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How to pick a socially responsible bank

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:29 GMT

It has never been easier to open a bank account, especially with the spread of online services, but there has also never been so much choice about where to put your money. If you’re overwhelmed by your banking options, think about your ability to shape social change with your money. Now is a great time to consider becoming a customer at a socially responsible bank.What is a socially responsible bank?Corporate social responsibility is the self-regulation that businesses do to help promote a positive impact on environmental or social issues, such as racial equity.In the banking industry, social responsibility refers to the ways banks can reduce harm or create opportunities for good. For an eco-conscious bank or credit union, that might mean it doesn’t invest in oil pipelines, deforestation or fossil fuels, or it might invest in alternative energy, plant trees or buy carbon offsets. Other banks or credit unions might be committed to equity goals by providing financial literacy programs...

Trump’s court appearance live updates: Former president arrives at federal courthouse in Miami.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:29 GMT

Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday afternoon for his first appearance in a historic criminal case against him.Trump has been charged with 37 felony counts. The Justice Department said he hoarded top-secret government documents, boastfully displayed them to visitors and tried to hide them from investigators who demanded them back.Please check back for updates throughout the day.1:51 p.m. | Trump arrives downtownTrump’s motorcade arrived in downtown Miami at 1:51 p.m.Live images from TV cameras on the ground and helicopters overhead showed vehicles in the motorcade drive into an underground entrance on the west side of the Federal Courthouse.1:32 p.m. | Trump on the moveTrump is en route from Trump National Doral, his golf resort in Miami-Dade County, to the Federal Courthouse in downtown Miami.Live television reports at the resort entrance and news helicopters overhead showed his motorcade leaving at at 1:32 p.m.Earlier dozens of...

Two-year-old child dies after suspected physical abuse

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:29 GMT

SAN DIEGO — A two-year-old boy died Monday after being found with injuries from suspected physical abuse, San Diego police said.According to SDPD, around 2:40 p.m., dispatchers received a report of a child not breathing in the 2900 block of Morton Way in the Bay Terraces neighborhood.Upon arrival, officers found the boy and began lifesaving efforts. The child was then transported to a nearby hospital where he was later pronounced dead.During their preliminary investigation, officials determined that the child had suffered serious traumatic internal injuries that indicated physical child abuse, SDPD Lt. Jud Campbell said in a news release.Detectives with SDPD's Child Abuse Unit launched an investigation to determine who was responsible for the care and custody of the child and how he sustained his injuries. Bartender fighting for life after hit-and-run while walking to work Based on the severity of the injuries the child suffered and the Child Abuse Unit's initial investigation, SD...

Equipment falls into trench, prompting gas leak, evacuations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:29 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A piece of heavy equipment fell into a trench Tuesday morning in the Miramar neighborhood, breaking water and gas lines and prompting evacuations, fire officials said.The incident was reported around 8:15 a.m. in the 8000 block of Miramar Road, according to San Diego Fire-Rescue Department."A few evacuations nearby and several others are sheltering in place," SDFD said on Twitter shortly before 10 a.m. Bartender fighting for life after hit-and-run while walking to work Water service was turned off, and San Diego Gas & Electric crews were on scene working to shut off the gas line. No injuries were reported, according to SDFD.Check back for updates on this developing story.

Outside of Miami court where Trump will appear, hundreds of media and crowds await former president

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:29 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Hundreds of journalists from around the world were gathered Tuesday outside the courthouse in downtown Miami where former President Donald Trump is scheduled to make his first appearance on criminal charges that he improperly held on to classified documents. The crowd waiting for Trump’s arrival also included supporters who criticize the the felony charges against the former president and those who oppose him, with some people waving signs and flags and at times shouting over one another. Journalists from China, the UK, Australia, France, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Germany and Switzerland were among the hundreds of journalists who have converged on the courthouse. Some of them have spent several days camped out in the muggy heat.The international attention and growing crowds were another sign of the extraordinary nature of the event and the person at the center of it. A criminal defendant like no other, Trump is the first former president to appear before a federal ...

