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Los Angeles criticized for its handling of homelessness after 16 homeless people escape freeway fire

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:35 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The fire erupted after midnight where 16 people were living under the Los Angeles freeway, including a pregnant woman who was only weeks from giving birth.As the flames engulfed the storage yard and the inferno’s heat melted some of the thoroughfare’s steel guardrails and concrete pillars, rescue crews were able to get everyone out safely. But the disaster has brought renewed criticism over officials’ inability to get homeless residents off the street, leaving tens of thousands living in perilous locations across the nation’s second-largest city.Three years ago, as part of a court order related to a yearslong lawsuit accusing the city and county of Los Angeles of not doing enough to address homelessness, a judge wrote he was concerned about 7,000 people living under freeways, calling it “unreasonably dangerous.” County supervisor Hilda Solis said officials have since set aside nearly $300 million to create 6,700 shelter beds, but rows of te...

Blaze at a coal mine company building in northern China kills 19 and injures dozens

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:35 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — A fire burned in a coal company building early Thursday in a northern Chinese city, killing 19 people and injuring a few dozen more.The building belongs to Yongju Coal Company and is in Lvliang city in northern Shanxi province, a major coal-producing region, according to state broadcaster CCTV. District officials issued a statement saying rescue and emergency services were at the scene. They evacuated 63 people, though it is unclear if the 19 dead were among that figure, according to the CCTV report. The blaze appeared to be in a building with offices and dormitories and not where coal was being mined.Coal mine accidents are not uncommon in China, though the government has been working on improving safety.___AP researcher Wanqing Chen in Beijing contributed to this report.The Associated Press

California’s first lesbian Senate leader could make history again if she runs for governor

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:35 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The first time Toni Atkins acted as the governor of California, she used her powers to honor the passing of San Diego Padres baseball player Tony Gwynn while playfully rebuffing Jimmy Kimmel’s advice that she “ invade Oregon. ”It was 2014, and Atkins — the first lesbian to be the speaker of the state Assembly — was filling in for former Gov. Jerry Brown, a quirk of the California Constitution that requires governors to put someone else in charge whenever they leave the state.Atkins, now the president pro tempore of the state Senate, has filled in as governor a few more times since then, most recently in July when she signed three bills into law and quipped that she was thrilled to once again step into the governor’s shoes, “ although I have better shoes. ”Now, the 61-year-old lawmaker is turning her attention once again to the governor’s office — only this time, she’s exploring a much longer stay.“I’m very interested in looking at that possibility” of runni...

The odyssey of asylum-seekers and the failure of EU regulations

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:35 GMT

SALERNO, Italy (AP) — Less than 24 hours after setting foot on the pier of a southern Italian port, 60 people who’d survived a perilous boat journey from Libya were served with expulsion orders. Some came from Bangladesh, others from Syria and Egypt. They’d been at sea for 10 hours in two dangerously overcrowded boats, carrying 258 people in all, when they were picked up by a rescue ship operated by the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders, 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the Libyan coast, on Oct. 6. Once on dry ground in Salerno, just south of Naples, they were taken to a migrant processing center and asked to sign papers. Now they gathered in front of the train station, tired and bewildered. “Did you know what you were signing?” asked a volunteer from the Catholic charity Caritas. “No, no,” they replied in unison. “Did somebody ask you if you want to apply for international protection?” the volunteer asked. Again they replied, “No.”LACK OF INFORMATIONThe situation is common fo...

Biden promises a better economic relationship with Asia, but he’s specifically avoiding a trade deal

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:35 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is nurturing economic ties this week with Asia, but he’s not signing any trade deals at a regional summit in San Francisco.This fact — no trade deals — reveals a lot about the status of U.S. politics, the evolving global economy and the Biden administration’s own ambitions. U.S. negotiators say they’re progressing on finalizing agreements with 13 other countries on parts of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. The operative word is “framework” as that label allows Biden to bypass Congress in reaching agreements in IPEF (pronounced EYE-pef).“It’s a framework because the administration wanted to have something it could do by executive agreement,” said Robert Holleyman, a former deputy U.S. trade representative.Many U.S. voters have negative opinions about trade deals that they see as having caused industrial job loss, a prevailing sentiment in the 2016 presidential election that carries over to the upcoming 2024 race....

