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7 amazing Bay Area things to do this weekend, March 31-April 2

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:01 GMT

From awesome dance recitals to mouthwatering cookies to a homecoming bluegrass champ, we have got a lot of fun stuff on tap for this weekend, so let’s get to it, shall we?As with everything these days, be sure to double check websites for any last-minute changes in health guidelines. Meanwhile, if you’d like to have this Weekender lineup delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning for free, just sign up at www.mercurynews.com/newsletters or www.eastbaytimes.com/newsletters.1 SEE & HEAR: Molly Tuttle returnsThe Grammy-winning bluegrass star, a native of Palo Alto, is back in the Bay Area for two shows at The Guild this week, and she told us how tickled she is to be playing for hometown fans. The shows are sold out, but go here to get on a waiting list for tickets or sign up to live-stream the show.2 EAT: Pizza from a championWorld champion pizza-maker Laura Meyer has opened her hotly anticipated new restaurant, Pizzeria da Laura, in Berkeley’s Shattuck Square...

France rules against extradition of Ukrainian billionaire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:01 GMT

PARIS (AP) — A French court of appeal ruled Thursday not to extradite to Ukraine the Ukrainian billionaire businessman Kostyantin Zhevago, who was temporarily detained in France in December.Ukraine’s National Bureau of Investigation had said Zhevago, who owns a majority stake in mining group Ferrexpo, was wanted on suspicion of embezzlement and money laundering related to the bankruptcy of Ukrainian bank Finance and Credit.Zhevago was detained in Courchevel, a ski resort in the French Alps. At the time, French judicial officials in Chambery said he was detained pending a formal request for extradition by Ukraine — which was ultimately refused.Zhevago was released under judicial supervision in France in January.The court in Chambery said Thursday it had “an unfavorable opinion” on the extradition request.Zhevago’s lawyers said in a joint statement that “beyond the respect of the human rights, this decision carries the mark of good sense.”The decision can be appealed at the Court of C...

Trinidad wins $100 million verdict in key corruption lawsuit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:01 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — The government of the eastern Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago has won a multimillion-dollar verdict in a sprawling corruption lawsuit that began nearly 20 years ago and involves former high-ranking officials.A jury in Miami awarded the government more than $100 million in compensatory damages in a verdict late Wednesday. The civil case began in 2004 when the Trinidadian government sued a former finance minister, various businessmen and several companies in countries including Florida, Panama and Portugal.“This is a victory for the people of T&T,” Faris Al-Rawi, a former attorney general in Trinidad who represented the government in the case, told reporters in Miami.The lawsuit alleged that the defendants participated in a scheme beginning in August 1996 to illegally obtain consulting and construction contracts at hyper-inflated prices via bribes, bid rigging and money laundering linked to an expansion of the Piarco International Airport in the Trinidadian ca...

Takeaways from AP examination of Peru carbon credit program

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:01 GMT

SAN MARTÍN, Peru (AP) — In the nearly 15 years that a carbon credit program has been run to safeguard one of Peru’s most valuable national parks, more than 28 million credits have been sold to fossil fuel producers like Shell and TotalEnergies.The project was supposed to stop deforestation in the Cordillera Azul National Park, helping to stem carbon emissions contributing to climate change.But an analysis by independent experts and reporting by The Associated Press raises doubts about whether the project has delivered on its promise to counter-balance emissions by oil companies and others. And the tree loss has more than doubled, according to satellite analysis.Some takeaways from the AP’s investigation:LAUNCH OF THE PROGRAMCordillera Azul National Park covers more than 5,000 square miles (12,950 square kilometers) on the eastern flank of the Peruvian Andes. The national park designation in 2001 gave it legal protection, but the carbon credits program was launched in 200...

2 West Bank settlers charged in axe attack on Palestinians

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:01 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Two Jewish settlers have been charged with terrorism for an axe attack earlier this month on a Palestinian family in the occupied West Bank, Israel’s Shin Bet security agency said Thursday.The Shin Bet said the attack occurred in the northern West Bank town of Hawara – the same town where hundreds of settlers burned houses and property in a rampage late last month that left one Palestinian dead.The settlers were arrested for an attack that occurred the following week, on March 6. Security camera footage showed two assailants throwing stones at a Palestinian car. One of the attackers is then seen repeatedly striking one of the windows with what appears to be a hatchet or a small axe, before the car drives away.The two suspects — one a resident of the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar and the other a resident of the unauthorized outpost of Givat Ronen — were charged on Thursday with committing an act of terrorism and intentional sabotage of a vehicle with racist intent,...

