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

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:59:45 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, 19 Feb 2025 00:59:45 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, 19 Feb 2025 00:59:45 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, 19 Feb 2025 00:59:45 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, 19 Feb 2025 00:59:45 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, 19 Feb 2025 00:59:45 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

Man falls from moving big rig on L.A. area freeway

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:59:45 GMT

Editor's note: This article was changed to correct the location where the incident occurred.A bizarre and dangerous incident was captured on cell phone video in Orange County when a man fell from the back of a big rig Wednesday morning.The video obtained by Traffic News Los Angeles shows a man clinging to the rear of the tractor-trailer as it traveled southbound on the 57 Freeway just before the 91 interchange.The man tries to carefully step off the bumper of the moving vehicle only to tumble and fall onto his chest, the video shows.Video obtained by Traffic News Los Angeles shows a man clinging to the rear of the tractor-trailer as it traveled along the 57 Freeway. Nov. 15, 2023. (TNLA)The truck driver may have been aware of the man's presence since they appeared to be driving slowly compared to other vehicles.Officials with the California Highway Patrol told KTLA that they did not have any information about a person falling from a moving semi-truck, but did receive calls at around...

Today in History: November 16, Oklahoma becomes 46th state

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:59:45 GMT

Today in History Today is Thursday, Nov. 16, the 320th day of 2023. There are 45 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Nov. 16, 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state of the union. On this date: In 1914, the newly created Federal Reserve Banks opened in 12 cities. In 1933, the United States and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations. In 1960, Academy Award-winning actor Clark Gable died in Los Angeles at age 59.In 1961, House Speaker Samuel T. Rayburn died in Bonham, Texas, having served as speaker since 1940 except for two terms. In 1982, an agreement was announced in the 57th day of a strike by National Football League players. In 1989, six Jesuit priests, a housekeeper and her daughter were slain by army troops at the University of Central America Jose Simeon Canas in El Salvador. In 1991, former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards won a landslide victory in his bid to return to office, defeating State Rep. David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader. In 2001...

A vehicle crashed into a barricade near the Israeli Embassy in Tokyo, and reports say police arrested the driver

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:59:45 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — A vehicle crashed into a barricade near the Israeli Embassy in Tokyo, and reports say police arrested the driver.Source

Colorado case using ‘insurrection’ argument to bar Trump from the ballot goes to the judge

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:59:45 GMT

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado judge on Wednesday heard closing arguments on whether former President Donald Trump is barred from the ballot by a provision of the U.S. Constitution that forbids those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office.The hearing came on the heels of two losses elsewhere for advocates who are trying to remove Trump from the ballot under Section Three of the 14th Amendment, which bars from office those who swore an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” against it. The measure has only been used a handful of times since the period after the Civil War, when it was intended to stop former Confederates from swamping government positions.Last week, the Minnesota Supreme Court dodged the question of whether the provision applies to Trump, who is so far dominating the Republican presidential primary. It dismissed a lawsuit to toss him off that state’s primary ballot by saying that political parties can allow whomever they wan...