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SEC brings charges against cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN (AP Business Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — The Securities and Exchange Commission sued cryptocurrency platform Coinbase on Tuesday, charging the company with operating an unregistered securities platform and brokerage service. The lawsuit comes a day after the SEC filed charges against Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, and its founder Changpeng Zhao are accused of misusing investor funds, operating as an unregistered exchange and violating a slew of U.S. securities laws.Coinbase shares plunged nearly 20% in the early morning trading on the news. In its complaint, the SEC said Coinbase made billions in being the middle man for cryptocurrency buyers and sellers but did not give investors lawful protections while acting as a broker. “Coinbase has for years defied the regulatory structures and evaded the disclosure requirements that Congress and the SEC have constructed for the protection of the national securities markets and investors,”...

5 waterfalls to see in San Diego County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Waterfalls have a gift of offering soothing sounds and sights for outdoor adventurers.The natural flow of water is a sign of hope to those who are lost and looking for a drink or hikers wanting to be in a state of relaxation.If you can't make it to places like Yosemite National Park, here are some waterfalls to check out locally in San Diego County:Los Peñasquitos Falls: Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve, which is 7 miles roundtrip, features a waterfall cascading through volcanic rock at the west end of the preserve where the paths meet.Oak Canyon: Following heavy rainfall, two running waterfalls can be seen on the moderate 3.2-mile roundtrip Mission Trails Regional Park trail.Horsethief Canyon: Only a 1.6-mile roundtrip route, the trail guides you to a large pool and small waterfalls in eastern San Diego County's Cleveland National Forest.Cedar Creek Falls: Located in Ramona, the San Diego River Gorge Trail leads to Cedar Creek Falls, which plunges 80 feet into a large pool ...

Comedian Matt Rife set to perform at San Diego Civic Theatre

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Popular internet personality, comedian and actor Matt Rife is headed to San Diego later this year for stand-up comedy show.The fast-rising comedian will be bringing his cheeky, genuine humor to the San Diego Civic Theatre on Sept. 30 as part of his "ProbleMATTic World Tour."Pre-sale tickets will be available starting Tuesday, June 6 a.m. through Ticketmaster, before the general sale opens Friday, June 9 at 10 a.m.The tour spanning North America, Australia and Europe will be his first major performance series, with more than 100 shows throughout 2023 and 2024 after kicking off on Thursday, July 20 in Bend, OR. The full list of tour dates can be found here.“I couldn’t be more thrilled to live out this life long dream! To tour the world, spreading laughter, with some of my best friends, is something I never thought would be possible," Rife said in a press release. "I’ve been working so hard towards this for 12 years and now I’ve surrounded myself with a team who works just...

Prince Harry testifies the tabloids destroyed his childhood, but fails to recall specific stories

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry stepped into courtroom witness box Tuesday to hold Britain’s tabloid press accountable for its “destructive” role throughout his life. But he soon found himself being held to account by a newspaper’s lawyer for how he could blame his anguish on articles he couldn’t remember reading.The Duke of Sussex became the first senior member of the royal family to testify in over a century as he held a Bible in his right hand and, in a soft voice, swore to tell the “whole truth and nothing but the truth” in the High Court in London.Harry accuses the publisher of the Daily Mirror of using unlawful techniques on an “industrial scale” to score front-page scoops on his life. Sitting in the witness box, dressed in a dark suit and tie, Harry told Mirror Group Newspapers attorney Andrew Green that he had “experienced hostility from the press since I was born.” The prince accused the tabloids of playing “a destructive role in my growing-up.”Harry was ...

Stock market today: Wall Street opens lower; Coinbase tanks on SEC charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting amid a vacuum of market-moving data, while crypto prices were lower after regulators filed charges against another mega player in the industry. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% early Tuesday, though it remains near the edge of exiting its latest bear market. The Dow fell 44 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.4%. Crypto prices sank after the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Coinbase with operating as an unregistered securities exchange. Shares in parent copmany Coinbase Global sank 20%. A day earlier, the SEC filed charges against another huge crypto trading platform, Binance, and its founder.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Wall Street crept modestly lower for a second straight day Tuesday, following a weekslong rally that carried markets to an 10-month high.Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were off less than 0.1% in premarket trading.With earnings season winding down and few m...

