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Britain’s Conservative government set to start cutting taxes ahead of likely election next year

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:05:49 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Conservative government will try to win favor with voters by cutting taxes but avoiding worsening inflation in a budget statement Wednesday, coming ahead of a likely national election next year that opinion polls suggest it will lose.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has hinted that tax cuts are back on the agenda now that his self-imposed pledge to halve inflation this year has been met and government revenue is higher than anticipated.In a speech Monday, Sunak raised expectations that Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement will begin reducing the tax burden in the U.K., which is the highest in 70 years in the wake of COVID-19 and the energy price spike triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Sunak said Monday that his government would “cut tax and reward hard work” but would “avoid doing anything that puts at risk our progress in controlling inflation.” Inflation eased to 4.6% in October from a year earlier after hitting a 41-year ...

One winning ticket sold for Tuesday’s $40 million Lotto Max jackpot

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:05:49 GMT

TORONTO — Someone in Ontario is waking up $40 million richer.One winning ticket was drawn for Tuesday’s Lotto Max jackpot.The jackpot for the next draw on Nov. 24 will be an estimated $10 million.The Canadian Press

South Korea partially suspends inter-Korean agreement after North says it put spy satellite in orbit

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:05:49 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea will partially suspend an inter-Korean agreement Wednesday to restart frontline aerial surveillance of North Korea, after the North said it launched a military spy satellite in violation of United Nations bans, Seoul officials said.The South Korean announcement — which will likely infuriate North Korea — came hours after the North claimed to have placed a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit in its third such launch attempt this year.The North’s claim hasn’t been independently verified; the Pentagon said it was still assessing the success of the launch, while Japan stated there has been no confirmation that the North Korean satellite entered orbit. But the United States and its allies still quickly condemned the North Korean launch, which they believe was meant to improve the country’s missile technology as well as establish a space-based surveillance system.North Korea says it has sovereign, legitimate rights to launch spy satelli...

Kazakhstan wants to attract at least $150 billion in foreign investment by 2029

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:05:49 GMT

The 6th Kazakhstan Global Investment Roundtable (KGIR) has concluded with a pledge to attract further investment to the country.More than 500 representatives of international companies and domestic businesses, investors, authoritative experts and opinion leaders attended the event (17 November) in the Kazakh capital of Astana.This year's focus was on regional sustainable growth, covering four areas: investment in advanced technologies, development of regional clusters, transport and logistics potential, and food security.As the country is trying to diversify its economy from traditional oil and gas, Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov revealed that foreign investments will be the main drive to Kazakhstan's economic growth. By 2029, the country plans to double its GDP and attract at least $150 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI)."Attracting investments is the key factor of growth within the national investment policy, taking into account the ESG standards, Kazakhstan is interested ...

Sam Altman returns as CEO of OpenAI

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:05:49 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Sam Altman has returned as CEO of OpenAI just days after he was shockingly fired, the company announced Monday night. OpenAI announced the move on social media, and Altman confirmed it. Altman was ousted on Nov. 17 after a review by the company board concluded that he “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.” Now, Altman is back as CEO. Sunol school board members face recall over flag ban "We are collaborating to figure out the details. Thank you so much for your patience through this," OpenAI wrote.After he was ousted from AI, Altman was hired by Microsoft, the company announced Monday. However, Altman said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella supported his return to OpenAI. "I love OpenAI, and everything I’ve done over the past few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together. When I decided to join msft (Microsoft) on Sun. evening, it was clear that was th...

Will SF street parking stay free on Sundays?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:05:49 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – In what is good news for San Francisco drivers, street parking in the city will stay free on Sundays, at least for now.Back in May, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) proposed to extend parking meter hours and include Sundays, but some of the city supervisors reached a deal with the agency to temporarily halt the plan.Some of the supervisors say we’re still coming out of the pandemic. Many families and businesses are struggling. They say they didn’t want to add to their financial burden by extending parking meter hours. UCSF study reveals THC can affect blood vessels “People stopped me on the street. Every member of the board of supervisors got over 1,000 emails. The Golden Gate Restaurant Association, small businesses were freaking out and we fought for them and we won,” said Sup. Aaron Peskin.Peskin says nobody wanted to see the extension, which would have forced people to pay for parking until 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and for...