‘Gone wrong’: Doubts on carbon-credit program in Peru forest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:01 GMT

SAN MARTÍN, Peru (AP) — The Cordillera Azul National Park on the eastern flank of the Peruvian Andes takes in a sweep of Amazon rainforest, mountains and waterfalls in a territory about the size of Connecticut, so precious that tens of millions of dollars in carbon credits have been sold in a program that supporters said would protect its trees.But an analysis by independent experts and reporting by The Associated Press raises doubts about whether the project has delivered on its promise to counter-balance emissions by oil companies such as Shell, TotalEnergies and others. And the tree loss has more than doubled, according to satellite analysis.Experts say the Cordillera Azul project was flawed from the beginning, with far too many carbon credits generated and exaggerated benefits that allowed the nonprofit running the park for the Peruvian government to make more money — even as the tree canopy shrank. Defenders of the project dispute that benefits were inflated. They say the tree ...

Trump campaign leans in on made-for-social media videos

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:01 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — As Donald Trump rails against a possible indictment in New York, his team is leaning into a strategy that has quietly become a cornerstone of his 2024 presidential campaign: releasing made-for-social media videos reacting to the news and outlining his agenda for a possible second term.The videos feature the former president speaking directly to camera on topics ranging from Ukraine and “saving” the suburbs to dismantling the “deep state, ” and they are often laced with his familiar dark rhetoric and conspiracies. But his team sees them as a tool to bypass the traditional news media and speak directly to supporters, and as part of a broader effort to steer Trump toward policy instead of his own grievances and obsessions with the past. “It certainly lays down a marker for President Trump and the campaign on very specific policy prescriptions. No campaign has done it thus far and it sort of harkens back to 2016 where President Trump was pushing out policies ...

500 winner Ericsson intends to stay in IndyCar title picture

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:01 GMT

In the days leading up to the IndyCar season-opening race, Chip Ganassi made clear that Marcus Ericsson was a valued member of the organization.“I want him here beyond this year,” Ganassi said of the Swedish driver.Ericsson then went on to win the March 5 race on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, with a late pass of Pato O’Ward to pick up the fourth win of his IndyCar career. Ericsson heads into Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway as the points leader and determined to be a serious championship contender.He is the reigning Indianapolis 500 winner — a victory that pushed him into last year’s championship fight before he faded and finished sixth in the final standings. But as Ericsson begins his fourth season with a powerhouse organization, Ganassi believes the Indianapolis victory changed the career trajectory for the 32-year-old former Formula One driver.The win propelled Ericsson on a monthslong media tour that included a weeklong celebration in S...

Kelso Technologies: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:01 GMT

SURREY, British Columbia (AP) — SURREY, British Columbia (AP) — Kelso Technologies Inc. (KIQ) on Thursday reported a loss of $420,000 in its fourth quarter.On a per-share basis, the Surrey, British Columbia-based company said it had a loss of less than 1 cent.The railroad equipment supplier posted revenue of $2.4 million in the period.For the year, the company reported a loss of $1.4 million, or 2 cents per share. Revenue was reported as $10.9 million._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on KIQ at https://www.zacks.com/ap/KIQSource

Stocks keep climbing as fear keeps falling on Wall Street

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:01 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rising again as a bit more fear evaporates from Wall Street. The S&P 500 was up 0.7% early Thursday. The benchmark index is on pace for its fifth gain in the last six days. Stocks are The index is up for the month after struggling in earlier weeks on worries about whether the banking system was cracking under the weight of higher interest rates. The Dow rose 0.5% and the Nasdaq rose 0.8%. Forceful actions by regulators worldwide have helped restore confidence that the current trouble for banks won’t drag down the entire economy like the 2008 financial crisis did. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Wall Street is poised to open with gains Thursday as worries over turmoil in the banking industry ease and attention turns toward government economic data coming out the next couple of days.Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 rose 0.6% before the opening bell Thursday.Markets recently have been wracke...