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No more gambling site confusion: MDOT reclaims expired URL on license plates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:37 GMT

Marylanders were confused earlier this month when the website domain on the license plates of about 15% of registered vehicles in the state led computer users to an online gambling and virtual cockfighting website in the Philippines.The War of 1812 license plates were designed to commemorate the bicentennial of the war in 2007 and the URL used on the plates, www.starspangled200.org, led to the state’s War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission.Ownership of the domain changed when the commission ended in 2015. The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration recently took action to reclaim the expired domain, said Ashley Millner, deputy director of media relations, in an email to WTOP.“In partnership with the state Department of Information Technology, the MVA engaged the services of a reputable domain broker and was able to successfully recover the URL earlier this week,” Millner said.“Going forward, the MVA will maintain the URL, which will redirect visitors to the agency...

No pot by the ocean: Ocean City lawmakers take steps to prevent cannabis use

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:37 GMT

In less than a month, marijuana use and possession will be legal in Maryland. But Ocean City isn’t on board with any changes.Ahead of July 1 — when possessing and using small amounts of marijuana becomes legal in Maryland — Ocean City council members are taking steps to ensure most public places remain cannabis free.Councilmembers unanimously passed the first reading on an ordinance to ban cannabis consumption licenses and fine those that violate it, according to Ocean City Today.There are also discussions about how to prevent resort businesses from selling or allowing pot on their property. The existing laws that prevent smoking on the beach or boardwalk will remain in place.Source

Dos aviones “probablemente chocaron” entre sí en Tokio

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:37 GMT

(CNN) — Dos aviones “muy probablemente chocaron” entre sí en el aeropuerto de Haneda en Tokio, informó la emisora ​​pública japonesa NHK, citando al Ministerio de Transporte del país.Los dos aviones de pasajeros implicados pertenecían a EVA Air y Thai Airways y se cree que entraron en contacto entre sí cerca de una pista de rodaje alrededor de las 11 de la mañana hora local, informó NHK el sábado por la mañana.La agencia citó a la Oficina de Aviación de Tokio del Ministerio de Tierra, Infraestructuras, Transporte y Turismo (MLIT), que está trabajando para confirmar los detalles de la situación.La emisora señaló que 207 pasajeros y la tripulación viajaban a bordo del avión de EVA Air, mientras que otros 264 viajaban en el vuelo de Thai Airways. No se ha informado de heridos.La pista cercana a donde se detuvieron los dos aviones ha sido suspendida, con lo que solo quedaron tres en funcionamiento.Un video de NHK muestra cómo falta parte de una de las alas del avión ta...

Fresher, warmer air ahead of DC Pride celebrations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:37 GMT

West side view of the United States Capitol building under the rainbow(Getty Images/iStockphoto/ddmitr) West side view of the United States Capitol building under the rainbow(Getty Images/iStockphoto/ddmitr) Saturday is here, and unlike the past few days, being active outdoors should be much less heavy on the lungs. Here’s what you need to know (and some ideas on where to go) as you head out the door.Air quality throughout the region is expected to remain of moderate quality throughout Saturday — a good day for outdoor exercise for most people.Minus some brief showers, 7News First Alert chief meteorologist Veronica Johnson said the day will likely bring on higher temperatures ahead of an even warmer Sunday.&...

Greens want Germany to use heat pumps. But they’ve struggled to install one in party HQ

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:37 GMT

BERLIN — The Greens want Germany to ban gas and oil heating and switch to heat pumps — but have been struggling to install such a device in their own party headquarters for years.The Greens wanted to use the renovation of its headquarters in the heart of Berlin to renew its gas heating system, making it climate-neutral and in line with their plans for German society. But according to a report in Der Spiegel, the party has been trying and failing since the end of 2019 to complete construction work and install a heat pump.At the time, Michael Kellner, then general secretary of the party and now state secretary in Robert Habeck’s economy ministry, said during a tour: “We’ll rebuild the house first and then the land.”Things turned out differently, however, as the Green Party’s approval ratings have plummeted to 14 percent from 23 percent last summer — and the heat pump, a blue box with a fan, vegetates in the courtyard of the headquarters. In an ambitiou...

