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Autoworkers strike at Stellantis plant shutting down big profit center, 41,000 workers now picketing

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

The United Auto Workers union has once again escalated its strikes against big Detroit automakers, this time adding a factory that makes Ram pickup trucks for Stellantis.The union says that 6,800 members walked out Monday morning and shut down the Sterling Heights, Michigan, Assembly Plant, a huge profit center for the company.The newest strike action comes just three days after union President Shawn Fain reported progress in talks with General Motors and Stellantis but said the companies will have to make better offers. No progress was reported with Ford, which last week said it had the best offer of the three.The union went on strike Sept. 15 at one assembly plant from each company. About 40,800 workers are now on strike against all three automakers. The strikes, now in their sixth week, cover seven assembly plants and 38 parts warehouses. About 28% of the union’s work force at the three company’s are now on strike.General Motors, which increased its offer last week, a...

Heavy rains drench northeast Caribbean as Hurricane Tammy spins into open waters

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Tammy unleashed heavy rain in the northeast Caribbean on Monday as it spun over open waters after making landfall in Barbuda.The storm was located about 260 miles (420 kilometers) north of Anguilla. It had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and was moving north at 7 mph (11 kph). Tammy was expected to strengthen slightly in upcoming days and then weaken, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.The storm was forecast to drop up to three inches (eight centimeters) of rain in the Virgin Islands and the northern Leeward Islands, with meteorologists warning of mudslides and isolated flash flooding.Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Otis whirled through open waters in the Atlantic on a path toward Mexico’s southern coast.The storm was located about 375 miles (605 kilometers) south-southeast of Acapulco, Mexico. It had winds of up to 45 mph (75 kph) and was moving north at 7 mph (11 kph).A tropical storm watch was in effect from...

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson wants his wax figure improved

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

(CNN) — Dwayne Johnson has heard the complaints about his wax figure and says he’s doing something about it.The Musée Grévin, a museum in Paris, France, that specializes in wax figures of famous people, came under fire recently for a sculpture of Johnson that many found to be too light skinned to represent the actor, who is multi-ethnic.Some people took to social media to accuse the museum of “white washing” the figure of the “Black Adam” star, commenting that the recently unveiled likeness suffered from a “melanin deficiency.”Johnson, whose late father, the wrestler Rocky Johnson, was of Black Nova Scotian descent and his mother, Ata Maivia, is Samoan, saw the outrage and addressed it Sunday on social media.Johnson posted a video of comedian James Andre Jefferson talking about the wax figure and wrote in the caption, “I knew my boy @jamesjeffersonj had this Rock wax statue in his roasting crosshair.”“‘Is this how y’all felt when you lost the Little Mermaid?’” he quot...

An off-duty pilot tried to take control of Alaska Airlines flight before being subdued

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

(CNN) — An off-duty pilot riding as a passenger in the cockpit of an Alaska Airlines flight tried to seize control of a plane headed from Seattle to San Francisco on Sunday, the airline and a source familiar with the matter said.A pilot assigned to the flight told air traffic controllers a person riding in the cockpit of flight 2059 attempted to turn off the aircraft’s engines in flight. Pilots will occasionally ride a cockpit “jump seat” when traveling in an official capacity or commuting to another airport.Joseph Emerson, 44, has been arrested by the Port of Portland Police Department and charged with 83 felony counts of attempted murder, 83 counts of reckless endangerment and one count of endangering an aircraft, online booking records show.Emerson is an off-duty pilot who is accused of trying to seize control of the Alaska Airlines flight, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The airline he works for wasn’t immediately known.The plane took off from Seattle Paine Fiel...

Erdoğan, at last, sends Sweden’s NATO bid to Turkish parliament

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

BRUSSELS — The Turkish government on Monday submitted Sweden’s NATO accession bid to the country’s parliament for ratification, ending a months-long guessing game over whether Ankara intended to postpone its approval process further.“The Protocol on Sweden’s NATO Accession was signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on October 23, 2023 and referred to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey,” the presidency posted on social media platform X.Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson hailed the move. “Welcome that President Erdoğan signed Sweden’s ratification protocol to NATO and submitted it to the Grand National Assembly of [Turkey]. Parliamentary procedures will now commence. We are looking forward to becoming a member of NATO,” his office posted on the same platform.Turkey has long blocked Sweden’s bid, criticizing Stockholm for harboring members of Turkish opposition groups that Erdoğan’s government considers to be “terrori...

