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NATO chief says no timetable set for Ukraine’s membership, a position that disappointed Zelenskyy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — NATO leaders agreed Tuesday to allow Ukraine to join “when allies agree and conditions are met,” the head of the military alliance said, hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blasted the organization’s failure to set a timetable for his country as “absurd.”“We reaffirmed Ukraine will become a member of NATO and agreed to remove the requirement for a membership action plan,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters, referring to a key step in joining the alliance.“This will change Ukraine’s membership path from a two-step path to a one-step path,” he said.Although many NATO members have funneled arms and ammunition to Zelenskyy’s forces, there is no consensus among the 31 allies for admitting Ukraine into NATO’s ranks. Instead, the alliance leaders decided to remove obstacles on Ukraine’s membership path so that it can join more quickly once the war with Russia is over.Zelenskyy pushed back sharply against the decision.“It’s unprecedented a...

Judge declines to block Microsoft’s record $69 billion deal to buy Activision Blizzard

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

A federal judge has handed Microsoft a major victory by declining to block its looming $69 billion takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard. Regulators are seeking to ax the deal because they say it will hurt competition.U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said in a ruling that the “FTC has not shown a likelihood it will prevail on its claim this particular vertical merger in this specific industry may substantially lessen competition. To the contrary, the record evidence points to more consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content.”Microsoft appeared to have the upper hand in a 5-day San Francisco court hearing that ended late last month. The proceeding showcased testimony by Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella and longtime Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, who both pledged to keep Activision’s blockbuster game Call of Duty available to people who play it on consoles — particularly Sony’s PlayStation — that compete with Microso...

Regulator lays out proposed changes to passenger rights charter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

GATINEAU, Que. — The Canadian Transportation Agency is laying out proposed changes to the passenger rights charter.The reforms come after the Liberal government passed legislation last month to toughen penalties on airlines, shore up the complaint process and target flight disruption loopholes that have allowed airlines to avoid traveller compensation.The amendments to the Air Passenger Protection Regulations spell out the circumstances when an airline would not have to compensate customers, narrowing the field so that most technical problems will no longer give carriers an out.The new rules would also allow customers to claim a refund if the government raises the risk level of travel to certain countries or if a flight disruption prevents them from completing their trip within a reasonable period — well under the current threshold of 48 hours.The transportation agency is launching public consultations on the proposed overhaul today.The complaints backlog at the regulator now tops 5...

Vandals killed man who confronted them about throwing eggs at his home, Georgia sheriff says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

GRIFFIN, Ga. (AP) — Three people have been charged with murder in Georgia after one of them shot a man who confronted them about throwing eggs at his home, authorities said. The suspects — two 18-year-olds and a 19-year-old — wanted to vandalize Johnathan Gilbert’s home about 40 miles (64 kilometer) south of Atlanta as part of an “ongoing lovers’ quarrel,” Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix said in a news release Friday. The release did not elaborate on the dispute or say how old Gilbert was. The vandals went to the home in Griffin on July 3, but ran back to their car when they were confronted by Gilbert, who was unarmed, according to the sheriff’s office.A backseat passenger, Sydney Maughon, 18, shot Gilbert multiple times before the suspects drove away, Dix said. Maughon, Jeremy Munson, 18; and McKenzie Davenport, 19; have been charged with malice murder. Though Munson and Davenport did not shoot Gilbert, they traveled to his house to commit a crime that led to his death, m...

As pandemic business loan repayment deadline looms, calls for extending deadline grow

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

OTTAWA — New Democrats and a business group are calling on the federal government to extend the deadline for small businesses to repay loans they received from a pandemic support program. The Canada Emergency Business Account program provided about 900,000 small businesses and not-for-profits up to $60,000 in interest-free loans during the pandemic.The deadline to repay these loans was extended last year to December 31, 2023 to ease pressure on businesses still recovering from the pandemic. But now, both the NDP and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business are calling for this deadline to be extended again, with the federation claiming nearly 20 per cent of businesses are at risk of closure without an extension. Businesses that pay back their loans by the end of the year are eligible to have up to a third of their loans forgiven.Those that don’t would see their debts converted to a two-year loan with interest of five per cent annually.This report by The Canadian Press w...

