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Senate labors to stave off US default, wrap up Biden-McCarthy debt ceiling deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:39 GMT

By LISA MASCARO, KEVIN FREKING, STEPHEN GROVES and FARNOUSH AMIRI (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Straining to prevent U.S. default, the Senate labored into Thursday evening trying to wrap up work on a debt ceiling and budget cuts package that overwhelmingly cleared the House. The urgent aim was to send it to President Joe Biden’s desk to become law before the fast-approaching deadline.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the chamber was digging into the bill that Biden negotiated with Speaker Kevin McCarthy and would “keep working until the job is done.”He warned of a crush of ideas from senators anxious to revise the bill’s budget cuts and environmental policy changes, but said, “There is no good reason, none, to bring this process down to the wire.”Passage in the Senate will require cooperation between Democrats and Republicans, much the way the narrowly divided House was able to approve the compromise late Wednesday night. Fast ...

MLB commissioner accuses Sinclair chairman of threatening Diamond Sports bankruptcy in streaming rights dispute

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:39 GMT

A simmering dispute between Major League Baseball and the Hunt Valley-based broadcaster Sinclair erupted into public view Wednesday in federal bankruptcy court.MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in court that Sinclair’s executive chairman threatened to force its Diamond Sports Group regional sports networks into bankruptcy, potentially hurting the league, if MLB refused to give it baseball game streaming rights.Manfred made the accusations against David D. Smith, Sinclair’s executive chairman, while appearing at a bankruptcy hearing in Houston for the struggling Diamond Sports, according to reports of the hearing.Diamond, a Sinclair sports network subsidiary that broadcasts MLB, NBA and NHL games, filed for bankruptcy reorganization in Texas in March, burdened by more than $8 billion in debt and struggling as viewers increasingly stream live sports instead of paying for cable television to view matchups.The rocky relationship between Sinclair and the MLB emerged during We...

Revised DACA program again debated before Texas judge who previously ruled against it

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:39 GMT

By JUAN A. LOZANO (Associated Press)HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge did not make an immediate decision Thursday on the fate of a revised version of a federal policy that prevents the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. During a court hearing, attorneys representing the nine states that have sued to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program argued the updated policy is essentially the same as the 2012 memo that first created it and asked U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen to again find the program illegal. In 2021, Hanen declared DACA illegal, ruling that the program had not been subjected to public notice and comment periods required under the federal Administrative Procedures Act. Hanen also said the states seeking to stop it had standing to file their lawsuit because they had been harmed by the program.“Every aspect of this program is … unlawful,” said Ryan Walters, with the Texas Attorney General...

Former Playboy model accuses Bill Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her in 1969

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:39 GMT

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER (Associated Press)LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Playboy model who alleges Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her and another woman at his home in 1969 sued him Thursday under a new California law that suspends the statute of limitations on sex abuse claims.In her lawsuit, Victoria Valentino, 80, says she was an actress and singer 54 years ago, when she met Cosby, now 85. The comedian and actor later approached her at a Los Angeles café, where he spotted her crying over the recent drowning death of her 6-year-old son. The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly.Cosby offered to pay for a spa treatment for Valentino and a friend, and then sent a chauffeured car to pick the women up for dinner. That evening at a steakhouse, Cosby gave them each a pill, she said in the court filing. “Here! Take this!” the lawsuit alleges Cosby said to them. “It will make y...

Biden thanks Air Force Academy graduates for choosing ‘service over self’; he stumbles after speech

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:39 GMT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — President Joe Biden on Thursday thanked U.S. Air Force Academy graduates for choosing “service over self” but said they now have the “great privilege” of leading in a world that will only get more confusing in the years to come. His appearance was punctuated by a stumble onstage after handing out diplomas to graduates.“Graduates, you made a noble choice to lead a life of service,” Biden told more than 900 cadets in remarks on the sun-splashed field at Falcon Stadium in Colorado. “Now you also shoulder a great privilege and a mighty responsibility. Leadership, yeah leadership.”“In the years ahead, your airmen and guardians are going to look to you for guidance and inspiration because the world is going to get more confusing,” he added. “They’ll put their trust in you. You, in turn, must strive to always be worthy of their confidence.”Near the end of the ceremony, the 80-year-old president turned to walk across the stage and tripped. He was helped up by an Ai...

