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The free-agent negotiating window opens today. Where will GM Ryan Poles and the Chicago Bears turn their attention first?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:59 GMT

Ryan Poles came away with a plug-and-play wide receiver in D.J. Moore — who is instantly the Chicago Bears’ top target in the passing game — in his blockbuster trade of the No. 1 draft pick Friday.Poles also added a second-round pick this year and future draft capital for sliding back to No. 9 in the deal he struck with the Carolina Panthers. The trade will become official after the new league year begins at 3 p.m. Wednesday.Now attention turns to how Poles can begin to assemble the roster in free agency, in which the Bears general manager was a bargain shopper a year ago.Poles has stressed repeatedly that he believes in building through the draft. He also has talked about seeing the process through with Justin Fields, and after providing the quarterback with a No. 1 receiver, now he has a chance to turn his attention to the offensive line. If the Bears can improve the talent around Fields, they can raise their expectations for the quarterback in Year 3.The defensi...

T tells riders, plan on slow going

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:59 GMT

The MBTA is telling riders to build in extra time to their commute on the red, Orange, Blue, Green and Mattapan lines as track engineers continue a set of inspections launched last week.“MBTA crews remain in the field verifying that speeds are appropriate for sections of track identified by recent geometry car testing that may require mitigation,” the agency said in an alert Sunday night.The track inspections come after a site visit by the state’s Department of Public Utilities last week.The T initially on Thursday implemented a set of global speed restrictions of 10-25 mph system wide.“We understand that riders are frustrated, and we thank them for their patience as we work hard to deliver the reliable system they expect and deserve,” said MBTA Interim General Manager Jeffrey Gonneville. “The decision to implement these speed restrictions was taken because the safety of our riders and employees is a top priority. We will continue to keep riders updated as we develop a timeline for ...

Fear grips financial markets following US bank failures

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Fear is gripping Wall Street about what’s next to topple following the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history in recent days. Stocks are falling early Monday and Treasury yields are falling sharply as investors scramble to find someplace safe to park their money. The S&P 500 was 1% lower, with the heaviest losses coming from banks. Investors are worried that a relentless rise in interest rates meant to get inflation under control have hit a tipping point and are cracking the banking system and broader economy. U.S. regulators announced a plan late Sunday meant to shore up the banking industry. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Bank stocks sagged and U.S. stock futures were mixed Monday ahead of the market’s open in New York, shaken by worries the biggest U.S. bank failure in nearly 15 years might have ripple effects around the world.Futures for the Dow Jones industrials fell 0.7% before the bell, while futures...

AP sources: Biden OKs huge Willow oil project in Alaska

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is approving the controversial major Willow oil project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope, according to two people familiar with the decision.The decision being announced Monday is one of President Joe Biden’s most consequential climate choices and is likely to draw condemnation from environmentalists who say it flies in the face of the Democratic president’s pledges.Biden’s plan would allow three drill sites initially, the sources said, which project developer ConocoPhillips has said would include about 219 total wells. The company has said it considers that option workable. ConocoPhillips will relinquish rights to about 68,000 acres of existing leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, two of the sources said.The sources have direct knowledge of the administration’s plan but did not want to be identified before an official announcement. Climate activists have been outraged that Biden appeared open to greenlig...

Calm after quake: Greek PM says tension with Turkey easing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:59 GMT

Greece’s prime minister Monday said a massive earthquake in Turkey and deadly rail disaster in northern Greece have helped de-escalate tension between the two neighbors, driven by a popular feeling of solidarity.The devastating Feb. 6 quake in southern Turkey killed some 50,000 people in the country and neighboring Syria. It was followed three weeks later by a head-on rail collision in Greece which left 57 dead and has halted train services so far this month.“After a long period of unacceptable provocations, a long period of aggressive behavior, today we are experiencing … a de-escalation and a more positive attitude and behavior,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.NATO members Greece and Turkey both face national elections before the summer, leading many allies to warn of a further escalation over long-standing disputes that include sea boundaries and drilling rights in the eastern Mediterranean.But an outpouring of sympathy in Greece for the victims of the earthq...

