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Fatal crash sparks fire on major Connecticut highway bridge

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:20 GMT

GROTON, Conn. (AP) — A crash involving a fuel truck and a car sparked a fire on a major Connecticut highway bridge Friday, with flames spreading to buildings below and officials closing Interstate 95 in both directions during the blaze. Officials said the truck driver died and other people were injured.The wreck happened shortly after 11 a.m. on the southbound side of the Gold Star Memorial Bridge carrying the highway over the Thames River between New London and Groton. The Gold Star actually comprises two bridges, one for southbound traffic and the other for northbound. The northbound side has since reopened.Videos from the scene showed flames burning and smoke rising from a lengthy section of the bridge and spreading to a construction and marine company below on the Groton side.New London’s mayor and fire chief told news outlets that the truck driver died in the crash and other people were taken to a hospital with unknown injuries. The state Department of Transportation conf...

Nets want justice after Joel Embiid’s flagrant foul: ‘I thought precedent was set’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:20 GMT

The Nets are eagerly awaiting word from the NBA’s league office on additional enforcement actions against 76ers star Joel Embiid.Embiid, the presumptive league Most Valuable Player, flailed his legs up into starting center Nic Claxton’s groin area in the first quarter of the Nets’ Game 3 loss to the Sixers on Thursday. The moment was retaliation from Embiid after Claxton stuffed a one-handed alley-oop over him, then stepped over the Sixers’ star big man a la Allen Iverson and Tyronn Lue.Officials assessed Claxton a technical foul and issued Embiid a flagrant foul penalty one. It got the Nets two free throws and possession of the ball, but the Nets felt Embiid should have been ejected from the game for his actions.“Oh, I know my stance hasn’t changed,” Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said after Friday’s practice, just hours after he expressed frustration postgame with the decision not to eject Embiid. “It is the same as yesterday, m...

Nets still have something worth fighting for despite being down 0-3 to 76ers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:20 GMT

Dorian Finney-Smith has been here before.His Dallas Mavericks trailed 0-3 in their Western Conference Finals matchup against the eventual NBA champion Golden State Warriors last season.Facing elimination — more specifically, a sweep — the Mavericks didn’t lay down. They secured a 119-109 victory over the Warriors to extend the series to five games.“You just have to go out there and show up and try to win and not just get out there,” Finney-Smith said after practice at the HSS Training Facility in Industry City on Friday. “You know, we’re down 3-0. We could sit around and mope around or you can come out there and compete. We are still doing what we love and have to take advantage of that opportunity.”The Nets find themselves in similar, treacherous waters, though they don’t have a potential trip to the NBA Finals at stake as motivation.Thursday’s five-point loss to the Sixers put a sweep on the table in Game 4 at Barclays Ce...

Should US airlines pay passengers for delays like the EU?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:20 GMT

Southwest Airlines spent the early part of 2023 trying to make good after a historic meltdown resulted in more than 16,700 canceled flights during the 2022 holidays. The airline reimbursed passengers for the cost of alternative travel arrangements and sent many travelers additional loyalty points.Southwest wasn’t legally required to. The U.S. has no federal laws mandating that airlines compensate passengers for delays. Airlines are only obligated to offer refunds if they cancel a flight and the passenger decides not to travel.That’s hardly the case in Europe. An EU regulation, commonly referred to as EU261, requires airlines to compensate travelers for cancellations, denied boarding or delays of two or more hours. It went into effect in 2005 and applies to most flights operated by airlines based in the 27 EU countries, plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.As long as the flight wasn’t disrupted due to an “extraordinary circumstance” such as weather, passengers are entitled to compens...

Minister: Ukraine will beat Russia in war of technologies

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:20 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As Ukrainian and Russian troops fight conventional battles on the front lines, Europe’s first major war of the internet age has also sparked a war of technology as both sides vie for the advantage with their drones and satellite communications. While the two sides have kept pace with one another thus far, Ukraine’s minister in charge of technology told The Associated Press in an interview Friday that he was confident his country had the motivation and abilities to out-innovate Russia in the end.Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, said unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, electronic warfare, satellite communications and other technologies had been a fundamental part of the war with Russia that began more than a year ago.“Technologies allow traditional and modern artillery to be more accurate, and they help save the lives of our soldiers,” he said. “When you have ‘eyes’ over you, you can make more effective decisions about m...