Patrick Queen on his future with Ravens: ‘This is where I want to play’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:39 GMT

Patrick Queen stood at the microphone adjacent to the Ravens’ practice field in Owings Mills on Thursday fielding questions about his future in Baltimore. Nearby, general manager Eric DeCosta jogged up a set of stairs leading into the offices of owner Steve Biscotti’s castle.For now, Queen remains a Raven. For how long remains to be seen.Last month, the Ravens declined Queen’s fifth-year option, making the 23-year-old a free agent after this season — if he isn’t traded or signed to an extension before then.“It’s a blessing in disguise,” Queen said during voluntary organized team activities Thursday. “You see guys go both sides of it and get paid either way.“I’m not focused on the future. I’m focused on right now. If I take care of my business, all of that will fall into place.”It just might not be in Baltimore.While the Ravens’ decision to decline Queen’s option was anything but a surprise, it ...

Compass Medical closure surprises attorney who won $16M judgement against Quincy-based company

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:39 GMT

Compass Medical’s decision to shutter all of its facilities in Massachusetts came as a surprise to the attorney who helped secure a $16 million-plus payment from the Quincy-based company, which was convicted on 10 counts of fraud last year.A Boston jury ordered Compass Medical to pay millions to Steward Medical Group following a 15-day trial inside Suffolk County Superior Court. Compass had originally sued Steward in 2017 over failure to pay bonuses to doctors and make rental payments, but jurors sided with Steward, instead finding Compass liable for fraud.Attorney Howard Cooper, a partner at Todd & Weld who was the lead lawyer for Steward during the fall 2022 trial, said attorneys on both sides were in the process of having settlement discussions to avoid a Compass Medical bankruptcy.“What had been happening over the last few months since the jury came back is the parties, I should say at least Steward, was attempting to engage in settlement discussion,” Cooper told the Herald....

Senate passes GOP bill overturning student loan cancellation, teeing it up for Biden veto

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:39 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican measure overturning President Joe Biden’s student loan cancellation plan passed the Senate on Thursday and now awaits an expected veto.The vote was 52-46, with support from Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana as well as Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent. The resolution was approved last week by the GOP-controlled House by a 218-203 vote.Biden has pledged to keep in place his commitment to cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loans for 43 million people. The legislation adds to Republican criticism of the plan, which was halted in November in response to lawsuits from conservative opponents.The Supreme Court heard arguments in February in a challenge to Biden’s move, with the conservative majority seemingly ready to sink the plan. A decision is expected in the coming weeks.“The president’s student loan schemes do not ‘forgive’ debt, they just shift the burden from those who chose to take out l...

Champions League final referee under UEFA scrutiny for alleged links to far-right leader in Poland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:39 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — An anti-racism group called on soccer’s top referee Thursday to distance himself from a far-right politician in Poland, and UEFA said it wanted “urgent clarification” just nine days before the Champions League final.“A further announcement will be made (Friday), after reviewing all the evidence,” UEFA said.Szymon Marciniak was picked last week by UEFA to referee the biggest game in club soccer between Manchester City and Inter Milan on June 10. He also handled the Argentina-France World Cup final for FIFA this season.The Never Again group in Warsaw said Marciniak “reportedly promoted and participated in a recent event organized by a Polish far-right leader Slawomir Mentzen.”’We are shocked and appalled by Marciniak’s public association with Mentzen and his brand of toxic far-right politics,” Never Again co-founder Rafal Pankowski said in a statement. “It is incompatible with the basic values of fair play such as equality and respect.”Mentzen is a leader of the populist...

Airbnb sues New York City over restrictions on short-term rentals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:39 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Airbnb sued New York City on Thursday over an ordinance that the company says imposes arbitrary restrictions that would greatly reduce the local supply of short-term rentals.The 2022 ordinance, which the city plans to begin enforcing next month, would require owners to register with the mayor’s office, disclose who else lives in the property, and promise to comply with zoning, construction and maintenance ordinances.Airbnb said called the restrictions “extreme and oppressive” and a de facto ban against short-term rentals that left the company no choice but to sue.“Taken together, these features of the registration scheme appear intended to drive the short-term rental trade out of New York City once and for all,” Airbnb said. The company said the mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement “failed to consider reasonable alternatives.”The mayor’s office did not respond immediately to a request for comment.San Francisco-based Airbnb filed the lawsuit in state court in M...