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Italy’s leaders, attacked on migrant tragedy, blame Russians

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:31:21 GMT

ROME (AP) — On the defensive after a deadly migrant boat shipwreck near an Italian beach, Italy’s right-wing government is contending that Russian mercenaries in Libya are behind an uptick in migrant arrivals in alleged retaliation for Western support for Ukraine.On Monday evening, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, a leading figure in Premier Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, described the recent increase in smugglers’ unseaworthy boats setting out for Italian shores from Libya as “part of a clear strategy of hybrid war that the Wagner division, mercenaries paid by Russia, is carrying out, utilizing its significant weight in several African countries.”Building on that assertion, Brothers of Italy lawmaker Silvio Giovine on Tuesday depicted the migratory flows toward Italy as “retaliation against Europe and the West.”The far-right lawmaker claimed that members of the Russian private military contractor Wagner Group in Libya aim to destabilize the North ...

Tysons-based Cvent to be acquired for $4.6 billion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:31:21 GMT

Tysons, Virginia, based Cvent, whose software as a service is used by companies for meetings and events planning, will be acquired by New York-based investment company Blackstone for $4.6 billion.A wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority will be a minority owner along with Blackstone once the acquisition is complete.Cvent, founded in 1999, went public a year ago, trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. It reports it has 22,000 customers in the corporate, nonprofit, higher education and hospitality industries.More Virginia NewsMore Business NewsCvent was hit hard at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 as in person meetings, weddings and other in-person events were scrapped. In May 2020, it laid off 10% of its workforce.Since the pandemic began, Cvent has grown its virtual and hybrid meetings and events planning offerings. Last fall, it partnered with Zoom to integrate Zoom Events with its platform.Cvent currently has 4,800 employees globally.Part of Cvent’s ...

USA Swimming offers cash for Olympic relay sweep

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:31:21 GMT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — USA Swimming will reward its athletes financially if the Americans sweep all seven relays at this summer’s world championships and the 2024 Paris Olympics.The program announced Tuesday by the sport’s national governing body involves the men’s and women’s 4×100-meter medley relays, 4×100 freestyle relays, 4×200 free relays and mixed 4×100 medley relay.If the U.S. wins all seven of these relays at the world meet in Fukuoka, Japan, this summer, all the pool and open water world team members will split $500,000. If the Americans finish first, second or third in all the relays, they will split $150,000.At the Paris Olympics, if the U.S. sweeps the relays, all the swimmers will split $1 million. If the team medals in every relay, the athletes will share $250,000.“This is an unprecedented incentive program with the ultimate goal of extraordinary relay success,” national team managing director Lindsay Mintenko said. ”While...

Denver housing costs 37% more than the national average

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:31:21 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- It isn't food, gas, electricity, medical costs or entertainment that make Denver such an expensive city. It's housing. RentCafe's updated information on city cost of living says Denver's housing expense is the single item that pushes its general cost of living far above the average. Denver's total cost of living is 12% higher than the national average. Single, multi-family home construction costs continue upward trend Most consumer spending categories are higher in Denver than the nation, but Denver housing is a whopping 37% higher than the national average. Prices for both rent and ownership began rising in 2015 but spiked into the stratosphere in 2020.Goods and services and transportation are 10% higher, food 6% higher and healthcare 1% higher. Denverites do catch a break with regard to utilities. Despite Xcel's increasing rates, monthly utilities are still 18% below the national average. How much profit is Xcel making compared to how much customers pay? Den...

What time are NCAA Tournament games in Denver?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:31:21 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Whether you're planning on going to a bar, or to watch at home, the first round of games for the 2023 NCAA Tournament will take place starting on Thursday.The Mountain West Conference will host six games at Ball Arena, with the first game happening there on Friday at 11:30 a.m. Everything to know about the men’s NCAA basketball tournament in Denver March 17 games at Ball ArenaHere is a look at the schedule of games for March 17:No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 14 UC Santa Barbara: 11:30 a.m.No. 6 Creighton vs. No. 11 NC State: 2 p.m.No. 3 Gonzaga vs. No. 14 Grand Canyon: 5:35 p.m.No. 6 TCU vs. No. 11 Arizona State or No. 11 Nevada: 8:05 p.m.The second round will take place on Saturday and Sunday, with games happening in Denver on Sunday. FOX31 Basketball Challenge We will update this story with the Sunday schedule once it has been released.

