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Brennan: Congress must rein in swipe fees to help consumers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:53 GMT

As Massachusetts residents face higher and higher costs of living and stubbornly high prices for gas, food, beverages and other staple items, a bi-partisan coalition of senators is looking to give consumers and small businesses some much-needed relief.The Credit Card Competition Act would stop Visa and Mastercard from exacerbating inflation and hurting small business operators by reining in predatory swipe fees that are among the highest in the world. Americans pay more than double w00hat Canadians pay in credit and debit purchase fees and seven times more than consumers in Europe. The two credit card conglomerates have a duopoly in the retail industry, cashing in on extra fees that force retailers to hike prices to cover ever-escalating costs.Swipe fees paid by store merchants soared 17% in 2022 to $160 billion, and cost families on average $1,000 per year, all while the credit card companies raked in more than $25 billion in net profits. Visa Chief Financial Officer Vasant Prabhu ...

Are you getting billed for COVID-19 tests you didn’t order? Here’s what you need to know

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:53 GMT

By Gisselle Medina, Los Angeles TimesIf 2022 was the year of free COVID-19 test kits, 2023 is shaping up to be the year of fraudulent COVID-19 test kits.Consider what happened to Judy, an 85-year-old Medicare recipient in Southern California (we’re withholding her last name because she’s concerned about being victimized further). One day this year, five COVID-19 test kits showed up at her home without her ever requesting them.“I didn’t pay any attention to the unsolicited COVID tests, so I threw them out,” Judy said. “It wasn’t until some months later that I received my Medicare summary bill and I saw charges for over-the-counter COVID tests I didn’t order.”Each kit cost $120 to $150 — and she was responsible for a portion of the bill.Judy is just one of hundreds of people who have fallen victim to a new scam involving COVID-19 test kits, part of the rising trend of fraudulent activity since the start of the pandemic.Here’s how it works: Scammers buy stolen Medicare numbers online o...

‘Jeopardy!’ winners refusing to join Tournament of Champions during WGA strike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:53 GMT

By Dan Clarendon, New York Daily News“Jeopardy!” fans may not see some usual suspects in next season’s Tournament of Champions.As producers of the game show reportedly plan to recycle questions for the 2023–2024 season, former winners — including the four highest earners from last season — say they are declining invitations to the tournament out of solidarity with the WGA members on staff.Ray LaLonde, a TV set builder who took home $388,400 in winnings last season, announced in the “Jeopardy!” Reddit forum that he would opt out of Season 40′s Tournament of Champions should the showdown be filmed during the strike. (The tournament is typically filmed in late August and September, according to The Hollywood Reporter.)LaLonde prefaced his announcement by saying that he will always be grateful for his “Jeopardy!” experience and that the Tournament of Champions invitation is a dream come true.“That being said, I believe that the show’s writers are a vital part of the show and they are ju...

The death of the Obamas’ chef on Martha’s Vineyard is reportedly not suspicious, toxicology results take several weeks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:53 GMT

The death of the Obamas’ personal chef near the former president’s Martha’s Vineyard estate is reportedly not suspicious, according to Massachusetts State Police who found “no external trauma or injuries” on the 45-year-old man.Tafari Campbell, of Virginia, died after paddleboarding on Edgartown Great Pond Sunday evening. His body was recovered Monday morning by Mass State Police divers — about 100 feet from shore at a depth of about eight feet.Campbell was not wearing a personal flotation device and he was not leashed to the paddleboard when he lost balance and went underwater, a witness told police.“The Massachusetts State Police investigation into the death of Tafari Campbell, 45, of Virginia, who was recovered from Edgartown Great Pond on Monday, as well as an initial post-mortem examination by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, found no evidence that the death was suspicious,” a Mass State Police spokesperson said in a stat...

Alleged North End shooter Patrick Mendoza detention decision to come later today

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:53 GMT

The man accused of shooting at a man in front of Modern Pastry earlier this month is being held without bail until a judge makes a decision on his detention, which he promised to do by the end of the day today.Alleged shooter Patrick Mendoza, 54, faces charges including assault to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, intimidating a witness, and three charges related to unlawful possession of a gun.Police arrested Mendoza on July 21 — nine days after he allegedly fired three shots in front of Hanover Street’s Modern Pastry at a man he had a long-simmering relationship with. That history includes Mendoza previously striking the man on his head with a glass bottle in February 2019, for which he received six months probation.While Mendoza was able to hide away in the detention room next to for his arraignment on Friday, he appeared Wednesday in Boston Municipal Court wearing a lightly checkered gray suit — extensive hand tattoos visible, which includes the city of Boston seal on his...

