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Should US airlines pay passengers for delays like the EU?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

Southwest Airlines spent the early part of 2023 trying to make good after a historic meltdown resulted in more than 16,700 canceled flights during the 2022 holidays. The airline reimbursed passengers for the cost of alternative travel arrangements and sent many travelers additional loyalty points.Southwest wasn’t legally required to. The U.S. has no federal laws mandating that airlines compensate passengers for delays. Airlines are only obligated to offer refunds if they cancel a flight and the passenger decides not to travel.That’s hardly the case in Europe. An EU regulation, commonly referred to as EU261, requires airlines to compensate travelers for cancellations, denied boarding or delays of two or more hours. It went into effect in 2005 and applies to most flights operated by airlines based in the 27 EU countries, plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.As long as the flight wasn’t disrupted due to an “extraordinary circumstance” such as weather, passengers are entitled to compens...

Minister: Ukraine will beat Russia in war of technologies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As Ukrainian and Russian troops fight conventional battles on the front lines, Europe’s first major war of the internet age has also sparked a war of technology as both sides vie for the advantage with their drones and satellite communications. While the two sides have kept pace with one another thus far, Ukraine’s minister in charge of technology told The Associated Press in an interview Friday that he was confident his country had the motivation and abilities to out-innovate Russia in the end.Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, said unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, electronic warfare, satellite communications and other technologies had been a fundamental part of the war with Russia that began more than a year ago.“Technologies allow traditional and modern artillery to be more accurate, and they help save the lives of our soldiers,” he said. “When you have ‘eyes’ over you, you can make more effective decisions about m...

Feds get first guilty plea in Michigan marijuana board probe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — A businessman pleaded guilty Friday to bribing the head of a Michigan marijuana licensing board, the first conviction in a federal investigation into payoffs and other benefits before the panel was disbanded in 2019.John Dalaly appeared in federal court in Grand Rapids, two weeks after his plea deal was announced.Dalaly said he provided at least $68,200 in cash and other benefits to Rick Johnson, including two private flights to Canada.Johnson, 70, was chairman of the marijuana board for two years. The board reviewed and approved applications to grow and sell marijuana for medical purposes.Dalaly had a stake in a company that was seeking a license, defense attorney Ray Cassar said.“As soon as the investigation launched, he was on board to accept responsibility,” Cassar told The Associated Press. “This is a good man, 71 years old. Unfortunately he fell into this mess.”Johnson had also recommended that Dalaly hire Johnson’s wife as a consultant to help with his applicat...

‘Very difficult situation:’ Canadians in Khartoum take shelter amid violence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

TORONTO — Abdelgadir Eltayeb and his family have no electricity, dwindling food and water, and haven’t been able to venture far from the home in Khartoum where they took shelter after violence exploded in Sudan’s capital this week. The Canadian, who is visiting relatives in Sudan with his wife and two children, says fighting between the country’s army and its rival paramilitary force has unleashed chaos.“It’s a very difficult situation,” the 68-year-old said in a phone interview from Khartoum on Friday.“We lived our worst night last night, and most of today. Shelling and dark smoke covered the sky.” The situation in Sudan’s capital was generally stable a week ago but a skirmish over a planned transition to democratic rule last Saturday escalated into raging battles. The violence so far has killed 413 people and wounded 3,551, according to the World Health Organization. Many have fled the country’s capital for other parts of Sudan...

Court upholds ban on South Africa’s apartheid-era flag

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday upheld a ruling that the “gratuitous” public display of the country’s old apartheid-era flag amounts to hate speech and racial discrimination and can be prosecuted.The Supreme Court didn’t, however, give a ruling on whether displaying the national flag from South Africa’s era of brutal racial segregation in the privacy of a home should also be considered hate speech or discriminatory.Arguments over that specific matter should first be presented to the lower court that initially banned the flag in 2019, the Supreme Court said.The decision on the public showing of the old flag, which was South Africa’s national flag from 1928 until it was abolished when the country achieved democracy in 1994, upheld that ruling given by the Equality Court four years ago.Afriforum, a lobby group that says it represents the interests of South Africa’s white Afrikaans people, challenged the...

