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Ticker: Uber set to join the S&P 500; Spotify axes 17% of workforce 

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:12 GMT

Uber’s stock is set to join the S&P 500 index later this month, the latest sign that the ride-hailing and delivery company is turning its business around after struggling through much of the pandemic.The San Francisco company will be added to the benchmark index prior to the opening of regular trading on Dec. 18, S&P Dow Jones Indices said late Friday.Inclusion in the S&P 500 can be a big boost for a stock because the index is widely tracked by many funds designed to mirror the holdings of the S&P 500, which is at the heart of many 401(k) accounts. That translates into more demand for stocks in the index, driving up their price.Shares in Uber Technologies Inc. rose 2% Monday to close at $58.63. That’s not far from their all-time high of $63.18 per share set in February 2021. The stock is up more than twofold so far this year.The strong rally marks a major turnaround from as recently as the summer of 2022, when the stock was at $20.46.Spotify axes 17% of w...

US agency to watch unrecalled Takata inflators after one blows apart, injuring a driver in Chicago

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:12 GMT

By TOM KRISHER (AP Auto Writer)DETROIT (AP) — U.S. auto safety regulators said Monday they are monitoring data from a group of mostly unrecalled Takata air bag inflators after one of them exploded in a BMW and hurled metal fragments that seriously injured a driver in Chicago.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been investigating the batch of about 30 million inflators since 2021 to see if they exhibit the same traits that forced Takata to recall 67 million of the devices since 2001.On Saturday, the agency posted documents showing that BMW is recalling 486 SUVs after the Chicago driver was hurt. A complaint filed with the agency shows that on Oct. 23, the inflator on a 2014 X3 exploded, shooting a large gold-colored metal disc that a surgeon had to remove from the driver’s lung. Takata used volatile ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate air bags in a crash. But the chemical propellant can deteriorate over time when exposed to high temp...

After racist shooting that killed 3, families sues Dollar General firms and others over lax security

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:12 GMT

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Family members of three Black people fatally shot at a Dollar General store in north Florida by a racist gunman have sued the store’s landlord, operator and security contractor for negligence, claiming lax security led to their loved ones’ deaths.The 21-year-old gunman had attempted to enter another store and the campus of a historically Black college, but he was stopped by the presence of security guards at both places. The probes by Ryan Palmeter took place in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Jacksonville last August, ending in the fatal assault at the Dollar General.The lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of the families of Angela Carr, Jerrald Gallion and A.J. Laguerre.“While Palmeter was deterred from harming the public at his two preceding stops, at this Dollar General, there was nothing in place to again deter Palmeter from attacking and killing innocent persons,” the families’ lawsuit said.Better security meas...

Boston woman killed by a shark while paddleboarding in the Bahamas

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:12 GMT

A Boston woman was killed by a shark while paddleboarding in the Bahamas on Monday, according to police.The 44-year-old woman was paddleboarding at the Sandals resort, about three-quarters of a mile from shore when she was bitten by a shark, police said at a press conference. She was paddleboarding with a male relative at the rear of the resort in western New Providence.After she was bitten by the shark, a lifeguard went out in a rescue boat and retrieved both the woman and her male relative.“CPR was administered to the victim; however, she suffered serious injuries to the right side of her body, including the right hip region and also her right upper limb,” a Royal Bahamas Police Force officer said from the scene.Emergency medical services responded and “thoroughly assessed” the victim, who had suffered “significant trauma.”“They declared that she showed no vital signs of life,” the police representative said.Related ArticlesLocal New...

Minnesota prosecutors won’t charge officers in the death of a man who drowned after fleeing police

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:12 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — No law enforcement officers will face criminal charges in the death of a man who fled a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb of Robbinsdale. The death was ruled an accidental drowning, prosecutors said Monday.Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement that her office found no evidence of inappropriate behavior by law enforcement in the death of Khalil Azad, whose body was found last July on the shore of Crystal Lake. His body was discovered two days after he fled on foot from police who stopped him near the lake on suspicion of drunken driving. He eluded a ground and air search.Black Lives Matter of Minnesota released a statement in February saying Azad’s family believed he was bitten by police dogs and beaten by officers. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension then reviewed the case at the request of the Robbinsdale Police Department. Moriarty said the BCA’s investigation established that Azad’s death was a “tragic accid...

