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Germany detains 42 in effort to prevent attacks on ATMs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German police detained 42 people as part of a crackdown on gangs suspected of blowing up cash machines, authorities said Friday.Incidents in which thieves blow up ATMs and then make off with the cash, usually during the night, have become increasingly common in Germany in recent years. There were a record 496 cases last year, a 27% increase over 2021, according to the Interior Ministry.Over the past three days, police in seven of Germany’s 16 states conducted searches on more than 5,300 vehicles and 8,000 people, the ministry said in a statement. It said 42 people were detained, but didn’t specify what they are accused of.The aim was to raise the pressure on perpetrators active across regional and international borders, the ministry said. “Anyone who blows up cash machines risks the life of people who aren’t involved,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.She added that further incidents can be foiled only by effective and wide-ranging preventati...

Parent of Silicon Valley Bank seeks bankruptcy protection

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The parent of Silicon Valley Bank, seized last week by the U.S., is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.SVB Financial Group, along with its CEO and its chief financial officer, were targeted this week in a class action lawsuit that claims the company didn’t disclose the risks that future interest rate increases would have on its business.SVB Financial Group is no longer affiliated with Silicon Valley Bank after its seizure by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The bank’s successor, Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, is being run under the jurisdiction of the FDIC and is not included in the Chapter 11 filing.SVB Financial Group believes it has approximately $2.2 billion of liquidity.Associated Press, The Associated Press

Finland’s president in Turkey for talks on NATO bid

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is meeting his Finnish counterpart in Ankara on Friday, raising hopes that the talks will lead to Turkey’s approval of Finland’s NATO membership bid.Despite the rain, Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto and Erdogan reviewed military honor guard at the presidential palace in the Turkish capital’s Bestepe district.The leaders’ talks will focus on Helsinki’s application to join the military alliance.Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership in May last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, abandoning decades of nonalignment.The expansion of the 30-nation bloc has been held up by Turkey and Hungary, the only two countries not to have yet ratified the Nordic states’ bids, which the parliaments of each NATO member must approve.Erdogan has raised specific objections to the countries — especially Sweden — joining NATO. In June last year Turkey, Sweden and Finland signed an agreement designed to smooth the pa...

US to pledge over $171M in humanitarian help for Venezuela

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The U.S. government plans to pledge more than $171 million Friday for humanitarian and development projects to assist Venezuelans experiencing a variety of urgent needs at home and abroad.Some of the money will go for food, water and sanitation efforts within the crisis-wracked country, while other funds are designated for emergency shelter, health care and other services for Venezuelans who have migrated to other South American nations, the U.S. Department of State told The Associated Press ahead of the announcement.The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, is expected to announce the pledged funding during a conference in Brussels. The event is designed to raise awareness of Venezuela’s protracted economic and political crisis, which has pushed millions into poverty and driven more than 7 million others to migrate, mostly within Latin America. The pledge comes almost four months after the government of President Nicolas Maduro an...

Surviving a zombie apocalypse in Toronto? Consider relocating

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

If you’re a Torontonian who’s been watching The Last of Us and wondering how you’d fare in a zombie apocalypse, you may want to consider moving to a new city.Toronto has been ranked as one of the worst cities in Canada to survive a zombie event, according to a new database from an online rental portal.Rentola ranked 35 metropolitan areas in Canada based on five categories — vulnerability, hideouts, supplies, safety, and mobility.Toronto found itself all the way down at number 29 on the list. Though it ranked favourably in the hideout category, fourth in the country, it was ranked as the worst city for vulnerability. It also ranked in the bottom five when it comes to supplies.Here are the five groups of data used to compile the rankings of cities:Vulnerability – Population density, perceived physical & mental health, number of visits to the REA (rapid epidemiologic assessment)Hideouts – Average household size, had a park or green space close to...

