TERRORISM SUPPORT
Man gets 15 years in prison for posting bomb instructions
MIAMI (AP) — A South Florida man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for posting bomb-making instructions on the internet for people who he believed were Islamic terrorists. Court records show that 29-year-old Samuel Baptiste was sentenced Wednesday in Miami federal court. He pleaded guilty in October to attempting to provide material support to terrorists. According to an indictment, Baptiste posted documents online in November 2016 that included “Instructions: How to Make a Homemade Pipe Bomb,” “Pipe Bombs,” “Improvised Explosive Devices” and “Improvised Munitions Black Book, Volume 1.” Prosecutors say Baptiste posted the information for people who he believed were acting on behalf of the Islamic State terrorist group.
BELARUS-FLIGHT DIVERTED
4 Belarus officials charged with air piracy
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. prosecutors have charged four Belarusian government officials with aircraft piracy for diverting a Ryanair flight last year to arrest an opposition journalist. The charges in Manhattan federal court were announced Thursday by federal prosecutors. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a release that the defendants corrupted standards followed by countries around the world to keep passenger airplanes safe by using a false bomb threat as an excuse to divert the flight. He says the indictment provides a prompt and public explanation of what actually happened to Flight 4978. Partially in response to the diversion last May, President Joe Biden levied sanctions against Belarus.
AP-US-VIRUS-OUTBREAK-GUN-STORE-CLOSURES
California’s COVID gun store shutdowns ruled illegal
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A federal appeals court has found that two California counties violated the Constitution’s right to bear arms when they shut down gun and ammunition stores in 2020 as nonessential businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. Officials in Los Angeles and Ventura counties had separately won lower court decisions saying gun stores were not exempt from broader shutdown orders aimed at limiting the spread of the coronavirus early in the pandemic. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday rejected both lower court rulings as violations of the Second Amendment. The court said the closures “wholly prevented law-abiding citizens … from realizing their right to keep and bear arms.”
AP-US-GREAT-LAKES-INFRASTRUCTURE
Long-sought Great Lakes projects get funding under new law
The Biden administration’s new infrastructure package will pump more funding into two high-profile Great Lakes projects. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it will devote $479 million to construction of a new shipping lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The money will be enough to finish the long-sought lock, which will boost passage of cargo vessels between Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes. An additional $226 million will help complete preconstruction and design work at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Illinois. Technologies are being installed there to prevent invasive carp from reaching Lake Michigan.
AP-US-NORTHEAST-CORRIDOR-TUNNELS
Rating upgrade clears way for $10B Hudson tunnel project
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal regulators have given a key approval to a $10 billion project to build a new train tunnel under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey. The Federal Transit Administration announced Thursday it had upgraded the project’s rating. That makes it eligible to pursue federal grants. The widely anticipated move came after years of lower ratings by the FTA during the Trump administration. The administration had clashed with the two states over how much money they had committed to pay to build the tunnel. The current 111-year-old tunnel is a regular source of delays due to aging infrastructure.
AP-US-NETFLIX-RESULTS
Netflix stock plunges as subscriber growth worries deepen
SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Netflix delivered its latest quarter of disappointing subscriber growth during the final three months of last year, a trend that management foresees continuing into the new year as tougher competition is undercutting the video streaming leader. The company added 8.3 million worldwide subscribers during the October-December period, about 200,000 fewer than management had forecast. Netflix predicted subscriber growth well below analyst estimates for the first three months of this year, too. The disappointing news announced Thursday caused Netflix’s stock price to plunge by about 19%, deepening a steep decline during the past two months.
CANADA-US-BORDER DEATHS
Florida man charged after 4 found dead at Canada-US border
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — A Florida man has been charged with human smuggling after the bodies of four people, including a baby and a teen, were found near the Canada United States border in Manitoba. The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota said Steve Shand, who is 47, appeared in court earlier Thursday. The bodies were found Wednesday in Manitoba near the border community of Emerson. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police say it’s believed they died from exposure while trying to cross the border into the U.S. from Canada. The U.S. Attorney’s Office say the dead were a family of four Indian nationals.
AP-UNITED-STATES-UKRAINE
Biden issues new warning to Russia over invading Ukraine
GENEVA (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden says any Russian troop movements across Ukraine’s border would constitute an invasion, saying Moscow would “pay a heavy price” for such an action. It was the latest White House effort to clear up comments Biden made a day earlier when he suggested that a “minor incursion” by Russia into Ukrainian territory could result in a more measured response by the United States and allies. His comments come as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepares to meet Friday in Geneva with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a high-stakes bid to ease tensions that appears likely to fail.
WINTER WEATHER
The Carolinas and Virginia brace for blast of ice, snow
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The Carolinas and Virginia are bracing for more winter weather, with officials urging drivers to stay off potentially icy roads and schools canceling classes in coastal areas that don’t frequently see frozen precipitation. Forecasters predict the storm will arrive as mixed precipitation on Thursday, followed by a round of snow on Friday night into Saturday. The winter blast could ice over a large swath of eastern North Carolina and the northeastern corner of South Carolina, while dumping snow around Norfolk, Virginia. The governors of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia have each declared states of emergency as they prepare.
AP-FINANCIAL MARKETS
Stock losses mount as investors eye earnings, inflation
A late-afternoon sell-off wiped out gains for stocks on Wall Street Thursday and sent major indexes deeper into losing territory for the year. The S&P 500 lost 1.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9%. The Nasdaq slumped 1.3% after rising by 2.1% earlier in the day, mostly due to a reversal in technology stocks. As investors prepare for higher interest rates, shares in pricey tech companies and other expensive growth stocks look relatively less attractive. The major indexes yo-yoed between gains and losses throughout the day. Stocks are headed for weekly losses in what has so far been a losing month.
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