Review: In Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon,’ the emperor has no clothes but plenty of ego

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:05:49 GMT

For such a famed historical figure, Napoleon has made only fleeting appearances in movies since Abel Gance’s 1927 silent film. Stanley Kubrick had grand designs for a Napoleon epic that went unmade. (Steven Spielberg is attempting to revive those plans as a series ). Napoleon and his bicorne hat — more icon of history than a real character — mostly only pops up in time-traveling odysseys like “Time Bandits” or “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”The party, though, is finally on in Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon,” starring Joaquin Phoenix. Scott doesn’t do anything small, not even famously diminutive French emperors. And his two-hour-38-minute big-screen biopic serves up a heaping historical spectacle complete with bloody European battles and massive military maneuvers.But don’t mistake “Napoleon” for your average historical epic. Our first sense that this may not be a grand glorification of a Great Man of history comes early in the film, when a 24-year-old Bonaparte leads the siege on th...

Durant scores 31, now 11th all time in points, Suns roll past Portland 120-107

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:05:49 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 31 points, passing Elvin Hayes for 11th place all time, and the Phoenix Suns defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 120-107 in an In-Season Tournament game on Tuesday night.Durant, playing in his 1,000th NBA game, needed 14 points to pass Hayes, who had 27,313 in his career. He achieved that in the first quarter on 6-of-6 shooting, including a 3-pointer and a free throw. He finished 13 of 21 from the field, making both 3-point tries, in 37 minutes.“Being amongst the all-time greats, the guys who set the standard and made the NBA what it is today is an honor,” Durant said. “It’s pretty cool and I just gotta keep going.”Durant scored 39 points in 46 minutes in a double-overtime win at Utah on Sunday. He has 27,330 in his career.“Incredible,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said. “He’s one of the best to ever do it. And he’s not slowing down.”Devin Booker scored 28 points and was 10 for 10 from the free-throw line for the Suns, who won their fourth in...

Stock market today: Asian shares slip following a weak close on Wall Street

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:05:49 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares slipped in Asia on Wednesday, tracking a decline on Wall Street a day after stocks there hit their highest level since the start of August. Tokyo and Mumbai advanced while most other major markets declined. U.S. futures were little changed and oil prices edged lower.Trading is tapering off ahead of holidays in the U.S. and Japan on Thursday, with few data releases to drive activity. U.S. home sales fell more than 4% in October, while minutes from the latest policy setting meeting of the Federal Reserve showed the central bank in a holding pattern as it assesses the impact of its aggressive interest rate hikes on inflation and the economy overall. Wednesday will bring an update on durable goods orders and a consumer sentiment survey by the University of Michigan. Asia is also relatively quiet on the data front. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 edged 0.3% higher to 33,450.18 and the Kospi in Seoul slipped 0.1% to 2,508.55. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng shed 0.1% to 17,720....

LeBron scores 39,000th point, Lakers complete sweep of tourney group play with 131-99 win over Utah

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:05:49 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James scored his 39,000th point on the way to 17 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers completed an unbeaten run through group play in the NBA In-Season Tournament with a 131-99 victory over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.Anthony Davis had 26 points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers, who are likely to host a quarterfinal game early next month to begin the knockout stages of the league’s first in-season tournament. Los Angeles beat Phoenix, Memphis, Portland and Utah by a combined 74 points, capped by this blowout of the Jazz for the Lakers’ sixth victory in seven games overall.The 38-year-old James became the first player in league history to top 39,000 points early in the first quarter. The milestone was another stop in James’ steamrolling of the world’s previous standards for basketball longevity: He began the night averaging 26.4 points per game, by far the most production from any player in NBA history who ma...