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Stop using paper checks, already

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:36 GMT

By Kate Ashford | NerdWalletSure, you’re probably not using paper checks for most things. But are you returning payments to medical providers and insurance companies in the mail? Paying by check for the random parking ticket or your child’s piano lessons? Now is a good time to stop: Check fraud tied to mail theft is up nationwide, according to a February alert from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. And letter carrier robberies are also on the rise.This is partially due to the effects of the pandemic, when thieves targeted government relief checks in the mail. “Fraudsters just went back to tried-and-true potential attack factors that seemed to be working,” says Michael Bruemmer, head of global data breach resolution for Experian.The U.S. Postal Service is vulnerable, and thieves who can access your checks can change the amount and ferret those funds right out of your bank account. And then it can take weeks to get the funds back.“It’s absolutely a life disruption event when y...

Sunday Golf company surges in San Diego

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:36 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Sunday rolls around once a week, but at Sunday Golf they’re creating a weekend type of mindset centered around one of San Diego’s most popular sports.“The idea started at the Loma Club here -- which is a local Par 3 course in Point Loma -- and, you know, we only use three or four clubs,” said Ronan Galvin, co-founder and CEO of Sunday Golf.  "And so I saw everyone either was using their full bag with all their clubs or taking out like nine or ten of their clubs, and just had four or five clubs. So I thought there was a need for a little smaller bag just for Par 3 courses.” Women’s World Cup Guide: How to watch, schedule and betting favorites This became an idea that the Torrey Pines High School alum would eventually launch in January 2020, right before the pandemic.“It was actually like a perfect storm,” continued Galvin. "Because of COVID, there were people who were dusting off the clubs, getting back into golf and a lot of people trying golf. Just saw that opportuni...

2 suicide bombers attack Pakistan police and government compound, killing 4 and injuring 11

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:36 GMT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Two suicide bombers attacked a sprawling compound housing a police station and government offices in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least four police officers and wounding 11 other people, police and rescue officials said.The attack occurred in the Bara neighborhood bordering Afghanistan, provincial police chief Akhtar Hayat said. Rescuers said part of the compound collapsed after the bombing, burying a police officer whose body was later retrieved.The explosive vest worn by one of the suicide bombers detonated when police opened fire after coming under attack, Hayat said. A total of four officers were killed and eleven others were wounded, hospital officials said.Gunshots were heard after the bombing, said Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for the provincial emergency service, and an exchange of gunfire followed. The wounded people included police officers and civilians, officials said.Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack. In a statemen...

Iraq expels Sweden’s ambassador over a Quran desecration. It follows an attack on Sweden’s embassy

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:36 GMT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Protesters angered by the planned burning of a copy of the Quran by an Iraqi man in Sweden stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad Thursday, overrunning the diplomatic compound and starting a fire. Hours later, Iraq’s prime minister cut diplomatic ties with Sweden in protest over the desecration of the Islamic holy book.Protesters stormed the diplomatic post early Thursday, waving flags and signs showing the influential Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr, and set a small fire. The attack on the embassy came ahead of a planned burning of the Quran in Stockholm by an Iraqi asylum-seeker who had burned a copy of the Islamic holy book in a previous demonstration last month. Following the incident, the Swedish Embassy announced that it had closed to visitors, without specifying when it would reopen. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement after meeting with security officials that Iraqi authorities would prosecute those respons...

Stock market today: Wall Street drifts in early trading as more earnings roll in

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:36 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting in early trading following a mixed set of profit reports. The S&P 500 was 0.1% lower early Thursday, coming off its seventh gain in the last eight days. The Dow rose 150 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 0.5%. Netflix and Tesla helped weigh on the market after the two popular companies reported how much profit they earned during the spring. Tesla fell 4.1% despite reporting stronger profit and revenue than expected. Analysts said investors may be concerned about how profitable the electric vehicle maker will be after cutting prices. Netflix fell 8.6%.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Trading is mixed before the opening bell Thursday with more corporate earnings reports incoming and new data on jobs in the U.S. and housing. Futures for the S&P 500 slipped 0.2% before the bell, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1% and could extend its longest winning streak since 2019. Earnings se...

