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Canada closing in on deal to get Stellantis battery plant back on track: Champagne

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:00 GMT

OTTAWA — A deal to save a $5-billion electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor is inching closer, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Wednesday.“I would say everyone should take a deep breath, things are going well, the negotiations are progressing,” Champagne said following a Liberal caucus meeting in Ottawa.“We’re getting closer to the end of the negotiation.”The federal government, Ontario, Stellantis and LG Energy Solution have been in heavy negotiations for a few weeks after the companies paused construction on their planned factory in a dispute over federal subsidies.The negotiations have been stuck between what Canada thinks is fair and affordable and what the company believes it is due. It has threatened to move the plant out of Windsor if it doesn’t get what it says it was promised by the federal government in a “special contribution agreement” in February.Champagne said the company has to be “reasonable.&...

Court of Appeal overturns ruling directing Ottawa to help repatriate men in Syria

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:00 GMT

OTTAWA — The Federal Court of Appeal has overturned a judge’s declaration that four Canadian men being held in Syria are entitled to Ottawa’s help to return home.In a ruling released Wednesday, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal said the federal government is not obligated under the law to repatriate the men. The Canadians are among the many foreign nationals in Syrian camps and jails run by Kurdish forces that reclaimed the strife-torn region from the extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.The latest ruling sets aside a January decision by Federal Court Justice Henry Brown, who directed Ottawa to request repatriation of the men from the squalid conditions as soon as reasonably possible and provide them with passports or emergency travel documents. Brown said the men were also entitled to have a representative of the federal government travel to Syria to help facilitate their release once their captors agree to hand them over. The men include Jack ...

North Carolina sports, horse-race betting legislation backed by Senate in key vote

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:00 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Legalized sports gambling in North Carolina cleared what could be one of its final legislative hurdles on Wednesday as a measure to authorize and regulate betting and tax revenues received a strong affirmative vote in the Senate. Senators voted 38-11 for the chamber’s version of the measure, which also would authorize adults over 21 to bet on live horse racing in the state or elsewhere. The bill needs one more Senate “yes” vote on Thursday before it gets sent to the House, which passed a version in March that omitted horse racing and directed the state to levy a lower tax on gambling operators who receive licenses to offer the games. The House will have to decide whether to vote to accept the Senate’s changes. Doing so would send the Senate proposal to the desk of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who has expressed support for legalized sports wagering. Rep. Jason Saine, a Lincoln County Republican and chief sponsor of the House bill said in a text that he...

B.C. pharmacists set to treat minor ailments, prescribe contraception starting June 1

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:00 GMT

VANCOUVER — Pharmacists in British Columbia will have more responsibilities starting June 1 in an effort to improve access for those without a family doctor and ease the stress on an overburdened health system.The College of Pharmacists of BC says 75 per cent of eligible community pharmacists have completed the training required to be able to diagnose and prescribe medications for 21 minor ailments like acne, shingles or urinary tract infections, as well as prescribe contraception.Health Minister Adrian Dix says the new services will make it easier and faster for patients to get medication and take the pressure off nurses and doctors who can focus on those with more complex needs. He says the province is launching a website on June 29 so residents can book appointments with pharmacists online, similar to the system used to get vaccines.These latest powers come after changes last October that allowed pharmacists to administer more vaccines and renew prescriptions for up to a two-year...

American Airlines says it will appeal a ruling that would break up a partnership with JetBlue

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:00 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines said Wednesday it will appeal a court decision that would force the airline to break up its partnership with JetBlue Airways in the Northeast.American and JetBlue face a late-June deadline to end the agreement in which they coordinate flights and share revenue. The Justice Department sued to block the alliance, and a federal judge ruled last week that the partnership violates antitrust law.“We’ve got a system that allows for appeal, and we are going to do that,” American CEO Robert Isom said during an investor conference. “In the meantime, we are going to have to work with (the Justice Department), work with JetBlue, to find out exactly what we do in the interim.”American could seek a stay of the judge’s order while it appeals. The Justice Department declined to comment.Losing the alliance would be a setback for American, which would need to find another way to grow in New York and Boston, where it has retreated over many years in the face...

