $1,300 from a bet.Beal walked back toward the fan and his friends, and began to exchange words, investigat...

City council declares Toronto mayor’s seat vacant, kick-starting byelection campaign

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:33 GMT

Toronto City Council passed a motion Wednesday declaring the mayor’s seat vacant, officially kicking off the process of a by-election in June.Nominations for candidates will open on April 3, and anyone interested will have until Friday, May 12, to register.Torontonians will head to the polls on June 26 to elect the next mayor.Between April 3 and June 23, individuals, corporations and trade unions who plan to spend money to promote, support or oppose a candidate in the mayoral by-election must register as a third-party advertiser.The City Clerk must certify the registration before a third-party advertiser can spend money on their campaign, accept contributions or begin advertising.The by-election for a new mayor was triggered after John Tory officially stepped down back on Feb. 17 after announcing he had an “inappropriate relationship” with someone who used to work on his staff.Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie has assumed his duties on an interim basis and has said sh...

Top Venezuela oil official pleads guilty to taking bribes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:33 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — The former general counsel for Venezuela’s state-owned oil company pleaded guilty in Miami federal court on money laundering charges Wednesday in connection to a conspiracy to siphon hundreds of millions from state coffers through corrupt currency deals. As part of his plea agreement, Alvaro Ledo Nass acknowledged taking $11.5 million in bribes while serving in several senior roles at Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, until 2015.“I knew what I did,” Nass said in proceedings before Judge Patricia Seitz, expressing remorse for his actions. “I came here to own up to my mistakes and to take responsibility before the U.S. courts.”Nass, 43, in February became the latest among several dozen former Venezuelan officials to be charged or convicted in the U.S. as part of Operation Money Flight, a sprawling, multi-year investigation that seeks to untangle how Venezuelan insiders stole billions in oil wealth from their country. Many of the individuals involved in the massive graf...

Biden declines to veto GOP-led measure to end COVID-19 emergency

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:33 GMT

President Biden will not veto a GOP-led effort to end the COVID-19 national emergency, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told Democratic senators on Wednesday.A Senate Democratic source confirmed that Schumer informed senators of the decision. The move comes ahead of a planned vote in the upper chamber on the measure later in the day.The bill would terminate the COVID-19 national emergency effective immediately. The Biden administration has said it would let it expire in mid-May.The move marks the second time in recent weeks where Biden sided with Republicans on legislation, having declined to veto a GOP-led measure to nix updates to Washington, D.C.'s, criminal code in early March.The announcement also likely opens the door to a bigger tally among Democrats for the upcoming vote. Thirty-three Senate Democrats voted alongside every Republican in the D.C. crime bill vote, with almost every one of those decisions being made after Biden indicated his plans.The move c...

Remains found in central Illinois storage unit identified as former police chief

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:33 GMT

GALESBURG, Ill. (AP) — Human remains found in a west central Illinois storage unit have been identified as those of a former police chief.The remains discovered last fall are those of Richard R. Young, 71, the former Maquon village police chief, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.The sheriff’s office received confirmation of the identity Tuesday after taking DNA from the decomposed remains and comparing it to samples from Young's relatives. Several 7-Elevens robbed across Chicago in last 3 days The remains were found Oct. 7, 2022, at Roberts Self Storage in Maquon after Knox County deputies responded to a complaint about an odor coming from the storage unit.It's not clear how Young died.Marcy Oglesby, 50, of Maquon has been charged with first-degree murder and concealing the death of a person in the case. She has pleaded not guilty. Oglesby remains in custody at the Knox County Jail.Maquon is about 150 miles (241 kilometers) southwest of Chicago.

Jeremy Renner reveals details in snow plow accident, says he'd 'do it again'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:33 GMT

(KTLA) - Jeremy Renner has revealed devastating details about the snow plow accident he was involved in on New Year's Day but said he would do it again, despite it all. In an upcoming interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, the "Hawkeye" actor reportedly gets candid about his road to recovery. On Jan. 1, Renner was injured by his PistenBully snowplow while trying to save his nephew. Once emergency crews could get through the more than 2 feet of snow that had fallen near his home, Renner was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Jeremy Renner updates fans from ICU following snow plow accident When asked if he remembered the pain from the accident, he revealed that he was awake through the whole ordeal. "I (felt) all of (the pain)," he said in a preview clip released Wednesday.Renner's nephew also spoke with Sawyer, recalling how he found his uncle with a pool of blood coming from his head. "I didn't think he was alive," he added. Yet despite the pain and intense recovery, Renner told Sawyer h...

Texas lawmaker hopes to expand access to life-saving cancer treatment: biomarker testing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:33 GMT

 Editor’s Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for March 29, 2023.AUSTIN (KXAN) – Rebecca Munoz was only 29 when she discovered a lump in her breast. The lump turned out to be breast cancer.“It was a complete shock to me,” she said.The diagnosis had big implications – she has four family members who have died from the disease.  MORE: Breast density is a greater risk for breast cancer than many think, study finds “It was devastating,” Munoz said “At that age, you don't really have a lot of experience with the health system. You don't know what questions to ask. You don't really know how to navigate this new world.”“I was just very scared. I didn't know that I would survive it,” Munoz said.But she did. Munoz just celebrated on Monday her fifth anniversary of being cancer free.“And I credit that entirely to the biomarker testing that I've received,” she said.Biomarker testing is a way for medical professionals to find genes, proteins and other substances in a p...

Expansion of transgender athlete ban passes in Texas Senate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:33 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A bill furthering the state's transgender student-athlete ban officially passed Wednesday in the Texas Senate. The legislation, introduced by Republican Sen. Mayes Middleton and 17 other conservative colleagues, passed by a vote of 19 in favor, 10 in opposition and two present. The proposal now heads for consideration in the Texas House of Representatives, which will also have to approve the bill before it heads to the governor's desk for his signature. LGBTQ+ advocates rally against Texas bills affecting trans people The Senate's version of the bill would require athletes to play on college sports teams that correspond to their sex assigned at birth. If it's signed into law, for instance, a transgender woman would not be able to compete in female events. Ahead of the vote, Middleton said his legislation is necessary for one reason: fairness in college sports. "If Congress won't stand for fairness, if our Department of Education won't stand for fairness, if the NC...