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Trump fraudulently inflated his net worth by up to $2.2 billion, New York judge rules

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:43 GMT

NEW YORK — A state judge Tuesday found Donald Trump and his company liable for fraud for inflating his net worth in order to deceive banks and insurers, resolving one of the key claims in a civil fraud lawsuit brought by the New York state attorney general just days before a trial is set to start.Attorney General Tish James’ office “has submitted conclusive evidence” that the former president and his co-defendants overvalued their assets by between $812 million and $2.2 billion from the years 2014 to 2021, the judge, Arthur Engoron, wrote in a court filing. “Even in the world of high finance, this Court cannot endorse a proposition that finds a misstatement of at least $812 million to be ‘immaterial.’”As part of his ruling, the judge canceled the business certificates of all of the defendants, which include the Trump Organization itself and numerous LLCs connected to the company, as well as the business certificates of any entity “controlled or beneficially owned by” Trump, his adul...

Four sexual assaults reported at Cal State San Marcos during fall semester

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:43 GMT

SAN MARCOS, Calif. -- Four sexual assaults have been reported since the start of the fall semester at Cal State San Marcos on campus housing.“We want to send a message that this is not okay and we need a culture that rallies because this is an issue for college students across the board nationally,” said Margaret Chantung, Chief Communications Officer. “In all these situations they have been students acquainted with each other. In each of these cases we’ve provided support to victims.”Cal State San Marcos school officials issued alerts and a video message to the student body making them aware. Every year, the university offers student and family orientations where they educate on sexual assault.“I always want to rally and support our students, never want our students to go through this and also think it’s important as a community to talk about this,” said Dean of Students Jason Schreiber. Body found on sidewalk; SDPD investigating Schreiber says this time of year nationwide at col...

Germany bans far-right group that tried to indoctrinate children with Nazi ideology

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:43 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The German government on Wednesday banned a far-right, racist group known for its indoctrination of children as police raided dozens of homes of its members and other buildings early in the morning.A statement from the German interior ministry said it banned the Artgemeinschaft group, an anti-democratic association with around 150 members. All of its sub-organizations, including the Gefaehrtschaften, Gilden, Freundeskreise, and Familienwerk e.V., were also banned, the ministry said.“We are banning a sectarian, deeply racist and antisemitic association,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.“This is another hard blow against right-wing extremism and (those) who continue to spread Nazi ideologies to this day,” she said, adding that the organization had attempted to indoctrinate their children and young people with their anti-democratic ideology.Under the cover of a pseudo-religious Germanic belief in gods, the Artgemeinschaft spread its Nazi world view, the ministry...

How did the Maui fire spread so quickly? Overgrown gully, stubborn embers may be key to probe

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:43 GMT

Melted remains of an old car tire. Heavily burned trees. A charred stump of an abandoned utility pole.Investigators are examining these and other pieces of evidence as they seek to solve the mystery of last month’s deadly Maui wildfire: How did a small, wind-whipped fire sparked by downed power lines and declared extinguished flare up again hours later into a devastating inferno? The answer may lie in an overgrown gully beneath Hawaiian Electric Co. power lines and something that harbored smoldering embers from the initial fire before rekindling in high winds into a wall of flame that quickly overtook the town of Lahaina, destroying thousands of structures and killing at least 97 people.But as investigators sift through blackened debris to explain the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, one fact has become clear: Hawaiian Electric’s right-of-way was untrimmed and unkempt for years, despite being in an area classified as being at high risk for wildfires.Aerial and s...

Qatar Airways executive says invasive gynecological examinations of passengers won’t be repeated

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:43 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A senior Qatar Airways executive told an Australian Senate inquiry on Wednesday there would be no repeat of an incident at Doha’s international airport in 2020 in which female passengers were subjected to invasive gynecological examinations.Australian Transport Minister Catherine King said three weeks ago that the examinations of 13 Australian women who had boarded a Qatar Airways plane to Sydney were a factor in her decision in July to refuse the Qatar government-owned airline additional flights to Australia.Qatar Airways Senior Vice President for Global Sales Matt Raos described the incident, which occurred when authorities were looking for the mother of a newborn baby found abandoned in a Hamad International Airport trash can, as “a one-off incident, a very extreme incident.”“We’ve had nothing like it previously in our history and we’re completely committed to ensuring nothing like this ever happens again,” Raos told the committee.Raos was respond...

