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Banks aren’t out of the woods yet and neither is the economy. Here’s why

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:19:31 GMT

(CNN) — Markets seesawed severely this week when two of the US economy’s most prominent leaders gave seemingly contradictory statements on the health of the banking sector. Expect more turbulence ahead.Fresh off of the Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday to hike interest rates by a quarter point, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said in the central bank’s post-meeting press conference that “all depositors’ savings are safe.”But elsewhere in Washington D.C., Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testified Wednesday before a Congressional committee that she wasn’t considering a guarantee of all deposits.A day later, Yellen said in something of a reversal that the federal government is ready to take more action to stop bank contagion if necessary to curb systemic risk.Mixed messagesThe apparent disconnect baffled Wall Street investors, who for weeks have been searching for clues about the state of the banking sector and what the crisis means for ...

As decisions loom, Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza capitalize on time together

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:19:31 GMT

TAMPA — While Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza have been locked in a high-profile competition to become the Yankees’ starting shortstop this spring, the two have also made it a point to get acquainted.The Yankees had already promoted Peraza to the majors for a cup of coffee last September by the time Volpe reached Triple-A, so they had not had a chance to play together – or hang out – until camp began this year. Both things have changed in Florida, with the 21-year-old Volpe and the 22-year-old Peraza playing up the middle simultaneously on occasion and even taking in a Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game together.“It’s our first time really playing together and being in the same clubhouse, but it’s been amazing,” Volpe told the Daily News. “He’s a great teammate, and someone I want to play with.”As spring training winds down, however, the Yankees have some decisions to make pertaining to Volpe’s sentiment.Which pros...

Yankees Notebook: Anthony Volpe builds case with home run-producing adjustment

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:19:31 GMT

TAMPA — Pablo Lopez got Anthony Volpe swinging with his sweeper in the first inning Friday. In the third, it was the prospect who made the Twins’ Opening Day starter pay.Volpe, just 21 and vying to be the Yankees’ starting shortstop, drove a nearly identical pitch to center field on the first offering of his second at-bat in the Yankees’ 6-4 spring training loss to the Twins. The two-run shot, Volpe’s third of the spring, caught the eye of his manager as the Yankees weigh some big decisions with camp nearing its end.“He went to school on it and made whatever small adjustment he needed to and really, really leaned on it,” Aaron Boone said after the game at George M. Steinbrenner Field.“He’s a heady, smart player, but he’s a good player. So it’s like he’s got the equipment to go do things, but he processes things really well. He learns. He adjusts really well.”Volpe, meanwhile, praised Lopez’s sweeper ...

Season in Review: HS basketball featured heavyweights, Cinderellas and more

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:19:31 GMT

The 2023 MIAA Basketball season provided firsts, repeat champions, and those who avenged agonizing defeat.A year after faltering down the stretch of the Div. 1 state title game, Andover knocked off Bishop Feehan in a heavyweight between two powerhouse girls programs to capture their second state championship in five seasons.In a battle of two teams looking for its first state championship, Worcester North held off Needham to send the second-largest city in New England into a celebratory frenzy. Needham should get another crack next year as it builds around Bay State Herget MVP junior guard Brian Cloonan.Malden Catholic versus Mansfield seemed poised to be an instant classic between two of the premier programs in Massachusetts but Nick Martinez and the Lancers had other ideas. Martinez scored 28 points as the Lancers smothered Mansfield and repeated as Div. 2 state champions.Ashlee Talbot and Dracut had a season to remember as the Middies made an impressive run to the Div. 2 girls st...

Pennsylvania chocolate plant blast kills 5, leaves 6 missing

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:19:31 GMT

WEST READING, Pa. (AP) — An explosion at a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania on Friday killed five people and left six people missing, authorities said.The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency confirmed the increase in the number of fatalities Saturday morning after the blast just before 5 p.m. Friday at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in the borough of West Reading. Chief of Police Wayne Holben said the blast destroyed one building and damaged a neighboring building. “It’s pretty leveled,” Mayor Samantha Kaag said of the explosion site. “The building in the front, with the church and the apartments, the explosion was so big that it moved that building four feet forward.”The cause of the blast in the community about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia was under investigation, Holden told reporters.Eight people were taken to Reading Hospital Friday evening, Tower Health spokeswoman Jessica Bezler said. Two people were admitted in fair condition and five were being ...