Dubai’s stock market hits an 8-year high, lifted by a real estate boom

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:36 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Buoyed by a surge in real estate activity, the Dubai Financial Market has reached its highest point in nearly eight years and extended year-to-date gains to nearly 25%.The city-state’s bourse peaked at 4,022 on Tuesday before pulling back to 3,986 on Thursday. It’s trading at the highest levels since August 2015. This year the Dubai Financial Market has outperformed the S&P 500, which is up nearly 20%, and the MSCI All Country World Index, a benchmark for global equities, which is up 16%.Dubai, a global business hub home to 3.5 million people, weathered the pandemic while keeping its vital tourism industry afloat. The latest real estate boom is driven in part by an influx of Russian investors following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.Shares of Emaar Properties and Emaar Development led the recent gains following a four-day break for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha at the end of last month. The state-backed developers are behind dozen...

Ukraine and Pakistan call for restoring the Black Sea grain deal after talks in Islamabad

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:36 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Pakistan called Thursday for the restoration of the Black Sea grain initiative to ensure global food security, days after Russia halted the wartime deal that had allowed grain to flow from Ukraine.The two sides made the demand at a news conference after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met with his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari after arriving on his first visit to the Islamic nation.Pakistan has been a regular importer of wheat from Kyiv in recent years — as much as 1 million tons in 2021 by Kuleba’s estimate. The grain deal, negotiated in July 2022 among Turkey, the U.N. and Russia, had allowed grain to flow to countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty.Russia announced Monday it was pulling out of the deal, and on Wednesday, Russian strikes on Ukraine’s southern port areas destroyed some of its critic...

What to expect from Canada’s 2023 World Cup opener vs. Nigeria

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:36 GMT

The Canadian women’s national team will kick off its 2023 World Cup campaign on Thursday evening (Canadian time) in what should be an intriguing opener against Nigeria.Both sides drew 2-2 in a friendly last April, albeit with Canada missing a couple of key players. Regardless, a precedent has been set. Les Rouges won’t be able to take their feet off the gas in any of their three Group B matches, which makes an early win even more crucial.Here’s what we can expect out of both teams from a tactical perspective on Thursday starting at 7:30 p.m. PT.THE HIGH PRESSOne of Nigeria’s fascinating tactical quirks is its pressing intensity. Over the last calendar year against World Cup-bound opponents, the Nigerians are averaging 8.48 passes per defensive action (PPDA). That includes matches against the United States, Japan, New Zealand, Costa Rica and Colombia, all higher-ranked sides.The output has slightly fluctuated based on Nigeria’s opponents, but the tactic ...

Cambodia’s leader returns to Facebook weeks after an acrimonious breakup with the platform

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:36 GMT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen reactivated his Facebook account Thursday, three weeks after announcing he was forsaking the social media giant in favor of posting on Telegram, a popular messaging app that also serves as a blogging tool.Hun Sen’s return to the Facebook fold came three days before a general election in which his ruling Cambodian People’s Party is virtually guaranteed a landslide victory.Hun Sen said at the end of June that he would stop posting new material on his Facebook page but leave the account online. He said he was switching to Telegram because he believed the app provided a more effective way to communicate. But when a Facebook watchdog criticized the language in one of his videos and recommended suspending the prime minister’s account for six months, Hun Sen took down the page.Duong Dara, who manages the 70-year-old leader’s social media accounts, posted a message Thursday saying he had asked Hun Sen to reactivate his...

Correctional Service to release results of review into Paul Bernardo’s transfer

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:36 GMT

OTTAWA — The Correctional Service of Canada is set to unveil the results of a review into the controversial decision to transfer notorious serial killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security prison. Commissioner Anne Kelly will be joined by other officials at a scheduled 1:45 p.m. news conference, where she is expected to lay out the review of Bernardo’s transfer and security classification.Bernardo had spent nearly 30 years in a maximum-security prison — most recently the Millhaven Institution near Kingston, Ont. — before his late-May transfer to La Macaza Institution in Quebec, a medium-security prison offering treatment for sex offenders.He is serving an indeterminate life sentence for the kidnapping, assault and murders of 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s near St. Catharines, Ont.Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, who has faced calls from the Conservatives to resign over the issue, has said the Correctional Service of Canada ow...