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Make Ukraine a porcupine rather than a protectorate

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:56 GMT

Benjamin H. Friedman is Policy Director at Defense Priorities. Christopher McCallion is a Fellow at Defense Priorities.At this week’s NATO Summit in Vilnius, the alliance kicked the can down the road once more by inviting Ukraine to join in the future, while denying it entry in the immediate term. Ukraine and its most ardent supporters, meanwhile, have demanded the alliance offer it membership, or at least a clear path to it.More cautious leaders, like French President Emmanuel Macron, have proposed to offer Kyiv vaguer security guarantees instead — meaning some type of promise to protect Ukraine if it is attacked. And despite stating that Ukraine is not yet ready for inclusion in NATO, United States President Joe Biden insists on maintaining an open door for its membership in the future.All these proposals are dangerously misguided. The U.S. should not offer Ukraine security guarantees of any sort — and certainly not NATO membership — now or when the war i...

Firefighters rescue baby deer stuck in sewer drain in Brockton

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:56 GMT

A heartwarming rescue recently played out in Brockton when firefighters saved a baby deer in distress. The rescue happened on Monday afternoon after Fire Chief Brian Nardelli said workers at the city’s water treatment facility on Oak Street noticed a strange noise coming from a sewage pipe. The workers called for help and crews soon found a baby deer stuck in a roughly four-foot pipe. Animal control personnel and firefighters got to work, with one rappelling to help the animal. “Bobby York, the firefighter that went down, he goes down there, he starts to move around and the fawn jumps out and starts swimming around,” Nardelli said. Nardelli said the fawn then jumped back into the hole before York was able to get a cinch on the fawn and hand it to firefighters.After two hours, first responders were able to finally get the deer out of its tight situation and on its way back home. “Everyone was really happy at the end, this is this small animal, baby anima...

Bank of America hit with $250M in fines and refunds for ‘double-dipping’ fees and fake accounts

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:56 GMT

By KEN SWEET and MICHELLE CHAPMAN (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — Bank of America will reimburse customers more than $100 million and pay $150 million in fines for “double-dipping” on overdraft fees, withholding reward bonuses on credit cards and opening accounts without customer consent.Combined, it is one of the highest financial penalties in years against Bank of America, which has largely spent the last 15 years trying to clean up its reputation and market itself to the public as a bank focused on financial health and not on overdraft fee income and financial trickery. BofA must refund $100 million to customers, pay $90 million in penalties to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and $60 million to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. “Bank of America wrongfully withheld credit card rewards, double-dipped on fees, and opened accounts without consent,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, in a statement. “These practices are illegal...

Chicago Cubs’ Justin Steele pitches a scoreless inning in the All-Star Game, which White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. missed as a precaution

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:56 GMT

Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. did not play in the MLB All-Star Game at T-Mobile Park as a precaution after feeling tightness in his right calf during Monday’s Home Run Derby.That left Cubs pitcher Justin Steele as the only Chicago representative remaining for Tuesday’s game.Steele allowed one hit and had one strikeout in one scoreless inning of work for the National League in his first All-Star appearance.Steele entered in the fifth and got Texas Rangers outfielder Adolis García to fly out to right fielder Juan Soto. Baltimore Orioles outfielder Austin Hays singled to center. Rangers third baseman Josh Jung tapped a grounder to third where Atlanta’s Austin Riley made a tremendous barehanded play for the second out.Steele struck out Rangers catcher Jonah Heim to end the inning and his outing.Before the game, the Sox announced Robert would be unavailable. In a statement, Robert said he’d be ready for the second half of the season.He felt...

At trial of Las Vegas police officer, casino worker recalls thinking she might die in armed heist

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:56 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A casino employee who has worked in gaming for nearly 40 years testified on Tuesday that she was never more afraid for her life than when she came face to face with a masked robber in February 2022.Federal prosecutors have identified the man behind the mask as Las Vegas police officer Caleb Rogers, who is on trial this week for a trio of casino heists. Authorities have said Rogers, 35, was addicted to gambling and struggling with snowballing debts when he allegedly stole nearly $165,000 in robberies targeting casinos off the Las Vegas Strip.“All I kept thinking in my head was: I could die today,” said Sherry McGrath, who was supervising the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino’s sportsbook when, according to authorities, Rogers stormed the registers while armed with a weapon issued by the police department.Dressed in a gray suit with his hair pulled back into a low bun, Rogers showed no emotion as McGrath and three more Rio hotel-casino employees described that morning ...

