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Japan’s Honda records lower profit, projects recovery ahead on sales rebound

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:36 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Honda’s profit for the fiscal year that ended in March dropped 1.7% as sales took a hit from a semiconductor shortage and restrictions in China related to the coronavirus pandemic.But the Japanese automaker said Thursday that recovery was on the way, forecasting record sales and operating profitability for the current fiscal year.Net profit for the fiscal year that just ended totaled 695.2 billion yen ($5.2 billion), as declining auto sales and rising research costs offset the perks of a favorable currency exchange rate.A cheap yen is a plus for Japanese exporters like Honda because it raises the value of overseas revenue when it is converted into yen.Sales for the fiscal year grew 16% to 16.9 trillion yen ($126 billion), lifted by healthy motorcycle sales. Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co. projected record sales revenue for the fiscal year ending in March 2024, at 18.2 trillion yen ($136 billion). The 1 trillion yen ($7.5 billion) operating profit projected for the fiscal ye...

‘Now or never’: Migrants rush to US border ahead of Title 42 expiration

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:36 GMT

MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) — Migrants rushed across the border hours before pandemic-related asylum restrictions were to expire Thursday, fearing that new policies would make it far more difficult to gain entry into the United States.In a move to clear out overwhelmed holding facilities, Border Patrol agents were told Wednesday to begin releasing some migrants with instructions to appear at an immigration office in the United States within 60 days, according to a U.S. official. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and provided information to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.The Biden administration has been unveiling measures to replace Title 42, which suspended rights to seek asylum since March 2020 on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. On Wednesday, the Homeland Security Department announced a rule to make it extremely difficult for anyone who travels through another country, like Mexico, to qualify for asylum. It also introduced ...

OPP officer dead, 2 others injured in shooting east of Ottawa

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:36 GMT

An Ontario Provincial Officer has died and two others are injured after a shooting east of Ottawa.Provincial police were called to a home on Laval Street in the village of Bourget, around 50 kilometres east of Ottawa, shortly after 2 a.m. on Thursday after someone reported hearing a gunshot.When three officers arrived at the scene, police say they were shot at by someone inside the home.The officers were taken to hospital in Ottawa, but one of the officers was later pronounced dead.The extent of the injuries suffered by the officers is not known but police say they are recovering.One person has been taken into custody.

How Europe is leading the world in building guardrails around AI

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:36 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Authorities around the world are racing to draw up rules for artificial intelligence, including in the European Union, where draft legislation faced a pivotal moment on Thursday. A European Parliament committee voted to strengthen the flagship legislative proposal as it heads toward passage, part of a yearslong effort by Brussels to draw up guardrails for artificial intelligence. Those efforts have taken on more urgency as the rapid advances of chatbots like ChatGPT highlight benefits the emerging technology can bring — and the new perils it poses.Here’s a look at the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act: HOW DO THE RULES WORK? The AI Act, first proposed in 2021, will govern any product or service that uses an artificial intelligence system. The act will classify AI systems according to four levels of risk, from minimal to unacceptable. Riskier applications will face tougher requirements, including being more transparent and using accurate data. Think about it ...

Bank of England raises UK interest rates to highest level since 2008

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:36 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England has raised interest rates to their highest level since late 2008 as it continues to combat stubbornly high inflation in the U.K.The decision on Thursday by the bank’s nine-member Monetary Policy Committee to lift its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5% was widely anticipated in financial markets. The increase was its 12th in a row.Like other central banks around the world, the Bank of England has sought to keep a lid on inflation, which over the past year has been fueled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That sent energy prices soaring, a development that then led to price increases across a wide array of goods and services.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England is set to raise interest rates later Thursday to their highest level since late 2008 as it continues to combat stubbornly high inflation in the U.K.Financial markets expect the bank’s nine-member Monet...