Mexican president picks veteran diplomat to be next foreign minister

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:29 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president on Tuesday named Alicia Bárcena, the country’s current ambassador to Chile, as the next foreign relations secretary, replacing Marcelo Ebrard who resigned to pursue the presidential nomination.President Andrés Manuel López Obrador noted the solid background of the Harvard-educated Bárcena, who served for almost 14 years as executive secretary of the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. She has been Mexico’s ambassador to Chile since September.López Obrador said it would be at least 10 days before Bárcena takes over the new role.Ebrard on Monday resigned his post as the country’s top diplomat to join the primary race for the presidential nomination of López Obrador’s Morena party in the June 2024 elections.Ebrard is mainly known for leading Mexico’s effort to bring gun-trafficking lawsuits against U.S. arms manufacturers and gun stores.The Associated Press

Death toll from Kenya cult tied to pastor surpasses 300, with more exhumations planned

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:29 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The number of people who died after a Kenyan pastor ordered his followers to starve to death in order to meet Jesus has surpassed 300, authorities said Tuesday, and the death toll is expected to rise as more exhumations are planned.The death toll increased to 303 after 19 more bodies were recovered from mass graves in the vast forested land in Kilifi County of coastal Kenya, where pastor Paul Mackenzie and his followers lived.Coastal regional commissioner Rhoda Onyancha told local journalists that 613 people tied to the area are missing.On Monday, 65 of the 95 parishioners whom authorities said they rescued from the property were charged with attempting suicide after they staged a hunger strike to protest being held at a shelter. They were moved to a jail.Police went to MacKenzie’s property in April after investigators received a tip that dozens of people were starving to death after their pastor told them it was a way to meet Jesus. The emaciated followe...

Kenya rewards runner Kipyegon with $35,000 and house for breaking 2 world records

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:29 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Distance runner Faith Kipyegon was given $35,000 and a house by Kenyan President William Ruto on Tuesday as a reward for breaking two world records in the space of a week.Kipyegon, who met with Ruto at the president’s office, said she would now fulfill a promise she had made to buy her father a new car.The 29-year-old Kipyegon, a two-time Olympic champion in the 1,500 meters, set a new 1,500 world record in Florence, Italy on June 2 when she broke the eight-year-old mark set by Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia. Kipyegon became the first woman to go under 3 minutes, 50 seconds with her 3:49.11.She broke the 5,000 meters record last Friday at the Paris Diamond League meet by clocking 14:05.20, winning that race ahead of former world record-holder Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia.“Faith has made Kenya incredibly proud,” Ruto said. “She stands as a shining model of consistency, discipline, hard work, as well as family. Faith is a great Kenyan woman — a mother, a wife a...

Gunman used social media to attack Jews before deadly Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, jurors learn

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:29 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A gunman who killed 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue ranted incessantly on social media about his hatred of Jewish people before the 2018 attack, according to evidence introduced at his federal death penalty trial Tuesday.Prosecutors are trying to show Robert Bowers was motivated by extreme hostility toward Jews when he opened fire at the Tree of Life Synagogue during Sabbath services and committed the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.The 50-year-old truck driver is charged with 63 criminal counts, including hate crimes resulting in death and the obstruction of the free exercise of religion resulting in death. Some of the charges carry a potential death sentence.With the trial in its third week, testimony turned toward Bowers’ use of Gab — a social media platform popular with the far right — to advance his antisemitic views.Bowers’ Gab profile said “Jews are the children of Satan,” and he posted, liked or shared a stream of virulently antisemiti...

Grammys add new categories, including for pop dance recording and African music performance

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:29 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — More change is afoot at the Grammys. The Recording Academy announced Tuesday that three new categories will be added to the awards show in 2024: best pop dance recording, best African music performance, and best alternative jazz album.In addition, two existing categories have been moved to the general field, which means that all Grammy voters can participate in selecting the winners: producer of the year, non-classical, and songwriter of the year, non-classical, the latter of which was first introduced this year.Previously, the general categories were made up solely of the “Big Four” awards: best new artist, as well as album, record, and song of the year. Grammy voters are eligible to vote in general categories, as well as up to ten categories across three genre fields — and are instructed only to vote in their area of expertise. The changes to those two categories reflect an evolving music industry, where songwriters and producers have become increasingly celebra...