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California woman says she unwittingly was drawn into plot to kidnap Iranian opposition activist

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:13:59 GMT

When Niloufar “Nellie” Bahadorifar moved to Orange County from Canada in 2011, she appeared to be starting what could become a positive new chapter in what had, until then, been a difficult life.Years before, when she was 19 years old, Bahadorifar fled her home country of Iran. After ending up in Canada, she wed her husband in an arranged marriage, only to later suffer physical abuse at his hands, according to court documents.Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad gestures as she speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) Despite that, Bahadorifar had managed to build a career as an elementary school teacher and raise her young son. By 2011, she had divorced her first husband and was headed to California to be with her new husband.Just three years later, however, Bahadorifar would start corresponding with an old family friend in Iran. The messages between them would, by 2023, ultimately land her in prison, the o...

California man charged on suspicion of acting as an insurance agent without a license, pocketing premiums

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:13:59 GMT

A Fullerton man was charged on Monday, April 10, for his suspected role in acting as an insurance agent without a valid license and pocketing unearned premiums from cancelled policies.Gregory Magedman, a formerly licensed insurance agent, was charged in Orange County Superior Court with one felony count of grand theft by embezzlement after he allegedly secured insurance for a consumer and failed to give the payment to the insurance company, the California Department of Insurance said in a news release. He is suspected of keeping the money from the payments for personal use and leaving the consumer uninsured.In November 2011, Magedman, 77, was issued a suspension order by the Department of Insurance because of a criminal investigation. He pleaded guilty in 2012 to one count of grand theft and his insurance license was revoked by the state insurance agency.The most recent embezzlement charge stems from a 2018 investigation into Magedman after the department received a complaint allegi...

California startup wants fuel cells to power next generation of carbon-free jet travel

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:13:59 GMT

Beyond a splashy paint job that included a big “H” on the tail, the 40-passenger turboprop jet that took off mid-morning March 2, from a small airport in central Washington, looked like any other regional airliner.But with that 15-minute demonstration flight, with two test pilots and one flight crew member onboard, a three-year-old startup in Hawthorne made history while providing a glimpse of a potential future with quieter, carbon-free air travel.Universal Hydrogen, which counts Harrison Ford as a hangar neighbor at Hawthorne Municipal Airport, replaced the jet’s right turbine engine with a 1-megawatt powertrain fueled entirely by a hydrogen fuel cell. Fuel cells operate similarly to electric batteries but are much lighter, which is key for flight. And rather than needing to be recharged, fuel cells are fed energy-rich hydrogen gas to generate electricity, emitting only water vapor along the way.The company’s March 2 test flight broke records for the largest plane to ever take to ...

Gov. Newsom, AG Bonta strike back at California city’s decisions to reject housing plan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:13:59 GMT

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta are seeking a court order punishing Huntington Beach for its two-time vote rejecting a state-required housing plan, calling for the suspension of the city’s authority to issue building permits and a court order giving the city four months to adopt a housing plan.The state motion filed Monday, April 10, amends a March 8 lawsuit over previous city actions barring duplexes and secondary housing units (called in-law units or ADUs) in single-family neighborhoods. The City Council since rescinded those bans, rendering the state lawsuit moot.However, the council voted at its last two meetings to reject its own 1,164-page “housing element,” a state-mandated plan for construction of 13,368 new homes, including 5,845 affordable housing units. The plan is nearly 18 months late.City officials have objected to the state’s 53-year-old housing element law as meddling in its local affairs, with Councilmember Casey McKeon urging city leader...

Miss Manners: He walked out of our first date after just minutes. Was I in the wrong?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:13:59 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: After chatting online with a man for several days, we agreed to meet for coffee. Within a few minutes of meeting face-to-face, this man informed me that he was going to ask me several political questions, and that if our political opinions didn’t match, there would be no second date.I told him I had come for what I hoped would be a promising date, not a political discussion or test. When I refused to participate, he declared the date to be over and left.Was there a better way to handle this?GENTLE READER: No; it did the trick, which was to rid you of an unpleasant interrogator who hadn’t decided whether you were worth getting to know. (Anyway, Miss Manners thought that people put that sort of requirement in their dating profiles to save themselves fruitless encounters.)DEAR MISS MANNERS: Our son is getting married soon, and there won’t be a rehearsal dinner for my spouse and me to host. (We’re helping to pay for the wedding, along with the ...