Leave or comply with EU law: EU digital chief warns X chief Elon Musk

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

X owner Elon Musk will have to comply with European Union law and clamp down illegal content on the social network if it wants to keep on doing “good business” in the region, the EU’s digital chief Věra Jourová said today.“With Mr. Musk, the dialog doesn’t go well, very simply,” Jourová told reporters in the wake of an EU probe into how the platform shows graphic illegal content and disinformation linked to Hamas’ attack on Israel. The tech mogul denied a report last week that he was considering pulling X out of Europe to avoid new requirements for digital platforms. X is used by over 101 million Europeans in the bloc. Under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), the company must swiftly take down content and ensure the network limits disinformation and cyberviolence. Musk does “good business in [the] European Union, but it will be his decision and if he decides to stay in as well, he will have to comply with the EU law,” Jourová s...

‘Be on alert’: Authorities identify woman found dead at Gardner home as search for her potentially armed husband continues

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

Authorities are warning the public to be on alert as they search for an “armed and dangerous” man in connection with the death of a woman in Gardner, who was found in a home Sunday after their young children sought help from a neighbor, officials said.Massachusetts State Police said Aaron Pennington, 33, of Gardner, was being sought in connection with the homicide death of his wife, Breanne Pennington, 30.According to an arrest warrant, Breanne was found Sunday morning after police were called to the couple’s Cherry Street home. The warrant described how a neighbor had called 911 after the couple’s children ran to their house, stating that their father was missing and that their mother had been crying inside of a bedroom.Arriving officers later found Breanne in the room she shared with her husband, suffering from a gunshot wound to the face.The four children, ages 2, 5, 7, and 9 were inside the home at the time of the incident and are now in the custody of th...

Jury finds Logan Clegg guilty on multiple murder charges for 2022 deaths of Concord, NH couple

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

A man accused of killing a retired couple in Concord, NH, a year ago was found guilty of all the charges he faced after jurors spent less than two days deliberating.Logan Clegg had been charged in connection with the deaths of Djeswende and Stephen Reid, who authorities say were shot to death while out on a hiking trail in Concord, NH, in April 2022.The retired couple was initially reported missing after they left their home in Concord for a walk on April 18. Their bodies were found days later, both with multiple gunshot wounds, setting off an investigation that ended when police arrested Clegg in Vermont in October that year.It took investigators six months before Clegg was taken into custody in a library in South Burlington.He was later arraigned on charges that included four counts of second degree murder, four counts falsifying evidence, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. On Monday, Oct. 23, a jury returned a guilty verdict on all nine...

QB Tyson Bagent was precise — and the Chicago Bears finally won at home: Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on Week 7

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

10 thoughts after the Chicago Bears beat up the Las Vegas Raiders at the line of scrimmage and got a precise outing from undrafted rookie free agent Tyson Bagent on their way to a commanding 30-12 victory Sunday.The win at Soldier Field snapped a 10-game home losing streak.1. An early play that provided a glimpse into how the afternoon would go for Tyson Bagent came on the second series of the game.It was the second time Bagent, the Division II kid from Martinsburg, W.Va., was asked to throw on third down.The first third down, at the end of the opening possession, was a screen pass that D’Onta Foreman mishandled, maybe the only miscue of the day for the hard-chugging running back. On the next series, the Bears faced third-and-5 at their own 49-yard line. Starting in place of Justin Fields, who was knocked out of last week’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings with a dislocated right thumb, Bagent was in a big spot early in the game. A clear throwing situation for an offense th...

Day 20 with no House speaker as Republicans struggle and lower-level names reach for the gavel

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

By LISA MASCARO (AP Congressional Correspondent)WASHINGTON (AP) — Day 20 without a House speaker, and Republicans found themselves starting over on Monday — bumbling ahead with few ideas about who will lead, what they are fighting over and when they will get Congress working again.Nine lower-level Republican lawmakers are now running to be speaker, leader of the House and second in second in line to the presidency. — none with any clear shot for the gavel. Senior-most is Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the former campaign chief who is now the GOP whip. But the gruff hockey coach is disliked by Donald Trump, potentially dooming his candidacy.Late Monday evening, House Republicans are retreating behind closed doors, as they have most days since the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, to hear from the candidates ahead of internal party voting.McCarthy himself calls the whole spectacle “embarrassing” for the House Republicans whose majority is being wasted away and for ...