Household debt-to-income ratio edges lower as interest payments expand

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:59 GMT

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says the ratio of household debt to disposable income improved in the fourth quarter as gains in disposable income offset an uptick in credit market debt.The federal agency says on a seasonally adjusted basis household credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income edged down to 180.5 per cent in the fourth quarter, compared with 184.3 per cent in the third quarter.The reading means there was $1.81 in credit market debt for every dollar of household disposable income. The improvement in the fourth quarter came as household disposable income increased three per cent while household credit market debt edged up 0.8 per cent. The household debt service ratio, measured as total obligated payments of principal and interest on credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income, rose slightly to 14.33 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared with 14.24 per cent in the third quarter.The latest national balance sheet figures ...

At least 44 dead as Cyclone Freddy pounds Malawi, Mozambique

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:59 GMT

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — An unrelenting Cyclone Freddy that is currently battering southern Africa has killed at least 44 people in Malawi and Mozambique since it struck the continent for a second time on Saturday night, authorities in both countries have confirmed. At least 39 people in Malawi’s commercial hub of Blantyre have died with several others missing or injured, the city’s chief executive officer told The Associated Press on Monday. Authorities in Mozambique reported that five people were killed in the country since Saturday.The deaths in Malawi include five members of a single family who died in Blantyre’s Ndirande township after Freddy’s destructive winds and heavy rains demolished their house, according to a police report. A three-year-old child who was “trapped in the debris” is also among the victims, with her parents among those reported missing, authorities also said.“We suspect that this figure will rise as we are trying to compile one nation...

Report: Ukraine world’s 3rd biggest arms importer in 2022

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:59 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that has led to a substantial flow of military aid to Kyiv from the United States and Europe made Ukraine the world’s third largest importer of arms in 2022, a Swedish think tank said Monday.The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI, reported that from 1991, when Ukraine became independent amid the fall of the Soviet Union, until the end of 2021, Ukraine imported few major arms. But Moscow’s invasion on Feb. 24 last year markedly changed that. Only Qatar — which has dramatically ramped up its arms purchasing in the past decade — and India imported more arms in the year, SIPRI said in its report on global arms transfers.Pieter Wezeman, senior researcher with the SIPRI Arms Transfers Program noted that even as arms transfers declined globally last year, “those to Europe have risen sharply due to the tensions between Russia and most other European states.” He said that following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European sta...

Family holds out hope 40 years after murder of 25-year-old Oakville woman

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:59 GMT

This week on the Tracking a Killer: The Cold Case Files podcast, Fil Martino and Madison Fitzpatrick take a look at the unsolved murder of 25-year-old Delia Adriano.Adriano, a secretary from Oakville, Ont., attneded a barbecue with her fiance on September 26, 1982. He later dropped her off at home, but she never made it inside.That same night, a young woman fitting Delia’s description was spotted being forced into a dark sub-compact vehicle by a man.  Witnesses also reported that a struggle continued inside the vehicle before it drove away with the lights turned off.On November 6 of the same year, Delia’s body was located in a wooded area about 30 kilometres away in Milton. Her killer has never been found.Detective Constable Phil Campbell with Halton Regional Police said they are always hopeful they will get new evidence or new information.“We are still hopeful that maybe the person responsible will come forward, has had this on their conscience for 40 years or somebody ...

Is DeSantis darkening Florida’s sunny open-records laws?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:59 GMT

Florida has long been known for sunshine — not only the warm rays that brighten its beaches but also the light of public scrutiny afforded by some of the nation’s strongest meetings and records laws.Although years of rollbacks have gradually clouded the impact, advocates are ringing alarms that this year presents the greatest threat to transparency yet in the state that coined the name “Sunshine Law” for its open-government rules.Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, weighing a presidential bid, is pursuing a home-state agenda that could make it harder for people to learn what public officials are doing or to speak out against them. In an unprecedented move for the Sunshine State, DeSantis has claimed an executive right to keep key government records secret. He’s also seeking to weaken a nearly 60-year-old national legal precedent protecting journalists and others who publish critical comments about public figures.Florida’s Republican-led Legislature appears ...