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US military may put armed troops on commercial ships in Strait of Hormuz to stop Iran seizures

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:19 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military is considering putting armed personnel on commercial ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, in what would be an unheard of action aimed at stopping Iran from seizing and harassing civilian vessels, four American officials told The Associated Press on Thursday. America didn’t even take the step during the so-called “Tanker War,” which culminated with the U.S. Navy and Iran fighting a one-day naval battle in 1988 that was the Navy’s largest since World War II. While officials offered few details of the plan, it comes as thousands of Marines and sailors on both the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan and the USS Carter Hall, a landing ship, are on their way to the Persian Gulf. Those Marines and sailors could provide the backbone for any armed guard mission in the strait, through which 20% of all the world’s crude oil passes.Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comm...

3rd Trump ally charged with vote machine tampering as Michigan election case grows

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:19 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan attorney involved in multiple efforts around the country to overturn the 2020 election in support of former President Donald Trump has been charged in connection with accessing and tampering with voting machines in Michigan, according to court records. The charges against Stefanie Lambert come days after Matthew DePerno, a Republican lawyer who Trump endorsed in an unsuccessful run for Michigan attorney general last year, and former GOP state Rep. Daire Rendon were arraigned in connection with the case. Lambert, DePerno, and Rendon were named by Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office last year as having “orchestrated a coordinated plan to gain access to voting tabulators.”Michigan is one of at least three states where prosecutors say people breached election systems while embracing and spreading Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen.Investigators there say five vote tabulators were illegally taken from three counties and brought to a hotel roo...

Man is charged with cheating Home Depot stores out of $300,000 with door-return scam

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:19 GMT

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Connecticut man was given nearly $300,000 in fraudulent Home Depot credit by walking into stores in several states, taking expensive doors and then returning them without a receipt, federal prosecutors allege.Alexandre Henrique Costa-Mota, 26, of West Hartford, Connecticut, was detained without bail after a judge entered not-guilty pleas on his behalf this week in federal court in Rhode Island to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the U.S. attorney’s office in Providence said in a statement Wednesday.An email seeking comment was left with Costa-Mota’s attorney.Costa-Mota dressed to appear like a contractor and entered the stores empty-handed, prosecutors allege in court documents. He would then load a door or several doors worth hundreds of dollars each onto a lumber cart, take them to the service department and return them without a receipt, authorities said.He was given a store credit that he later redeemed at other stores, prosec...

Assault trial for actor Jonathan Majors postponed until September

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:19 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Actor Jonathan Majors’ domestic violence trial was postponed until at least Sept. 6 after New York City prosecutors asked Thursday for more time to prepare.Majors, 33, appeared in court for what was to have been the start of his trial on charges stemming from a March confrontation with a woman who says he twisted her arm behind her back, struck her on the head and pushed her into a vehicle. The woman was treated at a hospital for minor neck and head injuries, including a cut to her ear.Majors is charged with misdemeanors, including assault, and could be sentenced to as much as a year in jail if convicted.The judge set a new tentative trial date of Sept. 6 after prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office requested more time for discovery.“We look forward to presenting the full facts and evidence at trial,” said Doug Cohen, a spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.Majors walked out of the courtroom after the hearing, ...

Business jets still in hot demand — especially among charter firms rather than CEOs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:19 GMT

MONTREAL — Despite supply chain snarls, Bombardier boosted its second-quarter revenues amid ongoing demand for business jets as deliveries and aftermarket services ramped up, said CEO Éric Martel.“Our team successfully navigated a highly dynamic business environment that saw sustained demand for new and pre-owned jets, as well as steady service growth, all while supply chain pressure persisted,” Martel said in a statement Thursday.In the quarter ended June 30, the plane maker boosted revenue by eight per cent year over year on the back of 29 jet deliveries and a big leap in income from repairs and parts replacement for some of the 5,000-odd Bombardier planes that ply the skies globally.The number of shipments allowed Bombardier to maintain a “line of sight” toward reaching its 2023 forecast of at least 138 jet deliveries by the end of the year, Martel told analysts on a conference call. No orders have been cancelled, he added.Nonetheless, it turned up a net loss of $35 million, due ...

