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House $1.1B tax relief bill includes previously rejected cap gains tax cut

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:45 GMT

The House unveiled its version of a tax relief package Tuesday, offering $1.1 billion in cuts that will play out over the next three years, including a capital gains cut rejected by lawmakers last session.“This tax relief package strikes the critically important balance of providing permanent financial relief to residents and businesses across Massachusetts, without compromising the long-term fiscal security of the Commonwealth,” House Speaker Ron Mariano said with the plan’s release. “I’m confident that this tax reform legislation will help to make Massachusetts more affordable for all residents, while also helping to make the Commonwealth more competitive with other states.”The plan, offered against Gov. Maura Healey’s about $750 million tax cut proposal includes several cuts the Legislature nearly passed last term and some that didn’t make the previous reform package.Notably, lawmakers had rejected a proposal by-then Gov. Charlie Baker to cut the state’s short term capital gains ...

Protesters briefly interrupt Macron’s speech in Netherlands

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:45 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Protesters opposing France’s unpopular pension reforms on Tuesday briefly interrupted a speech in the Netherlands by French President Emmanuel Macron as he was about to outline his vision for the future of Europe during a two-day state visit.Some members of the audience at a theater in The Hague shouted at Macron as he was just starting his speech, accusing him of undemocratically forcing through his plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.Macron’s pension reforms prompted massive protests and strikes. Critics were additionally infuriated when he used a special constitutional power last month to push the bill through parliament without a vote. Some protesters in The Hague theater Tuesday brandished a banner calling Macron the “president of violence and hypocrisy.”“I can answer these questions if you give me some time,” Macron responded, speaking in English. The protesters were quickly removed from the hall.It’s “very important t...

CEO, board of Trudeau Foundation resign citing recent politicization of their work

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:45 GMT

OTTAWA — The CEO and most members of the board of directors for the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation say they are stepping down because of the political climate that has recently surrounded their work. In a statement posted on its website, the foundation says the politicization of a donation it received seven years ago has put a great deal of pressure on its management, volunteer board of directors and staff.The resignations come after the Globe and Mail newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources, that Chinese billionaire Zhang Bin and another Chinese businessman, Niu Gensheng, donated $200,000 to the foundation in 2016.The foundation, which describes itself as independent and non-partisan, said last month that it was returning the money because of a potential connection between the donation and the Chinese government.Its statement today says three directors will stay with the organization on an interim basis to ensure it can continue to meet its obligations.Prime Minister Justin T...

US-Apple-Books-Top-10

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:45 GMT

Top Paid Books (US Bestseller List): 1. Romantic Comedy (Reese’s Book Club) by Curtis Sittenfeld (Random House Publishing Group) 2. It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover (Atria Books) 3. Over My Brother’s Dead Body, Chase Andrews by Piper Rayne (Piper Rayne Incorporated) 4. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) 5. The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth (St. Martin’s Publishing Group) 6. I Will Find You by Harlan Coben (Grand Central Publishing) 7. It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover (Atria Books) 8. Blue Moon by Lee Child (Random House Publishing Group) 9. Searching for Caryn by Susan Stoker (Stoker Aces Production, LLC) 10. Rizzoli & Isles: Listen to Me by Tess Gerritsen (Random House Publishing Group)The Associated Press

Ukraine wants India to play bigger role in ending war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:45 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Ukraine wants India to play a bigger role in helping end Russia’s war, its deputy foreign minister said Tuesday during the first visit by a senior Ukrainian official to India since the war began last year. India “can play a bigger and greater role” and Ukraine would “welcome any effort that is directed at resolving the war,” Emine Dzhaparova said.She made the comments in a speech at the Indian Council of World Affairs, a think tank in New Delhi, after meeting with her Indian counterpart, Sanjay Verma, and other officials. Dzhaparova has sought to use her visit to deepen ties with India, which has refrained from condemning Russia’s role in the war and has abstained several times from voting on U.N. resolutions against Moscow. Instead, New Delhi has stressed the need for diplomacy and dialogue on ending the war and has expressed its willingness to contribute to peace efforts.Dzhaparova said she hopes Indian officials including National Security Advis...

S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points as energy and base metal stocks climb

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:45 GMT

TORONTO — Strength in the energy and base metal stocks helped Canada’s main stock index gain more than 100 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 151.01 points at 20,426.83.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 120.79 points at 33,707.31. The S&P 500 index was up 4.21 points at 4,113.32, while the Nasdaq composite was down 41.46 points at 12,042.90.The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 73.93 cents US on Monday.The May crude contract was up US$1.29 at US$81.03 per barrel and the May natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.18 per mmBTU.The June gold contract was up US$13.50 at US$2,017.30 an ounce and the May copper contract was up four cents at US$4.01 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press

Wall Street drifts ahead of inflation, earnings reports

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:45 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is drifting Tuesday, with stocks and bonds making only modest moves ahead of reports later in the week with the potential to move markets.The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in quiet, midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 77 points, or 0.2%, at 33,664, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% lower. The biggest immediate question for Wall Street has been whether the Federal Reserve will keep hiking interest rates in its attempt to get high inflation under control. It’s already raised rates at a furious pace over the last year, enough to slow some areas of the economy and for strains to appear in the banking system. That’s why markets are gearing up for Wednesday’s report on inflation. Economists expect it to show inflation slowed to 5.2% in March from 6% in February. That would mean continued progress since inflation peaked last summer, but it would also still be well above the Fed’s target. A reading that’s hi...

Man charged for posing as a police officer, sexually assaulting woman in Pickering

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:45 GMT

Police in Durham Region have arrested a man who allegedly posed as an officer in Pickering and sexually assaulted a woman he met online.Authorities opened an investigation on March 28.It’s alleged that the male suspect met the female victim online and identified himself to her as a police officer to gain her trust. The woman attended his house, where the man sexually assaulted her multiple times.Investigators determined that the man was not a police officer.On Tuesday, police charged 36-year-old Ahmed Moustafa of Toronto with assault, sexual assault and two counts of impersonating an officer.Investigators are concerned there may be additional victims.

Serbian press marks unpunished 1999 killing of journalist

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:45 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Independent Serbian journalists on Tuesday marked the 24th anniversary of the killing of a prominent editor and newspaper publisher who was fiercely critical of the government in Belgrade.Slavko Curuvija was shot dead at the entrance to his Belgrade apartment during the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia over its crackdown against Kosovo Albanian separatists.His killing became a symbol of the struggle for a free press in the Balkan nation that is seeking membership in the European Union.Independent media organizations, both local and international, warn that critical journalists still face threats because of their work. The government of populist President Aleksandar Vucic — who was information minister at the time of Curuvija’s death — maintains tight control over mainstream media outlets.“We are in danger that a killing of a journalist could happen again, or serious violence,” Veran Matic, who heads a commission investigating attacks on journalists, said at ...

Glenview smoothie café robbed at gunpoint Monday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:45 GMT

GLENVIEW, Ill. — A smoothie café in Glenview was robbed at gunpoint Monday night.Just before 9 p.m., police responded to the Tropical Smoothie Café, located in the 2700 block of Pfingsten Road, on the report of an armed robbery.Employees reported that a man entered wearing all-black clothing and a full face mask and walked behind the counter. He then demanded cash from the register while displaying a handgun that was tucked in his waistband.He took an unknown amount of currency and fled the store. Suburban woman found guilty after pregnant nurse kicked in stomach Witnesses reported seeing a silver or grey work van in the parking lot near the café prior to the robbery.Anyone with information call police at 847-901-6055.