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Ticker: Airbnb agrees to pay $621 million to settle a tax dispute in Italy; Wall Street closes out its 7th straight winning week

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:29 GMT

Short-term rental platform Airbnb has agreed to pay 576 million euros ($621 million) to settle a years-long dispute over unpaid taxes in Italy but said it won’t try to recover the money from its hosts.In November, Italian prosecutors said AirBnb owed about 779 million euros ($840 million) in short-term rental taxes it had failed to pay on behalf of Italian landlords who used the platform between 2017 and 2021.The San Francisco-based company said in a statement on Wednesday that it was working on introducing new tools for hosts to have their taxes withheld automatically and paid to the Italian tax authorities on their behalf.Wall Street closes out its 7th straight winning weekWall Street drifted through mixed trading on Friday to put a quiet end to another rocking week.The S&P 500 finished nearly unchanged for the day, down 0.36, or less than 0.1%, at 4,719.19. But it’s still hanging within 1.6% of its all-time high set early last year, and it closed out a seventh straight winnin...

Jury awards $148M in damages to Georgia election workers over Rudy Giuliani’s 2020 vote lies

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:29 GMT

A jury awarded $148 million in damages on Friday to two former Georgia election workers who sued Rudy Giuliani for defamation over lies he spread about them in 2020 that upended their lives with racist threats and harassment.The damages verdict follows emotional testimony from Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, who tearfully described becoming the target of a false conspiracy theory pushed by Giuliani and other Republicans as they tried to keep then-President Donald Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election.Giuliani didn’t appear to show any emotion as the verdict was read in Washington’s federal courthouse after about 10 hours of deliberations. Moss and Freeman hugged their attorneys after the jury left the courtroom and didn’t look at Giuliani as he left with his lawyer.Giuliani had already been found liable in the case and previously conceded in court documents that he falsely accused the women of ballot fraud. Even so, the forme...

Argentine President Javier Milei raffles off his last salary as lawmaker

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:29 GMT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — President Javier Milei on Friday raffled off the last salary he received as an Argentine lawmaker before being sworn in earlier this month as leader of the economically troubled nation.During a live video broadcast on Instagram, Milei showed off his office and boasted his attributes as president. The broadcast also featured the last raffle of Milei’s monthly salary as a national deputy — 2.1 million Argentine pesos, or about $2,500.“This is the last draw for my salary as a deputy because I now got myself another job,” Milei said in a humorous tone.The winner of the raffle was a woman named Verónica Gómez, according to the notary who supervised the draw at the Casa Rosada presidential office.During his campaign for deputy two years ago, Milei promised he would raffle off his monthly pay as a way to differentiate himself from the “caste,” as he calls the political class he accuses of enjoying constant privileges.“During my campaign for national dep...

Dad who said “If I can’t have them neither can you’ pleads guilty to killing 3 kids

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:29 GMT

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago man who told his estranged wife “If I can’t have them neither can you” pleaded guilty but mentally ill Friday plea to three counts of first-degree murder for killing their three young children, a prosecutor said.Jason Karels, 36, of Round Lake Beach will be sentenced to natural life in the Illinois Department of Corrections without the possibility of parole, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said.Karels admitted to killing by drowning 5-year-old Bryant Karels, 3-year-old Cassidy Karels and 2-year-old Gideon Karels on June 13, 2022.Officers sent to his home to check on the welfare of the children found a note for his estranged wife saying, “If I can’t have them neither can you,” prosecutors have said.“This case has devasted the Round Lake Beach community and beyond,” Rinehart said in a news release. “We hope that today’s resolution provides some measure of closure, and we will continue to provide support to the family.” Se...

Army helicopter flying through Alaska mountain pass hit another in fatal April crash, report says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:29 GMT

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A U.S. Army helicopter that was flying through a mountain pass in Alaska along with other aircraft returning from a training exercise earlier this year hit one of the other helicopters, causing both to crash and killing three soldiers, a military investigation report released Friday said.The accident safety report from the United States Army Combat Readiness Center is among the documents related to the April 27 crash near Healy, Alaska, that were released in response to a records request from The Associated Press. An analysis of the crash and findings and recommendations were redacted.At the time of the crash, the Army said the two helicopters from the 1st Attack Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment at Fort Wainwright, near Fairbanks, collided about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Healy when they were returning from training. Healy is about 80 miles (129 kilometers) southwest of Fairbanks. The documents provide some new details. The helicopters were among 14 airc...

