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Unions say rails should forgo buybacks and spend on safety

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 01:12:39 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Rail unions want railroads to take some of the billions they’re using every year to buy back their stock and spend it to improve safety in the wake of several high-profile derailments and hire more workers.The 12 unions that represent all of the more than 100,000 workers across the industry said Friday that collectively the six biggest freight railroads spent over $165 billion on buybacks — well above the $119 billion they spent on upgrading and maintaining their track and equipment between 2015 and last year. At the same time, their safety record worsened as they cut costs and eliminated nearly one-third of all rail jobs.“I think it has become increasingly apparent that the priorities of the railroads are out of whack,” said Greg Regan, president of the Transportation Trades Division coalition that includes all the rail unions.The fiery Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train that led to evacuations and health fears near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, ...

Brazil’s Lula visits Portugal amid Ukraine tensions with EU

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 01:12:39 GMT

LISBON (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was set to arrive in Portugal on Friday amid heightened tensions with the European Union over his position on the war in Ukraine, following statements suggesting the invaded country and the West share responsibility for the conflict. Lula said last weekend while traveling in the United Arab Emirates and China that both Ukraine and Russia had decided to go to war, and that the U.S. was “stimulating” the fighting. Earlier in the month, he irked Ukraine, the U.S. and the EU by suggesting that Ukraine cede Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014, to end the current conflict. Lula also welcomed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Brasilia on Monday. The following day, Lula condemned the “violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity” while promoting his proposal for a club of nations, including Brazil, to mediate a peaceful resolution to the war.Lula’s trip to Portugal is an opportunity to repair some of the damage to Bra...

Supreme Court set to decide on abortion pill access

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 01:12:39 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is facing a self-imposed Friday night deadline to decide whether women’s access to a widely used abortion pill will stay unchanged or be restricted while a legal challenge to its Food and Drug Administration approval goes on.The justices are weighing arguments that allowing restrictions contained in lower-court rulings to take effect would severely disrupt the availability of the drug, mifepristone, which is used in the most common abortion method in the United States.It has repeatedly been found to be safe and effective, and has been used by more than 5 million women in the U.S. since the FDA approved it in 2000.The Supreme Court had initially said it would decide by Wednesday whether the restrictions could take effect while the case continues. A one-sentence order signed by Justice Samuel Alito on Wednesday gave the justices two additional days, without explanation.The justices are scheduled to meet for a private conference Friday, where t...

Toyota’s new president vows to step on electrification pedal

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 01:12:39 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota’s new president Koji Sato has promised what he called an aggressive shift on “electrification,” while acknowledging criticism that Japan’s top automaker has fallen behind in actual volumes of electric vehicles sold compared to its rivals. “We like to see that as people cheering Toyota on,” to play catchup in electric cars, Sato told reporters Friday at Toyota Motor Corp.’s Tokyo headquarters.“If we look at in practical terms of the situation today, we have done a great deal in reducing carbon emissions,” he said, defending the automaker’s record on other gas-sipping technologies. Toyota is a leader in hybrids, which have both a gasoline engine and electric motor, and Sato stressed that different markets have varying powertrain needs, with emerging markets being slower to adopt pure electric vehicles. But he said pure electric vehicles allow for more software functions because of their connectivity and other features, stressing that Toyota’s electric vehicle...

Retired German archbishop gives up honor after abuse report

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 01:12:39 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A former head of the Catholic German Bishops Conference is giving up the country’s highest honor following scathing criticism this week of his handling of clergy abuse cases during his tenure as archbishop of Freiburg and as a personnel officer in the diocese.A spokesperson for Robert Zollitsch said Friday the 84-year-old informed German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier that he is handing back the Order of Merit, which was bestowed on him in 2014, German news agency dpa reported. He didn’t specify a reason for the move.An independent report commissioned by the Freiburg archdiocese on the church’s handling of abuse cases over decades was presented on Tuesday — the latest in a string of such reports casting light on church officials’ actions, or lack thereof, in dioceses across Germany. One of its authors, Eugen Endress, said that Zollitsch completely ignored canon law in connection with abuse cases during his time in office. He said that, for ex...

