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Feds ask IRS to waive penalties for families in troubled Maryland college savings plan

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:37:47 GMT

This content was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.Maryland families who had to make multiple withdrawals from tax-free college savings accounts shouldn’t face a tax penalty because of errors plaguing the now-discontinued state Prepaid College Trust program, federal lawmakers said Wednesday.Access to the principal balance in more than 30,000 trust accounts was frozen for more than a year after the former Maryland 529 board discovered a widespread accounting error in early 2022.Now families may need to make multiple rollovers to catch up with college expenses, which could lead to a 10% penalty the lawmakers want waived.“Owners of 529 accounts may initiate a single 529 plan rollover per beneficiary within a 12-month period. Executing more than one rollover within this period would make the additional rollovers taxable and potentially subject to a 10% penalty. Due to unique and unexpect...

Flash floods kill at least 18 in northeastern India and leave nearly 100 missing

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:37:47 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Rescue workers were searching for nearly 100 people on Thursday after flash floods triggered by sudden heavy rainfall swamped several towns in northeastern India, killing at least 18 people, officials said.More than 2,000 people were rescued after Wednesday’s floods, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority said in a statement, adding that state authorities set up 26 relief camps for more than 22,000 people impacted by the floods.Eighteen bodies have been found so far, said Vinay Bhushan Pathak, the top state bureaucrat.Twenty-six people have suffered injuries and were undergoing treatment at various hospitals across Sikkim, he said.Among the missing were 22 soldiers, officials said. One soldier who had been reported missing on Wednesday was later rescued by authorities, the army said in a statement.The Press Trust of India news agency cited a statement by neighboring West Bengal state as saying that the bodies of four soldiers were found. However, it wasnR...

A look at Russia’s deadliest missile attacks on Ukraine

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:37:47 GMT

Since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military has repeatedly used missiles to blast civilian targets across the country, with devastating consequences.One of the deadliest such attacks happened Thursday when a Russian rocket struck a village cafe and store in the village of Hroza in eastern Ukraine, killing at least 51 civilians.The Kremlin often claims the missiles are aimed at military assets or blames the strikes on Ukraine. A spokesman for President Vladimir Putin insists Russia does not target civilians.A look at some of the deadliest strikes:___MARCH 9, 2022 — An apartment building in Izium in eastern Ukraine was hit in an attack that Human Rights Watch later said killed at least 44 people. Russian forces took control of the city and surrounding area beginning in late March and occupied it for six months. At the time of the strike, HRW said the area was under the control of Ukrainian forces who were trying to keep Russian troops from entering the ...

Drone strikes at Syrian military ceremony kill 67 people and wound 180, health official says

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:37:47 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — A Syrian health official says the drone strikes on Thursday at a military graduation ceremony in the central city of Homs have killed 67 people and wounded 180. Dr. Musalem al-Atassi, the city’s health director, says the strikes hit a packed army ceremony in Homs, as it was wrapping up earlier in the day. He says both civilians and military personnel are among the casualties. Many of the wounded are in critical condition and are being treated in several hospitals in Homs, Syria’s third largest city. In an earlier statement, Syria’s military said that drones laden with explosives targeted the ceremony packed with young officers and their families as it came to an end. They accused insurgents “backed by known international forces” of the attack, without naming any particular group. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.The military has not provided any casualty numbers but Syria’s state television said the government announced a three-day...

Joel Embiid decides to play for USA — not France — in Paris Olympics, AP source says

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:37:47 GMT

Joel Embiid will wear red, white and blue in Paris next summer — not rouge, blanc and bleu.The NBA’s reigning MVP and scoring champion has told USA Basketball that, after more than a year of deliberating, he has picked the Americans over France as his team for the Paris Olympics, according to a person with knowledge of the decision.The Philadelphia 76ers’ star let USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill know his mind was made up on Thursday, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because Embiid has not yet revealed his choice publicly. Embiid is scheduled to speak at 76ers’ camp in Fort Collins, Colorado, later Thursday.“The stronger the team, the better,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, who coached the Americans at the 2019 World Cup and then to gold at the Tokyo Games, said Thursday when told of Embiid’s decision. “International competition is tough. … That’s great for us.”ESPN first report...

