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Monaco closes corruption probe against Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister for lack of evidence

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:56 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — A three-year probe against Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister and his family over corruption allegations has been closed by Monaco’s judicial authorities for lack of evidence, the premier’s office said Friday.Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s office said that Morgan Raymond, the deputy public prosecutor in Monaco, told the Lebanese premier’s legal team that they have closed the investigation into the case that was raised by unspecified Lebanese plaintiffs on allegations of illicit enrichment and money laundering.Mikati’s office said Monaco’s decision shows that the case was “fake” and meant “for political purposes.” It added that Mikati and his family will take legal action against those who were behind these “lies and rumors.”In 2021, a trove of leaked documents named the “Pandora Papers,” that were examined by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and Daraj, a Beirut-based independent digital media platform, showed that for yea...

Niger’s junta has asked the French ambassador to leave the country, Nigerien foreign ministry says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:56 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Niger’s junta has asked the French ambassador to leave the country, Nigerien foreign ministry says.Source

Auto workers vote overwhelmingly to let union leaders call strikes against Detroit companies

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:56 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Auto workers have voted overwhelmingly to give union leaders the authority to call strikes against Detroit car companies if a contract agreement isn’t reached.The United Auto Workers union said Friday that 97% have voted in favor of authorizing one or more strikes against Stellantis, General Motors and Ford. Such votes are almost always approved by large margins. Contracts between the union representing about 146,000 workers at Stellantis, General Motors and Ford expire at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 14. Fain said earlier this week that negotiations with the companies are not progressing fast enough. But he also said a strike is not inevitable.Contract talks with the Detroit Three began in July, but Fain has consistently said the companies aren’t bargaining seriously. In a statement Friday, the UAW said the vote does not guarantee that a strike will be called.Fain told members on Facebook Live Friday that the union still hasn’t picked a target compan...

Have a gun at home? Montgomery County will give you a gift card for it

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:56 GMT

A gun buyback event in Rockville, Maryland, on Saturday is offering incentives to get guns off the street: Gift cards of up to $200.“The first thing that people think about probably is violence in the community and crimes. But, we also are interested in removing some of these weapons because of increasing mental health issues that we are facing in the community,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy told WTOP.The event will take place at RedGate Park at 14500 Avery Road in Rockville from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. It is hosted by the Rockville City Police Department along with the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office and Montgomery County Public Schools.The program is offering $100 Visa gift cards for functioning handguns, rifles and shotguns and $200 for functioning assault-style weapons and ghost guns.McCarthy said all firearms will be accepted with no questions asked and no identification needed. Those dropping off guns during the ...

Brother accused of killing sister, hurting another in Central Florida over power bill

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:56 GMT

ORANGE COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — Rowby Severe, 37, is in the Orange County jail accused of shooting and killing one of his sisters and hurting another.The shooting happened at their house on Charles Street in Pine Hills around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, according to deputies.The arrest report says before the deputies got to the house, “Severe called 911 and admitted to shooting his sister.”The surviving sister told deputies that their brother was mad at them about an OUC power bill. Severe allegedly went into his bedroom and got a gun. The arrest report says Severe then forced his way inside a different bedroom that his sisters were in, punched them, and hit them with the gun.When one of his sisters, Magael Brown, tried to stand up, the report said Severe shot her in the head and left the room.The other sister was taken to the hospital. The arrest report says she has several injuries to her head, which will likely cause permanent disfigurement.The detective on the case said Sever...

3 arrested in fake Amazon worker package theft spree

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:56 GMT

The suspects behind a series of package thefts in Northwest Miami-Dade, where a porch pirate disguised as an Amazon worker made off with packages, have been arrested. Sulema Betancourt Hernandez, 39, of Miami, Margareth Ginjaume-Hernandez, 33, and Lazaro Roberto Lopez-Sarduy, 34, both from Hialeah, were arrested in connection with the thefts, Thursday. On August 16, the trio was recorded on video surveillance engaging in numerous instances of package theft from homes. They wore Amazon vests while committing the crimes.According to the arrest forms, on Thursday, the Miami-Dade Police Department’s Crime Suppression Team arrested Betancourt Hernandez. When they conducted a search inside a vehicle registered under her name, officers found two Amazon vests. Betancourt Hernandez, who works as an Amazon Flex employee, was taken into custody and later admitted to facilitating the crime by providing access to stolen packages, the vehicle and the Amazon vests. She faces multiple charges...

Police arrest 23-year-old man accused of molesting 8-year-old girl in Aventura

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:56 GMT

Police on Thursday arrested a suspected child molester in Aventura.Jonathan David Taitz, 23, was accused of assaulting an 8-year-old girl near a public pool.According to police, in July, Taitz brought the child over to a secluded area at 19707 Turnbberry Way then intentionally touched her in a lewd manner.The victim, police said, told him to stop several times, but Taitz refused.He turned himself in and was charged with lewd and lascivious molestation.

Signing young talent and winning the key to Orioles now and forever | READER COMMENTARY

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:56 GMT

Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken Jr., Eddie Murray. What do those three names all have in common? All three are homegrown Baseball Hall of Fame players who spent all, or most of, their careers with the Orioles.Frank Robinson, Reggie Jackson, Roberto Alomar. What do those three names all have in common? All three are Baseball Hall of Fame players who were hired guns to get the Orioles over the proverbial hump.Guess which of these two groups generations of Baltimoreans latched onto — to the point that you still see their jerseys at every home game in spite of the fact that it’s been decades since any of these men last donned an Orioles jersey on the field?That would be the first group. You’re supposed to root for the name on the front of the jersey, not the one on the back, but in real life, that’s not how it works. When we’re kids, we all find that one player (usually the team’s all-star) who we pull for, drop everything we’re doing to watch them ...

After close calls at Boston Logan International Airport, FAA gives $45 million to avoid ‘runway incursions’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:56 GMT

After multiple close calls between planes were reported at Boston Logan International Airport, the FAA is funding safety improvement projects at the airport to help avoid “runway incursions.”The Federal Aviation Administration has announced that it awarded more than $121 million to airports across the country to reduce the chances of close calls. Of that $121 million, Boston Logan is receiving $45 million, or 37% of the funding pie.The projects at Boston Logan will simplify the airfield layout, according to officials.“We appreciate the FAA for funding these important safety improvements at Boston Logan,” a spokesperson for Massport said in a statement.“This is an ongoing process, and we have been talking to the FAA and planning for these projects for a few years,” the spokesperson added.This FAA funding for Boston Logan comes in the wake of some recent close call incidents.Earlier this month, the FAA announced that it’s investigating a close...

‘August Wilson: A Life’: A theater giant’s symphony of 20th century Black lives, captured by biographer Patti Hartigan

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:56 GMT

Michael Phillips | Chicago Tribune (TNS)Opening night, 1986. August Wilson’s play “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” Huntington Theatre Company in Boston. Patti Hartigan, a rising young critic and arts writer, took her seat for the pre-Broadway tryout performance, the production one of several regional theater stops for the new play en route to Broadway.For a lot of reasons, Hartigan will never forget what she saw that night, notably the Act 1 climax: a haunted man’s vision, which consumes him in the middle of a joyous Pittsburgh boardinghouse celebration, of bones walking on water. These are the bones of enslaved Africans lost in the Middle Passage. Wilson’s play takes place in 1911. America’s former slaves are free, on paper, but searching — following the scent of what Wilson calls their “blood memory.”In her absorbing, richly detailed biography, “August Wilson: A Life,” recently published by Simon & Schuster, Hartigan calls “Joe Turner” Wilson’s greatest achievement. She has plent...