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News publishers, broadcasters call for investigation into Meta’s news blocking

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:44 GMT

TORONTO — A group of Canadian news publishers and broadcasters are calling on Canada’s Competition Bureau to investigate and prohibit Meta from blocking news content on its digital platforms.Social media giant Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has said it will begin blocking news on its platforms in Canada starting today after the Canadian government passed a bill forcing Google and Meta to pay publishers for content they link to or repurpose.News Media Canada, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and CBC say in a joint statement  they have filed a request to the Competition Bureau to investigate Meta’s “abuse of its dominant position.”They say the practices of the social media giant are “anticompetitive” as they will prevent Canadian news companies from accessing the advertising market and significantly reduce their visibility to Canadians on social media platforms.The news publishers and broadcasters say they are calling on the Competition ...

Cronos: Q2 Earnings Snapshot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:44 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — TORONTO (AP) — Cronos Group Inc. (CRON) on Tuesday reported a loss of $8.4 million in its second quarter.The Toronto-based company said it had a loss of 2 cents per share.The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 3 cents per share.The cannabis company posted revenue of $19 million in the period, which missed Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $22.7 million._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CRON at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CRONThe Associated Press

US investigating power-assisted steering failure complaints in older Ram pickup trucks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:44 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. auto safety investigators have opened a probe into reports that some older Ram 1500 pickup trucks can lose power-steering assistance with little or no warning.The investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers over 1.1 million pickups from the 2013 through 2016 model years.The agency says it has 380 complaints about the problem that include three crashes but no injuries. Investigators say in documents posted Tuesday that if the power steering fails, it takes extra effort to steer the trucks and drivers could lose control.Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, recalled 440 pickups in 2016 to fix a power steering problem. But the agency says the complaints indicate a similar failure in trucks that are outside the scope of the recall. The agency says the recall query will determine if enough vehicles were recalled or if another safety defect might be causing problems. A message was left Tuesday seeking comment from Stellantis. The Associated...

Eight Amazon rainforest countries open summit in Belem, Brazil

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:44 GMT

BELEM, Brazil (AP) — For the first time in 14 years, presidents of the South American nations home to the Amazon rainforest are converging to chart a common course for protection of the bioregion and address organized crime. The summit Tuesday and Wednesday in the Brazilian city of Belem is a meeting of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, a toothless, 45-year-old alliance that has met only three times before. The Amazon stretches across an area twice the size of India, and two-thirds of it lies in Brazil. Seven other countries and one territory share the remaining third — Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, Ecuador and French Guiana. Presidents from all but Ecuador, Suriname and Venezuela are attending.Massive destruction of the Amazon forest is a climate disaster and all the countries at the summit have ratified the Paris climate accord which requires signatories to set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But that’s about as far as their s...

Italy proposes bank tax to help consumers and businesses cope with interest rate hikes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:44 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italian bank stocks plunged Tuesday after the Cabinet approved a proposal to apply a temporary 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 press 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 fell over 7%, Intesa Sanpaolo was down more than 8%, Banco BPM dropped more than 8.5%, and BPER and Banca MPS both plummeted over 10% in early afternoon trading on the Milan Stock Exchange.The Association of Italian Banks has not yet commented publicly on the proposal, whose approval apparently took banks by surprise.The five major Italian banks reported a combined net profit of...

Tilray to buy eight beer brands from Anheuser-Busch, tripling its beverages on tap

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:44 GMT

Tilray Brands Inc. is expanding its case of craft brews, announcing a deal to buy eight beer and beverage brands from Anheuser-Busch Companies LLC.In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Tilray puts the purchase price at US$85 million to be paid in cash.The cannabis company says the agreement will triple both its basket of brands and its beer sales volume, which it projects will increase to 12 million cases per year from four million.Tilray says that growth would vault it to the status of fifth-largest craft beer operation in the United States.The deal between the Leamington, Ont.-based Tilray and Missouri-based beer giant Anheuser-Busch is expected to close later this year.The eight brands are Shock Top, Breckenridge Brewery, Blue Point Brewing Company, 10 Barrel Brewing Company, Redhook Brewery, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Square Mile Cider Company, and HiBall Energy.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX...

Nonprofits are lobbying a lot less than two decades ago, according to new research

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:44 GMT

A generation ago nonprofit organizations regularly lobbied for legislation and served as advocates on issues. But according to a recent survey, charities are now far more reluctant to seek to influence lawmakers and other policymakers.The survey, conducted for Independent Sector, a membership organization of nonprofits and grantmakers, found that less than one-third of nonprofits have actively advocated for policy issues or lobbied on specific legislation over the past five years, down from nearly three-quarters of nonprofits in 2000.And even though nonprofits work on a range of issues that are affected by policy choices, such as funding for the arts and science and policies on hot-button issues like abortion and gun control, less than one-third of nonprofits said they were well-versed in how to legally conduct advocacy campaigns and how much lobbying they were permitted to do. Twenty years ago more than half knew the rules, the survey found.The survey, based on questionnaires compl...

Fan dies in Greece after clashes between rival supporters, UEFA postpones Champions League qualifier

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:44 GMT

A 29-year-old fan was killed in overnight clashes between rival supporters in the Greek capital, prompting European governing soccer body UEFA to postpone a Champions League qualifying game between AEK Athens and Croatia’s Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday.Eight fans were also injured in the extensive clashes outside AEK’s stadium, while Greek police said they had made 88 arrests, mostly of Croatian supporters. Amateur video of the incident showed chaotic scenes, with fans hurling flares and petrol bombs and clashing with wooden bats.Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic called his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis to express his condemnation of the violence, with the Croatian government describing the clashes as “horrific.”Fans gathered at the site of the fan’s death Tuesday, leaving flowers, church candles and black-and-yellow AEK soccer scarves at the makeshift roadside shrine.Near the makeshift shrine, police cordoned off an area to gather evidence, pulling a wooden bat and other ...

All lanes reopen on Dan Ryan near 83rd Street after police investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:44 GMT

CHICAGO — All lanes have reopened on the outbound Dan Ryan Expressway after a police investigation Tuesday morning.According to Illinois State Police, a driver called and reported that their vehicle had been struck by gunfire around 4:30 a.m. No injuries were reported. All lanes were blocked for over an hour on the outbound Dan Ryan near 83rd Street as ISP canvassed the area. All lanes reopened at 7 a.m. Tuesday.Major delays are reported on the inbound Dan Ryan, IB I-57 and IB Bishop Ford due to the earlier investigation. Allow extra time for your morning commute.Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines

Tuesday Forecast: Temps in mid 80s with isolated storms, showers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:44 GMT

CHICAGO — Starting with some patchy fog across southern counties Tuesday with a few locations down to less than a mile of visibility. Fog will burn off by mid morning and we'll all start the day with clear sunny skies. Clouds will start to build back in by midday and some isolated scattered showers move in this afternoon. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Possibility of a few pop-up thunderstorms with this system but not expected to be strong or severe. Highs today will reach the low to mid 80s with breezy westerly winds. Wednesday we'll see a better chance of more widespread showers and storms in the afternoon with highs in the low 80s. Thursday will be mostly sunny with more humidity building back into the forecast and highs in the mid 80s. Another round of showers and storms possible on Friday with dry and sunny conditions expected over the weekend.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog