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Hyundai joins Honda, Toyota with wage hikes

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:00:00 GMT

South Korean automaker Hyundai has joined Honda and Toyota in raising factory worker wages after the United Auto Workers union reached new contract agreements with Detroit automakers.Hyundai said Monday it will raise factory worker pay 25% by 2028, matching the general wage increase won by the UAW during that period. Toyota raised factory pay 9% to 10% starting in January, while Honda said it will increase wages 11% during the same period.Labor experts say the increases are at least in part aimed at thwarting UAW President Shawn Fain’s strategy of trying to organize U.S. auto plants run by foreign automakers and Tesla in order to increase the union’s bargaining power. Fain said terrified auto executives at nonunion plants are raising wages, and he called Toyota’s pay increase the UAW bump.“UAW, that stands for ‘You Are Welcome,'” he said.About 146,000 UAW members are voting on new contracts with General Motors, Ford and Jeep maker Stellantis that ...

Patriots release troubled CB Jack Jones, claim RB JaMychal Hasty

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:00:00 GMT

The Patriots waived troubled second-year cornerback Jack Jones on Monday.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots captains declare belief in Bill Belichick after latest loss New England Patriots | Callahan: It’s time for the Mac Jones era to end in New England New England Patriots | Bill Belichick addresses job security after Patriots’ 10-6 loss to Colts New England Patriots | Bailey Zappe blows another opportunity with Patriots starting QB job on the line New England Patriots | Bill Belichick not committing to Patriots QB Mac Jones after third benching Jones returned with the team from Germany late Sunday night after he played a season-low 10 snaps in the Patriots’ 10-6 loss to the Colts. Jones ends his New England tenure amid the worst playing stretch of his young career. He sat out the first quarter of the team’s last two games due to performance and off-field issues.The...

Gambling pioneer Steve Norton, who ran first US casino outside Nevada, dies at age 89

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:00:00 GMT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Steve Norton, who ran the first U.S. gambling facility outside Nevada — Resorts casino in Atlantic City — and gave advice around the world on how to set up and operate casinos, has died. He was 89.His son, Rob, president of Cordish Gaming, said Norton died Sunday following an accident in his Oceanside, California, home.Norton spent more than half a century in the casino industry, running companies and advising state governments on the expansion of gambling, including on riverboats. He helped create the industry’s national trade association and worked to address gambling addiction.“Steve was an early and influential gaming executive in Atlantic City and at Resorts,” said the casino’s current president, Mark Giannantonio. “He was an important leader in the Atlantic City market dating back to the 1970s. He was always a pleasure to speak with over the years, and a true gentleman in our business.”Norton was executive vice president of Resorts when t...

The 2024 Republican presidential field is rapidly shrinking. But is it too late to stop Trump?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:00:00 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Republican Party’s once-crowded 2024 presidential primary field has suddenly shrunk to just a handful of viable candidates.But a day after Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina stunned many of his own staff by suspending his campaign, it’s unclear whether the GOP is any closer to coalescing behind a clear alternative to former President Donald Trump. Instead, the fight between Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis for a distant second place appears to be intensifying. And some lower-tier candidates insist on battling for relevance, despite growing pressure to bow out of the race altogether.Meanwhile, Trump’s team is cheering on the muddle for second place with Iowa’s Jan. 15 kickoff caucuses just two months away. Still, there were new positive signs on Monday for Haley, Scott’s South Carolina rival, who had been rising in the Republican contest even before the senator’s sudden announcement. Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmillier, who had give...

Officials exhume the body of a Mississippi man buried without his family’s knowledge

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:00:00 GMT

RAYMOND, Miss. (AP) — The body of a Mississippi man who died after being hit by a police SUV driven by an off-duty officer was exhumed Monday, months after officials failed to notify his family of his death. At a news conference, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, local leaders and family members of 37-year-old Dexter Wade said they had hired an independent medical examiner to perform an autopsy on the man’s body. They will also give him a proper funeral. While Dexter Wade’s remains were released Monday, his family said officials failed to honor the agreed-upon time approved by a county attorney for exhuming the body. “Now, I ask, can I exhume my child and try to get some peace and try to get a state of mind,” said Dexter Wade’s mother, Bettersten Wade. “Now y’all take that from me. I couldn’t even see him come out of the ground.” Dexter Wade’s family members, his attorneys and other witnesses said they did not get to see the exhumation ...