Feds get first guilty plea in Michigan marijuana board probe

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:20 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — A businessman pleaded guilty Friday to bribing the head of a Michigan marijuana licensing board, the first conviction in a federal investigation into payoffs and other benefits before the panel was disbanded in 2019.John Dalaly appeared in federal court in Grand Rapids, two weeks after his plea deal was announced.Dalaly said he provided at least $68,200 in cash and other benefits to Rick Johnson, including two private flights to Canada.Johnson, 70, was chairman of the marijuana board for two years. The board reviewed and approved applications to grow and sell marijuana for medical purposes.Dalaly had a stake in a company that was seeking a license, defense attorney Ray Cassar said.“As soon as the investigation launched, he was on board to accept responsibility,” Cassar told The Associated Press. “This is a good man, 71 years old. Unfortunately he fell into this mess.”Johnson had also recommended that Dalaly hire Johnson’s wife as a consultant to help with his applicat...

‘Very difficult situation:’ Canadians in Khartoum take shelter amid violence

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:20 GMT

TORONTO — Abdelgadir Eltayeb and his family have no electricity, dwindling food and water, and haven’t been able to venture far from the home in Khartoum where they took shelter after violence exploded in Sudan’s capital this week. The Canadian, who is visiting relatives in Sudan with his wife and two children, says fighting between the country’s army and its rival paramilitary force has unleashed chaos.“It’s a very difficult situation,” the 68-year-old said in a phone interview from Khartoum on Friday.“We lived our worst night last night, and most of today. Shelling and dark smoke covered the sky.” The situation in Sudan’s capital was generally stable a week ago but a skirmish over a planned transition to democratic rule last Saturday escalated into raging battles. The violence so far has killed 413 people and wounded 3,551, according to the World Health Organization. Many have fled the country’s capital for other parts of Sudan...

Court upholds ban on South Africa’s apartheid-era flag

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:20 GMT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday upheld a ruling that the “gratuitous” public display of the country’s old apartheid-era flag amounts to hate speech and racial discrimination and can be prosecuted.The Supreme Court didn’t, however, give a ruling on whether displaying the national flag from South Africa’s era of brutal racial segregation in the privacy of a home should also be considered hate speech or discriminatory.Arguments over that specific matter should first be presented to the lower court that initially banned the flag in 2019, the Supreme Court said.The decision on the public showing of the old flag, which was South Africa’s national flag from 1928 until it was abolished when the country achieved democracy in 1994, upheld that ruling given by the Equality Court four years ago.Afriforum, a lobby group that says it represents the interests of South Africa’s white Afrikaans people, challenged the...

Woman killed after falling out of Jeep onto Dan Ryan was not wearing seat belt: ISP

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:20 GMT

CHICAGO — A woman who fell out of an open-air Jeep Wrangler onto the Dan Ryan last Friday was not wearing a seat belt, according to Illinois State Police.The accident happened April 14 around 5 a.m. on southbound I-94 at 28th Street.ISP said the woman was not wearing a seat belt and was driving the Jeep, which did not have doors on it at the time, when she fell on the roadway. She was then struck by two vehicles. Driver dies after falling out of Jeep, being struck by 2 vehicles on Dan Ryan Expressway The driverless Jeep then ran off the roadway and struck a concrete median barrier, according to ISP.The woman was pronounced dead on the scene. Her identity has not yet been released.

Man arrested hours after allegedly carjacking woman in Little Village

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:20 GMT

CHICAGO — A 20-year-old man is accused of carjacking a woman in Little Village, only to be arrested less than three hours later by Chicago police. Authorities said the arrest of Khalil Ingram occurred around 10:30 a.m. in the 1300 block of S. Washtenaw. The department alleges that Ingram took a vehicle by force in the 2500 block of W. Cermak.SEE ALSO: Chase warns Chicago employees about potential for more downtown disturbancesIngram is charged with a felony count of vehicular hijacking. He was due to appear in court on