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Darius Rucker pays tribute to his mother, Carolyn, with a new record and tour

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:49:52 GMT

Country music singer-songwriter Darius Rucker is used to the grind that comes with cranking out albums and hitting the road.He’s got three Grammy Awards, seven solo studio albums and several hits under his belt and he’s about to deliver his first new album in a handful of years, “Carolyn’s Boy.” While he’s out on his Starting Fires Tour — which hits FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine on Aug. 18, The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on Aug. 23, Gallagher Square at Petco Park in San Diego on Aug. 25 and Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland on Aug. 26 — Rucker said things feel emotionally, mentally and musically different with this forthcoming album release.“I haven’t had a record out in so long,” Rucker said during a recent phone interview. “It feels good to have new music coming out and being able to play that music for fans. Something about this era for me just feels different, it feels special. I mean it always feels special when you put out a new record, but this one is close to hom...

Highway 400 sinkhole causing major problems for drivers, delays expected

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:49:52 GMT

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) say traffic delays are expected on Highway 400 for several days due to an 11-foot-deep sinkhole.OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt shared an update on Tuesday, saying the sinkhole is located in the left southbound lane on Highway 400 lane approaching Line 5 near Bradford West Gwillimbury. A closure has been expanded to include the northbound lane of the highway.Sgt. Schmidt said the sinkhole is along the median strip just north of Line 5.“You can see relatively new concrete walls here. This is the problem. It doesn’t look like much on the surface, but once you take a look inside… you can see a drain tile, and the hole goes down at least 11 feet. It looks deeper than that to me,” Sgt. Schmidt said.“That hole is comprising both northbound and southbound lanes. The [Ministry of Transportation] has the left lane blocked here right now.”Sgt. Schmidt urged drivers to avoid the area if possible due to heavy delays.Major problems #Hwy...

$1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot is third-largest in US history

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:49:52 GMT

Lottery players will have another shot Tuesday night at a massive Mega Millions prize that ranks as the third-largest jackpot in U.S. history.The estimated $1.58 billion prize has been gradually building for months thanks to 31 straight drawings without a jackpot winner. The last time someone won the game’s top prize was April 18.Each drawing without a winner pushes the prize closer to the record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot that someone in California won last year. The second largest in size was in 2016, when the Powerball jackpot reached a nearly identical amount of $1.586 billion.Mega Millions jackpot winners are so rare thanks to odds of one in 302.6 million.The $1.58 billion payout would go to a winner who opts for an annuity, doled out over 30 years. But people usually prefer a lump sum option, which for Tuesday’s jackpot would be an estimated $783.3 million.The money would be subject to federal taxes. Many states also tax lottery winnings.Mega Millions is played in 4...

‘Native American’ or ‘Indigenous’? Journalism group rethinks name

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:49:52 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — The Native American Journalists Association is aiming to become more inclusive as its members vote on whether to rebrand as the Indigenous Journalists Association — a move inspired, in part, by evolving trends in cultural identity.The group, with more than 950 members mostly in the United States, is expected to approve the change at its annual conference this week in Winnipeg, Canada. Voting on the new name, as well as branding that would replace a feather with an “ija” logo in stylized letters, runs through Thursday, Aug. 10.Founded in Canada in 1983, NAJA wants to foster inclusion with Indigenous journalists there as well as in Alaska and Hawaii, since “ Native American ” is a modern alternative for “ American Indian ” — referring specifically to the millions of descendants of the original inhabitants of what is now the Lower 48 states.“Essentially, we’re going back to our roots and trying to create and provide support and resources for Indigenous journalists all ac...

Italy proposed a bank tax to help people with interest rate hikes. The move sent stocks plunging

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:49:52 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italian bank stocks plunged Tuesday after the Cabinet approved a proposal to apply a 40% tax on some bank profits this year to help consumers and businesses cope with higher borrowing costs.Transport Minister Matteo Salvini announced the tax at a Monday evening news conference, saying it was a measure of “social equity” to make up for a series of interest rate hikes from the European Central Bank. Those increases are aimed at fighting inflation and make it more expensive for people to get loans to buy homes and cars or for companies to get new equipment or build facilities.UniCredit shares closed down nearly 6%, Intesa Sanpaolo fell more than 8.5%, Banco BPM dropped 9%, and BPER and Banca MPS both plummeted almost 11% on the Milan Stock Exchange.After markets closed Tuesday, the Italian finance ministry defended the tax as in line with “already existing rules in Europe on extra bank margins,” and said that regardless, the contribution from the new tax can’t exceed ...