Sun Life sees net income rise in third quarter to $871 million

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:00:00 GMT

TORONTO — Sun Life Financial Inc. says net income for the first quarter was $871 million, up from $111 million a year earlier. The Toronto-based company says earnings per share were $1.48, up from 19 cents during the third quarter last year.Sun Life says the higher income was due in part to favourable market-related impacts from interest rates. Underlying net income was $930 million, slightly down from $949 million a year earlier. The company says it completed its acquisition of virtual health and wellness provider Dialogue during the quarter. Sun Life increased its dividend by three cents to 78 cents per common share. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:SLF)The Canadian Press

Jury in Breonna Taylor federal civil rights trial opens deliberations in case of ex-officer

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:00:00 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A jury began deliberations Monday afternoon at the federal trial of a former Louisville police detective accused of violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights by opening fire on her apartment the night she was killed during a botched raid.The jury received the case on a day when the former officer, Brett Hankison, was grilled by a federal prosecutor over his actions at the time the 26-year-old Black woman was killed. Taylor was shot to death by police after they knocked down the door of her apartment on March 13, 2020. Federal prosecutors are attempting to do what Kentucky prosecutors couldn’t — convict Hankison for his actions on the night Taylor was fatally shot. Last year, the former officer was acquitted by a jury at a state trial of wanton endangerment charges.A federal prosecutor said in closing arguments Monday that Hankison “sent bullets flying” into Taylor’s apartment and an adjoining apartment. Jurors heard earlier that none of the shots he fired ...

Oysters in Paris: Chair of Montreal’s executive committee steps down over expenses

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:00:00 GMT

MONTREAL — The second-highest-ranking member of Montreal’s municipal administration says she is resigning after media reports revealed a series of questionable expenses in her previous role as head of the city’s public consultation office.Dominique Ollivier, elected under Mayor Valérie Plante’s Projet Montréal banner, told a news conference today she is stepping down as chair of the city’s executive committee because she doesn’t want the controversy to undermine public confidence. The announcement comes two days before Montreal’s budget is scheduled to be tabled. Among the expenses claimed by Ollivier and reported by Québecor media outlets earlier this month were a $347 oyster dinner in Paris and several costly overseas trips.Ollivier, who headed the public consultation office between 2014 and 2021, says she plans to stay on as a city councillor.She says that since the controversy began she has received messages of support but she has also receive...

Mexican LGBTQ+ figure found dead at home after receiving death threats

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:00:00 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The first openly nonbinary person to assume a judicial position in Mexico was found dead in their home Monday in the central Mexican city of Aguascalientes after receiving death threats because of their gender identity, authorities said.The Aguascalientes state prosecutor’s office confirmed that Jesús Ociel Baena was found dead Monday morning next to another person, who local media and LGBTQ+ rights groups identified as their partner.State prosecutor Jesús Figueroa Ortega said in a news conference that the victims displayed injuries apparently caused by a knife or some other sharp object.“There are no signs or indications to be able to determine that a third person other than the dead was at the site of the crime,” he said.Mexico Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez said in a press briefing that authorities were investigating the death and it remained unclear if “it was a homicide or an accident.” Some murder investigations in Mexico have a history of bei...

New York City Mayor ducks questions on FBI investigation, but pledges to cooperate with inquiry

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams kept a busy public schedule Monday, but sidestepped questions about the FBI investigation that prompted agents to seize his phones and raid the home of his chief campaign fundraiser.Speaking at Manhattan helipad where an air taxi company was demonstrating electric aircraft, Adams laughed, then walked away, when a reporter asked whether anyone else on his team had had their phone seized by the FBI.“We’re talking about helicopters,” the Democrat said, smiling. Later, he indicated he might answer questions during his next scheduled news briefing on Tuesday, but not until then.FBI agents stopped Adams last week as he was leaving a public event and took his electronic devices, including phones and an iPad. The seizure came four days after agents searched the home of the lead fundraiser for his 2021 mayoral campaign, Briana Suggs.The New York Times and New York Post have reported that part of the investigation involves examining whether...