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Senate passes defense policy bill, setting up showdown with the House

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:34 GMT

(CNN) — The Senate passed a critical national defense policy bill Thursday evening – setting up a showdown with the Republican-controlled House.The House passed its own version of the bill – known as the National Defense Authorization Act – earlier this month after adopting a series of controversial amendments pushed by hardline conservatives. Now that the Senate has passed its NDAA bill, lawmakers will need to reconcile the Senate bill and the House bill by negotiating a compromise version that can pass both chambers.The NDAA sets the policy agenda and authorizes funding for the Department of Defense annually.The controversial amendments added to the House bill included provisions to restrict abortion and transgender health care access and eliminate diversity and inclusion programs. Adoption of the amendments infuriated Democrats and caused the House bill to lose significant Democratic support.“It’s going to take some work, but we just hope that we would focus on actual issues rela...

UK accidentally sent military emails meant for US to Russian ally

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:34 GMT

British authorities have launched an investigation after officials mistakenly sent emails meant for U.S. military intelligence to the government in Mali, a Russian ally.Officials from the U.K. Ministry of Defense were supposed to be sending emails to the Pentagon, but accidentally sent them to Mali’s government instead, the Times reported Thursday. The mistake was the result of a typo, as the Pentagon’s domain name is “.mil,” while Mali’s is “.ml.”The Ministry of Defense said Friday they were investigating the incident.“We have opened an investigation after a small number of emails were mistakenly forwarded to an incorrect email domain,” a spokesperson for the ministry said, Reuters reported.According to the Times, while most emails sent to Mali were innocuous — containing information such as dates when the employees from the foreign ministry were on holiday — others contained “detailed descriptions” of British research into hypersonic missiles.However, the Ministry of D...

Ford recalls 870K F-150 pickups in US because parking brakes can turn on unexpectedly

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:34 GMT

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford is recalling more than 870,000 newer F-150 pickup trucks in the U.S. because the electric parking brakes can turn on unexpectedly.The recall covers certain pickups from the 2021 through 2023 model years with single exhaust systems. Ford’s F-Series pickups are the top-selling vehicles in the U.S.The company says in documents posted by government safety regulators Friday that a rear wiring bundle can come in contact with the rear axle housing. That can chafe the wiring and cause a short circuit, which can turn on the parking brake without action from the driver, increasing the risk of a crash.Drivers may see a parking brake warning light and a warning message on the dashboard.Ford says in documents that it has 918 warranty claims and three field reports of wire chafing in North America. Of these, 299 indicated unexpected parking brake activation, and 19 of these happened while the trucks were being driven.The company says it doesn’t kn...

Hot and humid Friday, storms return Saturday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:34 GMT

After an active day yesterday, we’ll get a break from the storms today. It’ll be hot and humid with heat index values in the upper 90s/near 100. Tomorrow, scattered storms return, some could be severe. Sunday will be the better day of the weekend, with less humidity!These were the heat index values (above), or feels like temperatures, yesterday around 3:00 pm. We’ll get back in that range today. Highs will be near 90/low 90s inland. With hot temperatures and the humidity, it’ll feel like those heat index values above. Stay hydrated! There’s still a Heat Advisory for a lot of us, outside of Cape Cod and the Islands. It runs through tomorrow. Although, tomorrow temperature’s will be dependent on cloud cover.Want to hit the beach after seeing those hot temperatures inland? Temperatures will be in the 80s on the beach. There’s a moderate risk for rip currents on south facing beaches and the east side of Cape Cod. There was a reported rip current...

Mets trade David Robertson to the Marlins, signaling plans to sell at deadline

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:34 GMT

The 2023 Mets were never supposed to be a Cinderella story. With a historically high payroll and some of the best talent in the big leagues on the roster, the Amazins’ were scrappy underdogs no longer.And yet, the clock struck midnight on the Mets on Thursday night.Right-handed reliever David Robertson was traded to the Miami Marlins during the ninth inning of the Mets’ 2-1 win over the Washington Nationals at Citi Field. The return was two minor leaguers, infielder Marco Vargas and a catcher named Ronald Hernandez. This effectively signaled the club’s plans for the Tuesday trade deadline: To sell talent and gain future assets.“We were faced with where our club was at this time of the season,” said Mets general manager Billy Eppler. “We’ve had a number of inquiries on our players and we were listening. In this circumstance, the value of the players that we acquired kind of exceeded our expectations. So we executed it.”The Mets are curr...

