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US will provide cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package: AP sources

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:21:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration has decided to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine and is expected to announce on Friday that the Pentagon will send thousands of them as part of a new military aid package worth up to $800 million for the war effort against Russia, according to people familiar with the decision.The decision comes despite widespread concerns that the bombs can cause civilian casualties and sparked a call from the United Nations to both Russia and Ukraine to avoid using them. The Pentagon will provide munitions that have a reduced “dud rate,” meaning there will be far fewer unexploded rounds that can result in unintended civilian deaths.U.S. officials said Thursday they expect the military aid to Ukraine will be announced on Friday. The weapons will come from Pentagon stocks and will also include Bradley and Stryker armored vehicles and an array of ammunition, such as rounds for howitzers and the High Mobility Arti...

FTC, FDA crack down on companies selling copycat snacks containing Delta-8 THC

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:21:25 GMT

(CNN) — The US Food and Drug Administration and the US Federal Trade Commission say they have sent warning letters to six companies for selling products containing delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-8 THC) that look strikingly similar to popular snack foods.Delta-8 THC is the psychoactive cannabinoid from the Cannabis sativa plant, of which marijuana and hemp plants are two varieties.The agencies said children, and maybe even some adults, could easily confuse these delta-8 THC products – packaged to look like Sour Patch Kids, Doritos, Gushers, Jolly Ranchers, Cheetos, Nerds Ropes and Oreos – for the real thing.Some of the products have clever names like Double Stuff Stoneos, Medicated DopeRope Bites or Stoney Patch. Others, like delta-8 THC Doritos and Cheetos products, have the same name as the original snack, with THC disclosed in tiny writing at the bottom and back of the packages. The DopeRopeBites that look like Nerds Rope cand...

Aaron Judge not considering legal action after Dodger Stadium toe injury

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:21:25 GMT

Aaron Judge has reached a verdict.The Yankees captain told the Daily News that he is not considering taking legal action against the Los Angeles Dodgers after he tore a ligament in his right big toe on June 3 while making a spectacular catch at Dodger Stadium. Judge crashed through the chain-link bullpen fence in right field on the play and smashed his toe against an exposed concrete step that divides the bullpen and the field.“Nah, no need,” Judge said when asked about a potential lawsuit.The News asked Judge about this because former Yankee Dustin Fowler sued the Chicago White Sox and the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, among other parties, after he collided with a concealed electrical box at what was then called U.S. Cellular Field on June 29, 2017.Fowler made his major league debut that day, but he hit his knee on the box’s sharp edge while chasing a foul fly ball during the first inning. Fowler had to be carted off and underwent season-ending surgery for...

Francisco Lindor tallies 5 hits, Mets stay hot for 5th straight victory with win over Diamondbacks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:21:25 GMT

PHOENIX — You could say the Mets charmed the Snakes this week in Phoenix, but the Arizona Diamondbacks probably found nothing charming about getting swept.The Mets hammered the NL West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks in the series finale, winning 9-0. Francisco Alvarez hit his third home run in as many games, Francisco Lindor had a five-hit game, Pete Alonso went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI and Carlos Carrasco went eight shutout innings to help the Mets (41-46) win their fifth straight. It marked the second time this season the Mets have won five consecutive games but the first time since April. They remain undefeated in the month of July (5-0).After months of vowing to show improved play, the Mets are making good on that promise, and they intend to keep doing so.“We’ll celebrate it, learn from it and turn the page,” Lindor said. “We’ll come back and be better tomorrow.”Lindor became the second player in franchise history to hit two t...

