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US steps toward forcing recall of 52 million air bag inflators that can explode and hurl shrapnel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:53 GMT

By TOM KRISHER (AP Auto Writer)DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government is taking a big step toward forcing a defiant Tennessee company to recall 52 million air bag inflators that could explode, hurl shrapnel and injure or kill people.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Tuesday said it has made an initial decision that the inflators made by ARC Automotive Inc., and under license by another company, are defective. The agency scheduled a public hearing for Oct. 5, a required step before deciding to seek a court-ordered recall.In May the agency asked ARC to recall the inflators, which it says are responsible for at least seven injuries and two deaths in the U.S. and Canada since 2009. But ARC has refused to issue a full-scale recall, setting the stage for the possible court fight.Messages were left Tuesday seeking comment from ARC. The company maintains that no safety defect exists, that NHTSA’s demand is based on a hypothesis rather than technical conclusions, ...

Biden awards Medal of Honor to Army helicopter pilot who rescued soldiers in a Vietnam firefight

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden awarded the Medal of Honor to Capt. Larry Taylor on Tuesday, honoring the Army pilot who risked his life during the Vietnam War by flying into heavy enemy fire to save four members of a reconnaissance team from almost certain death as they were about to be overrun. On the night of June 18, 1968, then-1st Lt. Taylor flew his Cobra attack helicopter to rescue the men after they had become surrounded by the enemy. “It was pitch black. No moon. No stars. No light beyond the glow of Lieutenant Taylor’s cockpit control, when he heard a whisper coming through his radio, ‘We’re surrounded,’” Biden said, adding, “Lieutenant Taylor knew the risks, but he was ready.” Taylor, a Tennessean who is now 81, recalled in an interview last week that he had to figure out how to get the men out, otherwise “they wouldn’t make it.”David Hill, one of the four Taylor saved that night, said his actions were what “we now call thinking outside the box.”Hill and...

At least 7 people die as severe rainstorms trigger flooding in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:53 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Fierce rainstorms battered neighboring Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria on Tuesday, triggering flooding that caused at least seven deaths, including two holidaymakers swept away by a torrent that raged through a campsite in northwestern Turkey.Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said four other people were missing after the flash flood swept over the campsite in Kirklareli province, near the border with Bulgaria. He said about 12 vacationers were at the site when the waters hit.Search teams had located two bodies, he said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “The search and rescue efforts for the missing (four) continue uninterrupted,” he added.Television footage showed rescuers carrying a young girl and an adult to safety from waters reaching waist-high in some areas. The rains also damaged and forced the closure of a main road, HaberTurk television reported.In Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, heavy rain flooded streets and homes in ...

Trump plans to attend the Iowa-Iowa State football game in the leadoff 2024 GOP voting state

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:53 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former President Donald Trump plans to attend Saturday’s football game between Iowa State University and the University of Iowa, his campaign said.The game, hosted this year by the Iowa State Cyclones in Ames, is the marquee sporting event in the state, which is scheduled to host the leadoff Republican presidential nominating caucuses in January. The visit will mark Trump’s sixth trip to the state this year. Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who is among a dozen challengers to Trump for the 2024 GOP nomination, also plans to attend the Iowa State-Iowa game, his campaign said. With about four months before the caucuses, Trump leads his rivals in Iowa by wide margins in recent polls, despite facing four criminal indictments. Two of the indictments allege that he acted illegally to try to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.Trump is the heavy favorite in early caucus polls, with 42% of likely Iowa Republican caucus participants ...

Swiss parliamentary panel urges expulsions of Russian, other spies who threaten national security

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:53 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — A Swiss parliamentary commission voted Tuesday to urge the government to systematically expel Russian and other spies who threaten Switzerland’s security through illegal intelligence activities. The foreign affairs commission of the lower house of parliament passed the motion by 11 votes to 9, with one abstention. It amounts to a procedural step that would require broader authorization by the Swiss executive branch to take effect.It comes as the Swiss legislature grappled with a flurry of Russia-related matters as its latest session gets under way. Switzerland has faced criticism from both Moscow and the West about its self-professed neutrality in international affairs against the backdrop of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s more than 18-month war against Ukraine.The United States and some other Western countries are frustrated over Switzerland’s refusal to allow European partners to ship Swiss-made weaponry to Ukraine, among other complaints. Switz...

