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Threats of a strike heating up even before UAW begins negotiations with automakers

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:28:21 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — Whenever the United Auto Workers union begins negotiating a new contract with Detroit’s three automakers, threats of a strike are typically heard on the floor of the old Chrysler transmission plant in Kokomo, Indiana. This year, the talk is a little louder.Besides the usual haggling over wages, pensions and health care, the union has set its sights on a more consequential goal: It is determined to secure a foothold in the joint-venture plants that will manufacture electric vehicle batteries in the years and likely decades ahead.As the industry undergoes a historic transition from internal combustion engines to EVs, the automakers will likely need many thousands of workers to staff electric-battery plants. The UAW, representing 146,000 employees of the automakers, sees this year’s contract as a crucial opportunity to ensure representation in the industry’s jobs of the future.“I’ve got almost 30 years in, and this contract seems a little differen...

Under pressure, Tunisia takes back hundreds of migrants trapped in a border zone with Libya

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:28:21 GMT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Hundreds of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa are being transferred back to Tunisia after being pushed into a dangerous no-man’s-land on the Libyan border and trapped for a week there without access to basic necessities, according to aid agencies.The group was driven out earlier this month amid a spike in anti-migrant and racism-fueled tensions linked to a killing in the Tunisian port city of Sfax, a hub for traffickers organizing risky and sometimes deadly boat journeys across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy.One such boat sank on Sunday off the Tunisian coast. Coast guard officers retrieved one body, rescued 11 people and declared 10 others as missing, the Sfax prosecutor’s office said.The fate of hundreds of migrants pushed into the Tunisia-Libya border region drew concern from international humanitarian groups and calls for action. It also raised questions about Tunisia’s migration policies, weeks after the European Union offered Tunisia’s increasingly a...

Denver weather: Summer heat before rain returns

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:28:21 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Monday recorded the second day at 90 degrees or higher in the Denver weather forecast. The last time the Mile High City reached 90 degrees was on June 27 when the registered temperature hit a high of 92 degrees. Pinpoint Weather: 10-day temperature outlook for July 11-July 20 Will it rain on Taylor Swift in Denver? What the forecast is predicting The city is looking to add three more days of 90-degree heat before temperatures cool down into the 80s, and the chance for rain returns, according to Colorado’s Most Accurate Forecast.Weather today: High heat and fire dangerThere will be plenty of sunshine across Colorado on Tuesday, and there may be some high clouds at times with breezy to gusty winds. So, fire danger is a concern again. Pinpoint Weather: Wind gusts on July 11.Temperatures are forecast to reach 90 degrees or higher in Denver for a third time this summer. Pinpoint Weather: Afternoon highs on July 11.Looking ahead: Rain returns along with cooler temperatur...

Families continue to visit site of Parkland massacre

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:28:21 GMT

Families of the victims of the Parkland massacre are expected to continue visiting the site of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Tuesday.The tours of the 1200 building, where the devastating shooting took place over five years ago, aim to provide the families with a sense of closure following the respective trials of the perpetrator and former school resource officer.With all evidence from that day carefully preserved, the families are granted the opportunity to take home items that once belonged to their loved ones. Once the visitation period concludes, discussions will be made to determine a date for the demolition of the building.

Grand jury handling potential indictments in Trump 2020 probe to be selected in Atlanta

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:28:21 GMT

Atlanta (CNN) — The Georgia grand jury that is expected to consider charges against former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies for trying to overturn the 2020 election will be selected Tuesday in Atlanta.Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, an elected Democrat, launched the investigation in early 2021, after Trump tried to overturn his defeat in the Peach State with a public and private pressure campaign targeting Georgia election officials, the governor, lawmakers and prosecutors.A special grand jury previously heard testimony from 75 witnesses, including Trump advisers, his former attorneys, White House aides, and Georgia officials. That panel issued a redacted report with charging recommendations, which will soon be weighed by the new grand jury. Willis has indicated that final decisions could come next month.Throughout the investigation, Trump has vehemently denied wrongdoing, as have his allies who are also under scrutiny. The former president has lashed ou...