Iowa House approves law banning most abortions after about 6 weeks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:56 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A new ban on almost all abortions in Iowa after roughly six weeks of pregnancy prevailed with exclusively Republican support in one chamber of the Legislature late Tuesday night as tensions flared during a special session ordered by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds.The marathon day of committee meetings, floor debates and votes in both chambers exceeded 13 hours when the House voted just after 9 p.m. in approval of the bill. The bill now moves to the Senate, where, like in the House, Democrats have spent hours of debate questioning their Republican colleagues on the details.The vast majority of demonstrators at the Capitol throughout the day voiced loud opposition to the bill. Two Republican representatives voted against the bill.Reynolds ordered the rare session after the state Supreme Court declined to reinstate a law she signed in 2018 that is practically identical to the one being proposed Tuesday. Abortion is currently legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnan...

CP NewsAlert: Labour minister asks mediator for terms to end B.C. port strike

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:56 GMT

Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan has given a federal mediator 24 hours to send him recommended terms to end the British Columbia port strike.More coming.The Canadian Press

North Korea launches long-range missile toward sea after making threat over alleged US spy flights

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:56 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile toward its eastern waters Wednesday, its neighbors said, two days after the North threatened “shocking” consequences to protest what it called a provocative U.S. reconnaissance activity near its territory.South Korea’s military detected the long-range missile launch from the North’s capital region around 10 a.m., the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. It said South Korea’s military bolstered its surveillance posture and maintained readiness in close coordination with the United States.Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told reporters that the North Korean missile was likely launched on a lofted trajectory, at a steep angle that North Korea typically uses to avoid neighboring countries when it tests long-range missiles. Hamada said the missile was expected to land at sea about 550 kilometers (340 miles) east of the coast of the Korean Peninsula outside of the Japanes...

Blue Jays’ Romano leaves All-Star game with back tightness

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:56 GMT

Toronto Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano left the MLB All-Star game in the seventh inning with back tightness.The Canadian was making his first career All-Star game appearance and faced off against former teammate and current Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr.Jordan Romano leaves the game with a trainer as Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s home run gets overturned. pic.twitter.com/fmnw1UgQZq— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) July 12, 2023Romano appeared to be in some discomfort after throwing a pitch and was visited at the mound by trainers, teammates and American League All-Star manager Dusty Baker. He then left the field on his own accord.Baker told FOX Sports that Romano left with lower back tightness.Romano was added to the All-Star Game roster for the second consecutive season but didn’t pitch in last year’s game.The 30-year-old Markham, Ont. native has appeared in 39 games this season with the Blue Jays, recording a major-league-best 26 saves. He’s pitched to ...

Scooter-riding gunman sought for attack that hurt 4 people, including 2 children, at New York park

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:56 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Police on Tuesday were hunting for a gunman who opened fire in a crowded park, wounding four people including two young children, authorities said.Two masked men dressed all in black rode a scooter to St. James Park in the Fordham Manor section of the Bronx shortly before 6 p.m., Chief of Patrol John Chell said at a news conference.The passenger got off the scooter and opened fire into a crowd before the men drove off, Chell said.Two brothers, ages 3 and 6, were each shot in the leg, a 25-year-old man was hit once in the back and a 23-year-old man was shot multiple times, Chell said.“Everyone is doing well and will recover from their injuries,” he said.Investigators didn’t know who was targeted in the shooting or the motive for the attack, he said.Last week, a gunman on a scooter killed an 86-year-old man and injured three others in a series of six apparently random attacks in Brooklyn and Queens, police said.Thomas Abreau, 25, of Brooklyn, was arrested followi...