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Channel Tunnel terminal shut for hours as UK bomb squad checks vehicle before deeming it no threat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:08 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A main route between England and France was shut for several hours Friday while British Army bomb-disposal experts examined a vehicle that was stopped by police near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel before deciding it posed no safety risk. The Kent Police force said one man was arrested and later released pending further inquiries. It said the incident was not linked to the hunt for Daniel Abed Khalife, who escaped from a London prison on Wednesday while awaiting trial on terrorism charges.Police initially said a cordon was put in place “for the safety of the public,” but in an update said the vehicle that was stopped was “deemed to not pose a risk to public safety.”Long lines of cars had built up on the approach to the terminal near Folkestone in southeast England.Le Shuttle, which operates trains that carry vehicles through the tunnel between England and France, said access to its terminal was suspended and that services were likely to be severely disrupted. ...

Remains identified of Michigan airman who died in crash following WWII bombing raid on Japan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:08 GMT

MARQUETTE, Mich. (AP) — Military scientists have identified the remains of a U.S. Army airman from Michigan who died along with 10 other crew members when a bomber crashed in India following a World War II bombing raid on Japan.The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Friday that the remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Flight Officer Chester L. Rinke of Marquette, Michigan, were identified in May. Scientists used anthropological analysis, material evidence and mitochondrial DNA to identify his remains.Rinke was 33 and serving as the flight officer on a B-29 Superfortress when it crashed into a rice paddy in the village of Sapekhati, India, on June 26, 1944, after a bombing raid on Imperial Iron and Steel Works on Japan’s Kyushu Island. All 11 crew members died instantly, the DPAA said in a news release.Rinke will be buried at Seville, Ohio, on a date yet to be determined.The federal agency said the remains of seven of the 11 crew members were recovered within days of the crash a...

Ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she will run for reelection in 2024 as Democrats try to win back the majority

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:08 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she will run for reelection in 2024 as Democrats try to win back the majority.Source

Smartsheet, Smith & Wesson rise; RH, Zumiez fall, Friday, 9/8/2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:08 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that are trading heavily or have substantial price changes on Friday:RH (RH), down $50.63 to $317.92.The furniture and housewares company gave investors a disappointing revenue forecast for its current quarter.Guidewire Software Inc. (GWRE), up $10.67 to $95.51.The provider of software to the insurance industry beat analysts’ fiscal fourth-quarter profit forecasts.Smartsheet Inc. (SMAR), up $3.98 to $44.35.The cloud-based work-management platform raised its profit forecast for the year.Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. (HPP), down 31 cents to $7.10.The real estate investment trust suspended its dividend.Smith & Wesson Brands Inc. (SWBI), up $1.01 to $11.52.The firearm maker beat Wall Street’s fiscal first-quarter financial forecasts.Braze Inc. (BRZE), up 79 cents to $48.43.The cloud-based software company raised its earnings and sales forecasts.National Beverage Corp. (FIZZ), down 73 cents to $47.27.The soft drink and seltzer maker’s second-...

Russia summons Armenian ambassador over Ukraine aid pledge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:08 GMT

YEREVAN, Armenia — Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has hauled in Armenia’s ambassador for a dressing down over what it says amount to a string of hostile steps that have seen the country, formally an ally of Moscow, distance itself from the Kremlin in recent days.In a statement on Friday evening, officials said Vagharshak Harutyunyan had been called in for “difficult” talks after Armenia signed off on the “transfer of humanitarian aid to Kyiv’s Nazi regime.” Yerevan announced earlier this week it would provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine as Russia steps up its strikes against infrastructure and civilian targets, while Anna Hakobyan, the wife of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, made an official visit to the country in a rare show of support.At the same time, Armenia — which is a member of the Moscow-led CSTO defense pact — recalled its envoy to the military bloc on Tuesday. In another decision condemned by Moscow’s s...

