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Wisconsin man pleads guilty to role in Whitmer kidnap scheme

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:22 GMT

BELLAIRE, Mich. (AP) — A Wisconsin man accused of assisting the key figures in a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor pleaded guilty Wednesday to a lesser charge and will cooperate with prosecutors.Brian Higgins said he attempted to provide material support for terrorism, an offense that carries a maximum prison term of five years.Higgins was among five men scheduled to face trial later this year in northern Michigan’s Antrim County, the location of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s vacation home. They were not charged with the 2020 kidnapping conspiracy but were accused of providing key support.Higgins, 54, of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, admitted that he drove past Whitmer’s property during a night ride that summer while others waited across a lake for his signal. He said he had a camera rigged to his pickup truck. Whitmer was not there at the time.“I wish to plead guilty,” Higgins told the judge, appearing in court by video from his home in Wisconsin, where he has been...

Officials: 2 men arrested in burglary of Salah’s Cairo home

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:22 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Two men were arrested on suspicion of burglarizing Mohamed Salah’s Cairo villa earlier this month while the Egyptian soccer star was out of the country, authorities said Wednesday.In a statement, Egypt’s Interior Ministry said the suspects stole several pairs of soccer cleats, a medal, a small crystal ball and cable TV receivers from the Liverpool forward’s luxury villa. The home is situated in the upmarket area of Tagamoa, 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Cairo’s center. It was not immediately clear whether the two men were charged with a crime or had legal representation. Their identities were not disclosed.Authorities said both men confessed to entering the empty property by climbing over the villa’s rear wall on March 2. Authorities were notified of the break-in by the player’s agent on Sunday and the men were arrested less than 48 hours later, it said. One of the accused had previously worked as a security guard in the neighborhood and was a...

‘Quantum Leap’ star Caitlin Bassett jumps from Army to TV

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:22 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Caitlin Bassett plays a woman who jumps through time and space on NBC’s “Quantum Leap,” a fitting job for an actor who has lived many lives already.Bassett, who spent seven years in the U.S. Army, then attended law school and later acting school, now finds herself on a hit TV show, a multi-career path driven by her curiosity and heart. “I think part of growing up is owning what you want to do and trying it and being like, ‘If I fail, well, that’s on me. But at least I tried,’” says Bassett, 32.Bassett was an intelligence analyst in the Army, attaining the rank of staff sergeant, and completed three combat deployments — two to Afghanistan and one to Qatar. She is grateful to the military for all that it nurtured in her.“It gave experiences. It gave abilities. It gave discipline. It gave work ethic. It gave perspective. Like, at the end of the day, if no one’s dying, we’re having a good day,” she says.The new “Quantum Leap” takes place decades after the sci-fi cl...

Colombian coal mine blast kills 11, search on for survivors

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:22 GMT

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A powerful explosion in a coal mine in central Colombia that affected four other mines linked by tunnels has killed at least 11 people and left others missing, the government said Wednesday. President Gustavo Petro said on his Twitter account that rescuers were making every effort to reach the trapped miners. The blast took place Tuesday night in the municipality of Sutatausa in Cundinamarca province. Cundinamarca Gov. Nicolás García Bustos initially reported four deaths with two people recovered alive and 17 still trapped in the mine. Álvaro Farfán, captain of the Cundinamarca fire department, told local media the explosion affected five mines interconnected by tunnels, generating a “chain” blast.Petro later raised the death toll to 11, but did not say how many miners were still trapped.Farfán said the initial hypothesis is that the explosion was caused by an accumulation of gases.Explosions, landslide and other emergencies are common in Colombian coal...

EU lawmakers ask UEFA to ban Belarus from Euro 2024

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:22 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — A group of more than 100 European Union lawmakers is urging European soccer’s governing body to ban Belarus from qualifying for the 2024 European Championship.MEPs from across the political spectrum wrote in a letter sent to UEFA president Alexander Ceferin that the Belarusian national team should not be able to compete because of the country’s terrible human rights record.“These are not only UEFA values at stake, but also UEFA’s reputation and image within democratic societies and international community,” they said.Last week, a court in Belarus sentenced exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to 15 years in prison after a trial in absentia on charges including conspiring to overthrow the government, the latest move in a months-long effort by the government to suppress dissent.Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin in his war against Ukraine. Russia used Belarusian territory to...

