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CEO pay again in focus as the heads of failed banks appear before Senate panel

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:27:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The recent failures of a trio of midsize banks has once again raised questions about whether senior executives in the U.S. are being rewarded more for short-term gains — like rising stock prices — than for ensuring their companies’ long-term health. Executives at Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank were paid millions of dollars over their tenures up until their banks failed, the bulk of the compensation coming in the form company stock. That stock is now largely worthless but the CEOs still pocketed millions from the planned sales of their shares before the banks’ collapse. The heads of the two of the three failed banks will appear Tuesday in front of the Senate Banking Committee to respond to questions about why their banks went under and what regulators could have done to avoid the calamities. Executive compensation is almost certainly to come up as well, most likely raised by senators including Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who wro...

South Korean court orders agency to compensate adoptee over his mishandled adoption to US

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:27:57 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court on Tuesday ordered the country’s biggest adoption agency to pay 100 million won ($74,700) in damages to a 48-year-old man for mishandling his adoption as a child to the United States, where he faced legal troubles after surviving an abusive childhood before being deported in 2016.However, the Seoul Central District Court dismissed Adam Crapser’s accusations against the South Korean government, which he saw as responsible for creating an aggressive, profit-driven adoption industry that carelessly removed thousands of children from their families during a child export frenzy in the 1970s and ’80s.The civil case, tried for over four years, was the first in which a South Korean adoptee sued the country’s government and a domestic adoption agency over fraudulent paperwork and screening failures.Holt Children’s Service, which handled Crapser’s adoption to American parents in 1979, and South Korea’s Justice Ministry, which represen...

Biden administration announces nearly $11 billion for renewable energy in rural communities

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:27:57 GMT

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a nearly $11 billion investment on Tuesday to help bring affordable clean energy to rural communities throughout the country.Rural electric cooperatives, renewable energy companies and electric utilities will be able to apply for funding through two programs, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during a media briefing on Monday.Vilsack said it was the largest single federal investment in rural electrification since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act in 1936 as part of the New Deal.“This is an exciting opportunity for the Rural Utility Service to work collaboratively with our great partners, the Rural Electric cooperatives, in order to advance a clean energy future for rural America,” Vilsack said. “So this is an exciting and an historic day, and it continues an ongoing effort to ensure that rural America is a full participant in this clean energy economy.”The Empowering Rural America...

South Korea soccer international Son Jun-ho detained in China on suspicion of taking bribe

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:27:57 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — South Korea midfielder Son Jun-ho has been detained in the northeastern Chinese province of Liaoning on suspicion of accepting a bribe, China’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Son was placed in custody “recently” and was under investigation. The South Korean consulate in the provincial capital of Shenyang had been informed of Son’s detention and allowed access to the player as required by international treaty.Son had been playing for the Chinese Super League’s Shandong Taishan, and Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post said the bribery allegations concerned suspected match-fixing involving coach Hao Wei.Wang gave no details on the timing or conditions of Son’s detention, but the Post said he was detained at an airport with his family on Friday while preparing to leave the country.Lim Soo-suk, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said his government was providing Son with “necessary consular assistance” through th...

Senior Spotlight: Jake Sparks batting to new heights

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:27:57 GMT

HOOSICK FALLS, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- “I knew I obviously had a good game, I was feeling good about the game, but until I looked at the actual stats on paper, I wasn’t I was like holy," Hoosick Falls shortstop Jake Sparks said. "Then my friends were calling me like dude what did you just do?” Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! The Marshall signee balled out in a game against Waterford Halfmoon last week. Sparks produced a historic stat line for a high school baseball game in upstate New York history.“If you were to tell me I would have had 14 RBIs in a baseball game, I would have told you you’re crazy," Sparks said. "I think one day I was looking at the state records, and I was like who had 13 RBIs, but I mean I guess it’s possible. I want to see someone get 15 now, that would be special. It’s crazy to think that that could happen.”Along with 14 RBIs, Sparks hit three home runs, a triple, double, and single. Then to shake things up ...