Actualización a Android 14: novedades, características y modelos compatibles

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:37:47 GMT

(CNN Español) — Google presentó este miércoles la actualización a Android 14, su último sistema operativo. De acuerdo con el sitio web oficial, Android 14 “está repleto de actualizaciones que te ayudan a personalizar la experiencia de tu dispositivo, te dan más control sobre tu salud y seguridad y mejoran la accesibilidad”.Entre las novedades figuran más y mejores opciones de personalización de los dispositivos, de accesibilidad de los mismos y una serie de características que son posibles gracias a lo que Google llamó “la era de la IA generativa”.Aquí, un repaso con las principales novedades del Android 14, publicadas por Google:Más y mejores opciones de personalización: las novedades van desde accesos directos personalizados en la pantalla de bloqueo, como el lector QR o la aplicación Google Home, hasta nuevas plantillas de pantalla de bloqueo, con opciones de fuentes, widgets, colores y formatos.Mejor cámara y fotografías: gracias al soporte para imá...

Why it’s a big deal that there is an RSV vaccine for older adults

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:37:47 GMT

(CNN) — For the first time, adults 60 and older are eligible to receive a vaccine against the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.Although many people may have not heard of RSV, it’s worth knowing that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved two vaccines for this age group: Arexvy made by the drug company GlaxoSmithKline and Abrysvo made by the company Pfizer. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also given the green light to the vaccines following FDA approvals.Since this is the first time an RSV vaccine has been made widely available, some older people may be wondering why it might be needed. Is RSV a major problem in adults, especially older adults? How effective are these new vaccines? How should it be timed in relation to the Covid-19 and influenza vaccines? And is there a similar vaccine to protect young children?To help us with these questions, I spoke with CNN Wellness medical expert Dr. Leana Wen, who is an emergency physician and professor of heal...

Trump lawyers seek dismissal of DC federal election subversion case, arguing presidential immunity

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:37:47 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Donald Trump asked a judge on Thursday to dismiss the Washington federal election subversion case against him, arguing the Republican is immune from prosecution for actions they say were taken in his official role as president.The motion amounts to the most pointed attack yet by defense lawyers on the federal case charging Trump with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. In it, they argue that the actions that form the basis of the indictment, including urging the Justice Department to investigate claims of voter fraud and pressing state officials on the administration of elections, cut to the core of Trump’s responsibilities as commander in chief.“Breaking 234 years of precedent, the incumbent administration has charged President Trump for acts that lie not just within the ‘outer perimeter,’ but at the heart of his official responsibilities as President,” the defense motion states....

Miami Marlins’ Kim Ng became the first woman GM to lead an MLB team to the playoffs

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:37:47 GMT

New York (CNN) — When the Miami Marlins bested the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, Kim Ng became the first female general manager to lead a Major League Baseball team into the playoffs.And while the Marlins’ postseason was short lived — ending Wednesday night after a loss to the Philadelphia Phillies — it marked a major milestone for Ng. In just three seasons as the Marlins’ top executive, Ng took what had been one of the lowest-ranked teams in its division to the postseason for only the fourth time in franchise history.Ng was hired in late 2020 by then-Marlins CEO and part-owner Derek Jeter. It made her the first-ever woman general manager — not only in professional baseball, but in the four major North American men’s sports — and the second person of Asian descent to become an MLB GM.Her hiring followed 30 years of experience in the MLB, including with the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers, two of the winningest teams in the league. Ng had also interviewed for othe...

SBF’s actions were ‘flagrantly wrong,’ former FTX employee testifies

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:37:47 GMT

New York (CNN) — About five months before the crypto exchange FTX imploded, its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, met with a longtime friend and coworker on the sidelines of a paddle tennis court, one of the many amenities inside the luxury Bahamian apartment complex where they both lived.“Are things ok?” Adam Yedidia, a senior software developer at the company, asked Bankman-Fried, according to Yedidia’s testimony in Manhattan federal court on Thursday. Yedidia had been worried, he said, about an $8 billion liability he’d found hanging over the balance sheet of FTX’s sister firm, Alameda Research.In response, “Sam said something like, ‘We were bulletproof last year; we’re not bulletproof this year,’” Yedidia told the jury.The $8 billion represented the money that FTX customers would be owed if they decided to withdraw their deposits, Yedidia said. It seemed like a “very large debt,” and Yedidia wanted to know that Alameda could repay it.But he didn’t press the issue, he said, ...