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Former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra, jailed after returning from exile, requests a royal pardon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:22 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who recently returned from exile and began serving an eight-year prison term, has requested a royal pardon, a senior member of the outgoing Cabinet said Thursday. Thaksin was moved from prison to a state hospital soon after his return last week for reported ill health.Wissanu Krea-ngam, who is acting justice minister as well as a deputy prime minister, said he has received a letter from Thaksin requesting a pardon, but declined to say how long it would take to be approved.“The process of approval entirely depends on his royal grace,” he said. Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, giving King Maha Vajiralongkorn the final word on pardons of convicted criminals.Thaksin, by promoting populist policies and using the fortune he made in telecommunications to build his own political party, was elected prime minister in 2001 and easily reelected in 2005. He was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and accused of corruption, abuse o...

JCPenney is spending $1 billion on store and online upgrades in latest bid to revive its business

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:22 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — JCPenney said Thursday it plans to spend more than $1 billion by the end of 2025 in a bid to revive the storied but troubled 121-year-old department store chain.The money is going toward remodeling JCPenney stores, upgrading its online shopping site and app, and making its supply network more efficient so that online orders are delivered more quickly.JCPenney’s CEO Marc Rosen, who took the company’s helm in November 2021 and has served as an executive at Levi Strauss and Walmart, is renewing the chain’s focus on its core middle-income shoppers with affordable fashion and housewares.“Now is the time more than ever to lean into that and make sure that we’re delivering that experience for our customer,” Rosen said in an interview with The Associated Press. That’s a change of tactics from previous management teams that pursued wealthier shoppers with offers of trendy items and major appliances.As part of the plans unveiled Thursday, check-out stations that had been locat...

1 dead, 18 injured following head-on crash in Howard County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:22 GMT

Listen live to WTOP for the latest traffic updates on the 8s.A man is dead after the vehicle he was driving collided head-on with a passenger bus early Thursday morning in Jessup, Maryland.The crash happened on Route 32 near Interstate 95 at about 3:24 a.m., when a Buick Enclave SUV traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes struck a Greyhound bus carrying 38 passengers, according to Howard County police.The driver of the Buick, an adult male, was pronounced dead at the scene.The bus driver and 17 passengers were transported to hospitals, all with non-life-threatening injuries.Route 32 eastbound traffic was diverted to I-95 (Exit #13), according to the WTOP Traffic Center. All lanes were blocked along the on-ramp for over four hours. All lanes reopened at 8 a.m.An investigation is ongoing, police said.A map of the area is below. Source

Jim Harbaugh laments suspension, keeping him from No. 2 Michigan opener against East Carolina

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:22 GMT

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Jim Harbaugh is used to being busy on Saturdays in the fall.When No. 2 Michigan plays East Carolina on Saturday at the Big House, though, Harbaugh will have some free time. Harbaugh will start serving a three-game suspension, imposed by the school in an attempt to lessen eventual punishment for breaking NCAA rules, when perhaps the best college team he has coached kicks off the season.Harbaugh said going to his son’s game might be an option for his afternoon activities, adding he didn’t know if he would watch his team play on TV — or not.“It’s uncharted waters,” he saidHarbaugh was knocked out of games as a quarterback at Michigan and in the NFL with a broken arm along with knee and shoulder injuries, but he said this blow hits different.“I’ve heard people comment that it’s a slap on the wrist,” he said. “It’s more like a baseball bat to the kneecaps.”Harbaugh’s game-day roll will be filled by defensive coordinator Jesse Minter against...

Investors’ shift to low-cost funds brings average fees down

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:22 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Fund investors are keeping more of what’s theirs. Fees for mutual funds and exchange-traded funds fell to a record low last year, according to Morningstar. Fund investors paid about $37 in fees for every $10,000 invested, down from $40 in 2021. Altogether, that saved them a collective $9.8 billion.While that doesn’t change the fact that many stock and bond funds stuck investors with losses last year, it means they at least weren’t even worse. Funds take out their fees whether prices are rising or falling. Finding a lower-cost fund isn’t a guarantee of better performance, but it means a fund has a head start on higher-cost rivals when it comes to after-fee returns, which are what count. Investors have noticed, and they’re pouring into the lowest-cost funds as a result. The cheapest 20% of funds attracted $394 billion in net new investment last year, according to Morningstar. The remainder of the funds, meanwhile, saw $734 billion leave. I...

