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Auto workers expand their strike to 38 locations in 20 states. Official says Biden to show support

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:09:12 GMT

The United Auto Workers union expanded its strike against major carmakers Friday, walking out of 38 parts-distribution centers operated by General Motors and Jeep and Ram owner Stellantis in 20 states but sparing Ford from further shutdowns.President Joe Biden will go to Michigan on Tuesday to support the union, according to a person familiar with his plans. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the visit had not been announced publicly, gave no further details about the trip.Ford avoided additional strikes because the company has met some of the union’s demands during negotiations over the past week, UAW President Shawn Fain said during an online presentation to union members.“We’ve made some real progress at Ford,” Fain said. “We still have serious issues to work through, but we do want to recognize that Ford is showing that they are serious about reaching a deal. At GM and Stellantis, it’s a different story.” Fain said GM and Stellantis, the successor to F...

New York to require flood disclosures in home sales as sea levels rise and storms worsen

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:09:12 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday signed a bill requiring people selling their homes to disclose whether their properties have been flooded or are at risk for future flooding. The new law comes as inland areas in the state have become more vulnerable to flooding, with climate change spurring on rising sea levels and more intense storms. The signing will make New York at least the 30th state in the country to require flood disclosures during home sales. New York has a similar law in place for rental properties. The law closes a loophole in state law that has allowed home sellers to pay a $500 fee to avoid disclosing their home’s flood risk. The law also requires sellers to disclose additional information about flooding in their properties, such as whether the property is in a flood hazard area and if any flood insurance claims have been filed.A National Climate Assessment report has found that the Northeast region is seeing the greatest increase in extrem...

Yukon ‘trying to understand the path forward’ following India trade mission

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:09:12 GMT

WHITEHORSE — Yukon’s premier says meetings in India aimed at attracting more workers to the territory went very well, but the path forward is murky after the prime minister suggested India was involved in the death of a B.C. activist.Ranj Pillai says he was preparing for a last day of meetings in India as part of a weeklong trade mission to Asia, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that “credible” intelligence links India’s government to the killing of a Sikh independence activist. Pillai says his trip included talks in India around bringing more doctors and nurses to the territory and possible agreements related to training opportunities.Now he says his government will be watching to see how the growing tensions unfold.Pillai says he’s particularly concerned about the future of the visa and immigration process between the two countries, but doesn’t believe places with such close economic ties can sever their relationship completely.    T...

Police investigation closes 3 lanes on southbound Highway 400 in King City

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:09:12 GMT

A police investigation has closed the three right lanes of the southbound Highway 400, south of King Road.Ontario Provincial Police say only the HOV lane is getting through, causing a backlog.Police are advising drivers to take alternate routes.There’s no indication on when the lanes will reopen at this point.#HWY400 SB south of King Rd, 3 right lanes closed for a police investigation. Traffic getting by in HOV lane. Please take alternate routes. #AuroraOPP investigating. Updates to follow. ^nm pic.twitter.com/QVk678i1pH— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) September 22, 2023

Man accused in London, Ont. attack smiled multiple times during arrest, trial hears

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:09:12 GMT

A man accused of murdering four members of a Muslim family in Ontario was seen by police smiling “like he had good news” throughout his arrest, his trial heard Friday.Nathaniel Veltman, who has pleaded not guilty, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder for deliberately hitting five members of the Afzaal family with his truck while they were out for a walk in London, Ont.Prosecutors have alleged Veltman’s actions in June 2021 amount to an act of terrorism.Const. Patti Leavoy-Costa, who was among the first London police officers to arrive at the parking lot where Veltman was located, told jurors she saw Veltman continuously “yelling, screaming, smiling, laughing” and “causing a scene” while being arrested and searched.“There was multiple times that he appeared to be smiling,” between his other actions, said Leavoy-Costa.Despite Veltman being at a constant “excitable level” d...