Woman killed after falling out of Jeep onto Dan Ryan was not wearing seat belt: ISP

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

CHICAGO — A woman who fell out of an open-air Jeep Wrangler onto the Dan Ryan last Friday was not wearing a seat belt, according to Illinois State Police.The accident happened April 14 around 5 a.m. on southbound I-94 at 28th Street.ISP said the woman was not wearing a seat belt and was driving the Jeep, which did not have doors on it at the time, when she fell on the roadway. She was then struck by two vehicles. Driver dies after falling out of Jeep, being struck by 2 vehicles on Dan Ryan Expressway The driverless Jeep then ran off the roadway and struck a concrete median barrier, according to ISP.The woman was pronounced dead on the scene. Her identity has not yet been released.

Man arrested hours after allegedly carjacking woman in Little Village

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

CHICAGO — A 20-year-old man is accused of carjacking a woman in Little Village, only to be arrested less than three hours later by Chicago police. Authorities said the arrest of Khalil Ingram occurred around 10:30 a.m. in the 1300 block of S. Washtenaw. The department alleges that Ingram took a vehicle by force in the 2500 block of W. Cermak.SEE ALSO: Chase warns Chicago employees about potential for more downtown disturbancesIngram is charged with a felony count of vehicular hijacking. He was due to appear in court on

Construction on next phase of Texas Capitol Complex project begins

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- New buildings and additions are coming to the Texas Capitol Mall area in downtown Austin. The groundbreaking for Phase 2 of the Texas Capitol Complex project took place Thursday, morning, marking the start of construction of two new state office buildings and one additional block of the pedestrian Capitol Mall along North Congress Avenue, according to the Texas Facilities Commission.The new state office buildings will include: A five-story, 165,000-square-foot building at 1500 Congress Avenue, to be occupied by the Texas Department of Safety and other state agenciesA second office building at 1501 Lavaca, which will be eight-stories-tall, 360,000-square-feet, and will provide state-owned office space.  Both buildings will have onsite parking for state employees.The project is slated to be complete in late 2026 and ready for tenant occupancy in early 2027.Phase 2 of the project also includes the extension of the Capitol Mall from 16th Street to 15...

New Richmond mourns loss of Hai Nguyen, man recovered from St. Croix River

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

Hai Nguyen walked into the New Richmond Chamber of Commerce a few years ago and asked to be added to the email list for chamber events.From then on, Nguyen rarely missed a chamber function. “Hai attended everything and appeared everywhere,” said Rob Kreibich, the chamber’s executive director. “If you didn’t know any better you would have thought he was running for office. He could have taught a master class on how to maximize chamber membership. He was just a joy to talk to.”Nguyen’s schtick was always the same at networking events, Kreibich said. “Going around the room for introductions, he’d always say, ‘Hi, I’m Hai,’ and the crowd loved it,” he said. “We were like a second family to him because he liked people so much. He fed off people, and the chamber allowed him to do that.”On Wednesday, law enforcement officials pulled Nguyen’s body from the St. Croix River in Hudson. Nguyen, whom law enforcement officers called a “vulnerable adult,” had been missing since March 3. He was 31....

State unveils strategy to prevent mass shootings, other violence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – This week on Empire State Weekly, in response to increased threats of so-called "targeted violence," New York State has launched the Targeted Violence Prevention Strategy. Multiple state agencies will work with communities to identify and prevent violence, like the mass shootings in Buffalo and Brooklyn last year. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Jackie Bray, the Commissioner of the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, explained that "domestic violence extremists are the number one terrorists threat to New Yorkers." The new Targeted Violence Prevention Strategy will bring together multiple agencies with community partners to identify individuals or groups that may commit violence. Those same agencies will then respond to disrupt potential violence by deploying mental health and other community resources.Also this week, Inspector General Lucy Lang took office roughly on...