The EU’s ‘sticking plaster’ solution to soaring power prices

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:31:21 GMT

BRUSSELS — Last year’s soaring power prices prompted calls for a dramatic reform to the bloc’s wholesale power market — but on Tuesday the Commission put forward much more cautious proposals.Rather than a revolutionary rethink, the Commission’s plan focuses mainly on shielding households and businesses from any future price surges. Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson defended the current wholesale market structure as one that “has delivered an efficient, well integrated market over many decades,” but added it had been destabilized by “Russia’s manipulation of our energy markets [that] has left many consumers facing massive increases in their energy bills.”The proposed reform is aimed at enhancing “the stability and predictability of energy costs across the EU,” she said.During the height of the price emergency, countries like Spain and France wanted a major overhaul of how power prices are set. But the recent slump in gas prices, which ha...

Russian jet collides with US drone in ‘reckless’ maneuver

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:31:21 GMT

A Russian fighter jet collided with a U.S. drone flying in international airspace on Tuesday, sending the uncrewed aircraft crashing into the Black Sea, the U.S. military announced.The uncrewed MQ-9 Reaper drone was making a routine flight before it was intercepted by two Russian Su-27 fighter jets. The warplanes dumped jet fuel on the drone and flew in front of it in a “reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner,” according to a statement from U.S. European Command.One of the Russian aircraft then struck the drone’s propeller, sending the Reaper crashing into the Black Sea, said Air Force Gen. James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe.“In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash,” he added. “U.S. and Allied aircraft will continue to operate in international airspace and we call on the Russians to conduct themselves professionally and safely.”The downing of the drone comes amid continued tensions between b...

The crypto ‘contagion’ that helped bring down SVB

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:31:21 GMT

As U.S. banking regulators begin their post-mortem of Silicon Valley Bank, some pundits are pointing the finger at crypto markets, whose own collapse over the past year left the tech-focused lender hopelessly exposed.The conventional wisdom about crypto is that it’s “self-referential” — a separate universe to conventional finance — and that its inherent volatility can be contained. The emerging “contagion” theory is that there are enough linkages for extreme turmoil to spill over, much as a virus can sometimes jump from one species to another.That’s what happened here, according to Barney Frank, the former U.S. congressman who wrote sweeping new banking rules after the banking crisis in 2008, and joined the crypto-friendly Signature Bank as a board member in 2015.“I think, if it hadn’t been for FTX and the extreme nervousness about crypto, that this wouldn’t have happened,” Frank told POLITICO this week. “That wasn’t ...

Nor’easter snow, winds reach Plum Island, Newburyport and rest of North Shore as snow/rain line breaks southward

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:31:21 GMT

Conditions have been deteriorating on the North Shore as nor’easter snow inundating the rest of the state arrived in the early afternoon.Heavy rainfall gave way to heavy flakes as the snow/rain line that had settled along the Merrimack Valley moved southward, bringing flakes to places like Plum Island by midday and leaving roads covered in snow by the early afternoon.Whipping winds that swept up and down the coastlines brought gusts of up to 50-65 miles per hour, leaving the area’s normally picturesque beaches a blurry, gloomy mess.“It gets pretty hard – the cold is pretty harsh down here,” said Darlene Tellier-Nelson, a Plum Island resident.https://twitter.com/SamBleiweisTV/status/1635696758687772716Having grown up in the area, one other concern she and other residents share in addition to the cold and wind gusts is beach erosion, which officials have been working to get ahead of.Off 73rd Street, sand could be seen encroaching on several beachfron...

Rockport police seek public’s help in search for missing teen

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:31:21 GMT

Rockport police asked for the public’s help Tuesday in a search for a missing teen.Police said Marley Castillo, 15, was last seen leaving a home on Doctor’s Run in town around 10:10 p.m. on Monday.Police described Castillo as standing 5’8”, weighing approximately 130 pounds with reddish/brown curly hair and a small scar on her forehead above the bridge of her nose. Police said Castillo was wearing a light-colored hooded sweatshirt with slipper-style footwear and pajama-style pants. Castillo was carrying red Nike sneakers, according to police.Police said Castillo is said to frequent Gloucester, Hamilton, Salem and Lynn. Police in Rockport asked residents in the area around Doctor’s Run as well as nearby communities to review home security camera video, if possible. Anyone with possible video of Castillo or with any other information about her whereabouts is asked to call police at 978-546-1212.