Police arrest two more people following killing of eight-year-old girl in Alberta

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:09:12 GMT

EDMONTON — Police in Edmonton have charged two more people following the killing of an eight-year-old girl whose remains were found on a First Nation south of the provincial capital.Officers responded on April 24 to a welfare call about the girl at an Edmonton home but were unable to locate her.Her remains were discovered five days later on the Samson Cree Nation in Maskwacis.Shayden Lightning, who is 21, and Raighne Stoney, who is 36, have been charged with being an accessory to murder and causing an indignity to a body.Three others were initially charged in the case.Police are not releasing the names of two of the accused in order to protect the identities of other children related to the victim, whose identity is under a publication ban.A 27-year-old woman faces a charge of first-degree murder and a 25-year-old man faces charges of being an accessory to murder and causing an indignity to a body. Edward Nievera, 67, was charged with being an accessory to murder and causing an indi...

Hollis Watkins, who was jailed multiple times for challenging segregation in Mississippi, dies at 82

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:09:12 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Hollis Watkins, who started challenging segregation and racial oppression in his native Mississippi when he was a teenager and toiled alongside civil rights icons including Medgar Evers and Bob Moses, has died. He was 82.Watkins — who also sometimes went by Hollis Watkins Muhammad — died Wednesday at his home in the Jackson suburb of Clinton, Mississippi, according to the Veterans of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement, a group for which he was chairman.“I’m just extremely heartbroken over his passing,” Cynthia Goodloe Palmer, the group’s executive director, said Friday. “He was a tremendous friend, leader, co-worker and someone that everyone looked up to, someone who sacrificed tremendously.”Michael Morris, director of the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, said Watkins “dedicated his entire life to improving the lives of Black Mississippians.”Watkins was born July 29, 1941 — the youngest of 12 children whose p...

CP NewsAlert: One B.C. RCMP officer on stretcher, another had bleeding leg: witness

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:09:12 GMT

COQUITLAM, B.C. — At least two RCMP officers have been injured in what is being described as a critical incident in the Metro Vancouver city of Coquitlam. Carley Hodges says she saw one officer being taken out of a building on a stretcher while getting chest compressions, and a second officer was bleeding from the leg with a tourniquet above it. Premier David Eby told reporters that a critical incident had happened in the city, but the public was no longer in danger. More coming. The Canadian Press

Here’s what Canada is pledging in multi-year support for Ukraine, updated trade deal

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:09:12 GMT

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday that Canada is making a multi-year commitment to provide steady support to Ukraine, including hundreds of millions of dollars for new armoured vehicles.The two countries also signed a modernized trade deal, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits the country for the first time since Russia’s full-scale assault of Ukraine began last year.A spokeswoman for Trade Minister Mary Ng said the new deal does not include substantial changes on market access, but adds services and investment clauses to the agreement, along with progressive language around labour standards and gender equality.Meanwhile, the multi-year commitment includes $650 million over three years for 50 armoured vehicles that are to be built in London, Ont.Friday’s announcement brings Canada’s total committed support to Ukraine to more than $9.5 billion since the beginning of 2022, according to a news release.The new commitment comes as Ukra...

Gold bars, cash-stuffed envelopes: New indictment of Sen. Menendez alleges vast corruption

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:09:12 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Sen. Bob Menendez was charged Friday with secretly aiding the authoritarian government of Egypt and trying to thwart the criminal prosecution of a friend in exchange for gold bars and cash, as prosecutors unsealed a corruption indictment that accuses him of using his foreign affairs influence for personal gain.The indictment, the second in eight years against the powerful 69-year-old New Jersey Democrat, alleges an illegal commingling of Menendez’s professional obligations as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to advance U.S. priorities and his private interest in cultivating relationships with wealthy businessmen. The indictment also charges him, his wife and three New Jersey businessmen who authorities say showered the couple with money, gold and a luxury car in exchange for his actions on their behalf. A previous indictment of Menendez stemming from different allegations ended in 2017 with a deadlocked jury. Hours after the indictment was unsealed,...