Idalia en Florida en vivo: trayectoria, última hora, noticias y más

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:22 GMT

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Microsoft to stop packaging Teams and Office software in Europe to head off EU antitrust action

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:22 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Microsoft will stop packaging its Teams videoconferencing app with its Office software in Europe in an effort to head off antitrust penalties by regulators. The tech giant also said Thursday that it would take steps to make it easier for competing products to work alongside its software. The announcement comes a month after the European Union’s executive Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s top competition enforcer, opened a formal investigation over concerns that bundling Teams with Office gives the company an unfair edge over competitors. The investigation was triggered by a complaint filed in 2020 by Slack Technologies, maker of popular workplace messaging software. Slack, owned by business software maker Salesforce, alleged that Microsoft was abusing its market dominance to eliminate competition — in violation of EU laws — by illegally combining Teams with its Office suite, which includes Word, Excel and Outlook.“Today we are announcing proactive chan...

Clergy dish up meatball sundaes, pickle ice pops and a little faith at the Minnesota State Fair

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:22 GMT

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. (AP) — As the sun rose on an unusually steamy opening day of the Minnesota State Fair, Jeff Knott and his two daughters joined the already long breakfast line outside the Hamline Church Dining Hall.The Lutheran family, at the fair to show the teen girls’ pigs Billy and Lil’ Red, favor this Methodist all-volunteer diner for its early opening, variety of foods including the signature “hamloaf” sandwich, and religious mission. “They use their proceeds for mission work, which I think is important,” Knott said before the family bowed their heads to say grace at the hall’s bustling tables. “Can’t get deep fried Oreos, though,” quipped Elsie Knott, 13. Faith offerings are plentiful and deep-rooted at the late-summer agricultural fairs that, nationwide, bring together 4-H children parading their prize animals and political candidates unleashing their ambitions.Here in the middle of the Twin Cities, in addition to two church dining halls that have served up hot meals fo...

McConnell’s frozen moment renews questions about America’s aged leaders

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:22 GMT

(CNN) — It was an excruciating moment of powerlessness for one of Washington’s most powerful men.Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s words dried up and he froze, standing silent and staring straight ahead for around 30 painful seconds in the middle of a press conference Wednesday – the second time he had endured such an uncomfortable on-camera ordeal since July. It is not clear whether it has happened more times away from the public’s gaze. But for a proud senator who has dominated the chamber for many years, the momentary loss of lucidity is embarrassing at the very least, and could become an increasing political problem.The 81-year-old Kentucky Republican was able to resume his remarks, haltingly answering a question on the commonwealth’s gubernatorial race, and later attended a fundraiser for a Senate candidate. But his misfortune immediately revived questions about his health and age – especially since he suffered a concussion in a fall earlier this year. His office insiste...

Labor Day weekend gas prices are near all-time highs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:22 GMT

New York (CNN) — Drivers hitting the roads this Labor Day weekend will be greeted by historically high gas prices for this time of the year.The record-high for gas prices during the week leading up to Labor Day was set in 2012 at $3.84 a gallon, according to a CNN review of federal data that goes back to 1990.Current prices are just shy of that. The national average for regular gas ticked up to $3.83 a gallon on Wednesday, according to AAA.Normally, prices at the pump cool off as the summer winds down. Not this summer.For a variety of reasons — including OPEC holding back supply and extreme heat that has messed with refineries — gas prices have steadily increased this summer. The national average price for regular gas stood at $3.58 a gallon on Memorial Day, the unofficial start to summer.“This is abnormal. Prices normally fade towards the end of the summer,” said John LaForge, head of real asset strategy at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute.Eleven states across the country avera...