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Target says it will close nine stores in major cities across four states because of theft and organized crime

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:39 GMT

New York (CNN) — Target is closing nine stores in major cities across four states, claiming theft and organized retail crime have made the environment unsafe for staff and customers – and unsustainable for business.The big box chain is part of a wave of retailers – both large and small – that say they’re struggling to contain store crimes that have hurt their bottom lines. Many have closed stores or made changes to merchandise and layouts.Nevertheless, skeptics say stores have not provided enough information to back up their claims, and at least one retailer said theft was an exaggerated issue.“We cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests, and contributing to unsustainable business performance,” Target said in a statement. “We know that our stores serve an important role in their communities, but we can only be successful if the working and shopping environment is safe for all.”It’s not clear tha...

Russia’s Wagner troops are back on the battlefield, Ukraine says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:39 GMT

KYIV — Mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group are back fighting on the front line in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian military official told POLITICO on Wednesday.Several hundred fighters from the group once ruled by now-dead warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin were spotted fighting in the ranks of different Russian military units on the eastern front, said Colonel Serhiy Cherevatyi. Wagner mercenaries had fought in Ukraine until May when they finally occupied the remains of Bakhmut, a Donetsk region town which was razed during nine months of brutal fighting. Wagner was notorious in Ukraine for mercilessly decapitating Ukrainian soldiers and killing civilians.After Wagner was thrown into disarray following an aborted insurrection against the Kremlin in June led by Prigozhin — who subsequently died in a fiery plane crash in August — many of its troops were either welcomed to Belarus by its ruler Alexander Lukashenko or deployed to African countries where Russia has interests....

‘Where are France, America and Charles Michel?’ Armenians rage as 50,000 flee Nagorno-Karabakh

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:39 GMT

KORNIDZOR, Armenia — Ethnic Armenians are venting their frustration at the EU’s failed attempts to mediate in the growing humanitarian crisis over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh — as more than half of the territory’s residents now appear to have fled, fearing ethnic cleansing by Azerbaijan’s army. Baku’s lightning advance into Nagorno-Karabakh last week — and the subsequent refugee exodus — is a stinging diplomatic failure for the EU, which had staked significant political capital in trying to style itself as a peacemaker. European Council President Charles Michel became a prominent personality in the region, and EU observers were deployed to observe the Armenia-Azerbaijan frontier. Ultimately, however, the EU now looks unlikely to turn to sanctions against Azerbaijan as it is unwilling to rock relations with a nation that it calls a “crucial” partner on natural gas supply. On Wednesday morning, Armenian officials told POLITICO that 50,200 peopl...

France’s Niger debacle marks end of an era in Africa

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:39 GMT

PARIS — France’s days as a military power in Africa are numbered. French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to withdraw from Niger signals the end of an era for France — one marked by military interventions in the West African Sahel region, and a sense in Paris that its former colonies in Africa were still in some way France’s private preserve. For more than two months, Macron took a defiant stance, ignoring the ultimatum set by the junta in Niger, who came to power in July after a military coup. France refused to engage with the junta leaders or move on their demands to remove French troops stationed in the country to fight terrorism. But in the face-off between France and the putschists, Paris blinked first. On Sunday, Macron announced that France would gradually withdraw its 1,500 soldiers by the end of the year and that France’s ambassador, who had been living under quasi house arrest in the capital Niamey, would be brought home. The ambassador, Sylvain It...

5 Taunton police officers hurt in knife attack, suspect faces multiple charges, including assault with intent to murder

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:39 GMT

A suspect was taken into custody Tuesday night after five police officers were hurt in a knife attack in Taunton, officials said. The incident began around 6:45 p.m., when the suspect showed up at an unrelated traffic stop near the intersection of County and Hart streets and began yelling at officers, according to police. The suspect, officials said, was “not affiliated with the stopped motorist” and eventually left the area in his car. A short time later, Police Chief Edward Walsh said another officer spotted the suspect driving erratically and pulled him over. But the suspect allegedly fled the traffic stop, nearly hitting an officer, and prompting a police chase that ended when he crashed his vehicle into the entryway of a home on West Britannia Street, Walsh said.That home was later determined to be his residence.Walsh said the man ran into the house, pulled out a knife, and began waving it at officers. One officer who suffered cuts to his face and the back of h...