New York police agree to reform protest tactics in settlement over 2020 response

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:53 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s police department has agreed to establish new policies intended to safeguard the rights of protesters as part of a legal settlement stemming from its response to the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2020.The 44-page agreement, filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, requires the nation’s largest police department to deploy fewer officers to most public protests. It would end the NYPD’s practice of trapping and arresting large groups of demonstrators, a controversial tactic known as kettling.The proposed changes must still be approved by a federal judge. But the agreement signals a likely resolution in the lawsuit filed by New York State Attorney General Letitia James in 2021, which detailed a pattern of civil rights violations committed by police as protests swept through the city following George Floyd’s death in May 2020.“Too often peaceful protesters have been met with force that has harmed innocent New Yorkers simply trying to exercise their...

‘A very long wait’: Yellowknife prepares for people to return home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:53 GMT

The shelves have been filled with food at the Yellowknife Co-op and the grocery store is preparing for tens of thousands of people to return as an evacuation order is scheduled to be lifted Wednesday.“I’m glad that tomorrow it will finally be over and people will be able to return to beautiful Yellowknife,” said Justin Nelson, the grocery store’s general manager.Lifting the order remains contingent on fire and highway conditions, but N.W.T. wildfire information officer Mike Westwick said Monday that no challenges are expected for Highway 1 for the next few days.Tuesday’s cool fall air was welcomed in the territorial capital as familiar faces of essential workers started to stream back into Yellowknife to ensure that the city would be prepared for the return of residents.Yellowknife city manager Sheila Bassi-Kellett said workers in grocery stores, pharmacies, home-heating providers, and even some taxi drivers and day-care providers, had already started t...

S&P/TSX composite posts loss Tuesday ahead of rate decision, U.S. markets also lower

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:53 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index moved lower as investors await an interest rate decision from the Bank of Canada Wednesday, while U.S. stock markets also posted losses. The S&P/TSX composite index was down 131.60 points at 20,413.76. Energy stocks and battery metals moved higher, while telecom, utilities and base metals led market weakness. The Bank of Canada is set to announce its latest rate decision on Wednesday. The central bank is widely expected to hold its key rate steady, but the question is whether it’s done its hiking cycle entirely. “I think that they are done hiking,” said Brianne Gardner, senior wealth manager of Velocity Investment Partners at Raymond James Ltd.But the central bank will likely leave the door open to further hikes with a “wait and see” message, said Gardner. If it indicates it’s done hiking, it risks sparking confidence for consumers and re-lighting the inflation fire. “If people start knowing interest rates are coming down, then they will...

Search underway for missing man last seen in Grand Crossing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:53 GMT

CHICAGO — A search is underway for a missing 69-year-old man who was last seen in mid-August, police say. Chicago Police say Bernard Williams was last seen in the 6300 block of Martin Luther King Drive in Grand Crossing at around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, August 14. According to police, Williams was last seen wearing a red jacket and tan shorts. Williams also requires the assistance of a mobility walker.Police say Williams stands 5'9" tall and weighs around 160 Lbs. He has brown eyes and black hair.Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Bernar Willaims is asked to call the Chicago Police Department at 312-747-8380. Tips for police can also be filed at CPDtip.com. Tips can be left anonymously.

Dolton's Miles Scott gets Big Ten honor after a big play for Illinois

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:53 GMT

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — One of the biggest plays of Illinois' opening week win was made by a Chicago area native who has had quite a start to his collegiate football career. Not even Miles Scott would have foreseen his biggest play with the Illini so far coming on the defensive side of the ball - but his team is happy it did. The Dolton native and Illinois safety, who came to the school as a wide receiver, had a "Pick Six" in the third quarter against Toledo on Saturday, helping the Illini claw back from a 12-point second half deficit. They'd go on to win the game 30-28 on Caleb Griffin's last-second field goal as Bret Bielema's team won their third-straight season opener. For that effort, Scott was named the Big Ten Conference's Co-Defensive Player of the Week along with Minnesota safety Tyler Nubin.While he had six tackles against the Rockets, including five solo tackles, it was his 48-yard interception return of a pass from Dequan Finn with Illinois trailing 19-7 that earned the accola...