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BBC sports programming hit again as impartiality row rumbles on

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

LONDON — BBC program schedules were hit again on Sunday as broadcast executives failed to mitigate the fallout of a dispute over its impartiality standards.Jeremy Hunt, Britain’s chief finance minister, said on Sunday he “profoundly” disagreed with comments made by star football host Gary Lineker, who was taken off-air over recent comments against what he called the government’s “immeasurably cruel policy” on immigration. The broadcaster’s coverage of the Women’s Super League on Sunday was reduced with no pre-match presentation. The BBC reported its Match of the Day 2 program on Sunday will repeat Saturday’s reduced format with no presenters, pundits or commentary.The coverage has been hit due to a boycott from a group of hosts and co-hosts who disagreed with the BBC’s decision to suspend Lineker.BBC Director General Tim Davie apologized for the disruption over the weekend and insisted the broadcaster was “working very hard to reso...

Tractor-trailer driver arrested for DUI on I-89 in NH

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

A 64-year-old New York man is facing an aggravated driving while under the influence charge after being stopped in a tractor-trailer on I-89 in New Hampshire on Saturday, officials said.A trooper responding to a complaint about a tractor-trailer driver who was all over the road around 11:30 p.m. stopped Thomas Hawk, of Newburgh, as he got off at Exit 11, police said.Hawk is expected to be arraigned in Newport District Court on April 11. https://twitter.com/NH_StatePolice/status/1634928056862380032Anyone with information is asked to call Trooper Kenneth McGrath at 603-271-3636.

Police: NH man arrested after doing burnout, fleeing police, crashing into snowbank

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

A New Hampshire man who police say did a “burnout” in front of a trooper before a wild chase that ended in a crash in Hill, New Hampshire is facing a raft of criminal charges.A trooper monitoring traffic on Route 3A in Hill spotted a vehicle go by at 82 mph in a 50 mph zone. When she tried to stop the 1985 Chevy K10 pickup truck, the driver, later identified as John Carter, 36, of Hill, allegedly “stopped in the roadway in front of the trooper, did a ‘burnout’ across the width of the roadway and the accelerated away…”, according to New Hampshire state police. After a chase through multiple roads through Hill, the chase ended when Carter crashed into a snowbank on Old Town Road and jumped out of the vehicle and ran away, police said.He was arrested on charges of operating after certification as a habitual offender, reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled drug, dealing prescription drugs, resisting arrest, reckless op...

Yellen: No federal bailout for Silicon Valley Bank

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

WILMINGTON, Del. — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday that the federal government would not bail out Silicon Valley Bank, but is working to help depositors who are concerned about their money.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures deposits up to $250,000, but many of the companies and wealthy people who used the bank — known for its relationships with technology startups and venture capital — had more than that amount in their account. There are fears that some workers across the country won’t receive their paychecks.Yellen, in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation,” provided few details on the government’s next steps. But she emphasized that the situation was much different from the financial crisis almost 15 years ago, which led to bank bailouts to protect the industry.“We’re not going to do that again,” she said. “But we are concerned about depositors, and we’re focused on trying to meet their needs...

Iran claims prisoner swap with US; US calls it ‘cruel lie’

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s top diplomat claimed Sunday that a prisoner swap was near with the U.S., though he offered no evidence to support his assertion. The U.S. immediately dismissed his comments as a “cruel lie.”Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has made similar comments in the past about possible deals with the U.S. on frozen assets abroad and other issues that never came to fruition. Some of those remarks have appeared aimed at shoring up domestic support amid the mass protests challenging Iran’s theocracy and supporting the country’s troubled rial currency.However, in an interview Sunday with Iranian state television, Amirabdollahian claimed that Iran had “reached an agreement in recent days regarding the exchange of prisoners between Iran and the United States.”“If everything goes well on the American’s side, I think we will see the exchange of prisoners in the short term,” he added. He alleged a document between Iran and the ...