Alleged impaired driver arrested in Mississauga crash where vehicle burst into flames

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 01:12:39 GMT

One person has been charged with impaired driving after a fiery two-vehicle crash in Mississauga.The crash happened around 11:30 p.m. Thursday at Derry and Argentia roads.Police say one of the vehicles involved burst into flames and needed to be extinguished by fire crews.Both drivers were brought to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. One of the drivers taken into custody for impaired driving.The investigation is ongoing.UPDATE– Both drivers of each involved vehicle are being transported to local hospital – both men have non-life threatening injuries– 1 driver is in #PRP custody for impaired— Peel Regional Police (@PeelPolice) April 21, 2023   

Music to Trump’s ears: Whitewashing Jan. 6 riot with song

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 01:12:39 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The song is simple and tinny, but that hasn’t stopped it from being embraced by former President Donald Trump and his allies in their campaign to rewrite the history of the deadly Capitol riot. The tune, “Justice for All,” is the Star-Spangled Banner, and it was sung by a group of defendants jailed over their alleged roles in the January 2021 insurrection. Recorded over a prison phone line, the national anthem sounds more like a dirge than celebration and is overlaid with Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Despite its low fidelity, “Justice for All” has garnered a lot of fans. Trump, a Republican, played it at a recent rally in Waco, Texas, as images of Capitol rioters flashed behind him on a big screen, and the $1.29 song last month briefly vaulted to No. 1 on iTunes, supplanting such recording artists as Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift.Experts on extremism and propaganda say the song is another example of how Trump and his most ardent allies are trying to glos...

Russia’s air force accidentally bombs its own city

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 01:12:39 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — When a powerful blast shook a Russian city near the border of Ukraine residents thought it was an Ukrainian attack. But the Russian military quickly acknowledged that it was a bomb accidentally dropped by one of its own warplanes.Belgorod, a city of 340,000 about 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the border, has faced regular drone attacks that Russian authorities blame on the Ukrainian military, but the explosion late Thursday was far more powerful than anything its residents had heard before.Witnesses reported a low hissing sound followed by a blast that made nearby apartment buildings tremble and threw a car on a store roof. It left a 20-meter (66-foot) -wide crater in the middle of a tree-lined boulevard flanked by apartment buildings, shattering their windows, damaging several cars and injuring two residents. A third person was later hospitalized with hypertension.Immediately after the explosion, Russian commentators and military bloggers were abuzz with theories a...

17 states, DC, urge recall of Kia, Hyundai cars in social media challenge

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 01:12:39 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Attorneys general in 17 states on Thursday urged the federal government to recall millions of Kia and Hyundai cars because they are too easy to steal, a response to a sharp increase in thefts fueled by a viral social media challenge.Some Kia and Hyundai cars sold in the United States over the last decade do not have engine immobilizers, a standard feature on most cars that prevents the engine from starting unless the key is present.Videos circulating on the social media service TikTok have shown how people can start Kia and Hyundai models by using only a screwdriver and a USB cable. In Los Angeles, thefts of Hyundai and Kia cars increased by about 85% in 2022, now accounting for 20% of all car thefts in the city, according to the California attorney general's office.These social media-inspired thefts have often ended in tragedy, with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration blaming the stolen car trend for 14 reported crashes and eight deaths. In ...

U.S. News & World Report delays law, medical school rankings amid inquiries from schools

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 01:12:39 GMT

(The Hill) - U.S. News and World Report is delaying its law and medical school rankings, amid an influx of inquiries from schools about how the data is collected, the company said on Wednesday.U.S. News said it has received an “unprecedented number of inquiries” from schools during its data review period for the 2023-2024 Best Graduate Schools lists, causing it to further delay its law and medical school rankings.“We are working to address these inquiries,” the company said in a statement. “The level of interest in our rankings, including from those schools that declined to participate in our survey, has been beyond anything we have experienced in the past.”The news organization had previously announced that it was delaying the release of all graduate school rankings until April 25.However, in its latest update, the company did not provide a specific timeline for the law and medical school rankings, instead saying they “will be released when this work has been completed.”The well-kn...