Horizon Brexit row fixed? Now let’s sort electric vehicles, Rishi Sunak tells EU

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:08 GMT

The U.K. rejoining the EU’s flagship Horizon science funding program could pave the way for an agreement to delay damaging post-Brexit tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs), Rishi Sunak suggested.The U.K. prime minister, speaking to reporters traveling with him to India for the G20 summit, said this week’s deal to rejoin Horizon after years of being frozen out post-Brexit showed that relations with the EU were now “positive” and “constructive.”The British government announced on Thursday that it was rejoining the Horizon and Copernicus programmes, giving British researchers access to grants from the €96 billion schemes.Next on the list of post-Brexit headaches are looming new European tariffs on EV trade, due January 1 next year, which will slap a 10 percent tax on U.K.-EU trade in electric vehicles if a majority of key parts, such as batteries, aren’t made in either Britain or the EU.The U.K. is pushing for an extension of the deadline to give carmakers the chance to meet ...

Jimmy Fallon apologized to staff over allegations of difficult work environment on ‘Tonight Show’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:08 GMT

(CNN) — Jimmy Fallon has apologized to his colleagues over allegations outlined in a Rolling Stone story published Thursday about a difficult work environment at “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” CNN has learned.During a Zoom call with staff of “The Tonight Show” held after the story published, Fallon reportedly said he did not intend to “create that type of atmosphere for the show,” according to a follow-up story by Rolling Stone, citing unnamed employees who were on the call.CNN has reached out to representatives for Fallon.An NBC representative referred CNN to the network’s statement printed in Rolling Stone’s original report.“It’s embarrassing and I feel so bad,” the employees claim Fallon said, according to the Rolling Stone article.“Sorry if I embarrassed you and your family and friends… I feel so bad I can’t even tell you,” the article quotes Fallon.“I want the show to be fun, [it] should be inclusive to everybody,” Fallon also reportedly said...

Georgia special grand jury recommended charges against 39 people, including Sen. Lindsey Graham

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:08 GMT

By KATE BRUMBACK (Associated Press)ATLANTA (AP) — The special grand jury investigating efforts by Donald Trump and others to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results recommended indictments against twice as many people as the 19 prosecutors ultimately charged, leaving South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham among those not indicted.The grand jurors’ lengthy report released Friday showed they recommended charges against 39 people, including Graham, former U.S. Sens. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue of Georgia and former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn.The report, released at the request of the special grand jury, provides insight into one of the most expansive investigations into Trump, who is also facing multiple federal indictments along with unrelated state charges in New York City. While Republicans have accused Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of launching an unwieldy, overly broad case, the report indicates she used her discretion to s...

Biden and Modi working in ‘warmth and confidence’ to build ties as Chinese leader skips G20

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:08 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — President Joe Biden opened his visit to India on Friday by meeting privately with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Indian leader’s home in a session the White House said was marked by “undeniable warmth and confidence” in one another going into the annual Group of 20 summit where climate, economic security and more will dominate the weekend’s talks.Biden spent 52 minutes with Modi after a lavish welcome ceremony at the airport, and Kurt Campbell, a Biden adviser on the Indo-Pacific, told reporters afterward that warm sentiments have replaced a sense of distrust and uncertainty that previously defined relations between the two countries. “What I have seen grown over time is an undeniable warmth and confidence between the two leaders,” Campbell said.Another adviser, Eileen Laubacher, senior director for South Asia at the White House National Security Council, added that Biden and Modi were “so comfortable discussing, really, the breadth of t...

Toronto secondary teacher bargaining team doesn’t support deal to avoid strikes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:08 GMT

The largest local bargaining unit of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) has told members it opposes a tentative agreement between the provincial union and the government that would avoid the possibility of strikes.The OSSTF reached a deal last month with the province that would see the parties keep bargaining for a new contract until Oct. 27 and then send any remaining issues to be settled by arbitration, which would eliminate the chance of a strike by high school teachers.But the proposal must first be ratified by members, and there were signs of potential trouble as voting on the deal began Friday.The OSSTF Toronto teachers’ bargaining unit executive sent its members a memo saying they were not directing teachers on how to vote, but were expressing their concerns about entering into binding arbitration and removing the right to strike.“The ability to strike or withdraw services is one of the cornerstones of the labour movement and has been ...