Born in a typhoon: Many, including newborns, remain without electricity as Guam recovers from storm

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:00 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — About a week after Typhoon Mawar tore through Guam as the strongest typhoon to hit the U.S. Pacific territory in over two decades, most of the island remained without electricity and the governor appealed for patience during a recovery process expected to take at least a month. Even though Mawar caused no deaths or catastrophic destruction, officials said that as of Wednesday only 28% of power had been restored on the oppressively hot and humid island. About 44% of cell towers were functional Wednesday and about half the water system was operational, Bob Fenton, regional administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency told The Associated Press via phone from Guam.Mawar briefly made landfall as a Category 4 storm late on May 24 on the northern tip of the island of roughly 150,000 people, flipping cars, tearing off roofs and leaving trees bare. There have been long lines for gas and officials estimate it will be four to six weeks before power is fully restore...

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says he never heard of Jeffrey Epstein until after his 2019 arrest

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has testified that he never heard of Jeffrey Epstein and his crimes against teenage girls and young women until the financier was arrested in 2019, according to a transcript of the videotaped deposition released Wednesday.Dimon said he first heard about it “when the story blew wide open. He was arrested, and all the stories came out about all the people he knows. And the reason I remember that is I was surprised that I didn’t know about it before.”Asked by a lawyer if he’d ever heard the name Jeffrey Epstein before his arrest, Dimon responded, “Not that I recall.”Dimon made the revelation during a videotaped deposition recorded last week in connection with lawsuits filed against the nation’s largest bank.The lawsuits on behalf of Epstein victims and the U.S. Virgin Islands in Manhattan federal court seek to hold JPMorgan financially liable for Epstein’s decadeslong abuse of teenage girls and young women.The bank, besides denying t...

Court: No lawsuit immunity for Michigan official who had rifle during online meeting

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:00 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — A lawsuit can go forward against a Michigan official who flashed a rifle during a public meeting over video conference, a federal appeals court said Wednesday.Patricia MacIntosh is suing Ron Clous, alleging he tried to silence her right to free speech when he displayed the rifle during a 2021 meeting of Grand Traverse County commissioners.Clous has no governmental immunity at this stage of the litigation, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 2-1 opinion.“Virtually smirking and displaying a high-powered rifle at someone during a tension-filled public meeting is pregnant with dangerous meaning,” said judges Jane Stranch and Stephanie Dawkins Davis.The incident occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic when the county board met over video conference. During the public comment period, MacIntosh urged commissioners to make a statement opposing anti-government militia groups, a few weeks after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.That’s when Clous, a commissione...

5 children hospitalized after smoking vape pen at Chicago elementary school

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:00 GMT

CHICAGO -- Five children were taken to local hospitals after reportedly smoking a vape pen in gym class at a Chicago elementary school Wednesday.According to the Chicago Fire Department, five children were transported to local hospitals after reportedly "smoking a substance" at Harvard Elementary School on Chicago's south side just before 2 p.m. Wednesday. Waukegan man trying to stop fight outside bowling alley shot, killed A source told WGN that the students were on a field trip to Lincoln Park Zoo Tuesday when one of them picked up a discarded vape pen and brought it to school Wednesday.According to the Chicago Police Department, several students vaped during gym class. It's unclear what substance the vape pen contained.The children involved are reportedly 9 to 10-years-old and are all in good condition, according to the CFD.WGN has reached out to Chicago Public Schools for comment, but have yet to hear back.No further information has been provided at this time.Stay with WGN as ...

White House, GOP both claim victory on student loans in debt limit bill

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:06:00 GMT

The hot-button issue of student loans has found its way into the high-stakes debt ceiling deal, with Republicans claiming a victory that the end of the pandemic-era payment pause is locked in, and the White House arguing that no concessions were made.The debt deal outlines that the pause ends 60 days after June 30 and removes the possibility of another extension, which advocates were hoping to extract from President Biden. Biden had outlined in November that payments would resume either 60 days after the Supreme Court rules on his student loan forgiveness plan or 60 days after June 30, whichever came first. But the final bill text doesn’t factor in the high court decision at all.The locked-in date is causing fury among student loan advocates who were looking for another reprieve and creates more concerns for borrowers as the bill faces hurdles on its way through Congress.“Borrowers got sold out. That's, I mean, the general feeling that I'm having, and I know a lot of our supporters ...