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Rite Aid seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it deals with lawsuits and losses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

By TOM MURPHY and ELAINE KURTENBACH (Associated Press)Rite Aid has filed for bankruptcy protection and plans to sell part of its business as it attempts to restructure while dealing with losses and opioid-related lawsuits.The drugstore chain said late Sunday it also has obtained $3.45 billion in fresh financing from some of its lenders, which will help support the company through its voluntary Chapter 11 process.The plan will “significantly reduce the company’s debt” while helping to “resolve litigation claims in an equitable manner,” Rite Aid said. The company also said it expects to receive court approval for several motions it made to support its business. Those include paying employee wages and benefits without interruption. The company also said it still plans to pay vendors in full. Rite Aid Corp. runs more than 2,100 stores in the United States, mostly on the East and West Coasts and has posted annual losses for several years.The Philadelphi...

Indonesia’s top court rules against lowering presidential candidates’ age limit, but adds exception

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s top court on Monday ruled against lowering the minimum age of presidential and vice presidential candidates as the country gears up for election in 2024, but allowed an exception for those who served or been elected as regional leaders allowing them to run at younger age.The ruling could pave the way for President Joko Widodo’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 36, to run in the election next year. Gibran, who currently serves as Mayor of Surakarta, hasn’t announced that he would run. But politicians publicly backing former general Prabowo Subianto running for the 2024 presidential election have tapped Gibran to become his running mate. Gibran is currently 36.The Constitutional Court’s decision is final.In August, seven politicians — including from the Indonesian Solidarity Party chaired by the youngest son of current President Joko Widodo — filed a petition against the current age limit for candidates, asking it to be lowered to 3...

Poles vote in huge numbers for the centrist opposition after 8 years of nationalist rule

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The majority of voters in Poland’s general election supported opposition parties that promised to reverse democratic backsliding and repair the nation’s relationship with allies, including the European Union and Ukraine, according to projections Monday.After a bitter and emotional campaign, turnout was projected at almost 74%, the highest level in the country’s 34 years of democracy and surpassing the 63% who turned out in the historic 1989 vote that toppled communism. In the city of Wroclaw, the lines were so long that voting continued through the night until nearly 3 a.m. Young voters particularly came out in force to flood polling stations.A so-called late exit poll by Ipsos suggested that voters had grown tired of the governing nationalist Law and Justice party after eight years of divisive policies that led to frequent street protests, bitter divisions within families and billions in funding held up by the EU over rule of law violations.I...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Oct. 22-28

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Oct. 22-28:Oct. 22: Actor Derek Jacobi is 85. Actor Christopher Lloyd is 85. Actor Tony Roberts is 84. Director Jan de Bont (“Twister,” “Speed”) is 80. Actor Catherine Deneuve is 80. Musician Eddie Brigati of The Rascals and Joey Dee and the Starlighters is 78. Actor Jeff Goldblum is 71. Keyboardist Greg Hawkes of The Cars is 71. Director Bill Condon (“Twilight” films, “Dreamgirls”) is 68. Actor Luis Guzman (“Code Black”) is 67. Bassist Cris Kirkwood of Meat Puppets is 63. Actor Bob Odenkirk is 61. Christian singer TobyMac (dc Talk) is 59. Singer-songwriter Wesley Stace (John Wesley Harding) is 58. Actor Valeria Golino (“Rain Man,” “Hot Shots!”) is 57. Comedian Carlos Mencia is 56. Country singer Shelby Lynne is 55. Reggae rapper Shaggy is 55. Director Spike Jonze is 54. Rapper Tracey Lee is 53. Actor Saffron Burrows (“Boston Legal”) is 51. Actor Carmen Ejogo (“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” “Selma”) is 50. Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson (“...

Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford gets involved in union contract talks in an uncommon presentation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford is scheduled to make a rare speech Monday about the future of American manufacturing with the company near an impasse with striking autoworkers.The speech near the company’s huge pickup truck plant in the company’s hometown of Dearborn, Michigan, is expected to address the monthlong strike by members of the United Auto Workers union.Last week 8,700 union members walked out at the largest and most profitable Ford plant in the world, the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville. After the walkout, a top company executive said on a conference call with reporters that Ford had reached the limit in how much it was willing to spend to end the strike. Ford announced the speech with a short advisory early on Monday. Bill Ford is likely to appeal to workers about how the company can’t afford to saddle itself with high labor costs and still be competitive with Tesla and other nonunion automakers with U.S. factories. The sp...

