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Protected: University of California achieves ‘stability and predictability’ by forming captive insurance company in DC

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

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Russian President Vladimir Putin breaks silence on plane crash, expresses condolences for Wagner members who were aboard

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin breaks silence on plane crash, expresses condolences for Wagner members who were aboard.Source

Petco, Spirit AeroSystems fall; Nvidia, Guess rise, Thursday, 8/24/2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that are trading heavily or have substantial price changes Thursday: Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), up $8.71 to $479.87.The chipmaker reported strong second-quarter financial results and gave investors an encouraging revenue forecast.Autodesk Inc. (ADSK), up $6.70 to $211.06.The design software company raised its profit forecast for the year.Splunk Inc. (SPLK), up $14.10 to $114.03.The maker of software to collect and analyze corporate data raised its sales forecast.Guess Inc. (GES), up $4.79 to $23.10.The fashion brand raised its profit forecast for the year.Petco Health and Wellness Co. (WOOF), down $1.39 to $5.15.The pet supply chain trimmed its profit forecast for the year.Burlington Stores Inc. (BURL), down $15.27 to $154.68.The discount retailer trimmed its annual forecast for a closely-watched measure of sales.Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. (SPR), down $3.42 to $19.55.The aircraft parts maker says it’s aware of a manufacturing issue with the 737 fuselage it pro...

Cardinals trade Isaiah Simmons, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2020 draft, to the NY Giants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Cardinals have traded Isaiah Simmons to the New York Giants, moving on from the No. 8 overall pick in the 2020 draft after three lackluster seasons.The deal was announced on Thursday, less than a week after Simmons had a disappointing preseason performance in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Giants are sending a seventh-round pick in the 2024 draft to the Cardinals.The move is pending Simmons passing a physical.The 25-year-old Simmons was seen as a can’t-miss defensive prospect in the 2020 draft after a stellar college career at Clemson. But the 6-foot-4, 238-pounder never quite found a role with the Cardinals and was attempting to move to safety from linebacker this preseason.The Cardinals were supportive of Simmons’ switch, though the move didn’t make a lot of sense from the team’s perspective. Arizona is already set at safety with two-time All-Pro Budda Baker and veteran Jalen Thompson.Still, there was little clue Simmo...

Average long-term US mortgage rate jumps to 7.23% this week to highest level since June 2001

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed further above 7% this week to its highest level since 2001, another blow to would-be homebuyers grappling with rising home prices and a stubbornly low supply of properties on the market. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan climbed to 7.23% from 7.09% last week. A year ago, the rate averaged 5.55%.It’s the fifth consecutive weekly increase for the average rate, which is now at its highest level since early June 2001, when it averaged 7.24%. High rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford in a market already unaffordable to many Americans. They also discourage homeowners who locked in low rates two years ago from selling.Mortgage rates have been rising along with the 10-year Treasury yield, used by lenders to price rates on mortgages and other loans. The yield has been climbing as bond traders react t...

Novak Djokovic’s US Open return will come against someone who’s never played a match there

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Novak Djokovic’s return to the U.S. Open after missing it last year because he wasn’t vaccinated against COVID-19 will come against an opponent who never has played in the tournament, while defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff were drawn Thursday into a possible quarterfinal matchup.Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, the 2022 men’s champion at Flushing Meadows, and No. 6 seed Jannik Sinner could meet in the men’s quarterfinals again. That was the round in which Alcaraz’s thrilling five-set victory over rival Sinner last year ended at 2:50 a.m., the latest finish in U.S. Open history. Instead of a public draw ceremony, the U.S. Tennis Association has set up its women’s and men’s singles brackets behind closed doors in recent years and did so again Thursday, when The Associated Press was invited to have a reporter present in a room at Arthur Ashe Stadium as an observer.Play in the final Grand Slam event of the se...

Prigozhin’s purported demise seems intended to send a clear message to potential Kremlin foes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

When Yevgeny Prigozhin launched his armed rebellion that challenged the Kremlin, Western officials predicted Russian President Vladimir Putin would seek vengeance against the mercenary leader.Two months to the day after the action that Putin labeled a “stab in the back” and “treason,” those forecasts seem to have come true, in ruthless and menacing fashion.Although authorities have not yet confirmed the deaths of Prigozhin and his top lieutenants from the Wagner private military contractor in Wednesday’s plane crash northwest of Moscow, it sent an immediate chill through Russian official circles.Even amid the uncertainty, the message was clear: Anyone who dares to cross the Kremlin will perish.But even as the crash worked to restore an image of Kremlin authority that was badly crippled by the Prigozhin mutiny, it also sowed confusion and anger among Russian hard-liners, heralding perhaps other challenges to Putin as the war in Ukraine marked its 18th month.Many see the events ...

Iran and Saudi Arabia are among 6 nations set to join China and Russia in the BRICS economic bloc

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Iran and Saudi Arabia were among six countries invited Thursday to join the BRICS bloc of developing economies in a move that showed signs of strengthening a China-Russia coalition as tensions with the West spiral higher.The United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Egypt and Ethiopia were also set to enter BRICS from Jan. 1, 2024, joining current members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to make an 11-nation bloc.The announcement came after two days of talks at a summit in Johannesburg involving Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Russian President Vladimir Putin participated in the discussions virtually after his travel to the summit was complicated by an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued against him over the war in Ukraine.Putin welcomed the six countries by video link. He did not mention Wednesday’s plane crash th...

No. 5 LSU to play without defensive tackle Maason Smith against No. 8 Florida State, AP source says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

LSU defensive tackle Maason Smith’s long-awaited return from a major knee injury last season will be delayed by one game because of a suspension that will sideline him for the No. 5 Tigers’ opener against No. 8 Florida State on Sept. 3, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday.The NCAA suspended Smith in connection with his participation in an autograph signing shortly before a rule change in July 2021 allowed college players to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL), the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because Smith’s discipline, first reported by The (Baton Rouge) Advocate, has not yet been made public by the NCAA or LSU.Smith cooperated with the NCAA’s investigation, the person said.Smith was injured in LSU’s 2022 season opener against Florida State in New Orleans. The former five-star recruit tore his left anterior cruciate ligament when he landed awkwardly after leaping in celebration of a teammate’s tack...

San Francisco’s music scene in the 1960s and ’70s takes center stage in an MGM+ docuseries

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Janis Joplin’s first rehearsal with the rock band Big Brother & The Holding Company was apparently a loud affair. So loud it was alarming.Bassist Peter Albin recalls the band raising the roof off one day in the 1960s when their playing was interrupted by a knock at the door. Two San Francisco police officers were investigating reports of a woman screaming.“Oh, that’s just Janis. It’s OK,” came the reply.That fun nugget — as well as rare footage of the actual rehearsal — enliven “San Francisco Sounds: A Place in Time,” a two-part documentary on MGM+ that concludes Sunday. The first part dropped Aug. 20.The late Joplin is joined by an astonishing number of great artists who came to define the city — the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Sly and the Family Stone, The Great Society, Steve Miller,Carlos Santana, Moby Grape, and Country Joe & The Fish, all mixing rock, folk and the blues.Viewers get a street-level view of the rise of the San Fran...