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Banking giant UBS acquiring Credit Suisse for $3.2 billion

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:12 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Banking giant UBS is buying its smaller rival Credit Suisse for $3.2 billion in an effort to avoid further market-shaking turmoil in global banking, Swiss President Alain Berset announced on Sunday night. Berset called the announcement “one of great breadth for the stability of international finance. An uncontrolled collapse of Credit Suisse would lead to incalculable consequences for the country and the international financial system.”The Swiss Federal Council, a seven-member governing body that includes Berset, passed an emergency ordinance that allows the merger to go through without the approval of shareholders.Credit Suisse Chairman Axel Lehmann called the deal “a clear turning point.” “It is a historic, sad and very challenging day for Credit Suisse, for Switzerland and for the global financial markets,” Lehmann said, adding that the focus is now on the future and in particular on the 50,000 Credit Suisse employees, 17,000 of whom are in Switzerland.Colm Kelleher...

Gunmen kill 9 Chinese at mine in Central African Republic

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:12 GMT

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Gunmen stormed a Chinese-operated gold mining site that had recently been launched in Central African Republic, killing nine Chinese nationals and wounding two others Sunday, authorities said.However, the rebel coalition initially blamed by some for the attack put out a statement later in the day. Without providing evidence, it accused Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group of being behind the violence.The attack early Sunday came just days after gunmen kidnapped three Chinese nationals in the country’s west near the border with Cameroon, prompting President Faustin Archange Touadera to plan a trip to China in a bid to reassure investors.The assault on the Chimbolo gold mine began around 5 a.m. when the gunmen overpowered the site’s guards and opened fire, said Abel Matipata, mayor of the nearby town of Bambari, located 25 kilometers (16 miles) away. The mining site’s launch had taken place just days earlier, he added.The ...

Greek city marks 80th anniversary of Auschwitz train convoy

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:12 GMT

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Greece’s second-largest city, Thessaloniki, commemorated on Sunday the 80th anniversary of the departure of the first train convoy for the Auschwitz camp.Officials, led by President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, marched from Eleftherias (“Freedom”) Square, where members of the city’s Jewish community were rounded up by the German occupying forces, to the city’s Old Train Station, where they laid red carnations on the tracks. Some marchers held a banner reading “Thessalonki Auschwitz 80 years: Never again” and white balloons carrying the same slogan were released.The first train carrying Jewish people departed from the station, which is now a freight terminal, on March 15, 1943; the last one, on Aug. 7 that year. Most Jews, more than 48,000 of them, were sent to the Auschwitz II-Birkenau sub-camp, where almost all were immediately gassed. Another 4,000 were sent to Treblinka and a smaller number to Bergen Belsen. About 90% of a once-thriving commun...

Pope Benedict XVI’s aide acknowledges criticism over memoir

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:12 GMT

ROME (AP) — The longtime secretary to Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged Sunday that his tell-all memoir, published in the days after Benedict’s death, had been criticized for casting Pope Francis in an unfavorable light, but insisted that some of the polemics were more about anti-Benedict prejudice than anything else.In some of his first public comments since Benedict’s Dec. 31 death, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein said he remained loyal to Francis and that he was still waiting for the pontiff to give him a new job.Gaenswein’s future has been the subject of much speculation following Benedict’s death and the publication of “Nothing But the Truth: My Life Beside Pope Benedict XVI.” In the memoir, Gaenswein charted his nearly 30 years working with Benedict, but also settled old scores, revealed palace intrigues and detailed some of the bad blood that accrued during the decade in which Benedict lived as a retired pope alongside Francis.Published during the emotional period around Benedict’s J...

DA weighing Trump charges won’t be intimidated by rhetoric

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:12 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is standing firm against Donald Trump’s increasingly hostile rhetoric, telling his staff that the office won’t be intimidated or deterred as it nears a decision on charging the former president.Bragg sent an internal memo late Saturday hours after Trump unleashed a three-part, all-caps social media post in which he said he could be arrested in the coming days, criticized the district attorney and encouraged his supporters to protest and “TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”Bragg, whose office has been calling witnesses to a grand jury investigating hush money paid on Trump’s behalf during his 2016 campaign, did not mention the Republican by name, but made it clear that’s who he was writing about. The memo came as law enforcement officials in New York City are making security preparations for the possibility Trump is charged and appears in court in Manhattan. “We do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in...