FedEx driver pulls man from burning car after crash in Miramar

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:53 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A FedEx driver pulled a man out of a burning car following a Wednesday morning crash in Miramar, authorities said. Media Information Officer Mark Latulippe with California Highway Patrol confirmed to FOX 5 that a man crashed into the right shoulder guardrail on southbound Interstate 15, just north of Highway 52, around 3 a.m. Man seriously injured in e-bike crash Authorities say the car burst into flames with the driver still inside. That's when a FedEx driver pulled over to help the man out of the fiery vehicle, Latulippe confirmed. The man was reported to have sustained major injuries to his leg. He was transported to Sharp Memorial Hospital for care, authorities said.CHP says drugs and/or alcohol were not suspected to be a factor in this collision.Anyone with information related to the crash is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

Israel’s top court to review challenges to law that weakens its power, escalating political crisis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:53 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s highest court said Wednesday it would review legal challenges to a divisive new law that weakens its power, putting the country’s top justices in the position of defending their own independence and escalating a political crisis that has unleashed the country’s biggest protests in history. Israeli civil society groups and others have filed petitions asking the Supreme Court to strike down the law enacted Monday — the first major piece of legislation in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s broader program to overhaul Israel’s judiciary. The opposition’s legal challenges are pushing Israel toward a showdown over the foundations of its system of government. The court faces massive public pressure to strike down the law and has an inherent interest in preserving its powers and independence. But if it does so, Netanyahu’s government could ignore the ruling, setting the stage for a crisis over who has ultimate authority.“I...

Big global brands drove supplier prices higher in second quarter: Loblaw

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:53 GMT

BRAMPTON, Ont. — Large global suppliers are driving costs higher for Loblaw Companies Ltd., the firm said as it released earnings for the second quarter, reporting increased sales and lower gross margins.“We have received double-digit increases from the same suppliers who gave us double-digit increases last year. That’s why you see products that are noticeably more expensive than they were just a couple years ago,” said CFO Richard Dufresne on a conference call with analysts. “While cost increases are coming in from all tiers of our supplier base, the largest global brands stand out.”  One of the company’s largest vendors submitted price increases totalling 50 per cent, or a quarter-billion dollars, said Dufresne. He added that prices for meat, fruit and vegetables rose in the mid-single-digits while centre-of-store prices were up in the double-digits. “The math is very simple: Cost increases from big brands were well above Canada’s food inflation...

Deadly wildfires in Greece and other European countries destroy homes and threaten nature reserves

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:53 GMT

RHODES, Greece (AP) — Deadly fires raging in Greece and other European countries advanced on Wednesday, destroying homes and threatening nature reserves during a third successive wave of extreme temperatures.The summer wildfires have struck countries across the region, prompting the European Union to expand its support, sending two Spanish firefighting planes to Tunisia after wildfires in neighboring Algeria left at least 34 people dead in recent days.Here’s a look at some of the major wildfires across Europe.___GREECEMore wildfires broke out Wednesday in the central mainland, triggering a precautionary evacuation order for some outskirts of the town of Lamia.Further north, villages were evacuated as a precaution near the city of Volos, whose residents were warned to stay indoors because of the hazard of smoke inhalation. State television ERT reported that an older woman was found dead in a caravan after another fire in the area.New evacuations were ordered overnight on the islands ...

Slew of transport issues face new minister Pablo Rodriguez

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:53 GMT

Pablo Rodriguez has been sworn in as Canada’s new transport minister, taking the baton on a raft of turbulent issues as the aviation sector emerges from a period of crisis.Leaving his spot atop the Heritage Department, Rodriguez takes over from Omar Alghabra, who assumed the cabinet post in January 2021 while the pandemic pummelled the travel industry.Alghabra steered the government through negotiations with airlines on financial aid, COVID-19 testing at airports and a new passenger rights charter.But with the traveller complaint backlog at a record high topping 52,000, both advocates and airlines continue to find fault with parts of the overhauled regime, even as other issues demand attention.Rodriguez will take over on topline items including nascent plans for a high-frequency railway between Toronto and Quebec City, ongoing supply chain hitches and infrastructure vulnerable to natural disasters amid increasingly extreme weather.Alghabra announced his decision Tuesday not to...