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Correction: Pakistan-Budget story

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:00 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — In a story published June 10, 2023, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Pakistan’s government budget for the coming fiscal year is $940 billion and that this compared to $786 billion in the previous year. The actual figure is $50 billion for the coming fiscal year, compared to $47 billion for last year’s budget.Source

Pokemon cards help tie suspect to series of explosions in Md. neighborhood

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:00 GMT

Authorities in Maryland have charged a man following a series of explosions over the last several weeks in Aberdeen — and they say his collection of Pokemon cards helped connect him to the blasts.Jeremiah E. Burnette, 34, of Aberdeen, faces charges of possessing and using explosive devices, following a joint investigation by the Office of the Maryland State Fire Marshal, Aberdeen Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.Burnette was arrested Tuesday after Aberdeen police officers responded to a reported explosion in the area of South Rogers and James streets around 3:30 a.m.The “loud explosion,” as described by the Office of the Maryland State Fire Marshal, happened in the same area residents had reported hearing explosions in the middle of the night since mid-May.Responding officers discovered a crater near a wood line littered with Pokémon cards. One of the officers recalled a similar stack of cards when previously arresting Burnett...

Gloria Estefan, la primera mujer latina en ingresar al Salón de la Fama

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:00 GMT

NUEVA YORK – La cantante Gloria Estefan se convirtió anoche en la primera mujer latina en ingresar en el Salón de la Fama de los Compositores de EEUU, en un acto en Nueva York donde afirmó que la música fue su refugio cuando su familia dejó Cuba para iniciar una nueva vida en otro país y con un nuevo idioma.Estefan subió al escenario mientras se escuchaba la música de Conga, un éxito del grupo Miami Sound Machine con el que se dio a conocer, y el público puesto en pie moviendo su cuerpo al ritmo del tema.La estrella latina agradeció ser incluida en el exclusivo grupo de compositores y hacer así un sueño realidad. “El mejor regalo de cumpleaños”: Gloria Estefan tiene su propia muñeca Barbie Gloria Estefan revela que fue abusada sexualmente cuando era niña “La música salvó mi vida cuando mi familia fue forzada a iniciar una nueva vida. La música fue mi terapia”, dijo la cantautora que emigró a Estados Unidos cuando...

Germany hands over 2 Indigenous masks to Colombia as it reappraises the past

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:00 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Germany handed over to Colombia on Friday two masks made by the Indigenous Kogi people that had been in a Berlin museum’s collection for more than a century, another step in the country’s restitution of cultural artifacts as European nations reappraise their colonial-era past.The wooden “sun masks,” which date back to the mid-15th century, were handed over at the presidential palace during a visit to Berlin by Colombian President Gustavo Petro. The decision to restitute them follows several years of contacts between Berlin’s museum authority and Colombia, and an official Colombian request last year for their return.“We know that the masks are sacred to the Kogi,” who live in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains of northern Colombia, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at the handover ceremony. “May these masks have a good journey back to where they are needed, and where they are still a bridge between people and nature today.”Pet...

Live Nation and SeatGeek say you’ll see true costs up front as Biden pushes to end hidden junk fees

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:00 GMT

President Joe Biden speaks at the League of Conservation Voters annual capital dinner in Washington, Wednesday, June 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)(AP/Susan Walsh) President Joe Biden speaks at the League of Conservation Voters annual capital dinner in Washington, Wednesday, June 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)(AP/Susan Walsh) WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden highlighted progress in chipping away at hidden junk fees tacked on to ticket, lodging and other prices as a “win for consumers” as major company executives meeting with him at the White House announced they’ll start showing customers the real cost up front.Live Nation, which is based in Beverly Hills, California, said Thursday that it will prov...