Stock market today: Asian shares mostly lower after Wall Street retreat deepens

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:43 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Shares in Asia were mostly higher on Wednesday, shrugging off a sharp decline on Wall Street that took benchmarks back to where they were in June.Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 recovered earlier losses, gaining 0.3% to 32,371.90. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng advanced 0.6% to 17,577.03. The Shanghai Composite index added 0.3% to 3,111.36. In China, concerns continued over heavily indebted real estate developer Evergrande. The property market crisis there is dragging on China’s economic growth and raising worries about financial instability.Evergrande’s Hong Kong-traded shares fell 2.5% following an unconfirmed report by Bloomberg that police have put its founder, Hui Ka Yan, under residential surveillance. Shares in Country Garden Holdings, another debt-encumbered developer, were down 1.1%.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3% to 7,019.70. In Seoul, the Kospi edged 0.1% higher, to 2,466.72.On Tuesday, the S&P 500 tumbled 1.5% for its fifth loss in six days, c...

Takeaways from AP report on Maui fire investigation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:43 GMT

Investigators are trying to solve a mystery about the origin of last month’s deadly Maui wildfire: How did a small, wind-whipped fire sparked by downed power lines and declared extinguished flare up again hours later into a devastating inferno that killed at least 97 people?Here are the key takeaways of an Associated Press investigation into the probe: WHAT DO THEY THINK HAPPENED?The answer may lie in an overgrown gully beneath Hawaiian Electric Co. power lines and something that harbored smoldering embers from the initial fire Aug. 8 before rekindling in high winds into a wall of flame that quickly overtook the town of Lahaina, destroying thousands of structures and forcing residents to jump into the ocean to escape.Investigators led by the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Maui County have declined to comment on specifics of the probe.But The Associated Press reviewed more than 950 photos taken last month showing investigators combing through th...

Las Vegas hospitality workers overwhelmingly permit union to call strike against hotels, casinos

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:43 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tens of thousands of Las Vegas hospitality workers fighting for new union contracts voted Tuesday to authorize a strike that could impact more than three dozen casinos and hotels, the city’s economic backbone.The Culinary Workers Union hasn’t gone on strike in more than three decades.The union didn’t immediately set a deadline for a walkout as it continues bargaining for better pay, benefits and working conditions with the top casino employers on the Las Vegas Strip, including MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts. A walkout by Nevada’s largest labor union would be the latest in a series of high-profile job actions around the country, including walkouts in Hollywood. The same day the Culinary Workers Union vote took place, President Joe Biden joined United Auto Workers strikers on a picket line in Michigan. Earlier this year, UPS reached a new deal before a work stoppage that could have significantly disrupted the nation’s sup...

InvestEU: Up to €1.7 billion financing from the European Investment Bank to construct new solar power plants in Spain, Italy and Portugal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:43 GMT

The European Investment Bank has approved framework financing of up to €1.7 billion for Solaria to support the construction of some 120 photovoltaic power plants mostly located in Spain, as well as Italy and Portugal. The project is backed by the InvestEU programme.The photovoltaic power plants will have a total capacity of approximately 5.6 GW and will produce an estimated 9.29 TWh a year. The power plants are expected to come into operation by the end of 2028. This operation will support the achievement of the EU's policy objectives under the European Green Deal and the REPowerEU Plan by providing electricity equivalent to the average annual demand of approximately 2.5 million households and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by around 3 million tonnes of CO2 a year. More than one-third of the installed capacity will be located in less developed regions. These are regions that have a GDP per capita that is less than 75% of the EU average. The project will significantly boost employ...

Drury, Detmers help Angels snap Rangers’ 6-game winning streak with 9-3 victory

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:43 GMT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Brandon Drury, Reid Detmers and the Los Angeles Angels prevented the Texas Rangers from getting another step closer to wrapping up their first playoff appearance since 2016 Tuesday night.Texas’ 9-3 loss though could have been worse.AL batting leader Corey Seager left in the sixth inning after being hit by a pitch in the right forearm an inning earlier.Manager Bruce Bochy said Seager had a left forearm contusion but that X-rays were negative. Seager, who has been hit by a pitch twice in the last four days“He (Detmers) was trying to come in and came in a bit too far. I can’t hold it against those guys,” Seager said. “With where the game was at, it was better to come out, get off your feet and feel a little better for tomorrow.”Seager is batting .332 after going 1 for 2 and has a four-point lead over Tampa Bay’s Yandy Diaz. He said there is some swelling but is hopeful of being in the lineup for Wednesday for the series finale.Texas (88-69), which had...