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Italy proposed a bank tax to help people with interest rate hikes. The move sent stocks plunging

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:18 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italian bank stocks plunged Tuesday after the Cabinet approved a proposal to apply a 40% tax on some bank profits this year to help consumers and businesses cope with higher borrowing costs.Transport Minister Matteo Salvini announced the tax at a Monday evening news conference, saying it was a measure of “social equity” to make up for a series of interest rate hikes from the European Central Bank. Those increases are aimed at fighting inflation and make it more expensive for people to get loans to buy homes and cars or for companies to get new equipment or build facilities.UniCredit shares closed down nearly 6%, Intesa Sanpaolo fell more than 8.5%, Banco BPM dropped 9%, and BPER and Banca MPS both plummeted almost 11% on the Milan Stock Exchange.After markets closed Tuesday, the Italian finance ministry defended the tax as in line with “already existing rules in Europe on extra bank margins,” and said that regardless, the contribution from the new tax can’t exceed ...

Bollywood superstar Alia Bhatt makes her Hollywood debut in Netflix’s ‘Heart of Stone’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:18 GMT

Alia Bhatt had been weighing her Hollywood options for a few years. A popular star of Hindi films for over a decade with nearly 79 million Instagram followers, she’d been interested in making an English-language film, but nothing had been working out. Then Bhatt got word of a new action franchise led and produced by Gal Gadot and within a week of reading the script, the deal had closed. It was, she concluded, fate.“Your first film chooses you,” Bhatt said in an interview with The Associated Press in June. “Technically, this is my first English-language movie. It chose me and I’m so happy it did.”“Heart of Stone,” a globe-trotting spy thriller co-starring Gadot and Jamie Dornan, debuts globally Friday on Netflix. Bhatt’s role as a tech prodigy named Keya is one that’s hard to describe without spoiling the twisty plot, but it’s an important one. In India, the actor had grown accustomed to being a lead, but here she was happy to delve into a more supporting part — as long as it had sub...

Nickelback love remains in Alberta hometown after highway signs come down

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:18 GMT

The signs may be gone but the mayor of an Alberta community says the love for hometown rock band Nickelback remains.Hanna, Alta., about 220 kilometres northeast of Calgary, removed in May signs declaring it was “Proud to be the home of Nickelback.”The signs at the three highway entrances into the town of about 2,600 people had been there since 2004 and were a popular pullover spot for fans wanting to take selfies.Nickelback, which formed in 1995, is one of the most commercially successful Canadian bands, having sold more than 50 million albums worldwide and ranking as the 11th bestselling musical act of all time.It has also been criticized for the overuse of themes involving strippers, sex and drugs, as well as the formulaic nature of its music. In May 2013, readers of Rolling Stone magazine named Nickelback the second worst band of the 1990s, behind Creed. This year, Nickelback was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.“Either you love them or you hate the...

Jay-Z’s Made In America fest canceled due to ‘severe circumstances outside of production control’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:18 GMT

Jay-Z ‘s annual Made in America festival, scheduled for next month in Philadelphia, has been canceled. “Due to severe circumstances outside of production control, the 2023 Made in America festival will no longer be taking place,” the festival shared in a statement on social media. Made in America had been scheduled for Sept. 2-3 on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway with Lizzo and SZA as the headliners. “This decision has been difficult and has not been made lightly nor without immense deliberation. Made in America has a legacy of delivering exceptional experiences for music fans and concert goers, and it is our commitment to always deliver a top-tier festival experience.”A specific reason for the cancellation was not made immediately clear. Promoter Live Nation referred questions back to the Made in America statement.The statement also included language about looking forward to returning next year, and that refunds will be available to ticket holders.Held over Labor Day week...

Unifor president demands SNC-Lavalin reinstate fired union head

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:18 GMT

MONTREAL — The head of Canada’s largest private sector union is calling out SNC-Lavalin for firing the head of a separate union that represents 900 of its engineers, scientists and technicians.In a release Tuesday, Unifor national president Lana Payne said SNC should reinstate Mark Chudak, who led the Society of Professional Engineers and Associates (SPEA) until he and another staffer at the engineering firm’s Candu Energy Inc. subsidiary were dismissed last month over allegations of sharing confidential information with an outside organization.Payne said the move marked “an alarming signal of anti-union behaviour” at the SNC.“Workers have the right to organize and advocate for their rights without fear of retaliation. This company must understand the severity of their action and the impact it has on labour relations and employee morale,” she said.The statement comes after a filing by SPEA to the Canada Industrial Relations Board earlier this year...