New US intelligence shows Russia’s deepening defense ties with Iran

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:37 GMT

The Biden administration is releasing intelligence showing the deepening defense relationship between Russia and Iran, releasing imagery on drone manufacturing and delivery to the battlefield in Ukraine.A now-declassified government graphic shows the drones are built in Iran, shipped across the Caspian Sea to Russia — with a port Iran helped develop — and then transferred to two air bases.Russian forces eventually use those weapons in Ukraine, where Moscow has for months terrorized the Ukrainian people with Iranian-made drones. As of May, Russia has received hundreds of one-way attack craft, as well as production-related equipment from Tehran, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement.The Kremlin asked for more attack drone deliveries from Iran last month after depleting previous shipments, a development that the Biden administration announced in another attempt to name and shame the two nations.U.S. officials also have information that Russia is rec...

The startling, damning details in the Trump indictment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:37 GMT

Classified documents found in a shower. A clumsy effort to move boxes and hide them from the FBI. A damaging admission, caught on tape. And Donald Trump’s own public statements, used against him.Those are some of the details in the indictment charging Trump and a longtime aide with an extraordinary scheme to hoard national secrets that Trump took to his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving the White HouseHere are some of the most notable revelations.Showing off military plansOn at least two occasions after leaving office, Trump displayed classified documents to others visiting him at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, the indictment alleges. In July 2021, Trump showed a writer, a publisher and two staff members a “plan of attack” that he said had been prepared for him by the U.S. military, the charges say. The audio-recorded meeting reportedly involved a document that Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley drafted about Iran.Trump allegedly made a potentially damning admission ...

Luis Robert Jr.’s walk-off single gives Chicago White Sox their 6th win in last 7 games to stay 3½ games out of 1st in AL Central

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:37 GMT

Elvis Andrus was on second, representing the game-winning run for the Chicago White Sox with one out in the ninth inning.Andrew Benintendi, a left-handed hitter, was due up with the right-handed hitting Luis Robert Jr. on deck, leaving a tough choice for the Miami Marlins with right-handed reliever Dylan Floro on the mound.They elected to intentionally walk Benintendi, setting up a potential inning-ending double play.“It didn’t surprise me because he’s a pitcher that throws a lot of sinkers, and I thought their plan was to face me trying to get a ground ball. But at the same time, they were trying to not face a lefty,” Robert said through an interpreter.Robert came through, ripping the second pitch past third baseman Jean Segura and down the left-field line for a game-winning single as the Sox beat the Marlins 2-1 in front of 21,023 on Friday at Guaranteed Rate Field.“For any athlete, the best thing you can do is help your team to win a game, and to me ...

Rains unleashed by typhoon worry thousands of people fleeing restive Philippine volcano

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:37 GMT

BONGA, Philippines (AP) — Thousands of people who fled their homes in the central Philippines to escape a restive volcano have to contend with another threat that’s complicating the ongoing evacuations: monsoon rains that could be unleashed by an approaching typhoon. More than 6,000 villagers have been forced to leave rural communities within a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) radius of Mayon volcano’s crater in northeastern Albay province. Thousands more may also need to be moved to safety from the permanent danger zone, officials said. Others living outside the perimeter have packed their bags and voluntarily left with their children for evacuation centers in Albay, which was placed under a state of calamity on Friday to allow more rapid disbursement of emergency funds in case a major eruption unfolds.Authorities raised the alert level for the volcano on Thursday after superheated streams of gas, debris and rocks cascaded down its upper slope, indicating activity below the surface tha...

Islamic State claims responsibility for suicide bombing on memorial service in northeast Afghanistan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:37 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on a memorial service in northeast Afghanistan that killed at least 13 people and wounded 30 others.In a statement late Friday, the IS regional affiliate — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province — said the attacker targeted the service near Nabawi Mosque in the city of Faizabad in Badakhshan province on Thursday.The militant group’s statement gave higher casualty figures than those provided by the Taliban-run government, claiming that at least 20 senior Taliban officials died and 50 others were injured.The memorial service was being held for Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi, the deputy governor of Badakhshan killed in a car bombing on Tuesday in Faizabad. That attack, which killed the deputy governor’s driver and wounded 10 others, was also claimed by the Islamic State group.A former Taliban police official was among those killed in the memorial service explosion, said the Taliban interior ministry spok...