Michael Jordan selling majority ownership stake in Charlotte Hornets

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:00 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Michael Jordan is finalizing a deal to sell the majority share of the Charlotte Hornets, a move that will end his 13-year run overseeing the organization, the team announced Friday.Jordan is selling to a group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall, the Hornets said. Plotkin has been a minority stakeholder in the Hornets since 2019. Schnall has been a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks since 2015 and is in the process of selling his investment in that team.It’s not clear how long the process of selling will take to finalize by the NBA’s Board of Governors. Jordan is expected to keep a stake in the Hornets, the team he bought in 2010 for about $275 million.“In the same way that it’s wonderful that one of our greatest, Michael Jordan, could become the principal governor of a team, he has the absolute right to sell at the same time,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this month at the NBA Finals. “Values have gone up a lot since he bought that ...

Justice Department expected to announce findings of investigation prompted by George Floyd’s killing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:00 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The findings of a two-year investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department, prompted by the killing of George Floyd, are expected to be announced Friday by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.The Department of Justice on Thursday announced a news conference “on a civil rights matter” was scheduled for Friday morning at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis. Justice Department and city officials declined to confirm about whether they will announce findings of that police department investigation.A Justice Department advisory said Garland will be joined by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Police Chief Brian O’Hara and others. A link to a Justice Department public webinar scheduled for Friday afternoon has the heading: “DOJ Presentation for MPD Investigative Findings.”The “pattern or practice” investigation was launched in April 2021, a day after former officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, was convicted of murder and manslaughter in the May 25, 2020, killing ...

Miami man arrested for illegal dumping and animal cruelty involving 30 dogs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:00 GMT

Authorities have apprehended a man on charges of illegal dumping and animal cruelty. The arrest comes after investigators received information regarding a property that was meant for farming but allegedly turned into a sketchy dumping ground.The property is located at 15600 SW 172 Avenue.Detectives with the Miami-Dade Police Department’s Agricultural and Environmental Crimes Section, along with the Illegal Dumping and Environmental Crimes Unit received a tip about the property and decided to dig deeper. Looking at old aerial photos, they noticed the place had become overrun with heaps of junk, with the size of the piles changing over the years. The mounds of mystery debris appeared to continually shift throughout the years, dating back to 2017. Armed with this information, detectives obtained a search warrant.As the warrant was executed, authorities made a shocking revelation. Not only was the property being illicitly utilized for the acceptance of solid waste, but it also har...

Anheuser-Busch is writing checks to distributors as Bud Light sales sink

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:00 GMT

New York (CNN) — Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch has laid out a plan to appease beer distributors affected by two months of plunging sales sparked by an ongoing customer boycott.The company plans to provide financial assistance to its wholesalers, reimburse fuel for distributors’ trucks and launch a new ad campaign for Bud Light next week, A-B CEO Brendan Whitworth wrote in a letter Thursday.“We recognize that over the last two months, the discussion surrounding our company and Bud Light has moved away from beer, and this has impacted our consumers, our business partners, and our employees,” Whitworth said. “As we move forward, we will focus on what we do best — brewing great beer and earning our place in moments that matter to you.”Bud Light sales have been roughly 25% lower year-over-year in every single week since it partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for an Instagram post in early April, setting off a firestorm of negative coverage...

Hard to believe John Mara will let this get to a holdout for Giants star Saquon Barkley

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:00 GMT

Saquon Barkley would be risking a lot if he held out this season. The Giants also would be risking a lot if they dared him to.There are internal and external expectations for the Giants to build on last season’s playoff berth and Wild Card round victory. They paid Daniel Jones, traded for Darren Waller and spent plenty of capital on defense, and there is optimism in East Rutherford.Those good feelings could quickly and easily evaporate, however, if Barkley and the Giants don’t reach a deal by the July 17 deadline and the team’s top offensive player doesn’t show up for the start of training camp.Barkley’s absence would become a daily distraction. It would put pressure on head coach Brian Daboll to keep his locker room focused. And more concretely, it would threaten the Giants’ ability to put their best possible team on the field this fall.For all of those reasons, it’s difficult to believe that Giants co-owner John Mara would allow this stand...