Stock market today: Wall Street falls with markets worldwide on worries about banks and the economy

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:18 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are falling Tuesday as more caution creeps into financial markets worldwide amid worries about the banking system and the global economy.The S&P 500 was 0.5% lower in late trading after paring an earlier loss that was more than double that. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 198 points, or 0.6%, at 35,275, as of 3 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.9% lower.On Wall Street, bank stocks fell after Moody’s cut the credit ratings for 10 smaller and midsized ones. It cited a list of concerns about their financial strength, from the effects of higher interest rates to the work-from-home trend that’s leaving office buildings vacant.Across the Pacific, stocks sank after a report showed exports for China’s troubled economy shrank by the most since the start of the pandemic in 2020. And in Europe, bank stocks tumbled in Italy after its Cabinet approved a proposal to tax a chunk of their profits this year. The worries layered on top of a m...

CPD: 23-year-old missing man last seen in Bucktown

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:18 GMT

CHICAGO — A Chicago man has been missing from Bucktown for over a week.Dylan Baxter, 23, was last seen via surveillance footage near his residence in the 2400 block of West Armitage on July 30 at around 7:30 p.m.Baxter is 5'11", 160 lbs. and has black hair. He also has a ninja turtle tattoo on his left arm.Anyone with information on his whereabouts can contact detectives at 312-746-6554.

Here's what's more — and less — likely to happen than you winning the lottery

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:18 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Being struck by lightning, being killed by a shark and dying from sunstroke. What do they have in common?They're much more likely to happen than you winning the lottery.Both the Powerball and Mega Millions have been gigantic jackpots in recent years. The trick to winning one of those gigantic jackpots? You need a gigantic amount of luck.The odds of winning the Powerball are roughly 1 in 292,201,338, or 0.0000003%. The odds of winning the Mega Millions are even lower, at 1 in 302,575,350Here are some things that are more likely to happen:But 1 in 302 million — or 1 in 292 million — is still a chance, right?! In fact, you're much more likely to win big than being hit by a meteorite (thankfully!).How's this for a mind-blowing fact: You are 30.4 billion times as likely to win the Mega Millions than you are to get a perfect NCAA bracket, if you just guess or flip a coin to determine your teams. That's right, billion with a B.Even if you know a little about basketball and ...

Austin's 32-day streak of consecutive 100° days is the longest in recorded history

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:18 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin is currently experiencing the longest stretch of triple-digit heat in recorded history.Camp Mabry, Austin's official weather reporting site, has reached 100° or hotter every day since July 8.That means temperatures have reached the century mark for 32 days in a row. With records dating back to the 1890s, that's the longest stretch of triple-digit temperatures ever recorded in Austin. MORE HEAT RECORDS: What is Austin's hottest month ever? The previous record of 27 days was set between July 17 and Aug. 12, 2011. That summer went on to have a record-breaking 90 days of triple-digit heat. How often does Austin hit 100°? Here’s a breakdown by date, month, year and decade Meanwhile, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport's streak of triple-digit days came to an end Thursday, July 27, with temperatures only reaching 99°. The airport had been above 100° every day since July 9. The 18-day streak ranks as the fourth-longest triple-digit streak since records began t...

Travis County pursuing historic courthouse restoration

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:18 GMT

Editor's Note: The video above shows KXAN Live's top headlines for Aug. 8, 2023TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) -- The Travis County Commissioners Court approved Tuesday $100,000 to hire a professional preservation architect to help develop plans for restoration of the Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse.The Texas Historical Commission (THC) operates the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation program, which provides matching grants to Texas counties working on restoration projects with historic courthouses. Grants are offered in three categories:Planning grants to fund architectural plansConstruction grantsEmergency grants issued for endangered historic courthousesEligible courthouses must have served or currently serve as county courthouses, be at least 50 years old and have a current master plan that's been approved by the THC.Currently, the Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse isn't eligible for funding, since it doesn't have a THC-approved master plan. County staff c...