Bollywood superstar Alia Bhatt makes her Hollywood debut in Netflix’s ‘Heart of Stone’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:49:52 GMT

Alia Bhatt had been weighing her Hollywood options for a few years. A popular star of Hindi films for over a decade with nearly 79 million Instagram followers, she’d been interested in making an English-language film, but nothing had been working out. Then Bhatt got word of a new action franchise led and produced by Gal Gadot and within a week of reading the script, the deal had closed. It was, she concluded, fate.“Your first film chooses you,” Bhatt said in an interview with The Associated Press in June. “Technically, this is my first English-language movie. It chose me and I’m so happy it did.”“Heart of Stone,” a globe-trotting spy thriller co-starring Gadot and Jamie Dornan, debuts globally Friday on Netflix. Bhatt’s role as a tech prodigy named Keya is one that’s hard to describe without spoiling the twisty plot, but it’s an important one. In India, the actor had grown accustomed to being a lead, but here she was happy to delve into a more supporting part — as long as it had sub...

Nickelback love remains in Alberta hometown after highway signs come down

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:49:52 GMT

The signs may be gone but the mayor of an Alberta community says the love for hometown rock band Nickelback remains.Hanna, Alta., about 220 kilometres northeast of Calgary, removed in May signs declaring it was “Proud to be the home of Nickelback.”The signs at the three highway entrances into the town of about 2,600 people had been there since 2004 and were a popular pullover spot for fans wanting to take selfies.Nickelback, which formed in 1995, is one of the most commercially successful Canadian bands, having sold more than 50 million albums worldwide and ranking as the 11th bestselling musical act of all time.It has also been criticized for the overuse of themes involving strippers, sex and drugs, as well as the formulaic nature of its music. In May 2013, readers of Rolling Stone magazine named Nickelback the second worst band of the 1990s, behind Creed. This year, Nickelback was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.“Either you love them or you hate the...

Jay-Z’s Made In America fest canceled due to ‘severe circumstances outside of production control’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:49:52 GMT

Jay-Z ‘s annual Made in America festival, scheduled for next month in Philadelphia, has been canceled. “Due to severe circumstances outside of production control, the 2023 Made in America festival will no longer be taking place,” the festival shared in a statement on social media. Made in America had been scheduled for Sept. 2-3 on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway with Lizzo and SZA as the headliners. “This decision has been difficult and has not been made lightly nor without immense deliberation. Made in America has a legacy of delivering exceptional experiences for music fans and concert goers, and it is our commitment to always deliver a top-tier festival experience.”A specific reason for the cancellation was not made immediately clear. Promoter Live Nation referred questions back to the Made in America statement.The statement also included language about looking forward to returning next year, and that refunds will be available to ticket holders.Held over Labor Day week...

Unifor president demands SNC-Lavalin reinstate fired union head

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:49:52 GMT

MONTREAL — The head of Canada’s largest private sector union is calling out SNC-Lavalin for firing the head of a separate union that represents 900 of its engineers, scientists and technicians.In a release Tuesday, Unifor national president Lana Payne said SNC should reinstate Mark Chudak, who led the Society of Professional Engineers and Associates (SPEA) until he and another staffer at the engineering firm’s Candu Energy Inc. subsidiary were dismissed last month over allegations of sharing confidential information with an outside organization.Payne said the move marked “an alarming signal of anti-union behaviour” at the SNC.“Workers have the right to organize and advocate for their rights without fear of retaliation. This company must understand the severity of their action and the impact it has on labour relations and employee morale,” she said.The statement comes after a filing by SPEA to the Canada Industrial Relations Board earlier this year...

Stock market today: Wall Street falls with markets worldwide on worries about banks and the economy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:49:52 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are falling Tuesday as more caution creeps into financial markets worldwide amid worries about the banking system and the global economy.The S&P 500 was 0.5% lower in late trading after paring an earlier loss that was more than double that. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 198 points, or 0.6%, at 35,275, as of 3 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.9% lower.On Wall Street, bank stocks fell after Moody’s cut the credit ratings for 10 smaller and midsized ones. It cited a list of concerns about their financial strength, from the effects of higher interest rates to the work-from-home trend that’s leaving office buildings vacant.Across the Pacific, stocks sank after a report showed exports for China’s troubled economy shrank by the most since the start of the pandemic in 2020. And in Europe, bank stocks tumbled in Italy after its Cabinet approved a proposal to tax a chunk of their profits this year. The worries layered on top of a m...