Editorial Roundup: New York

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:36 GMT

New York Post. May X, 2023. Editorial: Weed ruins young men’s mental health, study shows: STOP legalizationOops: A massive new study proves the normalization of cannabis use is an ongoing social disaster.You’ve got to be under the influence — of toxic ideology, if not pot itself — to ignore the evidence.Researchers analyzing the health data of 6.9 million people have linked weed use to hugely increased mental-illness rates among adolescent males — including as much as a shocking 30% of schizophrenia cases among young men.The trend represents not just greater use, but the increasing potency of weed and weed products.That will only keep rising as the profit motive and industrialization of production, now that it’s so widely legalized, promote delivery of ever-more concentrated THC (the psychoactive chemical in weed) to users.Schizophrenia is one of the most serious, and tragic, psychiatric disorders.It can be treated, but patients often go off their meds, become homeless or semi-homel...

Woman charged in series of baseball bat attacks on Northwest Side

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:36 GMT

CHICAGO — A 26-year-old woman has been charged after several baseball bat attacks on the city's Northwest Side, according to Chicago police.Denise Solorzano, of Chicago, faces three felony counts of aggravated battery in a public place, four felony counts of aggravated battery/use of a deadly weapon and one felony count of aggravated assault.Police said Solorzano was identified as the person who attacked a 27-year-old and 31-year-old woman with a baseball bat in the 4500 block of North Mozart in the Albany Park neighborhood on Tuesday. The assault was captured on video. Woman in custody in connection with 6 baseball bat attacks on Northwest Side: police Just moments later, she attacked a 34-year-old woman with a bat in the 3000 block of West Cullom.According to police, Solorzano is also charged in connection to the batteries of a 19-year-old woman in the 4000 block of West Lawrence and a 33-year-old woman in the 4200 block of West Richmond on Sunday.She is due in bond court Thursday.

Thursday Forecast: Mostly sunny and low 80s

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:36 GMT

Thursday: Mostly sunny, cooler lakeside, SSE 5-10. High: 82, Low: 72Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, early AM rain/storm showers, ESE 5-10. Low: 63Friday: Mostly cloudy, 70% showers and thunderstorms, cooler lakeside, ESE 5-10 G15. High: 71, Low: 62Chicago Weather | Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center's Forecast (wgntv.com)7DAY wgntv.com/weather

ALERT: severe storms, flash flooding likely this weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:36 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A high-impact flash flood event is looking more likely as we inch closer to the weekend. The window to prepare will close Friday night.Not since 2018 have we seen widespread, significant river and lake flooding in the Hill Country, and not since 2015 have we seen it in the Austin Metro area. Both of those happened during an El Niño pattern -- a pattern that is quickly reestablishing itself as we speak in the Pacific Ocean.Today will be our last full day of relatively quiet weather. Outside of an isolated storm or two, hot and humid conditions under mainly dry skies will stretch areawide.Disturbances from the low pressure system, a stalled surface boundary, and near-record amounts of atmospheric moisture will be in place.Rain and thunderstorms move into the Hill Country beginning Friday evening, then train over our area all day Saturday. Periods of heavy rain look more likely to continue Mother's Day, so make your family plans accordingly.LATE FRIDAY / EARLY SATURDAY...

Cameron officer, suspect killed in shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:36 GMT

CAMERON, Texas (KXAN) – The Milam County Sheriff's Office said Thursday an officer with the Cameron Police Department died after a shootout with a suspect late Wednesday night. According to the press release from MCSO, police responded to the 700 block of North Travis Avenue in Cameron at 10:55 p.m. on a report of a gunshot victim. The victim told police they were shot in the back of the neck by the their spouse, according to the release.Cameron PD investigated and applied for a search warrant at a residence in the 500 block of E. 7th Street, according to the release.The release said Cameron Police, the Milam County Sheriff's Office, Rockdale Police and the Texas Department of Public Safety attempted warrant service at the residence.According to the release, the suspect opened fire on law enforcement personnel, and law enforcement fired back.The sheriff's office said the suspect was shot and killed, and one Cameron officer was wounded and taken to a hospital where they died.The Mila...