Gun bills coming in Michigan after 2nd school mass shooting

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Armed with two handguns and dozens of rounds of ammunition, 43-year-old Anthony McRae open fired on the Michigan State University campus on the night of Feb. 13, killing three students and wounding five more. The mass shooting has pushed Michigan Democrats, who had already planned to prioritize changes to gun laws, into action. Democrats are expected to bring a sweeping 11-bill gun safety package before the Michigan Legislature this week, emboldened by their sweeping victories in statewide elections in November that gave them legislative control. Responding to two mass school shootings in 15 months, the party’s leaders say it is only the beginning of gun reform in the state.“Nothing is off the table,” said Democratic state Sen. Rosemary Bayer, who leads the firearm safety caucus. “But every state has a culture. So I think we’re trying to be conscious of Michigan and how we do things.”The package aims to establish safe storage laws, universal background ch...

French Senate adopts pension bill despite street protests

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

PARIS (AP) — A contentious bill that would raise the retirement age in France from 62 to 64 got a push forward with the Senate’s adoption of the measure amid strikes, protests and uncollected garbage piling higher by the day.French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne tweeted late Saturday after the 195-112 vote that she looks forward to the bill’s definitive passage, hailing a “decisive step toward a reform that will assure the future of our retirement” system. But the legislation must now move through tricky political territory with multiple potential outcomes. It heads first to a committee of seven senators and seven lower-house lawmakers to find a compromise between the two houses’ versions of the text on Wednesday — when unions planned an eighth round of nationwide protest marches.President Emmanuel Macron is undaunted by the uncollected trash piling up in Paris and other cities from a strike by garbage workers opposed to the bill and reduced services and supplies in other sectors li...

Italy fears huge numbers of migrants might sail from Libya

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

ROME (AP) — Intelligence reports indicate nearly 700,000 migrants are in Libya awaiting an opportunity to set out by sea toward Italy, a lawmaker from Premier Giorgia Meloni’s far-right party said Sunday.Tommaso Foti, the lower parliamentary house whip for the Brothers of Italy Party, told television channel Tgcom24 the Italian secret services estimate there are 685,000 migrants, many of them in Libyan detention camps, who are eager to sail across the central Mediterranean Sea in smugglers’ boats.Some 105,000 migrants reached Italy by sea in 2022. From the start of this year through March 10, some 17,600 arrived, including a few thousand who disembarked at Italian ports in the last several days. That’s about triple the number for the same time period in each of the two previous years, although the COVID-19 pandemic might have led to fewer voyages. Italy’s coast guard said it rescued more than 1,000 migrants off the country’s southern mainland in recent days. ...

Kearl oilsands leak exposes gaps in how Alberta and Canada oversee industry: experts

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

EDMONTON — Recent leaks of toxic tailings from northern Alberta oilsands mines have revealed serious flaws in how Canada and Alberta look after the environment, observers say. Some accuse the federal government of abandoning the province. Others point to what they call a captive provincial regulator. All agree that there’s no way leaks from Imperial Oil’s Kearl tailings ponds should have gone unreported for nine months to both Ottawa and Edmonton, as well as the people who live near it.“We have never taken this issue seriously,” said Martin Olszynski, a University of Calgary resource law professor and former federal regulatory lawyer. “They have never taken these risks and these threats seriously.”Imperial discovered “brown sludge” near one of its Kearl tailings ponds in May and it became clear over the summer the problem was significant.However, the Alberta Energy Regulator didn’t update First Nations or inform federal and provi...

Cashback, reward apps helping Canadians save, but where is the data going?

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

TORONTO — When it comes to saving on groceries or trips to the mall, Nichole Schaubroeck is a pro. She scours flyers and websites, alerting her @couponcutiecanada Instagram account’s 254,000 followers to supermarket sales and deals at the likes of Lululemon or Amazon.But one of her tried and true savings methods — apps like Checkout51, Caddle, Drop, Eclipsa, which offer gift cards, points and cash back in exchange for uploading receipts, tracking purchases or completing surveys — poses a mystery to the savvy shopper.“The purpose of these apps is to collect data mainly, from my understanding, but I don’t know for sure,” said Schaubroeck, who lives in Dominion City, Man. about 100 kilometres south of Winnipeg. “I don’t know a ton about that side of it.”Schaubroeck’s right about the apps collecting data, but where does the information go and who is really profiting from it?Many of the apps make money from contracts with retailers and bran...