Miami Beach sets spring break curfew after 2 fatal shootings

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:12 GMT

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Miami Beach officials imposed a curfew beginning Sunday night during spring break after two fatal shootings and rowdy, chaotic crowds that police have had difficulty controlling.The city said in a news release the curfew would be from 11:59 p.m. Sunday until 6 a.m. Monday, with an additional curfew likely to be put in place Thursday through next Monday, March 27. The curfew mainly affects South Beach, the most popular party location for spring breakers.The release said the two separate shootings Friday night and early Sunday that left two people dead and “excessively large and unruly crowds” led to the decision. The city commission plans a meeting Monday to discuss potential further restrictions next week.Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said in a video message posted Sunday that the crowds and presence of numerous firearms has “created a peril that cannot go unchecked” despite massive police presence and many city-sponsored activities meant to keep people busy....

3 of top 5 record-breaking days at Austin airport happened during 2023 SXSW

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:12 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – On Sunday, the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport provided information on the number of passengers arriving and departing from the airport since the beginning of the 2023 South by Southwest Conference & Festivals.The airport said three of the Spring/SXSW travel dates so far ranked in the top 10 for record-breaking days at AUS. Those days include March 10 at No. 2, March 13 at No. 3, and March 12 at No. 5.“Passenger numbers have been high, and the airport has been managing the high volume of passengers pretty smoothly. The preparations and extra staffing implemented by the airport and our partners have paid off” airport officials said.The average number for each day has been more than 30,000.March 9: 33,858March 10: 36,841March 11: 29,584March 12: 35,506March 13: 36,265March 14: 30,651March 15: 31,047March 16: 29,068March 17: 27,172March 18: 24,296March 19: More than 30,000 projectedThe airport said a high volume of travelers was expected this week for the PGA...

Austin City Council could vote to bury power lines after February storm

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:12 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — After the February ice storm led to millions of damaged trees and hundreds of thousands of Austinites without power, city officials could pursue burying power lines.Austin City Council will consider the measure at its March 23 council meeting. If approved, the city will conduct a feasibility study and develop a long-term plan to prioritize the conversions "for high-priority uses and areas without new construction opportunities." Key infrastructures that could receive those upgrades include:Critical infrastructure such as water, wastewater facilitiesHealth and safety infrastructure, including hospitals and nursing homesEmergency response infrastructure, including police, fire and emergency medical service stationsEmergency shelter locations, resilience hubsAreas with "a history of frequent electric service disruption or high maintenance cost"Consideration of community equity, historically underserved communitiesHigh wildfire risk areasAreas with tree canopy risks, cri...

TxDOT: Nightly I-35 closures at U.S. Hwy. 183 begin Sunday, delays expected

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:12 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Texas Department of Transportation said multiple parts of Interstate 35 would be closed at U.S. Hwy. 183 nightly, beginning Sunday evening.TxDOT said the closures would impact both northbound and southbound I-35 main lanes, frontage roads, entrance and exit ramps and flyovers.According to the department, the closures would last from Sunday through Thursday from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.Delays should be expected, according to TxDOT.

Body cam footage shows Oklahoma police captain arrested for DUI: 'Turn the camera off, please'

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:12 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - A police captain for the Oklahoma City Police Department was filmed repeatedly asking a sergeant turn off his body camera during a DUI stop earlier this week, as seen in new footage released by the department.On May 12, Captain James "Matt" French of the OKCPD's homicide investigation team was pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving.Sergeant Chris Skinner, a fellow police officer, stopped French just after 1:30 a.m. that morning. Captain French, a 32-year veteran on the force, was allegedly swerving and speeding in his city-issued vehicle. French later said he drank a few beers and a poker game four blocks away. In the video, French appears to open his car door before the sergeant approaches."Get back in your vehicle," Sgt. Skinner says."I'm," French starts to say."Drunk?" Skinner suggests.Skinner said French's eyes were watery and he was slurring his speech. The video captures the captain making sure the arresting officer knows he's "a captain of the police...