Dear Abby: I can’t help being rattled by my nitpicking boss

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:13:59 GMT

DEAR ABBY: I need help. For 10 years I have worked in the deli department at a grocery store and try my very best to get things done. My problem is my boss.She nitpicks and criticizes me to the point that I get so frustrated and angry I can’t focus on work.Abby, I have Asperger’s syndrome, so it’s tough to socialize with customers I don’t know. Half the time when she starts in on me, I become so rattled I can’t finish my task. She accuses me of wearing clothes that aren’t clean even though I wash them every day.I don’t want to do anything I’m going to regret later. Any advice you can give me will be appreciated.LOSING IT IN HAWAIIDEAR LOSING IT: Because you feel you are being discriminated against by the person who heads your department, make an appointment to talk privately with the store manager to discuss what’s going on.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: My dad says he had no choice but to cheat. I’m not buy...

México entrega documentos de regularización a más de 1.000 personas de 21 países

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:13:59 GMT

(CNN) — El Instituto Nacional de Migración de México informo este lunes, a través de un comunicado, que entregó documentos de regularización por causa humanitaria a 1.360 personas migrantes originarias de 21 naciones diferentes.Las autoridades migratorias añadieron que las personas beneficiadas provienen de:Haití, Venezuela, Chile, Afganistán, Angola, Brasil, Ecuador; El Salvador, República Dominicana, Honduras, Colombia, Cuba, Senegal, Sierra Leona, Guayana, Congo, Bolivia, Argentina, Nicaragua, Perú y Guatemala.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.Source

‘Les Misérables’ returns to Kennedy Center where it originally made its pre-Broadway debut in America

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:13:59 GMT

toggle audio on and off change volume download audio WTOP's Jason Fraley previews 'Les Miserables' at Kennedy Center (Part 1) $(function () { $('.wtop-audio-container .fa-play').on('click', function(){ var audio_filename = $('div.wtop-audio-file').data("mp3-url"); ga('send', 'event', 'Audio', 'play', audio_filename); }); }); In 1986, the Kennedy Center hosted the pre-Broadway debut of what would become the “world’s most popular musical,” seen by over 130 million people worldwide in 53 countries and 22 languages.Starting Tuesday, “Les Misérables” returns to the Kennedy Center in D.C. for three ...

Dodgers play the Giants with 1-0 series lead

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:13:59 GMT

Los Angeles Dodgers (5-5) vs. San Francisco Giants (4-5)San Francisco; Tuesday, 9:45 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Dodgers: Dustin May (0-0); Giants: Alex Wood (0-0)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Dodgers -156, Giants +134; over/under is 8 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Los Angeles Dodgers meet the San Francisco Giants leading the series 1-0.San Francisco had an 81-81 record overall and a 44-37 record at home last season. The Giants scored 4.4 runs per game in the 2022 season while giving up 4.3.Los Angeles went 111-51 overall and 54-27 in road games last season. The Dodgers scored 5.2 runs per game in the 2022 season while giving up 3.2.INJURIES: Giants: Roberto Perez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Luke Jackson: 60-Day IL (elbow), Thomas Szapucki: 60-Day IL (left arm), Luis Gonzalez: 60-Day IL (back), Mitch Haniger: 10-Day IL (oblique), Austin Slater: 10-Day IL (elbow)Dodgers: Alex Reyes: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Ryan Pepiot: 15-Day IL (oblique), Jimmy Nelson: 15-Day IL (elbow), Daniel Hudson: 15-Day IL (kn...

DC attorney general urges court of appeals to stop Texas ruling on abortion pill

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:13:59 GMT

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb is one of 24 attorneys general nationwide who doesn’t support a Texas court ruling that could affect access to the most commonly used method of abortion.He joined a coalition of Democratic attorneys general in filing an amicus brief to stop a court ruling restricting access to the abortion pill mifepristone, saying lives could be endangered if the pill becomes unavailable.Access to the drug plunged into uncertainty last week following conflicting court rulings over the legality of the abortion medication, which has been widely available for more than 20 years.More DC NewsMore Health & Fitness NewsThe group wants the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to stop, pending appeal, a district court ruling that would suspend the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone “more than two decades after the drug was originally approved,” a news release from Schwalb’s office said.“Revoking fede...