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Profits at Warren Buffett’s firm reach $36B as stocks surge and its insurance holdings perform well

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:50 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Profits rebounded at Warren Buffett’s conglomerate along with the value of its $353 billion stock portfolio in the second quarter to hit $35.9 billion, and many of Berkshire Hathaway’s assorted businesses also performed well, led by strong results in its core insurance businesses, particularly Geico.Berkshire Hathaway said Saturday that its profits surged to hit $24,755 per Class A share. A year ago, the Omaha, Nebraska-based company recorded a loss of $43.6 billion, or $29,633 per Class A share, when the value of its biggest investments fell.But Buffett has long said that those bottom-line figures can be misleading because of the big swings in the paper value of its investments from quarter to quarter when few of Berkshire’s investments are actually bought or sold. Instead, Buffett recommends that investors focus on operating earnings to see how the more than 90 companies Berkshire owns are actually performing.By that measure, Berkshire’s ...

Air pollution may increase risk for prostate, colorectal, breast, endometrial cancers: Harvard study

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:50 GMT

Outdoor air pollution may raise the risk for non-lung cancer in older adults, with even low levels of air pollution exposure increasing the chances for prostate, colorectal, breast, and endometrial cancers.That’s according to a new Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health study of millions of Medicare beneficiaries. The researchers found that chronic exposures to fine particulate air pollutants (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) over a 10-year period increased the risk of developing cancer.PM2.5 has been in the news during the last couple of months because that’s the concerning air pollutant from the Canadian wildfire smoke, which has wreaked havoc across the U.S.While air pollution in the past has been established as a risk factor for lung cancer — and a link to breast cancer risk has been emerging — few studies have looked at its effects on prostate, colorectal, and endometrial cancer risk.“Our findings uncover the biological plausibility of air pollution as a c...

BC quarterback Emmett Morehead ready to take on the ACC

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:50 GMT

Emmett Morehead possesses the demeanor, physique and athleticism of a starting quarterback in the Atlantic Coast Conference.The only thing missing is the resume.Morehead’s Power-5 experience consists of four starts at the end of a difficult 2022 season that ended 3-9. But the 6-foot-5, 235-pound redshirt sophomore from Woodside, Calif., begins his third training camp at the Heights as custodian of the Boston College offense.Morehead is the incumbent quarterback in a competitive environment where the old adage suggests the starting job is his to lose. The little matter of fact that debunks that concept is Morehead will simply not let it happen. Morehead expects to be under center when BC opens the 2023 season against Northern Illinois on Sept. 2 at Alumni Stadium.“This is so much fun and there’s a lot to be excited about,” said Morehead. “It is a lot of fun and there is a totally different feel right now and I think we have so much positivity to what we can do.“My approach hasn’t cha...

Contractors that built MBTA’s Green Line Extension sue design firm for $35M

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:50 GMT

Four construction companies that collectively built the MBTA’s Green Line Extension filed a lawsuit against their engineering firm, claiming its faulty designs led to more than $35 million in cost overruns.The entity, GLX Constructors, is suing for professional negligence, breach of contract and contractual indemnity against STV Incorporated, saying in a Suffolk Superior Court filing that the engineering firm failed to reimburse GLX for these unexpected costs, as stipulated in the terms of their agreement.“GLX Constructors seeks damages in excess of $35 million for losses suffered as a result of STV’s failure to comply with the requisite standard of care and its contractual obligations when performing services in connection with the Green Line Extension project,” the lawsuit states.The roughly $2.3 billion Green Line Extension project was completed last December, with a new branch that starts in Medford at the Tufts/College Avenue station and adds four stops in Somerville. A smaller...

Howie Carr: Elites started killing newspapers long before the internet

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:50 GMT

Newspapers ain’t what they used to be, but it wasn’t only the Internet, wokeness and the Red Chinese virus that ruined them beyond repair.The Beautiful People started destroying newspapers long before any of the above catastrophes. And finally, one of the pampered pukes involved in the decimation of the industry has admitted it.David Brooks is a typical product of the “elite” media — foreign born, fabulously wealthy, a guy who not only wasn’t in the military and doesn’t go to church, but someone who’s never even met anybody who did either.In addition to the Times, David Brooks is a talking head on National Panhandler Radio. Do I have to draw you a diagram?Yet last week, Brooks let the cat out of the bag about his ilk:“Over the last decades, we’ve taken over whole professions and locked everybody else out. When I began my journalism career in Chicago in the 1980s, there were will some old crusty working-class guys around the newsroom. Now we’re not only a college-dominated profession...