Autoworkers to wrap up voting on contract with General Motors Thursday in a race too close to call

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:35 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — In a tight vote, thousands of United Auto Workers members at General Motors are expected to finish casting ballots Thursday on a tentative contract agreement that could be a giant step toward ending a prolonged labor dispute with Detroit’s Big Three automakers.The outcome of the GM vote is uncertain, despite the UAW’s celebrations of victories last month on many key demands that led to six weeks of targeted walkouts against GM, Ford and Stellantis, the maker of Jeep, Dodge and Ram vehicles. The union is expected to announce GM results Thursday.The three contracts, if approved by 146,000 union members, would dramatically raise pay for autoworkers, with increases and cost-of-living adjustments that would translate into a 33% wage gain. Top assembly plant workers would earn roughly $42 per hour when the contracts expire in April of 2028. Voting continues at Ford through early Saturday, where 66.1% of workers voted in favor so far with only a few large factories sti...

Fresh off meeting with China’s Xi, Biden is turning his attention to Asia-Pacific economies

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:35 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Fresh off his meeting with the leader of China, President Joe Biden on Thursday will address CEOs grappling with the risks to their businesses from world crises and spend time trying to persuade other Indo-Pacific leaders that the U.S. is committed to nurturing economic ties throughout the region.“We’ve got a few busy days ahead of us,” Biden said during a welcome reception, ticking off a list of concerns and challenges for the leaders to examine. “Our strongest tools to meet those challenges remain the same … connection, cooperation, collective action and common purpose.” Biden is courting world leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and through his administration’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a group that includes most of the 21 APEC member economies, and a few others, like India, that aren’t members of the larger forum. The president will also pose for the traditional “family photo” with APEC leaders, host a working lun...

Hearing Thursday in religious leaders’ lawsuit challenging Missouri abortion ban

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:35 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A St. Louis judge on Thursday will hear arguments in a lawsuit challenging Missouri’s abortion ban on the grounds that lawmakers who passed the measure imposed their own religious beliefs on others who don’t share them.The lawsuit was filed in January on behalf of 13 Christian, Jewish and Unitarian Universalist leaders who support abortion rights. It seeks a permanent injunction barring the state from enforcing its abortion law, and a declaration that provisions of the law violate the Missouri Constitution.It is among 38 lawsuits filed in 23 states challenging restrictive abortion laws enacted by conservative states after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. The landmark ruling left abortion rights up to each state to decide.The lawsuit states the Missouri Constitution “does not tolerate this establishment into law of one particular religious view at the expense of others’ religious freedom a...

A car struck a barricade near the Israeli Embassy in Tokyo. Police reportedly arrested the driver

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:35 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — A vehicle crashed into a temporary barricade near the Israeli Embassy in Tokyo on Thursday, and reports say police arrested the driver.The alleged motive and whether the embassy was targeted are not known. Protestors often gather against Israel’s attacks on Gaza, and the street near the embassy has been barricaded by Japanese police.Police refused to confirm the media reports. A man in his 50s believed to be a member of a right-wing group was arrested at the scene on suspicion of obstructing official duties, public broadcaster NHK and other media reported.An ambulance was dispatched to a nearby location when an emergency call reported one person was injured, the Tokyo Fire Department said. One police officer had a hand injury, the media reports said.Photographs and video footage showed a black compact vehicle crashed into a guardrail by the sidewalk, with debris scattered on the street. The crash site is near an intersection about 100 meters (yards) from the embassy, NH...

Authorities in New York say they’ve made largest-ever seizure of knock-off goods — more than $1B

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:11:35 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal authorities in New York announced on Wednesday the largest-ever seizure of counterfeit goods, consisting of handbags, shoes and other luxury merchandise valued at more than $1 billion.Two people were charged with trafficking the knock-offs from a New York City storage unit and other locations from January through October, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Photographs released by prosecutors showed shelves stacked with counterfeit wallets and bags in one location and handbags hanging from hooks from floor to ceiling in another. “The seizures announced today consist of merchandise with over a billion dollars in estimated retail value, the largest-ever seizure of counterfeit goods in U.S. history,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. The two men charged could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. The Associated Press