Play of the Week winner - Colonie's Michael Currao

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:27:57 GMT

COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Congratulations to this week’s winner of our Play of the Week poll, Colonie's Michael Currao! Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Currao hit a triple in the eighth inning to complete the cycle against Saratoga Springs. The triple helped the Raiders take down the Blue Streaks. Vote here for this week’s Play of the Week poll!

Four Russian military aircraft shot down near Ukraine, Russian daily reports

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:27:57 GMT

The Russian news outlet Kommersant reported that two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters had been shot down on Saturday (13 May) close to the Ukrainian border, in what would be a spectacular coup for Kyiv if confirmed.Kommersant, a respected, independent business-focused daily, said on its website that the Su-34 fighter-bomber, Su-35 fighter and two Mi-8 helicopters had made up a raiding party, and had been "shot down almost simultaneously" in an ambush in the Bryansk region, adjoining northeast Ukraine."According to preliminary data ... the fighters were supposed to deliver a missile and bomb attack on targets in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, and the helicopters were there to back them up - among other things to pick up the 'Su' crews if they were shot down."The Russian state news agency TASS said a Russian Su-34 warplane had crashed in that region but did not specify a cause.TASS also cited an emergency services official as saying an engine fire in a helicopter ha...

Ask Amy: Three months ago, my young boyfriend suddenly changed. What is going on?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:27:57 GMT

Dear Amy: I am a woman in a relationship with a younger man.At the beginning of this relationship, he was very into love, sex, romance and sharing everything. I paid all of our rent and utilities for the first six months, and we were both working.Well, around three months ago, he changed. No more sex, romance or anything.I’ve spoken to him about paying his share of our living expenses, and he gets upset immediately.He says he loves me, but I have trouble believing him. I feel at times that he is getting a free ride. He never helps around the house, and doesn’t keep his word.I’m so tired wondering if he wants a lover or a mother.I’m hoping you can help me figure this out.WonderingDear Wondering: I’m glad you turned to me. Wonder no longer!Despite your generous attitude, according to your narrative, even in the early days of your relationship, this dude did not actually share everything. In fact, he doesn’t seem to have shared anything. You’ve been paying full freigh...

Harriette Cole: I’m going to be seething if my son sticks with his normal summer routine

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:27:57 GMT

DEAR HARRIETTE: My son is coming home from college soon, and I want him to do more than just sleep and hang out with his friends all summer.I have encouraged him to get a job, but he hasn’t made any inquiries yet. I know I am going to be fire-breathing mad if he does what is his normal: nothing.School is expensive, and even hanging out with friends costs a lot. I don’t want to fund his fun if he isn’t willing to contribute to it himself, but so far he shows no interest in taking initiative.What do you recommend?Get a JobDEAR GET A JOB: Sit down with your son the moment he gets home, and discuss the plan for the summer. Make it a requirement that he find a job.Related ArticlesAdvice | Harriette Cole: My girlfriend canceled our vacation because of what her father said Advice | Harriette Cole: Should I keep quiet about my friend’s teen daughter? Advice | Harriette Cole: Years ago, he threw dirt on my name. I haven’...

Salman Rushdie makes rare public address after attack, warns free expression under threat

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:27:57 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Writer Salman Rushdie has made a public speech, nine months after being stabbed and seriously injured onstage, warning that freedom of expression in the West is under its most severe threat in his lifetime.Rushdie delivered a video message to the British Book Awards, where he was awarded the Freedom to Publish award on Monday evening. Organizers said the honor “acknowledges the determination of authors, publishers and booksellers who take a stand against intolerance, despite the ongoing threats they face.”He said that “we live in a moment, I think, at which freedom of expression, freedom to publish has not in my lifetime been under such threat in the countries of the West.”“Now I am sitting here in the U.S., I have to look at the extraordinary attack on libraries, and books for children in schools,” he said. “The attack on the idea of libraries themselves. It is quite remarkably alarming, and we need to be very aware of it, and to fight against it very hard.”Rushdie, 7...