Q-and-A: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa on democracy and disinformation

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:19:31 GMT

TORONTO — Maria Ressa’s coverage of how online disinformation campaigns helped support an authoritarian regime in the Philippines led to her winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021, but she says more work needs to be done to hold social media companies accountable for a gradual decline of democracy around the world.Ressa, who was born in Manila and moved to the United States at age nine, has challenged corruption and tyranny in the Philippines and elsewhere as a reporter for CNN and the founder of Rappler, an investigative news organization that used the emerging power of social media in 2012 to crowdsource breaking news.On Monday, she will discussher book “How to Stand Up to a Dictator” at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema in Torontoas a part of a collaboration with the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression.The book title refers to then-president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, whose government and its war on drugs Rappler began criticizing in 2016.Rappler reports als...

German bishop resigns, cites responsibility in abuse scandal

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:19:31 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Pope Francis on Saturday accepted a resignation request from a German bishop who asked to step down because of his mistakes in handling sexual abuse cases. Franz-Josef Bode, who has been the bishop of Osnabrueck, Germany, since 1995, said in a personal statement that his decision to resign “has matured in me in recent months” and he hoped it would have a liberating effect on the diocese. Bode explained that an interim report released in September on abuse by clergy in the diocese had revealed his mistakes. He acknowledged his responsibility as a bishop and said, “Today, I can only ask all those affected again for forgiveness.”Abuse survivor groups have accused Bode of failing to respond appropriately to some cases of abuse, German news agency dpa reported.The head of the German Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Georg Baetzing, issued a statement that noted Bode’s resignation with “great regret and respect.”With his resignation, Bode “also takes responsibility for the t...

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth kicks off reelection campaign

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:19:31 GMT

NONTHABURI, Thailand (AP) — Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Saturday officially accepted his party’s nomination as its main candidate to keep the job in the upcoming general election, promising to build a new political climate that does away with decades of conflict.The 69-year-old former general led a military coup in 2014, following months of violent street protests in Bangkok against the elected government. Thailand has suffered from political instability since the army in a 2006 takeover ousted the government of billionaire populist Thaksin Shinawatra.“We will create a new political climate,” Prayuth said in a speech before 1,000 supporters at a convention center on the outskirts of Bangkok, less than a week after he dissolved Parliament to set a May 14 election date. “We will have policies that address issues of the people and the country, and most importantly – and I only need to say one word, I don’t need to expand or anything – we will move b...

Vice President Harris’ trip aims to deepen US ties in Africa

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:19:31 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will try to deepen and reframe U.S. relationships in Africa during a weeklong trip that is the latest and highest profile outreach by the Biden administration as it moves to counter China’s growing influence.Harris, who is traveling with her husband, Doug Emhoff, plans to visit Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia, focusing on economic development, climate change, food security and a rising youth population. She is scheduled to arrive in Accra, Ghana’s capital, on Sunday.“For too long, the U.S. foreign policy establishment has treated Africa like some kind of extra credit project and not part of the core curriculum,” said Michelle Gavin, an Africa expect at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former U.S. ambassador to Botswana. “I see a big effort to change that thinking now. But it takes time.”In Africa, Harris will be closely watched as the first person of color and first woman to serve as America’s vice president. He...

Ugly cars: Car designs not even a mother could love

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:19:31 GMT

(iSeeCars) -- The people behind the scenes in the automotive industry spend years designing the cars we drive. Despite their best efforts, not every car design is one that’s well-received. Maybe it’s underpowered or doesn’t handle well, or maybe it’s just how the car looks. We’ve all seen ugly cars and wondered how they ever rolled off the assembly line. You can find ugly cars from pretty much every automotive era, so it’s been an issue as long as cars have existed.A myriad of design flaws can make a car look bad, from oddly shaped bumpers to awkwardly-angled rear windows to confusing lines that don’t know whether they want a car to be a station wagon or a coupe. Most of the ugliest cars ever made are, thankfully, not for sale anymore, but you can still find many of these (ugly) used cars for sale today. And while everything from the BMW Isetta to the Fiat Multipla to the Nissan S-Cargo and entrants from automakers that aren’t available in the U.S. like the Mitsuoka Galue or the Ssa...