Hong Kong democracy activist Agnes Chow jumps bail to stay in Toronto

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:12 GMT

TORONTO — A prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist says she’s decided to live permanently in Canada, after jumping bail from the Chinese territory.Agnes Chow says on social media she plans to stay in Toronto, where she has been studying for the past three months at a university she doesn’t name, and may never return to her home city.Chow, who served several months in prison for organizing unauthorized protests and was on bail for national security offences, said on Instagram on Sunday that she had been due to return to Hong Kong this month to check in with officers.She said in posts marking her 27th birthday that she purchased return plane tickets but recently decided to stay in Canada to recover her mental health after what she described as years of psychological trauma.Chow said she had been living under constant fear of being detained again after her release from prison in June 2021 for her role in anti-government protests.The Hong Kong Police Force says in a writ...

Police investigating ‘suspicious’ fire that destroyed unoccupied homes in Burlington

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:12 GMT

An investigation is underway after a home in a Burlington neighbourhood was the site of two suspicious fires in a matter of days, Halton Regional Police Service said in a release on Monday.Firefighters were first called to the residence on Lodi Road near Dundas Street and Walkers Line after a fire caused minor damage on Saturday, December 2, 2023.Two days later, at around 4:15 a.m. on Monday, crews were back at the same address, but this time the fire was more destructive.“No injuries were sustained, however, the fire destroyed three unoccupied homes on Lodi Road and is considered to be suspicious,” a release states. “Two additional homes were damaged (including one occupied home).”Police say the residential neighbourhood contains a mix of occupied home, along with unoccupied homes under construction.

George Santos is offering personalized videos for $200

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:12 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — George Santos already has a new gig.The former congressman, fresh off his historic expulsion last week, has created a Cameo account where the public can pay for a personalized video message.Screenshots of his account — with the bio “Former congressional ‘Icon’!” — started to spread online Monday morning. By the afternoon, users, including several lawmakers, were posting clips of Santos offering advice, blowing kisses and making cracks about Botox. “Screw the haters. The haters are going to hate,” he said in one of the videos shared by Nebraska state Sen. Megan Hunt. “Look, they can boot me out of Congress but they can’t take away my good humor or my larger-than-life personality nor my good faith and the absolute pride I have for everything I’ve done.” The price for a personalized video from Santos started at $75 and by Monday evening went as high as $200. He is also selling text messages for $10.Santos did not immediately return a voicemail seeking comment on Mon...

New North Carolina congressional districts challenged in federal court on racial bias claims

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:12 GMT

RALEIGH. N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Black and Latino voters sued in federal court on Monday seeking to strike down congressional districts drawn this fall by Republican state legislators that they argue weaken minority voting power in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court challenges four districts where the plaintiffs contend GOP leaders in charge of the General Assembly moved around groups of voters that minimizes the voting strength of minorities while beefing up the Republican’s partisan advantage. They want a new map drawn. The map enacted in October puts Republicans in good shape to win at least 10 of the state’s 14 congressional seats next November. Under the iteration of the congressional map that had been drawn by state judges for the 2022 elections, Democrats and Republicans each won seven seats. The shift could help Republicans on Capitol Hill retain control of the U.S. House.“North Carolina’s minority populations have long suff...

Naperville woman charged after fatal shooting at Hilton Hotel in Oakbrook Terrace

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:12 GMT

OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. -- A Naperville woman has been charged with murder after she reportedly shot and killed a 34-year-old Saturday night at a Oakbrook Terrace hotel.According to the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office, 51-year-old Latrice Phillips was arrested and charged for the murder of 34-year-old Calvin Truitt after she reportedly shot and killed him at the Hilton Suites in Oakbrook Terrace on Saturday. ORIGINAL: Man ID’d after fatal shooting at Hilton Hotel in Oakbrook Terrace; person in custody The Oakbrook Terrace Police Department responded to the Hilton Suites hotel on the 10 block of Drury Lane on reports of a shooting around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.Upon arrival, officers discovered Truitt had been shot twice in his back and side area. He was transported to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead.Further investigation showed that Phillips got into a verbal altercation with a person in a group of people who she reportedly knew, including Truitt, at the h...