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Row after Braverman email blames civil servants for blocking small boats action

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:57 GMT

LONDON — Home Secretary Suella Braverman was accused of a “cowardly attack” on the U.K. civil service after a campaign email sent in her name blamed Whitehall for frustrating plans to cut the number of small boats crossing the English Channel.In a Conservative Party message sent to supporters under Braverman’s name — but which Downing Street and the Conservatives denied she had seen or approved — the home secretary appeared to point the finger at government officials for scuppering earlier efforts to grip the issue.“We tried to stop the small boat crossings without changing our laws,” the email, sent to Conservative members Tuesday and bearing Braverman’s signature, said. “But an activist blob of left-wing lawyers, civil servants and the Labour Party blocked us.” No. 10 sought to distance Braverman from the campaign message Wednesday lunchtime, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson telling journalists that the home ...

Senate expected to vote to block controversial DC crime bill

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:57 GMT

(CNN) — The Senate is expected to vote on Wednesday to pass a Republican-led resolution to block a controversial Washington, DC, crime bill that opponents have criticized as weak on crime.The effort has divided Democrats and highlighted the difficult balance the party is attempting to strike as Republicans accuse them of failing to tackle the issue of crime. A large number of Senate Democrats now plan to support the resolution to rescind the DC crime bill after President Joe Biden announced he would not veto it — a move that surprised and upset members of his party as many believe Congress should not interfere in the political affairs of the district.The resolution of disapproval to block the DC crime bill has already passed the House. If the Senate passes the measure as is expected, it would next go to Biden’s desk.Democrats control a narrow 51-to-49 majority in the Senate, where most legislation requires at least 60 votes to pass to overcome a filibuste...

FAA administrator unclear whether airliner close calls are on the rise

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:57 GMT

 (CNN) — After at least six incidents this year, the nation’s top aviation official says he does not know whether close calls involving airliners are on the rise, but says the issue and its causes will be examined at a safety conference next week.“It’s a good question,” Billy Nolen, acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration, said after testifying to the Senate Commerce Committee — his second time there in a month.Nolen defended his agency’s handling of the safety incidents, some of which were averted when pilots — not the air traffic controllers from his agency — avoided a collision. He said officials are “treating each of these as if it had been an actual event.”“The FAA absolutely has a grasp on the situation and it’s something that we look at every day,” Nolen told reporters. “We’ll take a look at these near misses and see if there are lessons to be learned.”He said...

Bruins notebook: Brad Marchand battling to regain form after surgery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:57 GMT

For those used to seeing Brad Marchand seemingly do just about anything he wants with the puck for years, this season has been different.Instead of contorting defensemen with sublime dekes on a nightly basis, the Bruins’ first line left wing – who is coming off double hip surgery in the summer – is more often than not fighting the puck. Sometimes his seam passes don’t get through to his intended target. The 50-50 battles that he almost always won are tougher now.But while Marchand’s game is still missing some of the wow factor, the job is still getting done. With 54 games under his belt, Marchand is a perfect point-per-game player (19-35-54). When any given game is up for grabs, Marchand is still often in the middle of tipping it in the B’s favor, like when he carried one-time Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox on his hip behind the net to set up Patrice Bergeron’s eventual game-winning goal in last Saturday’s win over the Rangers.Yet Marchand believes...

US probes Tesla Autopilot, steering wheels that can come off

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:57 GMT

By TOM KRISHER and MICHELLE CHAPMAN (AP Business Writers)DETROIT (AP) — U.S. safety regulators are turning up the heat on Tesla, announcing investigations into steering wheels coming off some SUVs and a fatal crash involving a Tesla suspected of using an automated driving system when it ran into a parked firetruck in California.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday it is launching a special crash-investigation team to probe the Feb. 18 crash involving a Tesla Model S and a ladder truck from the Contra Costa County fire department. The firetruck probe is part of a larger investigation by the agency into multiple instances of Teslas using the automaker’s Autopilot system crashing into parked emergency vehicles that are tending to other crashes. NHTSA has become more aggressive in pursuing safety problems with Teslas in the past year, announcing multiple recalls and investigations.The driver of the 2014 Tesla Model S was killed in the crash and a...

