Category: z-Exclude

NATO calls for full investigation of Azerbaijan Airlines crash BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO on Thursday called for a full investigation into the cause of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash that killed 38 people. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and victims of Azerbaijan Airlines flight J28243,” NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said in a post on the platform X. “We wish those injured in the crash a speedy recovery and call for a full investigation.” Kazakhstan’s senate chairman said…

HARTFORD, Conn. — Former top Coast Guard officials hid a yearslong investigation into sexual assault and harassment at the service’s academy from both Congress and the public after leaders debated the fallout from a potential disclosure, according to a U.S. Senate committee report released Friday. Coast Guard officials also took steps to remove references to the investigation, named Operation Fouled Anchor, from records submitted to Congress, according to the report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The report followed…

CHICAGO (AP) — Hours of secretly recorded videos and phone calls have offered a rare glimpse into how the longest-serving legislative leader in American history operated behind closed doors. As the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan stretches into its third month, testimony has covered his multiple alleged schemes, from kickbacks involving the state’s largest utility company to Chinatown developments benefiting his private tax firm. Jurors have heard from a congresswoman, former state legislators and the government’s…

The Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of Illinois today announced a settlement with the City of Cahokia Heights, Illinois, resolving violations of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Illinois Environmental Protection Act resulting from the city’s failure to properly operate its sanitary sewer system. The settlement requires that Cahokia Heights pay a $30,000 civil penalty and implement an estimated $30 million in extensive compliance measures. The complaint against Cahokia Heights alleges that on…

In a scene of overwhelming joy and disbelief, prisoners emerged from Syria’s notorious detention centers on Sunday, walking to freedom as the government of Bashar al-Assad collapsed. The release marked the end of decades of fear and repression under a regime infamous for its brutal prison system. Across the country, families wept and embraced loved ones who had vanished for years into Assad’s prisons, often without explanation. Freed detainees, some holding up fingers to indicate the years spent in captivity,…

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The Connecticut Appellate Court on Friday affirmed a $965 million verdict from 2022 against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, determining there’s “sufficient evidence” to support the damages awarded to relatives of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre victims and an FBI agent. In its unanimous opinion, the court cited the “traumatic threats and harassment” the families endured “stemming from the lies, as propagated by the defendants, that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax.” “Our review of…

(Reuters) – A federal judge in Texas on Friday rejected a request by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to lift an order that blocked a new rule capping credit card late fees at $8, a policy challenged by business and banking groups. U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth declined to dissolve an injunction he issued in May that barred the rule from taking effect. That rule was issued as part of the Biden administration’s broader crackdown on “junk…

The Justice Department announced today that it secured an agreement with Pennsylvania-based HCSG East LLC and its parent company, Healthcare Services Group Inc. (HCSG), a nationwide provider of housekeeping, laundry and food services for healthcare and nursing facilities. The agreement resolves the department’s determination that HCSG discriminated against non-U.S. citizens with permission to work in the United States when hiring at its Siler City, North Carolina, location, and engaged in unfair practices concerning work authorization documents because of a worker’s…

As the investigation into a masked gunman who stalked and killed the head of one of the largest U.S. health insurers moved into its third day Friday, possible leads emerged about his travel before the shooting and a message scrawled on ammunition found at the crime scene. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed in a dawn ambush Wednesday as he walked from his midtown hotel to the company’s annual investor conference across the street, blocks from tourist draws such as…

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries said on Thursday it will transfer ownership of its business venture that sold generics in Japan to JKI. Israel-based Teva’s deal with JKI will transfer all the shares of the unit Teva-Takeda and its subsidiary Teva Takeda Yakuhin to the firm. Teva-Takeda is a joint venture established in 2016 by Japanese drugmaker Takeda and Teva, focusing primarily on the business of generic and off-patent medicines. JKI was established by a fund managed and operated by private equity…

A U.S. federal judge on Thursday rejected Boeing’s agreement to plead guilty to fraud in the wake of two fatal 737 MAX crashes, court documents showed. Boeing and the Justice Department now have 30 days to update the court on how they plan to proceed in the case, Judge Reed C. O’Connor of the Northern District Court of Texas ordered. (Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa)

Vietnam has suspended the operations of Chinese online retailer Temu after it failed to meet a government deadline to register the company by the end of November. It is unclear if Temu, a unit of Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, will be allowed to resume its business once it registers. The suspension comes after the ministry had raised concerns about the authenticity of Temu’s extremely cheap products and their impact on Vietnamese manufacturers. Temu said Thursday it was working with the…

Mexican authorities detained more than 5,200 migrants across the country on Tuesday, officials said on Wednesday, in a major sweep as the nation is under pressure from the incoming U.S. government to crack down on arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has called on Mexico to ramp up efforts to stop both migrants and synthetic drugs such as fentanyl from coming into the U.S., threatening to slap tariffs on the southern trade partner. From Oct. 1 to…

A U.S. Senate panel planned to take aim at airline executives Wednesday for the carriers’ growing use of fees for early boarding, better seats and other comforts that used to be part of the ticket price. The panel’s chairman, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he thinks the federal government should review and perhaps fine the airlines for their use of what he called junk fees, which he said raise prices for consumers. Blumenthal said seat fees are pure profit for…

Google Cloud said on Wednesday it had partnered with Air France-KLM to deploy generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology on the airline group’s data. Google Cloud said in a statement that the Franco-Dutch airline group’s 551 operating aircraft, 93 million passengers carried in 2023, and its commercial and cargo flights generated large amounts of data, which would be used by Google Cloud’s AI solution in areas such as analyzing passenger preferences and travel patterns, and predicting maintenance of aircraft. Air France-KLM…

(Reuters) – Australia’s competition watchdog said on Friday it had given Virgin Australia [IPO-VIR.AX] and Qatar Airways interim approval to operate flights between Doha and Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney under an integrated alliance. The two airlines can start marketing and selling 28 weekly scheduled return flights between the destinations, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in a statement. Qatar Airways had said in October that it was set to buy a 25% stake in Virgin Australia from U.S….