Stock market today: Wall Street opens higher as some signs of worry ease

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are opening higher as some of last week’s moves driven by worries about war in the Middle East unwind. The S&P 500 was 0.4% higher early Monday. The Dow rose 220, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.4%. Treasury yields were edging higher after tumbling last week on worries that fighting in Gaza will escalate. The price of gold also slipped as last week’s flight toward safer investments waned a bit. Crude oil prices were mixed after a volatile week spurred by worries that the war could result in disruptions to supplies from Iran or other big producers.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.BANGKOK (AP) — World shares fell and oil prices were mixed as investors braced Monday for an expected invasion by Israel in the Gaza Strip.The future for the S&P 500 rose 0.2% and that for the Dow industrials gained 0.3%. Germany’s DAX was down 0.1% at 15,168.16 and the CAC 40 in Paris declined fell less than 0.1%, to 6,999.82. Britain...

Manufacturing sales, wholesale trade climb in August: Statistics Canada

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

OTTAWA — Two key indicators of the economy climbed in August as Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales rose 0.7 per cent to $72.4 billion that month, while wholesale trade sales excluding petroleum, petroleum products and other hydrocarbons, and excluding oilseed and grain, increased 2.3 per cent to $83 billion.StatCan says manufacturing sales were boosted by the petroleum and coal, food and machinery subsectors.The agency says sales of petroleum and coal products rose 10.5 per cent to $8.4 billion in August on higher volumes and prices, while sales of food products rose 1.5 per cent to $12.6 billion in August, the highest level on record.It attributes the overall monthly increase to higher prices as sales in real terms decreased 0.7 per cent in August.Meanwhile, the agency says the increase in wholesale sales was driven by the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector and the miscellaneous subsector.It says sales in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector rose 5.2 per...

Man gouges Crown Point K9's eyes, chokes dog during arrest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

CROWN POINT, Ind. — A Kenosha man was arrested Sunday morning after gouging the eyes of a Crown Point K9 and choking the dog during an arrest.Just after 2:35 a.m., a Crown Point police officer observed a 2006 Maserati driving 86 miles per hour in the 2100 North Main Street. Police said the driver, a 32-year-old Kenosha, Wisconsin man, did not stop and a pursuit was initiated for around one mile.The man eventually stopped in the 8600 block of Taft Street. Police said the man refused to exit the Maserati and a baton was used to smash his passenger window to unlock the car.The officer then deployed his K9 partner, named Jack, into the car. Police said the man gouged Jack's eyes and grabbed him around the throat, causing the dog's eyes to roll to the back of his head.The man was then tased and let the dog go. ‘I’m going to fall’: Northwest Indiana woman accused of letting kids ride on roof of car; daughter injured He was arrested and taken to an area hospital for minor injuries. The m...

Monday Forecast: Partly sunny, temps below average

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

Monday: A few lake effect showers possible in the morning, partly sunny skies for the rest of the day. Temps below average Monday Night:  Temperatures will remain a bit below average in the mid 50s with some breezy northwesterly winds about 10-15 mph.7-Day Forecast | Chicago, Illinois | WGN TVTuesday: Expect a slight warm up through the middle of the week with temperatures close to 70 on Wednesday with some sunshine. Another system approaches late Wednesday night that will bring us more showers to wrap up the work week.

The Great Outdoors: DePaul women's basketball a part of history Sunday at Iowa

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

IOWA CITY, IA — History was made in college basketball on Sunday afternoon, and DePaul had a part in it. It was all about the crowd that checked out the Blue Demons game against Iowa, one of the best teams in women's basketball, and the unique venue in which it took place: Kinnick Stadium.(Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)The Hawkeyes hosted the first "Crossover at Kinnick," an outdoor exhibition basketball game at Iowa's football stadium. It was essentially a scrimmage brought outdoors in an effort to raise money for the school's Stead Family Children's Hospital. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette via AP)Under cloudy skies with temperatures in the 50s, the two teams took the floor in front of 55,646, a record crowd to watch a women's basketball game. It bested the previous record of 29,619 that watched the UConn-Oklahoma 2002 national championship game in San Antonio's Alamodome. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette via AP)It was a contest that was actually conceived a year ago when both teams met...