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Police search Senate office buildings after report of active shooter; later declare it a false alarm

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities issued a shelter-in-place order and searched Senate office buildings near the U.S. Capitol Wednesday afternoon after a 911 call warned of a possible active shooter. But a floor-by-floor search of the three buildings found nothing, and Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said the cause of the security scramble “may have been a bogus call.” “We found nothing concerning,” he said. “We got nobody who actually heard shots and certainly no victims.”The incident comes amid heightened security concerns created by former President Donald Trump’s indictment on charges relating to his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Trump is due in federal court Thursday just a few blocks from the Capitol.Manger said Washington’s multiple law enforcement agencies had been planning “for a couple weeks now” for a possible indictment and had “a security plan in place” in case Trump supporters attempt to disrupt the legal proceedings. The lockdown...

‘Deeply upsetting’: AIDS Memorial at Barbara Hall Park vandalized

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

The AIDS Memorial at Barbara Hall Park near Church and Wellesley streets has been vandalized with black paint.It’s not clear exactly when the act of vandalism took place and Toronto police tell CityNews they have not received a report about it.In a statement, Toronto Centre Councillor Chris Moise called the vandalism “deeply upsetting and personally heartbreaking.”“The monument was constructed to honour those whose lives have been lost to AIDS, as well as to celebrate those who live courageously with the virus. The fact that someone would desecrate this sacred space is inconceivable, and I condemn it in the strongest terms.”Moise added that “plans are already underway at the City to begin removing the graffiti.”“I look forward to seeing the memorial promptly restored to its former state.”The 519, a nearby community centre, is the trustee of the memorial. It declined to comment on the vandalism, but says the City has placed a work...

Museum in New York state returns remains of 19 Native Americans to Oneida Indian Nation

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A museum in Rochester, New York, returned ancestral remains of 19 Native Americans and funerary artifacts to the Oneida Indian Nation on Wednesday, striving for a “small step in the service of justice.”The remains of Oneida ancestors include those of five men, three women and two adolescent girls who lived sometime between 200 to 3,000 years ago. A mix of pottery and other items traditionally buried with the dead were also returned, as required by federal law.Hillary Olson, the president of the Rochester Museum and Science Center, apologized for the museum’s acquisition of the remains.“We have perpetuated harmful practices including the excavation, collection, study, and display of Native American ancestors and their belongings,” she said during a repatriation ceremony in Rochester. “This repatriation does not change the past. But we hope that it is a small step in the service of justice.” In 2000, the museum returned the ancestral remains of 25 Native Americans ...

CFPB sues auto dealer for illegally locking cars, re-possessing vehicles, other shady activities

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday sued USASF Servicing, the financial arm of a chain of auto dealerships found mostly in the South, alleging the company committed a laundry list of illegal practices, like disabling borrowers’ cars, double-billing customers, and illegally repossessing cars.The bureau is seeking to get millions of dollars in refunds for thousands of USASF customers, as well as impose fines and penalties against the Georgia-based company. USASF is affiliated with U.S. Auto Sales, a dealership chain that sold used cars mostly to customers with low incomes or bad credit that operated a “buy here, pay here” business model at its 31 dealerships. U.S. Auto Sales mostly shut down its dealership operations in April, but USASF is still operating as the loan servicer for the company. The CFPB said that, since 2016, USASF illegally disabled borrowers’ cars using what are known as “kill switches,” which remotely disable a vehicle wh...

Pope Francis blasts ‘scandal’ of clergy sex abuse in Portugal and meets with survivors

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Pope Francis met with survivors of clergy sexual abuse in Portugal on Wednesday and blasted members of the country’s Catholic hierarchy for their response to the long-ignored scandal, which he said had marred the Catholic Church and helped drive the faithful away.Francis dove head-on into the crisis roiling the Portuguese church on the first day of a five-day visit to Lisbon for the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day festival. His trip comes at a delicate moment for the Portuguese church; a panel of experts hired by Portugal’s bishops reported in February that priests and other church personnel may have abuse at least 4,815 boys and girls since 1950.The Vatican said Francis met with 13 abuse victims for more than an hour at the Vatican Embassy and characterized the pope’s role in the meeting as one of “intense listening.” The victims were accompanied by church personnel in charge of child protection programs.The encounter, which had been expe...

