Ford recalls vehicles for air-bag defect

Ford recalls vehicles for air-bag defect

DETROIT

Ford Motor Co is recalling 31,867 vehicles in the U.S. and Canada because their driver’s-side air bags may not inflate properly.

The recall affects the 2016-2017 Ford Edge, the 2016-2017 Lincoln MKX and the 2017 Lincoln Continental. Most are in the U.S. but 4,336 are in Canada.

The air bags were made by Japanese supplier Takata Corp., but they don’t have the same deadly problem that has led to a recall of millions of Takata air bags.

In that case, air bags can inflate with too much force and spew shrapnel at occupants.

In Ford’s case, the air bags may not fill completely because of misaligned components.

Ford will begin notifying customers the week of March 13. Dealers will replace affected air bags for free once parts are available.

Snapchat parent rockets higher in Wall Street debut

NEW YORK

The company behind Snapchat closed on a high note in its Wall Street debut, proof, at least for a day, that there’s investor demand for young but still unproven tech companies.

Shares of Snap Inc. jumped $7.58, or 44 percent, to close at $24.48 Thursday.

The company had priced its initial public offering of 200 million shares at $17 each Wednesday. That was above the expected range of $14 to $16.

Syrian army retakes town of Palmyra

BEIRUT

Syria’s military announced Thursday it has fully recaptured the historic town of Palmyra from the Islamic State group as the militants’ defenses crumbled and IS fighters fled in the face of artillery fire and intense Russia-backed airstrikes.

The development marks the third time that the town – famed for its priceless Roman ruins and archaeological treasures IS had sought to destroy – has changed hands in one year.

It was also the second blow for the Islamic State group in Syria in a week, after Turkish backed opposition fighters seized the Syrian town of al-Bab from the militants Feb. 23, following a grueling three-month battle. In neighboring Iraq, the Sunni extremist group is fighting for survival in its last urban bastion in the western part of the city of Mosul.

Survivor of bar shooting released from hospital

KANSAS CITY, Kan.

A Kansas man who survived an apparently racially motivated shooting at a suburban Kansas City bar has been released from the hospital.

Ian Grillot was one of three men shot Feb. 22 at Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kan. One of the men, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, was killed. Kuchibhotla’s friend, Alok Madasani, was wounded.

The University of Kansas Health System said in a statement Thursday that Grillot was released from the hospital Tuesday. A bullet hit Grillot in the hand and entered his chest when he tried to stop the suspected gunman, 51-year-old Adam Puriton, of Olathe. Puriton is charged with murder and attempted murder.

Witnesses say Puriton shouted racial slurs before shooting Kuchibhotla and Madasani, natives of India who were engineers at GPS-maker Garmin.

Associated Press