Niger general who led coup asks for support from the people and international partners

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:34 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — The general who led a coup in Niger took to state television Friday to ask for support for the takeover, two days after members of the military detained the democratically elected president and set off political chaos that could set back the nation’s fight against jihadists and increase Russia’s influence in West Africa.As Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani spoke, Niger state television identified him as the leader of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country, the group of soldiers who said they staged the coup.Tchiani, who goes by Omar, said the country needed to change course to avoid “the gradual and inevitable demise” and thus he and others had decided to intervene. “I ask the technical and financial partners who are friends of Niger to understand the specific situation of our country in order to provide it with all the support necessary to enable it to meet the challenges,” he said.Earlier, various factions of Niger’s military wrangled for power...

What to know as recreational marijuana becomes legal in Minnesota on Aug. 1

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:34 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesotans can legally possess and grow their own marijuana for recreational purposes starting Tuesday, Aug. 1, subject to limits meant to keep a lid on things while the state sets up a full-blown legal cannabis industry.The Democratic-controlled Minnesota Legislature approved a massive legalization bill and Democrat Gov. Tim Walz signed it in May.At least one Minnesota tribe plans to take advantage of its sovereignty and allow sales right away. But the state projects most legal retail sales won’t begin until early 2025, while it creates as licensing and regulatory system for the new industry.Legalization followed a debate between critics who fear for the impacts on public safety and young people, and supporters who argue that prohibition of the drug had failed. Backers of the law framed legalization noted that people of color were more likely than whites to be arrested for minor offenses, and to suffer lasting consequences in employment and housing.Minnesota is ...

‘It is not right’: Some Toronto tenants go on rent strike to protest increases

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:34 GMT

Beverley Henry paid $900 a month in rent when she first moved into her one-bedroom Toronto apartment nearly a decade ago but that amount has since climbed to more than $1,300.Henry, a senior living on a pension, says she won’t be able to handle any more rent hikes in the future.“If the rent keeps going up ? I would have to decide: am I going to pay my rent on time or am I going to buy food?” she said in a recent interview.Henry and a number of her neighbours at 33 King Street in Toronto’s west end are among tenants at several buildings in the city who have gone on a rent strike to protest what they say is unfair treatment by their landlords.Henry and some other residents of her building stopped paying rent in June. Tenants in a nearby building — at 22 John St. — joined the rent strike this month.In the east Toronto neighbourhood of Thorncliffe Park, residents in three buildings have withheld rent since May, after their landlord proposed a five per...

China defends trade with Russia after the US says equipment used in Ukraine might have been exported

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:34 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese government defended its dealings with Russia as “normal economic and trade cooperation” Friday after a United States intelligence report said Beijing possibly provided equipment used in Ukraine that might have military applications.The Biden administration has warned Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government of unspecified consequences if it supports the Kremlin’s war effort. The latest report cited Russian customs data that showed Chinese state-owned military contractors supplied navigation equipment, fighter jet parts, drones and other goods, but didn’t say whether that might trigger U.S. retaliation.“China has been carrying out normal economic and trade cooperation with countries around the world, including Russia,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. She said Chinese-Russian cooperation “neither targets a third party nor is it subject to interference and coercion by a third party.”Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin de...

Divided Cyprus’ rival leaders appeal for information on the missing as eyewitnesses die

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:34 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The rival leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus on Friday jointly appealed for information that could lead to the buried remains of people who vanished amid violence and war decades ago, a task with increasing urgency as eyewitnesses die. Cyprus’ Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Ersin Tatar, the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, made the appeal in a symbolic move aiming to show that the purely humanitarian issue should stay above the complex and often bitter politics of the nearly half-century ethnic split.It also sought to inject some fresh urgency into efforts to resume deadlocked peace talks. A deal has eluded Cypriot leaders since a 1974 coup aiming at union with Greece triggered a Turkish invasion that entrenched that division.Both Christodoulides and Tatar toured the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) that has, since 2006, been tasked with locating, unearthing and identifying the remains of individuals who vanished during clashes ...