German investigators take down crypto money laundering site

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:22 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German investigators said they took down a major online money laundering operation on Wednesday, seizing the Germany-based server infrastructure of a platform that dealt in ill-gotten cryptocurrency.Bitcoin currently worth about 44 million euros ($47 million) and roughly seven terabytes of data were secured as investigators took down the platform known as ChipMixer, Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office and Frankfurt prosecutors said. They added that they worked closely with U.S. authorities and the European Union’s crime agency, Europol.ChipMixer was active on the darknet, a part of the internet accessible only through specialized tools that provide more anonymity. German investigators said it had offered its services since mid-2017 and had accepted cryptocurrency — largely bitcoin — of criminal origin which was put through a “mixing” process to disguise its origin.Cryptocurrency that was paid in was broken down into tiny amounts known as “chips,” and u...

Russia wants to recover debris of US drone from Black Sea

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:22 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia wants to recover the fragments of a U.S. surveillance drone that American forces brought down in the Black Sea after an encounter with a Russian fighter jet, a Russian security official said Wednesday. Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, claimed in televised remarks that Tuesday’s incident was “another confirmation” of direct U.S. involvement in the conflict in Ukraine. He said Russia planned to search for the drone’s debris. “I don’t know if we can recover them or not, but we will certainly have to do that, and we will deal with it,” Patrushev said. “I certainly hope for success.”U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the drone was flying in international airspace and over international waters when a Russian fighter jet struck the propeller of the MQ-Reaper drone. U.S. officials accused Russia of attempting to intercept the unmanned aerial vehicle, although its presence over the Black Sea was no...

Susan Musgrave, Ocean Vuong nominated for revamped Griffin Poetry Prize

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:22 GMT

Canadian mainstays and international darlings are among the wordsmiths longlisted for the newly revamped Griffin Poetry Prize. Benefactor Scott Griffin announced last year that the long-standing award would consolidate its Canadian and international categories — which each carried a $65,000 purse — into one global long list, whose winner will receive $130,000.Among the Canadian contenders are California-born, British Columbia-based writer Susan Musgrave, for her first book of poetry in 11 years, “Exculpatory Lilies,” and Manolis Aligizakis, who translated Tasos Livaditis’ “Poems, Volume II” from the original Greek.If a translated book is to win, the translator will receive 60 per cent of the prize, while the original poet will get 40 per cent.Among the international nominees is American Robyn Creswell, who is being recognized for his translation of Egyptian-Canadian poet Iman Mersal’s “The Threshold,” which was originally written in Ar...

Spain’s unions back government public pension reform

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:22 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain’s left-wing government won the backing of unions to reform the nation’s public pension system on Wednesday, in stark contrast with neighboring France, where plans to raise the retirement age have led to waves of strikes and mass protests.The leaders of Spain’s two main labor unions, UGT and CC.OO., appeared alongside Minister of Social Security José Luis Escrivá in Madrid to christen the plan the union heads both deemed “historic.”CC.OO. secretary general Unai Sordo said that the reform would be key to ensuring pensions for Spain’s retired population which he said is expected to increase from 10 to 15 million people by 2048.“This is about maintaining a pillar of our social welfare system,” Sordo said.It is very different across the border in France, where labor unions on Wednesday held another round of massive street protests against the push by President Emmanuel Macron to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, a move that he says is neces...

Tyson Foods closing 2 plants, impacting nearly 1,700 workers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:22 GMT

SPRINGDALE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Tyson Foods has announced that the company is planning to close two of its plants, which together employ a total of nearly 1,700 people.Tyson said its plants in Van Buren, Arkansas, and Glen Allen, Virginia, will be closing in May."After careful consideration, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our Van Buren, Arkansas plant effective May 12, 2023, and shift demand to other Tyson Foods facilities," said Tyson in its announcement concerning the Arkansas plant. "While the decision was not easy, it reflects our broader strategy to strengthen our poultry business by optimizing operations and utilizing the full available capacity at each plant."A statement issued on the closing of the Virginia plant suggested its closure was due to "inability to economically improve operations."Tyson said there are plans to work with employees affected by the closures to help them relocate to other Tyson facilities. The company also said it would coordinate with stat...