Florida congressional leaders gather at roundtable on human rights in Cuba

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:28:21 GMT

On Monday, Florida congressional leaders came together to host a roundtable discussion on human rights in Cuba. Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Maria Elvira Salazar were both in attendance at the event, which saw bipartisan support in calling for freedom and capitalism in the island nation.The roundtable, held ahead of Tuesday’s two-year anniversary of the 2021 uprising in Cuba, aimed to shed light on the ongoing struggle against the communist regime. The 2021 uprising, led by courageous individuals who spoke out against the island nation’s communist regime, ignited a wave of protests that reverberated throughout South Florida and across the entire country.During the event, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz emphasized the importance of upholding human rights and supporting the Cuban people’s aspirations for freedom. “It is a show of solidarity and of defiance and of American leadership,” she said. “And having this briefing,...

Create new Europe-wide migrant rescue mission, EU parties implore

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:28:21 GMT

A broad coalition in the European Parliament on Monday called for an EU-wide search and rescue operation to prevent the loss of more lives in the Mediterranean migration route. The three largest parties — the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), the center-left Socialists and Democrats and liberal Renew — along with the progressive Greens and The Left backed a joint text that will see a vote on Thursday. This show of unity comes after a migrant shipwreck off the coast of Greece in June that killed hundreds and put a spotlight on the topic. European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson last week called for more coordination among member countries on search and rescue, warning that “it is just a question of time” before a similar event repeats.  The text in Parliament calls for the “establishment of a comprehensive EU Search and Rescue mission implemented by the Member States’ competent authorities and Frontex,” according to a draft document seen by POLITICO. The a...

Zelenskyy blasts ‘absurd’ draft text that hedges on Ukraine’s NATO membership timeline

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:28:21 GMT

VILNIUS — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday denounced NATO negotiators for balking at offering Kyiv a concrete path to joining NATO in a draft communiqué being hammered out at an alliance summit. The alliance’s leaders are gathering in the Lithuanian capital for a two-day summit, and Ukraine’s bid to join NATO is the most sensitive item on the agenda.In the latest draft summit communiqué, allies are now considering stating that “we will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine when allies agree and conditions are met,” according to a senior NATO diplomat and a person familiar with the talks, who like others were granted anonymity to discuss internal negotiations.  The language is not yet finalized, but the draft seen by Kyiv on Tuesday enraged Ukraine’s leader. “We value our allies,” Zelenskyy tweeted. “But Ukraine also deserves respect.”“It’s unprecedented and absurd when [a] time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Uk...

France and Germany pledge more weapons for Ukraine

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:28:21 GMT

VILNIUS — France and Germany on Tuesday announced new arms deliveries for Ukraine, pledging to send more of the missiles that have been used to pound Russian supply depots, as well as more armored vehicles and ammunition.“In view of the situation and the Ukrainian counter-offensive, I have decided to increase deliveries of weapons and equipment,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters ahead of the two-day NATO military alliance summit in Vilnius, which kicked off on Tuesday. “We have decided to deliver new long-range strike missiles to Ukraine,” Macron added, marking a turning point as the French president had been hesitant to send such long-distance missiles to Ukraine. These will likely be French-British SCALP missiles, also known as Storm Shadow, which London has already delivered to Kyiv.The missiles have a 250-kilometer range, allowing Ukraine to pummel Russia’s logistics and supplies with rockets that Russian air defenses have had a ...

Horizon Europe deal needs to work for UK taxpayers, says Rishi Sunak

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:28:21 GMT

VILNIUS — A deal for the U.K. to re-enter the EU’s Horizon Europe science scheme post-Brexit must work for British taxpayers, Rishi Sunak insisted, as researchers keep their fingers crossed for an agreement.Britain formally left Horizon when it quit the EU in January 2020, but POLITICO reported last week that a draft deal has now been reached to allow Britain to rejoin the scheme as well as the Copernicus Earth observation satellite program.However, a bilateral meeting between the U.K. prime minister and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, which had been expected to take place Tuesday on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius, has still not been firmed up.The two leaders had been expected to tie up the remaining loose ends of the deal, but the absence of a formal discussion this week may signal a last-minute U.K. attempt to get further concessions from the EU.Speaking to reporters on the plane to the Lithuanian capital, Sunak did not rule out a convers...