Colombia begins a six-month cease-fire with its last remaining rebel group in hopes of forging peace

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:19 GMT

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia and the National Liberation Army, or ELN, formally began a six-month cease-fire Thursday as part of a process to forge a permanent peace between the government and the country’s last remaining rebel group.The cease-fire agreement, announced June 9 during talks in Havana, comes amid skepticism among some Colombians that the peace process can fully end an insurgency dating back to the 1960s or halt the alleged involvement of the group’s estimated 5,000 remaining members in drug trafficking. The ELN leadership denies involvement in the drug trade.The agreement also called for the creation of a broadly representative national committee to discuss a lasting solution to the conflict. The first meeting of the National Participation Committee was scheduled for later Thursday.The cease-fire is supposed to suspend attacks between the guerrillas and the Colombian police and military throughout the country, and can be extended next January if progress is m...

Bell says more cost restructuring possible as Q2 net earnings fall almost 40%

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:19 GMT

Following a quarter in which it began cutting 1,300 positions, shuttered six radio stations and closed two foreign news bureaus, BCE Inc. says more cost restructuring could be in store in response to declining ad revenue and regulatory hurdles.The Montreal-based telecommunications and media company reiterated the significance of those challenges on Thursday as it reported its second-quarter earnings and addressed analysts on a conference call.Bell Media faces operating losses across its news divisions, “a prolonged advertising slump with no signs of immediate recovery,” rising content production costs and “a more challenging regulatory environment that has not adapted to the new realities facing media,” said chief financial officer Glen LeBlanc.“This has required us to rightsize our operating cost structure and asset portfolio to align with the expected revenue potential of our media business,” he said.“Going forward, we will need to continu...

Citing spike in hate, Pride orgs call for action, safety plan from Ontario government

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:19 GMT

TORONTO — A coalition of Ontario Pride organizations are calling on the province to urgently work with them to develop a proactive safety plan to beat back a rising tide of anti-LGBTQ hate. Leaders from five Pride organizations, from Thunder Bay to Ottawa, say that without more support and consistent levels of funding, their Pride festivals will struggle to survive against what some call unprecedented levels of hate. North Bay Pride’s Jason Maclennan says an “alarming surge in hostility” led the group to treat next month’s Pride event as a protest, not a parade, echoing the festival’s historical roots. He says after getting about $109,000 from the province last year, the festival received no money this year, citing provincial budget cuts to a festival grant program. The groups were joined by NDP MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam who earlier this year tabled a private member’s bill that would, if passed, give the attorney general power to temporarily establish ...

Ethiopia’s Amhara region pleads for help with violent unrest after attempt to disarm local fighters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:19 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Authorities in Ethiopia’s Amhara region on Thursday asked the federal government for help, as a local ethnic militia clashed with federal security forces, halting some flights to key cities and leading the deputy prime minister, in an unusually outspoken statement, to call the situation “increasingly grave.”The disturbances are “causing serious economic, social and humanitarian damage,” the regional authorities said in a letter to Ethiopia’s prime minister asking the government to take “appropriate measures.”Ethiopia’s second most populous region has been gripped by instability since April, when federal authorities disarmed the Amhara regional force as part of the recovery from a devastating two-year conflict in the neighboring Tigray region. Authorities last year also tried to dismantle the Amhara militia known as Fano.Both forces had fought alongside federal ones in the Tigray conflict, but now the federal government wants to centralize its security pow...

IDOT announces additional ramp closures to inbound Kennedy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:19 GMT

CHICAGO — The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) announced Thursday that more ramp closures will take place beginning Monday for the ongoing Kennedy rehabilitation project.Beginning at 6 a.m. Monday, the following ramps will be closed.Irving Park Road (Illinois 19) ramp to the inbound Kennedy — anticipated to reopen in mid-September.Sacramento Avenue ramp to the inbound Kennedy — anticipated to reopen in mid-September.Webster Avenue ramp to the inbound Kennedy — anticipated to reopen in two weeks.Two current ramp closures are expected to reopen "mid next week" — the inbound Kennedy ramp to Irving Park Road and the Fullerton ramp to the inbound Kennedy.The other current closure, the Wilson Avenue ramp to the inbound Kennedy, is anticipated to reopen in mid-September. Kennedy Expressway construction: What you should know about adjusting to the delays During that time, motorists should follow the posted detours. Additional ramp closures with detours will be required to comp...