China fines Deloitte $30.8 million over audit failings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — The Beijing office of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has been fined $30.8 million for failing to adequately audit a Chinese state-owned asset management company whose former head was sentenced to death on corruption charges.The office also was ordered to suspend operations for three months for mishandling audit and other work at China Huarong Asset Management Co. in 2014-19, the Ministry of Finance announced Friday.Deloitte was fined 211.9 million yuan ($30.8 million), the ministry said. It said Huarong was fined a total of 800,000 yuan ($116,000) and 13 employees were fined a total of 250,000 yuan ($36,000) for their role in faulty audits.Huarong is one of four entities created in the 1990s to buy nonperforming loans from state-owned banks. They expanded into banking, insurance, real estate finance and other fields.Huarong’s former head, Lai Xiaomin, was sentenced to death on 2021 on charges of embezzlement and taking bribes in exchange for investments, construction contra...

Thailand’s opposition party unveils policies and candidates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

PATHUM THANI, Thailand (AP) — Thailand’s main opposition party on Friday paraded its slate of parliamentary candidates and outlined its policy pledges in a well-choreographed show of confidence ahead of the approaching general election.Several thousand supporters clad in red cheered and waved banners as the 400 candidates of the Pheu Thai party marched behind flag-bearers into an indoor university stadium on the outskirts of Bangkok, where they took their seats on stage.Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is expected to dissolve Parliament by Monday, shortly before its term expires, triggering polls likely to be scheduled for early May.Pheu Thai is closely linked to Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister ousted by a military coup in 2006. Thaksin, a telecommunications tycoon who upended tradition-bound Thai politics with populist policies, is despised by the military and ruling conservative establishment, whose influence he threatened. He now lives in exile to avoid a prison ter...

Death toll rises, locals pick up pieces after Cyclone Freddy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — Authorities are still getting to grips with the scale of Cyclone Freddy’s destruction in Malawi and Mozambique since late Saturday, with over 370 people confirmed dead, several hundreds still missing and tens of thousands displaced.On Friday, Malawi authorities said Freddy killed at least 326 people, with 200 still missing. There are hundreds of evacuation centers set up across the country for survivors. Malawi’s president, Lazarus Chakwera, declared a 14-day national mourning period on Thursday. In Mozambique, authorities said at least 53 were killed since Saturday, with 50,000 more still displaced. It’s expected that the death toll in both nations will continue to climb.Cyclone Freddy dissipated over land late Wednesday after it made second landfall in Mozambique and then Malawi over the weekend and caused mass devastation in several regions, including Malawi’s financial capital, Blantyre.“A lot of areas are inaccessible restricting movement of ...

Ford recalls 1.5M vehicles to fix brake hoses, wiper arms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — Ford is recalling more than 1.5 million vehicles in the U.S. in two actions to fix leaky brake hoses and windshield wiper arms that can break.The largest of two recalls covers nearly 1.3 million 2013 through 2018 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKX midsize cars. The company says in documents posted Friday by safety regulators that the front brake hoses can rupture and leak brake fluid. That would increase brake pedal travel and make stopping distances longer.Dealers will replace the hoses. Ford will mail owner notification letters starting April 17. They’ll get a second letter once parts are available for the fix.Ford says it’s aware of one crash with no mention of injuries due to the problem.The second recall covers more than 222,000 F-150 pickups from 2021. The windshield wiper arms can break.Dealers will replace the arms if needed. Owners will be notified starting March 27.Associated Press, The Associated Press

Prince Harry sues tabloid for defamation over security story

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Lawyers for Prince Harry asked a judge Friday to rule that a tabloid newspaper libeled the British royal with an article about his quest for police protection when he and his family visit the U.K.Harry is suing Mail on Sunday publisher Associated Newspapers Ltd. over an article alleging he tried to hush up his separate legal challenge over the British government’s refusal to let him pay for police security.During a hearing at the High Court in London, Harry’s lead attorney asked Judge Matthew Nickin either to strike out the publisher’s defense or to deliver a summary judgment, which would be a ruling in the prince’s favor without going to trial.Lawyer Justin Rushbrooke said the facts did not support the publisher’s “substantive pleaded defense” that the article expressed an “honest opinion.” Harry was not in court for the hearing. The prince, also known as the Duke of Sussex, and his wife, Meghan, lost their publicly funded U.K. police protection when they steppe...