Edmonton police chief talks about growing violence, pushes to strike balance in city

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:50 GMT

The police chief of Alberta’s capital city stood solemnly at a podium, at moments appearing to be welling up, as he took questions from reporters about the random killing of a mother and child outside a school in May.“I’ve got three daughters,” said Edmonton police Chief Dale McFee as he recalled the sadness he felt that day.He said he also feels frustrated that it couldn’t be stopped.“It’s impacting everybody.”The mother and child were stabbed to death by a stranger outside Crawford Plains School. The man, who police say was known to them and had mental health issues, was shot by officers and later died in a hospital.That tragedy, McFee said, stems from an imbalance between holding people accountable and protecting the vulnerable.He believes the city was close to striking that balance between 2018 and 2021 through community partnerships that helped bring down the crime rates by 20 per cent.“Then, all of a sudden, everything chan...

Orillia OPP charge three people with impaired driving in one night

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:50 GMT

The Orillia division of Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have arrested and charged three people with impaired driving, causing different collisions over a six-hour period and forcing Highway 11 to be closed for short periods of time.On Friday night at approximately 10:10 p.m. police responded to reports of a possible impaired driver on Highway 11. The vehicle was located by Orillia OPP officers near Westmount Drive and Coldwater Road, in the City of Orillia. The driver was determined to be impaired and was arrested by police. Tiffany Shibley, 55, of Markham was charged with operation while impaired, operation while prohibited, dangerous operation, taking a motor vehicle without consent and obstructing a police officerShibley was released on an undertaking to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice in Orillia on September 19.Saturday at approximately 12:35 a.m., officers responded to reports of a single motor vehicle collision on Highway 11 in Oro-Medonte. The driver of the motor v...

Toll from landslide in Georgia mountain resort up to 17 dead, 18 missing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:50 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The death toll from a landslide that hit a resort area in the mountains of the country of Georgia increased to 17, officials and news reports said Saturday, on the third day of a search and rescue operation.The landslide hit the Shovi area on Thursday. Shovi, about 140 kilometers (85 miles) northwest of the capital Tbilisi, is popular for its mineral springs and rugged mountain vistas and contains cottages and small hotels.The head of the Georgian Internal Affairs Ministry’s Emergency Management Service, Temur Mgebrishvili, confirmed the death of 17 people and noted that 18 people were still unaccounted for.Georgian authorities said that, of the dead, they had only been able to identify seven people and that DNA analysis would determine the identity of the other victims.Officials said the landslide apparently was triggered by heavy rainfall, aggravated by recent erosion in the area.The Associated Press

Niger’s junta asks for help from Russian group Wagner as it faces military intervention threat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:50 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Niger’s new military junta has asked for help from the Russian mercenary group Wagner as the deadline nears for it to release the country’s ousted president or face possible military intervention by the West African regional bloc, according to an analyst.The request came during a visit by a coup leader, Gen. Salifou Mody, to neighboring Mali, where he made contact with someone from Wagner, Wassim Nasr, a journalist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, told The Associated Press. He said three Malian sources and a French diplomat confirmed the meeting first reported by France 24.“They need (Wagner) because they will become their guarantee to hold onto power,” he said, adding that the group is considering the request. A Western military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, told the AP they have also heard reports that the junta asked for help from Wagner in Mali.Niger’s junta faces a Sunday deadline s...

Pilot lectures passengers in viral pre-flight speech: 'He's fed up with all these childish adults'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:50 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – A captain with American Airlines is earning support for a pre-flight speech in which he warned passengers to be courteous, respectful, and to generally refrain from being jerks to their seatmates.Footage containing the no-nonsense speech was shared to social media by Anna Leah Maltezos, an NYC-based writer, director and comedian who was on the recent flight.“It was an early morning flight out of NYC that had been delayed for a bit, so maybe he was just trying to lighten the mood,” Maltezos theorized in a statement shared with Nexstar concerning the captain’s sassy speech. Delayed flight strands passengers at NYC airport for 30 hours: ‘It’s been a circus’ Maltezos’ video, which has approximately 5 million views on Instagram, begins with the captain in mid-speech, lecturing passengers on the need to abide by the flight attendants’ instructions.“You will listen to what they have to say, because they represent my will in the cockpit, or in the cabin. And my will ...