See the largest movie theatre screen in Illinois

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

BATAVIA, Ill. — A very unique movie-going experience is coming to the far west suburbs of Chicago this July, including a special event on Tuesday.Emagine Entertainment has opened a Super EMX Theatre in Batavia, 550 N. Randall Road, that features what's described as "the largest Cinemascope screen in the state of Illinois." It's over 96 feet wide and 53 feet tall, or just about the size of a regulation NBA court. It will host its first showing on Tuesday when "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part 1" will be shown on the screen at 2 p.m. Emagine Entertainment co-founder and chairman Paul Glantz will be on-site to greet those attending that show. Tickets for that show along with a 6 p.m. showing of the film are still available.The other parts of the theatre opened to the public on July 1 while the 414-seat super theatre was still being finished. The large screen features a 4K laser-projected image with a Dolby Atmos sound system featuring 70 channels.Formerly the Randall 15 IMAX,...

Sotomayor's staff pushed library, colleges to buy her books: report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

(The Hill) -- Liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s staff pushed colleges and a library to purchase copies of her book when she traveled there for speaking engagements, according to a new investigation from The Associated Press.The AP’s investigation, based on more than 100 public records requests, detailed several ethical dilemmas related to the justices’ regular travel to universities.It noted multiple occasions in which Sotomayor’s taxpayer-funded staff prodded school and library officials to purchase additional copies of the justice’s books. Sotomayor's financial disclosures detail book royalties and advances amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars paid by her publisher, Penguin Random House, over the years.“For an event with 1000 people and they have to have a copy of Just Ask to get into the line, 250 books is definitely not enough. Families purchase multiples and people will be upset if they are unable to get in line because the book required is sold out,” a S...

Stop driving some 2003 Ram pickups, owners urged after another Takata air bag inflator death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — Stellantis and the U.S. government are urging the owners of some 2003 Dodge Ram pickups to stop driving them after a passenger was killed by an exploding Takata air bag inflator.The company says owners of the pickups should contact a dealer or the company to find out if their trucks are part of a 2015 Takata recall. Stellantis says the trucks shouldn't be driven until repairs are made.The company says the person was killed in a May 13 crash that caused the air bags to inflate. Neither Stellantis nor the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would say where the crash happened or identify the victim. The person ”succumbed to a serious injury consistent with those observed in previous Takata inflator failures," Stellantis said in a prepared statement Tuesday.The death is the 26th in the U.S. since May of 2009, and more than 30 people have been killed worldwide. NHTSA said the death was the first due to an exploding front passenger air bag inflator. The rest of t...

Dripping Springs launches website ahead of 2024 total solar eclipse

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas (KXAN) -- The city of Dripping Springs will experience two eclipses over the next nine months, and it's preparing for an influx of visitors. An annular solar eclipse will happen on October 14 of this year, and a total solar eclipse will happen on April 8 of next year. The city is preparing through a task force that launched last year and a newly-launched eclipse website. Texas Hill Country prepares for thousands of visitors ahead of total solar eclipse Hotel rooms are booking up or already sold out ahead of next April’s total solar eclipse, officials with the city of Dripping Springs previously told KXAN. The city said in a release that because the city will be in the totality of the April 8 eclipse for three minutes, it expects a significant number of visitors. "While both types of eclipses are exciting, total solar eclipses are rare. Total solar eclipses happen somewhere in the world every 18 months and only happen in the same place approximately every 3...

Former GOP representative announces campaign to retake South Texas seat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:29 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A former U.S. representative announced she'll try to retake her Congressional seat in South Texas that flipped back to blue last year. Mayra Flores, a Republican, released a video on social media Tuesday morning announcing her campaign for U.S. House District 34, which stretches south from Kingsville along the Gulf Coast to the border. It includes communities like Harlingen and Weslaco. Flores briefly held the seat after winning a special election in June 2022, becoming the first Mexican-born woman to serve in Congress and boosting Republican efforts to make gains in the Rio Grande Valley. During the general election in November, though, Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez unseated her despite national Republican groups pouring money into the race. She ended up losing that race by eight percentage points. In a tweet announcing her candidacy Tuesday, she wrote, "We made history last year, but there’s still work to be done here in South Texas. I’m running to help restore ...