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Iran’s navy seizes oil tanker near Oman, heading for Houston

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:23 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s navy seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday heading to the U.S. amid wider tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program, the latest-such capture in a waterway crucial for global energy supplies.The U.S. Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet identified the vessel as the Advantage Sweet. Satellite tracking data for the vessel from MarineTraffic.com showed it in the Gulf of Oman, just north of Oman’s capital, Muscat, on Thursday afternoon. It had just come from Kuwait and listed its destination as Houston.The Advantage Sweet issued a distress call at 1:15 p.m. while in international waters as Iran seized the vessel, the Navy said. “Iran’s actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability,” the 5th Fleet said in a statement. “Iran should immediately release the oil tanker.”The Navy initially said Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard se...

9 still missing after boat sinks in west Indonesia, 11 dead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:23 GMT

PEKANBARU, Indonesia (AP) — A speedboat carrying at least 78 people sank in western Indonesia, and rescuers were searching for nine people still missing in the rough seas early Friday.Rescuers have retrieved 11 bodies, mostly women and children, and rescued 58 people so far, many of them unconscious after drifting in choppy waters for hours, said Nyoman Sidhakarya, the Pekanbaru Search and Rescue Agency chief.Local television footage showed people standing on an overturned boat trying to reach a fishing boat packed with survivors.The Evelyn Calista 01 was carrying 72 passengers, mostly people returning from visits to their hometowns to celebrate Eid al-Fitr holiday with families, and six crew members, Sidhakarya said.The boat sank Thursday afternoon about three hours after leaving a port in Tembilahan, a town in the Indragiri Hilir Regency in Riau province. It was bound for Tanjung Pinang city in a neighboring province in the Riau Islands chain, a 200-kilometer (124-mile) trip.The c...

Young, Stroud, Richardson go in top 4 of NFL draft

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:23 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Quarterbacks dominated the first part of the NFL draft.Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson were among the top four picks Thursday night, an expected result in a league where teams know finding a franchise QB is the quickest path to success.The Carolina Panthers selected Young, the slender and dynamic Alabama quarterback, with the No. 1 pick, seven weeks after making a blockbuster trade with Chicago to move up to get their choice of potential franchise players.The Panthers chose the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner over Ohio State’s Stroud, Florida’s Richardson and Kentucky’s Will Levis. New coach Frank Reich said earlier in the week that the organization reached a consensus Monday after several weeks of deliberation.Stroud didn’t have to wait long. He went No. 2 to the Houston Texans, who then made a blockbuster deal with Arizona to acquire the No. 3 pick and selected Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr.Richardson then went at No. 4 to the Indian...

NATO: Ukraine allies sent 1,550 combat vehicles, 230 tanks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:23 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — NATO allies and partner countries have delivered more than 98% of the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine during Russia’s invasion and war, the military alliance’s chief said Thursday, giving Kyiv a bigger punch as it contemplates launching a counteroffensive.Along with more than 1,550 armored vehicles, 230 tanks and other equipment, Ukraine’s allies have sent “vast amounts of ammunition” and also trained and equipped more than nine new Ukrainian brigades, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.More than 30,000 troops are estimated to make up the new brigades. Some NATO partner countries, such as Sweden and Australia, have also provided armored vehicles.“This will put Ukraine in a strong position to continue to retake occupied territory,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.His comments came a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a “long and meaningful” phone call in their first k...

Debt ceiling: McCarthy wins 1st round, Biden eyes long game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:23 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Kevin McCarthy surprised Washington when he showed he could unite the House’s raucous Republican majority to pass a sweeping package to raise the nation’s debt limit by $1.5 trillion in exchange for steep spending reductions, an opening bid awaiting President Joe Biden’s response.The next moves are more difficult, and politically uncertain.This week’s stunning turnaround for the battle-hardened Republican speaker is only act one in what is expected to be a long summer battle with Democrats to find agreement to lift the nation’s borrowing capacity and avert a potentially catastrophic debt default.Biden on Thursday had no direct response to McCarthy’s maneuver. The White House has made clear it is not willing to barter with Republicans over whether or not the nation will pay its bills. Democrats opposed the harsh spending cuts Republicans proposed, and the president vowed to veto McCarthy’s bill.“We’re not negotiating on this,” said White House pr...