Gallery: Sox beat Rangers 10-6 at Fenway

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:21:25 GMT

Sox beat Rangers 10-6 at Fenway

How credit cards help my family travel

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:21:25 GMT

Before having kids, my husband and I loved to travel. When our family grew, we agreed that we wanted to continue to prioritize exploring the world as much as we could. Unlike it may seem on Instagram, no one comes with a magic wand and whisks us away on vacation — we make sacrifices to design these experiences, and we work hard to make them happen.Now that we’re paying for four, credit cards play a major role in our ability to swing our travel, but perhaps not in the way you might think. We don’t rack up debt, and because we pay our bills in full each month, we don’t pay any interest. Instead, we rely heavily on the points and miles that we largely earn from credit card rewards. And with the national average domestic airline itinerary fare hovering just below $400 in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the Department of Transportation, every bit we can defray helps.Here are some of the ways that credit cards help make our family’s travel dreams a reality — for a fraction o...

OPP investigating suspected drowning of Toronto man north of Kingston

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:21:25 GMT

Ontario Provincial Police are investigating the death of a Toronto man following a marine incident on Big Clear Lake in Central Frontenac Township.Police were called to the area around 4:30 p.m. on July 5 for reports a man had been ejected from a personal watercraft.Witnesses said a 52-year-old man from Scarborough, who was not wearing a life-jacket, went under the water and did not resurface.Police and fire departments conducted an unsuccessful search for the man, ultimately suspending it overnight to wait for the OPP’s Underwater Search and Recovery Unit.Members of the USRU found the body of the missing man in the water shortly before 3:00 p.m. on July 6, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.No foul play is suspected, but an OPP collision reconstructionist and the Chief Coroner’s office are assisting with the investigation.

NATO leaders set to offer Ukraine major support package but membership is off the table for now

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:21:25 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO leaders will agree next week to help modernize Ukraine’s armed forces, create a new high-level forum for consultations and reaffirm that it will join their alliance one day, the organization’s top civilian official said Friday. But the war-torn country will not start membership talks soon.At a two-day summit starting Tuesday in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts will also agree to boost defense spending as allies pour weapons, ammunition and other support like uniforms and medical equipment into Ukraine, 17 months into the war.They also hope to welcome Sweden as the next member of the world’s biggest security organization, if they can overcome Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s objections, even though its accession would only be made official in coming months.“For 500 days, Moscow has brought death and destruction to the heart of Europe, seeking to destroy Ukraine and divide NATO,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Sto...

Suspect killed, officer wounded as robbery spree ends with pursuit, shootout on Ohio interstate

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:21:25 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An armed robbery spree in Ohio ended with a police chase and shootout that left one suspect dead and an officer critically wounded, authorities said. Two other suspects who fled on foot from the shootout were later captured.The spree began around 2:15 p.m. Thursday, when a man stole the keys to an SUV at gunpoint from a worker at a Porsche dealership in Whitehall, according to Whitehall Deputy Police Chief Dan Kelso. That suspect and two other men then robbed a bank in Columbus but were confronted by police.The trio fled in the SUV and the police pursuit began, eventually winding up on Interstate 70 in Columbus. Greg Bodker, the city’s assistant police chief, said the suspects then began shooting at officers, who returned fire.One suspect wounded in the shootout was pronounced dead at the scene. The wounded officer’s partner took him to a hospital, where he underwent surgery and was later upgraded to stable condition. Authorities did not release the name ...

Brazil’s lower house finds compromise in a major reform of the country’s ‘dysfunctional’ tax system

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:21:25 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s lower house of Congress approved a major reform of the nation’s notoriously complicated tax system early Friday, showing compromise is possible between the conservative Congress and leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.The long-awaited tax reform aims to simplify the system, widely considered overly burdensome for both individuals and businesses, and boost economic growth that has drifted between downturns and doldrums for the last decade. “Brazil will have its first tax reform of the democratic period. A historic moment and a great victory for the country,” Lula said on Twitter.The vote in the Chamber of Deputies followed decades of attempts to comprehensively reform the current system. The measure will now go to the Senate. If it makes significant modifications, the proposal will return to the lower house for a final vote.Given last year’s highly divisive electoral campaign, there had been speculation that legislative gridlock could stymie any...