Police ‘engaged’ as Ottawa says video contains threat against Indian diplomats

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

Ottawa says law enforcement is “engaged” after a video circulating online appeared to threaten Indian diplomats in Canada.Public Safety Canada said in a Tuesday tweet that Ottawa will ensure the safety of all diplomats in Canada, but the department would not provide details.It referred queries to the RCMP, which refused to confirm whether it had opened a criminal probe or say which particular video was involved.Some Canadian Sikhs who advocate for the secession of a region in India have claimed that New Delhi was involved in the June death of a preacher near Vancouver, though police say they have no evidence of such a link.A month ago, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly denounced posters accusing senior Indian diplomats of being “killers,” saying they were “unacceptable.”The issue has strained diplomatic relations between Canada and India as the two negotiate a possible trade agreement ahead of an expected visit by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau...

Stock market today: Wall Street tumbles to its worst loss in months

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street tumbled to its worst drop in months on Wednesday as its torrid rally that critics called overdone lost more momentum. The S&P 500 sank 1.4% for its sharpest tumble since April. It was the second straight loss for the index after it hit a 16-month high last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 348 points, or 1%, while the Nasdaq composite fell 2.2%.Prices were mixed in the bond market after Fitch Ratings cut the credit rating of the U.S. government. The repeated standoffs in Congress about whether to allow a default on the U.S. debt were just some of the reasons for Fitch’s cut. The downgrade strikes at the core of the global financial system because U.S. Treasurys are considered some of the safest possible investments.Fitch’s move follows a similar one by Standard & Poor’s in 2011, one that coincided with a European debt crisis to help cause stocks and bonds around the world to swing violently. So far, this most recent downgrade ha...

Adidas is donating Yeezy sales to anti-hate groups. US Jews say it’s making best of bad situation

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

When Adidas cut ties with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, due to his antisemitic comments, it was left with more than a billion dollars worth of high-end Yeezy sneakers. Now, Jewish Americans are evaluating the German company’s plan to give some of the proceeds from the sneakers’ sale to groups engaged in fighting antisemitism.Like other Jewish civic leaders contacted by The Associated Press, Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson said he wasn’t planning to buy a pair of Yeezys himself, but he also doesn’t see the value of wasting the labor and material that went into making them.“Antisemitism, like all forms of bigotry and hate, must be actively resisted by us all,” said Artson, dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies of American Jewish University in Los Angeles. “This move will raise funds for that fight, without minimizing his vile words.” Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the CEO of T’ruah, a rabbinic human rights organization based in the U.S., said it was better than at least one al...

S&P/TSX composite down more than 300 points Wednesday, U.S. stocks also fall

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index fell more than 300 points Wednesday amid a broad-based decline, while U.S. markets also slid. Fitch Ratings cut the U.S. government’s credit rating from AAA to AA+ and that news was the focus for Wednesday, said Anish Chopra, managing director with Portfolio Management Corp. “It’s really the Fitch news today that’s dominating the market,” he said. Among Fitch’s concerns were the growing debt-to-GDP ratio, said Chopra, as well as rising fiscal deficits and higher debt repayment costs due to interest rate hikes. Investors are reacting by pulling back in one of the more risk-off days the markets have seen in a while, he said. It was one of the worst days in months for Wall Street after a months-long rally appeared to lose its steam Wednesday. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 348.16 points, or almost one per cent, at 35,282.52. The S&P 500 index was down 63.34 points, or almost 1.4 per cent, at 4,513.39, whi...

City releases music, food lineup for 2023 Taste of Chicago

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The music and food lineup for the 2023 edition of the Taste of Chicago was released on Wednesday.The event is being held for the first time in September this year due to NASCAR's first-ever street race in Grant Park this summer.The Taste of Chicago, established in 1980, is once again being held for free downtown from Sept. 8-10.The music headliner for Friday is "Masters of the Mic: Hip Hop 50" which is a tour going on this year consisting of hip hop pioneers Doug E. Fresh, EPMD, KRS-One and Slick Rick.Headliners Saturday will be Lupita Infante and Proyecto Uno. The Sunday night headliner will be the Chicago indie band Whitney.For food purchases, organizers are reminding patrons that food tickets are a thing of the past at the Taste and vendors will be taking cards or cash only.Speaking of food, a list of the 2023 lineup is below.Cumin Club Indian KitchenSapori Trattoria Arun’s Thai Restaurant The Original Rainbow Cone Healthy Substance KitchenLC Pho Restaurant, Yum DumChur...