More than a dozen people were arrested after multiple stores were looted around Philadelphia, police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:39 GMT

(CNN) — More than a dozen people were arrested after stores were looted when a large crowd gathered in Philadelphia’s Center City district Tuesday night, police said.The looting began shortly after the conclusion of peaceful protests against a judge’s decision to dismiss all charges against a former Philadelphia police officer, Mark Dial, in the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry on August 14, authorities said. The city’s police commissioner said he believes the looters were “opportunists” that were not directly connected to the protests.“This had nothing to do with the protests. What we had tonight was a bunch of criminal opportunists take advantage of a situation,” Commissioner John Stanford in a late-night news conference.Police started getting calls around 8 p.m. from businesses reporting they were being broken into or getting ransacked, Stanford said.The protest over the Irizarry case ended around 7:30 p.m., and though the police departme...

A Rhode Island man is charged with possessing 26 pounds of cocaine in a kayak on a Vermont lake

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:39 GMT

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A Rhode Island man has been charged in Vermont with possessing 26 pounds (12 kilograms) of cocaine with the intent to distribute it after federal authorities observed him putting packages into a kayak on Lake Champlain near the Canadian border, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.The U.S. attorney’s office said agents encountered Freddy Rodriguez, 38, of West Warwick, Rhode Island, behind a rented camp in Highgate on the night of Sept. 18 and into September 19, according to court documents. The agents say they saw him walk to the shores of Lake Champlain with a bag. After agents got word that a vessel had entered the United States on the lake and was traveling south near the camp, they say they saw Rodriguez load objects from a bag into a kayak and start to drag the boat into the water, according to court documents.Rodriguez tried to flee when agents confronted him but was apprehended. The objects in the kayak were brick-like packages containing a white pow...

Everything Patriots HC Bill Belichick said in extensive rundown of Cowboys

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:39 GMT

FOXBORO — Bill Belichick clearly has a lot of respect for the Cowboys as the Patriots prepare for their Week 4 opponents.To begin his Wednesday news conference, the Patriots head coach gave a five-minute rundown on the Cowboys’ personnel and everything they do well from their rookie defensive tackle to their special-teams standouts.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots extra points: Bill O’Brien calls Cowboys defender a top-5 player in the NFL New England Patriots | OBF: Mac Jones creates controversy with saucy confrontation New England Patriots | Patriots place DL Daniel Ekuale on IR, release William Hooper from practice squad New England Patriots | Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez has Cowboys’ attention with early standout play New England Patriots | Why the Cowboys are changing their offense before facing the Patriots “It’s always interesting to look at Dallas her...

Five officers wounded by knife-wielding suspect in Taunton, police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:39 GMT

Five officers were injured in Taunton last night after a knife-wielding man allegedly attacked officers trying to subdue him following a chaotic sequence of events that started with a traffic stop and ended with a crash into a house, and the alleged attack.One officer was flown to a Boston hospital with serious slash wounds to the face and back of his head, a second officer was treated at the hospital for knife wounds. Taunton’s police chief was treated for a stab wound at Morton Hospital and two additional officers were treated for injuries sustained in the mayhem.The suspect, who remains unnamed, is hospitalized and will face felony charges, according to police.Police initially encountered the suspect when he pulled alongside an unrelated traffic stop at about 6:45 p.m. on County Street and began shouting at officers.The suspect sped off and police did not follow him.However, another officer spotted the suspect driving erratically in his gray 2010 Honda Accord and pulled him over....

Patriots’ Bill Belichick backs away from Micah Parsons-Lawrence Taylor comparison

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:39 GMT

Over the years, Bill Belichick has maintained Lawrence Taylor is the greatest defensive player in NFL history.According to Belichick, no pass rusher has resembled Taylor or managed to replicate the impact he made over 13 seasons with the Giants as a 10-time Pro Bowler, 8-time All-Pro and former league MVP.But this week, Belichick made an exception. During his weekly Monday interview on WEEI, Belichick voluntarily compared Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons to Taylor, a Pro Football Hall of Famer.“(Parsons)’s a big, physical player that’s very athletic and quick. Along the lines of a (Lawrence) Taylor,” Belichick said. “That kind of athlete.”Asked about his comment on Wednesday, Belichick backed away from the comparison.“Lawrence played outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense. (The Cowboys) don’t even have a 3-4 defense,” he said. “I’m not saying they should, but that’s just totally different.”Belichick then reiterated Parsons...