Boston City Council passes rent control, BPDA reform

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:57 GMT

Mayor Michelle Wu’s major priorities of rent control and BPDA reform are on track to head up to Beacon Hill after the Boston City Council passed them today.The council approved both rent control and reform of the Boston Planning & Development Agency by 11-2 counts.The body approved both in what’s essentially the versions submitted by Wu, so she’s expected to sign them. Once that ink’s dry, both bills then head to the state house, where they need the approval of both chambers of the Legislature and then the governor’s signature.“This is a monumental act by the city of Boston,” Government Operations Chair Ricardo Arroyo said as he recommended passage of the rent-control bill.These are two of Wu’s top priorities — topics she ran on in her 2021 mayoral campaign and also touted in her State of the City speech in January as she laid out her priorities for the year.The rent-control bill would cap year-over-year rent increases at 6% plus consumer price index increases, to a ...

Driver killed after striking tree head-on in rural East County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:57 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A driver was killed after striking a tree head-on in Pine Valley on Wednesday morning, Cal Fire San Diego confirmed to FOX 5. A man was allegedly traveling at a high rate of speed on Old Highway 80 shortly before 6 a.m. when for unknown reasons he left the roadway and crashed in a large tree stump, officials said. Man killed in two-vehicle crash identified The incident occurred in front of Pine Valley Middle School.Cal Fire said responding crews pulled the man out the vehicle and performed lifesaving measures; however, his death was pronounced at the scene.The victim's identity has not been released at this time, but officials described him as a middle-aged man who is possibly from Chula Vista.There were no other injuries reported in relation to this incident.

Jarvis Collegiate Institute locked down after reports of person with a gun

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:57 GMT

A high school in downtown Toronto is under lockdown as police investigate reports of a gun on school property.Police were called to Jarvis Collegiate Institute at Jarvis and Wellesley streets just after 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.No injuries have been reported.More to comePERSON WITH A GUN:Jarvis St + Wellesley St East1:34 p.m.– At Jarvis Collegiate Institute– Police are on scene investigating reports of a firearm on school property– No reports of any injuries– Anyone w/info contact police @TPS51Div#GO527385^lb— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) March 8, 2023Jarvis Collegiate Institute is currently in Lockdown due to a police investigation in the immediate area.— Toronto District School Board (@tdsb) March 8, 2023

Veterans testify of ‘catastrophic’ impact of Afghan collapse

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Active-service members and veterans provided first-hand testimony Wednesday about the implications of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, describing in harrowing and explicit detail the trauma experienced on the ground while imploring Congress to help the allies left behind. The initial hearing of a long-promised investigation by House Republicans displayed the open wounds from the end of America’s longest war in August 2021, with witnesses recalling how they saw mothers carrying dead babies and the Taliban shooting and brutally beating people. Former Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews testified to Congress about the stench of human flesh under a large plume of smoke as the screams of children, women and men filled the space around Kabul’s airport after two suicide bombers attacked crowds of Afghans. “I see the faces of all of those we could not save, those we left behind,” Vargas-Andrews, who wore a prosthetic arm and scars of his own grave wounds from the...

Michigan Democrats move quickly to repeal right-to-work

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:57 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s Democratic-led Legislature moved Wednesday to repeal the state’s “right-to-work” law that was passed more than a decade ago when Republicans controlled the Statehouse.Repealing the law, which prohibits public and private unions from requiring that nonunion employees pay union dues even if the union bargains on their behalf, has been a top priority for Democrats since they took full control of the state government this year. Party leaders announced Tuesday that they planned bring the repeal to a vote in the state House on Wednesday.The state House is also expected to vote Wednesday on restoring the state’s prevailing wage law, which requires contractors hired for state projects to pay union-level wages. The House Labor Committee advanced the bills early Wednesday along party lines.Supporters and opponents of the bills packed the main committee room and three overflow areas. The committee allowed just over an hour of testimony, predom...