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Going strong: Growth hits 4.9% last quarter as consumers shrug off rate hikes 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:31 GMT

WASHINGTON — The nation’s economy expanded at a robust 4.9% annual rate from July through September as Americans defied higher prices, rising interest rates and widespread forecasts of a recession to spend at a brisk pace.The Commerce Department said the economy expanded last quarter at the fastest pace in nearly two years — and more than twice the 2.1% annual rate of the previous quarter.Thursday’s report on the nation’s gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services — showed that consumers drove the acceleration, ramping up their spending on everything from cars to restaurant meals. Even though the painful inflation of the past two years has soured many people’s view of the economy, millions have remained willing to splurge on vacations, concert tickets and sports events.“This is just a very resilient economy that continues to take hit after hit and keep on,” said Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, a tax a...

Kristaps Porzingis delivers strong first impression in Celtics debut: ‘We’re lucky to have him’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:31 GMT

NEW YORK — Kristaps Porzingis always enjoys coming back to Madison Square Garden, even if the fans there aren’t welcoming to him. He was once the Knicks’ promising young star, drafted to be the face of their future before he was suddenly traded in 2019. That makes him an enemy whenever he returns.Porzingis knows this. He embraces it. On Wednesday night, it fueled him.With 2:03 remaining in a tight season opener, Knicks fans got mad at him. Porzingis, after corralling a rebound, was fouled and inadvertently hit Isaiah Hartenstein with an elbow, sending him to the floor. The Garden erupted. “(Expletive) Porzingis!” chants filled the arena.“I did not hear,” Porzingis said with a wry smile afterward.Of course, he did. It didn’t bother him.“For me it was fun,” Porzingis said. “I was just enjoying all of that and using it as motivation to make some big plays at the end. It was actually really, really fun tonight to play and be in that environment.”It was only fitting that Porzingis was th...

Landlord indicted on murder, hate crime in fatal attack on Palestinian American boy and stabbing of mother

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:31 GMT

Caroline Kubzansky | Chicago TribuneThe man accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy and severely injuring his mother days after the Hamas attack was indicted by a Will County grand jury on hate crime, murder and other charges, prosecutors said Thursday.Joseph Czuba, 71, faces three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of hate crime in connection with a knife attack that killed Wadea Al-Fayoume and left his mother, Hanaan Shahin, hospitalized.Czuba, who was the family’s landlord, was pushed to attack his Muslim tenants at their shared at his unincorporated Plainfield Township home after listening to conservative talk radio discussion of the war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas, Will County prosecutors said during his Oct. 16 court hearing.Judge Donald DeWilkins ordered Czuba held in custody. His next court hearing is set for Monday.Czuba is accused of acting “ex...

Orioles infielder Gunnar Henderson, manager Brandon Hyde, GM Mike Elias win Sporting News awards

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:31 GMT

The awards keep coming in for the Orioles.Baltimore’s top executive, manager and best player were honored by The Sporting News on Thursday morning after leading the Orioles to a 101-win regular season.Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias was named MLB Executive of the Year and Brandon Hyde won AL Manager of the Year, as voted by their front office and managerial peers. Infielder Gunnar Henderson was named AL Rookie of the Year, as voted by the 376 players who submitted ballots, according to The Sporting News.Elias took over in November 2018 after the Orioles lost a franchise-worst 115 games. The rebuild he led produced 100-loss seasons in 2019 and 2021, but it started to bear fruit in 2022 when Baltimore was the American League’s best team not to make the playoffs. The club took another step this year as the AL’s top regular season team while also boasting the sport’s top farm system.Elias hired Hyde to lead the Orioles through the ...

Darnell Wright’s 1st 2 months have been all about growth. Will the Chicago Bears rookie be able to ‘gut through’ a shoulder issue again?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:31 GMT

Every week of Darnell Wright’s rookie season, there has been social media examination of how the Chicago Bears first-round pick is faring — clips of him plowing a path in the run game with his athleticism, holding his own to allow quarterback Justin Fields time and, yes, getting beat by veteran pass rushers.But the film of Wright’s performance against the Las Vegas Raiders and two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Maxx Crosby on Sunday was unusual. For several plays in the Bears’ 30-12 victory, it looked like Wright was keeping Crosby away from backup quarterback Tyson Bagent with the use of only his right arm.Wright dealt with a left shoulder injury all last week in practice, and coach Matt Eberflus said he pushed through pain to help a Bears offensive line that paved the way for 173 rushing yards and allowed just one sack of Bagent. Eberflus commended Wright “for gutting it through,” even if it didn’t look pretty at times.“To do that again...

