March 15, 2023 4:58 am
DETROIT (AP) — Honda is recalling a half-million vehicles in the U.S. and Canada because the front seat belts may not latch properly. The recall covers some of the the automaker’s top-selling models including the 2017 through 2020 CR-V, the 2018 and 2019 Accord, the 2018 through 2020 Odyssey and the 2019 Insight. Also included is the Acura RDX from the 2019 and 2020 model years. Honda says in documents posted Wednesday by U.S. safety regulators that a manufacturing issue can cause the seat belt buckle channel to interfere with the release button, stopping the buckle from latching. Dealers will replace the release buttons or assemblies if needed. Owners will be notified by letter starting April 17.
March 15, 2023 4:28 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a matter of days, Saudi Arabia carried out blockbuster agreements with the world’s two leading powers. It signed a Chinese-facilitated deal aimed at restoring diplomatic ties with the Saudi’s arch-nemesis Iran, and announced a massive contract to buy commercial planes from U.S. manufacturer Boeing. The two announcements spurred speculation that the Saudis were laying their marker as a dominant economic and geopolitical force that has the flexibility to play Beijing and Washington off each other. It also cast China in an unfamiliar leading role in Middle Eastern politics. And it has raised questions about whether the frosty U.S.-Saudi relationship has reached a détente.
March 15, 2023 4:20 am
AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — A federal judge will hear arguments in a high-stakes court case that could threaten access to medication abortion and blunt the authority of U.S. drug regulators. Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of Texas is weighing a lawsuit from Christian conservatives aimed at overturning the Food and Drug Administration’s more than 2-decade-old approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. The drug, when used with a second pill, has become the most common method of abortion in the U.S. Wednesday’s hearing is the first in the case, which is being intensely tracked after last year’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.
March 15, 2023 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — After a frenetic weekend of round-the-clock briefings, U.S. policymakers took the audacious step of guaranteeing all the deposits of the failed Silicon Valley Bank — even those exceeding the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s $250,000 limit. The hope is that it will restore confidence in the financial system after the second-biggest bank failure in U.S. history. The plan came together as the government was unable to sell off the defunct institution on time. But the FDIC may try to auction it off again. Meanwhile, policymakers and lawmakers are starting to look ahead for ways to prevent the next crisis.
March 15, 2023 4:13 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — As part of a yearlong investigation, The Associated Press obtained the data points underpinning several algorithms deployed by child welfare agencies to understand how they predict which children could be at risk of harm. They offer rare insight into the mechanics driving these emerging technologies. Among the factors they use to measure a family’s risk, whether outright or by proxy: race, poverty rates, disability status and family size. The tool’s developers say their work is transparent and that they make their models public. The AP has learned that the U.S. Justice Department is investigating one Pennsylvania county’s child welfare system to determine whether its use of an algorithm discriminates against people with disabilities or other protected groups.
March 15, 2023 2:39 am
The suspect in a California Borough car theft waived his charges to court on Tuesday. Antwane Cunningham, 30 of Monongahela is accused by California Borough Police of taking a car out of a convenience store parking lot on March 1. He is charged with felony counts of robbery of a motor vehicle, criminal mischief and flight to avoid an officer among others. According to the criminal complaint, Cunningham led police on a car chase from California through Elco, Roscoe, Stockdale, Allenport and Dunlevy before crashing the car just outside of Speers. Cunningham attempted to flee on foot before officers tazed him to arrest him. Cunningham is being held in the Washington County Jail without bond. He is on probation from an earlier conviction and has an arrest warrant out on him from Georgia. He will be arraigned on April 27.
March 15, 2023 2:28 am
(AP) – Ohio has filed a lawsuit against railroad Norfolk Southern to make sure it pays for the cleanup and environmental damage caused by a fiery train derailment on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border last month. The state’s attorney general said Tuesday that the federal lawsuit also seeks to force the company to pay for groundwater and soil monitoring in the years ahead and economic losses in the village of East Palestine and surrounding areas. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost says the fallout from the Feb. 3 derailment will reverberate for many years. Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw has apologized for the impact the derailment has had on East Palestine.
March 14, 2023 4:22 am
HONG KONG (AP) — China will reopen its borders to tourists and resume issuing all visas Wednesday after a three-year halt during the pandemic as it sought to boost its tourism and economy. China is one of the last major countries to reopen its borders to tourists. In February, China had declared a “decisive victory” over COVID-19. The move announced Tuesday would “further facilitate the exchange of Chinese and foreign personnel,” according to the notice. China had stuck to a harsh “zero-COVID” strategy involving sudden lockdowns and daily COVID-19 testing to try to stop the virus before abandoning most aspects of the policy in December amid growing opposition.
March 14, 2023 4:21 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea says North Korea has launched two ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters in its second show of force this week.The launches Tuesday morning came a day after the United States and South Korea began military drills that the North views as an invasion rehearsal. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff say the missiles were launched from the southwestern coast, flew across North Korea and landed in its waters. Japan’s prime minister said no damage was immediately reported in Japanese waters. North Korea earlier test-fired two cruise missiles from a submarine. Pyongyang could further escalate its weapons tests in a tit-for-tat response to the U.S. and South Korea holding their largest drills in years.
March 14, 2023 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer price increases eased slightly from January to February but still pointed to an elevated inflation rate that is posing a challenge for the Federal Reserve at a delicate moment for the financial system. The government said Tuesday that prices increased 0.4% last month, just below January’s 0.5% rise. Yet excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core prices rose 0.5% in February, slightly above January’s 0.4% gain. The Fed pays particular attention to the core measure as a gauge of underlying inflation pressures.