Tiger Woods and son get another crack at PNC Championship. Woods jokingly calls it the 5th major

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:29 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — No wonder Tiger Woods jokingly refers to the PNC Championship as the fifth major.Woods was together with 14-year-old son Charlie on Friday, their swings eerily similar and the encouraging words coming as only Woods can deliver them. They were warming up ahead of the pro-am, hitting flop shots, when Charlie hit one that was … well, let Woods explain.“We’re ending on that one right there. That was nasty,” Woods said, repeating the second part with an extra word for emphasis.Woods felt good enough to turn down a golf cart and walk 18 holes in a strong wind during the pro-am, which is not to suggest he is completely on the mend.“I felt like I was physically fit to do it,” Woods said. “Also, walking is better for my back. I just wanted to keep it loose and keep it going, and we’re having so much it doesn’t really matter.”Woods chose not to speak to media, wanting to avoid any queries about his place on the PGA Tour board as it negotiates...

Chile arrests 55 people in a $275 million tax fraud case that officials call the country’s biggest

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:29 GMT

SANTIAGO (AP) — Chile’s police on Friday arrested at least 55 people in a fiscal fraud case that could be one of the biggest in the country’s history, amounting to about $275 million and implicating small and mid-sized companies in different parts of the country.Marcelo Freyhoffer, a high officer at Chile’s tax agency, told journalists those arrested were associated with companies that did not render real services and committed fraud through false tax documents. Their goal was to pay less tax or obtain fraudulent tax returns, he said.Freyhoffer said the suspects will stand trial for tax crimes, criminal association, money laundering, customs fraud and making false declarations, and could be jailed for up to 15 years in what he called the country’s biggest fraud case ever. The investigation started in 2016 and touched companies operating in a wide range of areas, varying from construction to exporters of cell phones.Chile’s President Gabriel Boric said t...

Israeli strike on school kills Al Jazeera cameraman in southern Gaza, network says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:29 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — An Israeli strike killed a Palestinian cameraman for the TV network Al Jazeera and wounded its chief Gaza correspondent Friday as they reported at a school in the south of the besieged territory, the network said.Cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa and correspondent Wael Dahdouh had gone to the school in the southern city of Khan Younis after it was hit by a strike earlier in the day. While they were there, an Israeli drone hit the school with a second strike, the network said.Dahdouh was heavily wounded in his arm and shoulder, while Abu Daqqa fell bleeding to the ground. Speaking from a hospital bed, Dahdouh told Al Jazeera he was able to flee, bleeding, from the school and found several ambulance workers. He asked them to look for Abu Daqqa, but they said it was too risky and promised another ambulance would come for him, Dahdouh said.“He was screaming, he was calling for help,” said Dahdouh, his right arm heavily bandaged.Later that evening, Al Jazeera reported that an ambula...

Tweet from US government injects confusion into Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:29 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — U.S. diplomats on Friday injected confusion into next year’s presidential election in Venezuela by applauding the purported inclination of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and other government foes to appeal their bans on running for office.A tweet from the U.S. government’s unit that oversees Venezuelan affairs praised Machado’s “courage and willingness” to appeal the ban. But as she left the country’s highest court Friday evening, she told reporters she will not file an appeal because she has not been officially notified of the ban announced against her in June.“I am not going to resort to that procedure,” she said of the appeal process. She said she had established before the court a claim “that there is no disqualification” against her.With her campaign’s attorney by her side, Machado said that her legitimacy as a candidate comes from Venezuelan voters, not the government.Two of her campaign advisers and a spokeswoman as well as a spok...

Motorcycle group donate bikes for Worth Township kids ahead of holidays

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:29 GMT

CHICAGO, Ill. -- The American Lawmen motorcycle group donated dozens of bikes to Worth Township to make sure children in need don’t miss out on Christmas. But that’s just the beginning as the bikes will be part of a much bigger toy giveaway in the coming days.To learn more, watch WGN's Angelica Sanchez's report in the video player above.