Bears select Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright with 10th pick in the NFL Draft

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:23 GMT

CHICAGO — With their first top ten pick in the draft in five years, the Bears decided to make an addition to their offensive line.After trading with the Eagles to move back one spot to the tenth overall pick, the Bears have selected offensive tackle Darnell Wright from Tennessee. He is the first of the team's scheduled ten picks over the next three days.A native of Huntington, West Virginia, where he was a five-star recruit and top ten prospect in high school, Wright played for the Volunteers from 2019-2022. He took the field in 47 career games, playing in 11 games his first year when he was named to the SEC's All-Freshman team.Wright would then start ever game for the next three seasons as he continue to develop into one of the conference's best tackles. In 2022, he was named a first team All-SEC selection and was named the conference's offensive lineman of the week twice. A semifinalist for the Lombardi Award, Wright didn't allow a sack in the final 19 games of his collegiate care...

Seahawks take Illinois CB Devon Witherspoon at No. 5 overall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:23 GMT

RENTON, Wash. (AP) — The Seattle Seahawks continued the overhaul of their defense, selecting Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon with the No. 5 pick of the NFL draft.Despite edge rusher Tyree Wilson and defensive tackle Jalen Carter still on the board, the Seahawks opted to solidify their cornerback position a year after Seattle spent two draft picks on cornerbacks in Tariq Woolen and Coby Bryant. 2023 NFL Draft tracker: Follow Round 1 picks live Thursday Witherspoon was regarded as one of the top two cornerbacks in the draft despite being slightly undersized from what Seattle has opted for in the past with players at the position.Witherspoon blossomed in his final season at Illinois where he was the Big Ten defensive back of the year, had three interceptions and 17 passes defensed.

Peter Skoronski, Park Ridge native & former Northwestern offensive tackle, picked by Titans in NFL Draft

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:23 GMT

CHICAGO — A player who grew up in the Chicago area and then played his college football in Evanston now knows where he'll begin his career in professional football.Offensive tackle Peter Skoronski, a Park Ridge native who was a standout at Maine South High School and Northwestern, was picked by the Tennessee Titans with the 11th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.Skoronski is one of the highest-rated offensive lineman in this year's draft after he was a unanimous All-American and Big Ten Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year Award winner in 2022. The tackle was also a two-time first team All-Big Ten selection the last two seasons and made the second team in 2020. Before Northwestern, Skoronski was a four-star prospect for Maine South and was selected to All-State teams in 2018 and 2019. Also a three-time All-Conference and All-Area selection, he recorded 173 pancake blocks for the Hawks. Peter is the grandson of the late Bob Skoronski, who was an offensive lineman for the Pac...

Barrington native Lukas Van Ness selected by the Packers in 2023 NFL Draft

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:23 GMT

CHICAGO — For the second time in three picks early in the 2023 NFL Draft, a native of the Chicago area got to hear his named called by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.Defensive end Lukas Van Ness, a native of Barrington who played for Iowa, was picked by the Packers with the 13th overall pick in the draft. A three-star recruit out of Barrington High School, he played three seasons at Iowa but primarily played in 2021 and 2022. In 24 games with the Hawkeyes, Van Ness had 13 sacks with 19 tackles for loss, including six sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss in the 2022 season.In his final campaign at Iowa, he was named a second team All-Big Ten selection.

Police: Noose found at middle school in Naperville

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:23 GMT

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — A noose found at a middle school in Naperville has prompted a police investigation. The Naperville Police Department launched the investigation after a faculty member at Scullen Middle School found it and reported it to police. ‘Get her’: Suburban parents accused of encouraging daughters to beat classmate It's not yet clear when or where at the school it was found.Naperville police said they are working with Indian Prairie School District 204.The investigation is in the "early stages," police said.