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Ex-Wells Fargo exec to plead guilty for role in bank scandal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:54 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Wells Fargo Bank executive accused of overseeing a ruse that created millions of bogus customer accounts has agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges likely to send her prison for her role in the scandal.The agreement filed Wednesday in a Los Angeles federal court calls for the former Wells Fargo executive, Carrie Tolstedt, to serve a 16-month prison sentence for obstructing regulators’ investigation into abusive sales practices that culminated in the bank paying billions of dollars in fines. Tolstedt, 63, also agreed to pay a $17 million fine in a separate civil settlement with the government that also bans her from working again in the banking industry.Prosecutors are requesting an April 7 court hearing to review the plea agreement.Tolstedt was the longtime head of the Wells Fargo’s division responsible for its sprawling network of retail branches, before leaving in 2016 just before evidence of the bank’s abusive sales tactics surfac...

North Korea launches ICBM before South Korea-Japan summit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:54 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in a display of military might Thursday just hours before the leaders of South Korea and Japan were to meet at a Tokyo summit expected to be overshadowed by North Korean nuclear threats. The launch, the North’s first ICBM test in a month and third weapons testing this week, also comes as South Korean and U.S. troops continue joint military exercises that Pyongyang considers a rehearsal to invade.South Korea’s military said the North Korean ICBM flew toward the Korean Peninsula’s eastern waters after being launched from North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, around 7:10 a.m. The statement said South Korea’s military is maintaining readiness in close coordination with the United States. The Sunan neighborhood is the site of Pyongyang’s international airport and has emerged as a major testing site where the North launched most of its ICBMs in recent years, all flown ...

Arizona governor blasted for plans to defy execution order

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:54 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is facing heavy pushback from a victim’s sister and a powerful county prosecutor for her plans to defy a court order to execute a prisoner next month for his conviction in a 2002 killing. The newly elected Democratic governor vowed nearly two weeks ago that she wouldn’t carry out the Arizona Supreme Court’s order to execute Aaron Gunches on April 6, citing a review that she has ordered of death penalty protocols due to Arizona’s history of mismanaging executions.Hobbs has said executions will not be carried out until Arizonans can be confident the state isn’t violating the law. She maintains that while the court authorized Gunches’ execution, its order doesn’t require the state to carry it out.Over the last several days, lawyers for Karen Price, whose brother Ted Price was the victim in Gunches’ case, and Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell have told the state’s highest court that Hobbs doesn’t have the legal authority to disregard ...

FACT FOCUS: Claims link ‘woke’ policies to bank’s demise

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:54 GMT

As Wall Street reels from the swift demise of Silicon Valley Bank — the biggest American bank failure since the 2008 financial meltdown — some social media users are honing in on a single culprit: its socially aware, or “woke,” agenda. But the Santa Clara-based institution’s professed commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, wasn’t a driver of the bank’s collapse, say banking and financial experts. Its poor investment strategies and a customer base prone to make devastating bank runs were.Here’s a closer look at the facts.CLAIM: Silicon Valley Bank failed because it focused on “woke” policies such as diversity, equity and inclusion.THE FACTS: The nation’s 16th largest bank collapsed because of poor investment and risk strategies that left the bank with insufficient cash to weather a mass withdrawal of assets from its largely tech sector customers, who have been particularly hard hit in the current economy, financial and banking experts explain. There’s also no ev...

Man wanted in connection with hate-motivated attack against woman

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:54 GMT

Toronto police are looking to identify a suspect wanted in connection with a hate-motivated attack aboard the TTC a week ago.Police say a woman was riding the subway southbound from Vaughan Metropolitan station on March 9 when she was approached by a man around 5 p.m.The man became agitated during a conversation with the woman and produced a knife. The woman fled the train as it arrived at Wilson station. The man is described as being between 50 and 60 years old with a thin build and a long white beard. He was last seen wearing layered clothing including a black hoodie, dark baseball cap, black leather jacket, green military-style pants and carrying a green backpack. He is believed to be armed and dangerous, according to police. “Investigators believe the victim was targeted because of her Muslim faith,” police said in a statement. The National Council of Canadian Muslims said the man was asking the woman “hypothetical questions” about Muslims and Islam befor...

Researcher calls for more wild horse protections after 17 shot dead in rural B.C.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:54 GMT

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — A biologist and wild horse researcher is calling for stronger federal and provincial protections for the animals after 17 carcasses were found in rural British Columbia.Wayne McCrory, who has been studying horses in the province for about two decades, said he was shocked to learn the animals had been shot to death. Wild horses are an important part of Canadian heritage, First Nation culture and the ecosystem, and need legislation to protect them, he said in an interview on Wednesday.“It’s time to ramp up protection, both federal and provincial, in my opinion, to stop this senseless slaughter when some trigger-happy person just decides to take the law into his own hands,” McCrory said. “In Canada, whether it’s a species at risk, wild horses or old-growth (trees), it just takes a lot of political will on the Canadian public to see that happen.”RCMP Cpl. Cory Lepine, who is the sole such livestock investigator in the province, said i...

Ecuador, Argentina order out envoys amid diplomatic clash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:54 GMT

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Argentina and Ecuador are in a diplomatic clash after a former Ecuadorian Cabinet minister who had been convicted of corruption and taken refuge with the Argentine ambassador escaped from Ecuador’s capital of Quito to VenezuelaBoth countries have expelled the other’s ambassador as a result of their disagreement over the handling of María Angeles Duarte, who served in the Cabinet of then Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa.Duarte had been living in the residence of the Argentine ambassador in Quito with her Argentine son since August 2020 to avoid serving an eight-year corruption sentence. Argentina had offered Duarte political asylum, but Ecuador refused to grant her safe passage. Argentina told Ecuador on Monday that Duarte was no longer in the Quito residence, saying she had left of her own accord. It was later revealed that she left Friday. Ecuador did not hide its anger, summoning Argentina’s ambassador, Gabriel Fuks, and telling him to leave the count...

Police: Man dies after shooting in Walmart parking lot on Chicago's South Side

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:54 GMT

CHICAGO — A man is dead after he was shot multiple times Wednesday evening while he was in a Walmart parking lot on Chicago's South Side, according to police.The man, 51, was shot around 5:30 p.m. in the 8300 block of South Stewart Avenue by an unknown person, according to information from the Chicago Police Department. Chicago’s top cop checks out early He was taken to a hospital and later died, according to the Chicago police and fire departments.Police haven't said if any arrests have been made but said Area Two detectives are still investigating.

Florida ride dismantled after teen's fatal fall, mother calls it 'bittersweet moment'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:54 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (WFLA) — The mother of the Missouri teenager who fell to his death from the Orlando FreeFall attraction at ICON Park last year visited the site for the first time Wednesday.Tyre Sampson, 14, died while on vacation in Orlando on March 24, 2022.An autopsy showed that Sampson suffered numerous broken bones and internal injuries in the fall, which was ruled an accidental death. It showed Sampson weighed 383 pounds, well above the ride manual’s weight limit of 287 pounds.Now, the Orlando FreeFall is in the process of being demolished as part of an agreement made between the company and the Florida Department of Agriculture. Florida woman loses strip club gig after posing as Tyre Sampson’s cousin: report Orlando Slingshot, the ride operator, told Nexstar's WFLA in a statement it retained the amusement park, Ride Entertainment, to coordinate the deconstruction, which began this week.“That activity is expected to continue into the following week because of the large size of ...

T-Mobile Acquires Ryan Reynold’s Mint Mobile, For $1.85 Billion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:54 GMT