Maria Sherman appointed AP’s music writer, based in Los Angeles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Maria Sherman has been named The Associated Press’ music writer, a key position responsible for delivering news on a beat of global significance for the news cooperative.Sherman, whose first day was Monday, will lead music coverage for the AP’s entertainment and lifestyles department, which boasts video, photo and text journalists on three continents. She will also work closely with colleagues in AP’s U.S. and international bureaus and across its global beat teams.“Our readers and our customers will discover new music and be better informed and gain a better understanding of the rapidly evolving music landscape through Maria’s coverage,” Anthony McCartney, global entertainment and lifestyles editor, said.Sherman, 31, is based in Los Angeles. An accomplished music and culture journalist, she has previously worked as a culture writer at Netflix, senior writer at Jezebel, managing editor at Gizmodo Media Group, senior correspondent at Fuse TV and co...

Search for unclaimed $70M Scarborough lottery winner ongoing as deadline draws near

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) says the search for an unclaimed $70-million Lotto Max jackpot winner in Scarborough drags on as the deadline draws near.In late May, the OLG said no one had claimed the jackpot draw from June 28, 2022, and it will expire exactly one year from that date. The $70 million winning ticket was purchased at an authorized lottery retailer in Scarborough.In an update, an OLG spokesperson said on Tuesday that the life-changing amount of money is still waiting for the rightful owner.“The winning numbers for the June 28, 2022, Lotto Max draw are — 8, 19, 22, 41, 42, 46, 47 [and] Bonus 10,” the OLG wrote in a news release.RELATED: ‘Just imagine’ losing $70M lotto ticket? Here’s how the OLG says you could still collect“We ask OLG lottery players to check places where they usually store their tickets, such as in clothing pockets, personal accessories (i.e. handbags, backpacks, wallets, computer bags), your ...

World Bank offers dim outlook for the global economy in face of higher interest rates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The global economy is likely slowing sharply this year, hobbled by high interest rates, the repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic.That’s the latest outlook of the World Bank, a 189-country anti-poverty agency, which estimates that the international economy will expand just 2.1% in 2023 after growing 3.1% in 2022. Still, the bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report, which it issued Tuesday, marks an upgrade from its previous forecast in January. That estimate had envisioned worldwide growth of just 1.7% this year.The Federal Reserve and other major central banks have been aggressively raising interest rates to combat a resurgence of inflation, set off by a stronger-than-expected rebound from the pandemic recession, persistent supply shortages and energy and food price shocks caused by the Ukraine war.But the global economy has proved surprisingly resilient in the face of higher borrowing...

Plane that crashed in Virginia lost contact with air traffic controllers during ascent, feds say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

Only minutes into a doomed journey that ended on a remote Virginia mountain, the pilot of a business jet was not responding to air traffic control instructions and the situation was soon reported to a network that includes military, security and law enforcement agencies, according to federal aviation officials.Despite being out of contact on its ascent Sunday afternoon, the jet that had just taken off from a Tennessee airport continued toward its intended destination on Long Island, then turning to fly back to Virginia where it slammed into a mountain, killing the four people aboard.Family and friends identified two of the victims as an entrepreneur known in New York real-estate circles and her 2-year-old daughter.Fighter jet pilots sent to intercept the business jet reported that its pilot appeared slumped over and unresponsive, three U.S. officials said Monday. The officials had been briefed on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disc...

Movie Review: Who let the beasts out? New ‘Transformers’ tries but fails to energize the saga

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

With the “Transformers” franchise clearly at a crossroads, its latest protectors have turned to their deep bench of characters. But just adding more robots won’t transform this tired series.“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” returns the franchise to its galaxy-wide self-importance after taking a nice detour with 2018’s smaller “Bumblebee.” We have a new cast of animal robots and a very evil enemy in the planet-eating Unicron, but they’re not used right and the movie limps from fight to fight.The key to the film is actually a key, some sort of ancient glowing shaft that will open a portal in space and time. Everyone wants it — to go home, to kill planets or to save planets. The audience may also want to use it to beam into a more interesting movie.Directed by Steven Caple Jr. — using a screenplay by Darnell Metayer, Erich Hoeber, Jon Hoeber and Josh Peters based on a story by Joby Harold — “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” is a big swing that seems to portend a mul...