Former Albanian prime minister accused of corruption told to report to prosecutors, stay in country

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:31 GMT

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — An Albanian court ruled Thursday that former prime minister Sali Berisha, who is accused of corruption, must report to prosecutors and not leave the country while his case is under investigation.The ruling came from the country’s Special Court on Corruption and Organized Crime, which was created in 2019 to handle corruption and other crime cases involving senior officials.Last week, the 79-year-old Berisha announced the charges against him and his son-in-law, 50-year-old Jamarber Malltezi, who was arrested on the same charges of corruption and money laundering. Berisha has said that both he and Malltezi are innocent and that he considers the case politically motivated by the ruling Socialist Party of Prime Minister Edi Rama.Prosecutors allege Malltezi exploited Berisha’s position as prime minister to buy land in Tirana owned by both private citizens and the country’s defense ministry and build 17 apartment buildings on the land.The case was made public l...

Maryland Supreme Court posthumously admits Black man to bar, 166 years after rejecting him

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:31 GMT

BALTIMORE, Md. (AP) — More than a century after Edward Garrison Draper was rejected for the Maryland Bar due to his race, he has been posthumously admitted.The Supreme Court of Maryland attempted to right the past wrong by hold a special session Thursday to admit Draper, who was Black, to practice law in the state, news outlets reported.Draper presented himself as a candidate to practice law in 1857 and a judge found him “qualified in all respects” — except for his skin color and so he was denied.“Maryland was not at the forefront of welcoming Black applicants to the legal profession,” said former appellate Justice John G. Browning, of Texas, who helped with the petition calling for Draper’s admission. “But by granting posthumous bar admission to Edward Garrison Draper, this court places itself and places Maryland in the vanguard of restorative justice and demonstrates conclusively that justice delayed may not be justice denied.”Maryland Supreme Court Justice Shirley M. Watts said i...

REVIEW: The Killer is a murderous, methodical trip

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:31 GMT

David Fincher has made 12 films in his career, and a common thread among most of them is a fascination with darkness. Whether it be the religious murders of Se7en, the home invasion fear of Panic Room, or the psychological investigation in Gone Girl, Fincher seems drawn to the darkness lying underneath everything. What people do when they think no one is watching is a question that seems to plague Fincher in his darkest moments. With this film, he fully throws himself into that question by creating a film about a person whose work is to never be seen by anyone.The Killer. Michael Fassbender as an assassin in The Killer. Cr. Netflix ©2023The Killer, adapted from a French graphic novel of the same name, stars Michael Fassbender (from Inglorious Basterds and Steve Jobs) as an unnamed contract killer. A consummate professional, the film finds him on a job gone wrong and searching for vengeance after those who hired him strike back. Unfolding in five chapters, he travels the world in sea...

GTA Palestinian families urge Trudeau to demand ceasefire and help for Canadians

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:31 GMT

Palestinian families in the GTA whose relatives remain in Gaza gathered in Mississauga to urge the federal government to do more to help Canadians.In a press conference Thursday, many pleaded for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to demand an immediate ceasefire, a humanitarian corridor, and a safe passage for Canadians to exit the war zone.From anger to anguish, speaker after speaker expressed their fear as they watch this war unfold from the GTA, knowing their family members are in life-death situations.“We implore the Canadian government to use its diplomatic influence to help broker an end to this conflict, to put an end to the suffering and to bring about justice to the people of Gaza who are facing a severe humanitarian crisis,” said Nora, who has family in Gaza.Mansour, a Canadian living in Southern Gaza who joined the press conference live, said he sees ambulances daily and they are running out of supplies.“Almost half of the hospitals or clinics have stopped w...

Man arrested after trespassing twice in one day at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s home in Los Angeles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:31 GMT

A man was arrested after trespassing twice in one day at the Los Angeles home of presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., police confirmed Thursday.Police first responded to a call about the 28-year-old man trespassing at about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, said Drake Madison, an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department.The man was served an emergency protective order and released, but he returned to the property later that day, prompting police to arrest him for violating the order. He remained in police custody Thursday.Kennedy’s campaign said in a statement that the man climbed a fence at the candidate’s home but was detained by the candidate’s private security company. Kennedy, who is running as an independent, was home at the time of both arrests, the campaign added.The incidents come over a month after an armed man accused of impersonating a federal officer was arrested at a Kennedy campaign event. Kennedy and his campaign have repeatedly argued that he nee...