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Kentucky pauses incentives for battery maker whose federal loan was nixed after claims of China ties

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 15:13:59 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kentucky officials say they won’t start paying out $21 million in economic incentives for a proposed electric vehicle battery facility until the company further explains why the U.S. Department of Energy abruptly rejected a $200 million loan for the project after some congressional Republicans argued the firm has improper ties to China.Texas-based Microvast was one of 20 companies to win preliminary grants totaling $2.8 billion to boost the domestic manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles. The company is building battery plants in Kentucky and Tennessee and was in talks with the Energy Department for a $200 million grant funded through the 2021 infrastructure law.Yang Wu, Microvast’s founder and CEO, said the company was surprised by the Energy Department’s decision against awarding the loan, which would fuel plans for a Kentucky facility focused on a new technology for batteries called polyaramid separator. The department did not offer a...

Argentine judge dismisses long-running corruption case against vice president

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 15:13:59 GMT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A judge in Argentina on Monday dismissed a long-running money laundering case against Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, after prosecutors and state agencies said there was no evidence she was involved in a crime.Federal Judge Sebastian Casanello ruled that Fernández de Kirchner be removed from what had come to be known as the “K money” case because it involved alleged kickbacks and money laundering on behalf of the Kirchner family by businessman Lázaro Báez.Prosecutor Guillermo Marijuan said late last month there was no evidence that Fernández de Kirchner, a former president (2007-2015), was involved in the corruption for which Báez has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Báez was close associate of both Fernández de Kirchner and her late husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner, who was president from 2003-2007. The case began with allegations that Báez was paid for public works contracts that were never completed and that he then laund...

Norfolk Southern is first railroad to give all workers sick time but all see progress in labor talks

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 15:13:59 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Norfolk Southern became the first major freight railroad with deals to provide paid sick time to all of its workers Monday, but the other railroads are making progress with nearly 60% of all rail workers securing this basic benefit since the start of the year.All of the major freight railroads have said they are committed to resolving this key issue that nearly led to a strike in last year’s bitter contract talks. But most of those railroads — which include CSX, Union Pacific, BNSF, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City — are still negotiating with a number of their unions.Most of the sick time deals, including the one Norfolk Southern announced for yardmasters Monday, provide four days of paid sick time and give workers the option to convert three days of personal leave time into sick days. The conductors and engineers who endure the most unpredictable schedules while operating the trains have been getting five days of paid sick leave with the ...

Vick, Fitzgerald and Suggs among stars on College Football Hall of Fame ballot for 1st time

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 15:13:59 GMT

Michael Vick, Larry Fitzgerald and Terrell Suggs are among the college football stars who will be considered for induction to the Hall of Fame for the first time this year.The National Football Foundation released Monday a list of 78 players and nine coaches from major college football who are on the Hall of Fame ballot. There also are 101 players and 32 coaches from lower divisions of college football up for consideration.Vick, who led Virginia Tech to the BCS championship game against Florida State as a redshirt freshman in 1999, is among the most notable players appearing on the ballot in his first year of eligibility.Vick finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1999. He played one season of college football before being drafted No. 1 overall by the Atlanta Falcons in 2001. Vick’s professional career was interrupted when he served 21 months in prison for his involvement in dog fighting.Fitzgerald was the Heisman runner-up in 2003 to Oklahoma quarterback Jason White. ...

Exonerated Aspen priest back in ministry after investigation

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 15:13:59 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — An Aspen priest who was accused of sexually assaulting a minor has been exonerated of any wrongdoing and has been placed back into ministry.The Archdiocese of Denver has completed its internal investigation against Father Michael O'Brien and said it found no evidence behind the accusations. O'Brien was accused of sexually abusing a minor from 2004 to 2008 while working at St. Mary's in Aspen. O'Brien was placed on administrative leave while the Aspen Police Department investigated the accusations. In April, Aspen Police said it would not file criminal charges, and the district attorney has closed the case. Douglas County park closes after 4 dogs die According to the Archdiocese, the investigation into O'Brien lasted 18 months and included interviews with more than 80 witnesses and 26 law enforcement agencies. APD determined the allegations against O'Brien were baseless.However, O'Brien is still facing a lawsuit in civil court based on the same allegations, accordin...

Hollywood Police arrest another suspect in Memorial Day beach shooting

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 15:13:59 GMT

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — Hollywood Police arrested two men over the weekend and are continuing to search for a third person suspected of going on a Memorial Day shooting spree along a busy beachside promenade that injured nine people.Detectives from the Hollywood Police Department took Ariel Cardahn Paul into custody on Sunday night, the agency said in a news release. On Saturday, Hollywood detectives and the U.S. Marshal’s Task Force arrested Jordan Burton.Paul and Burton have been identified by police as the shooters, along with Lionel JeanCharles Jr., who has yet to be arrested, the agency said.They will each face charges of attempted first-degree murder, eight counts of attempted murder in the second degree and one count of carrying a concealed firearm.Two men who were involved in the altercation that led to the shooting — Morgan Deslouches and Keshawn Stewart, both 18 — were arrested last week on firearms charges, police said. Five handguns have been rec...

Eva Kaili is back with a new story: There’s a conspiracy

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 15:13:59 GMT

ATHENS — Eva Kaili is spinning up a new, eyebrow-raising narrative: Authorities might have targeted her because she knew too much about government spying.After months of silence during her detention and house arrest, the most high-profile suspect in the cash-for-influence Qatargate scandal was suddenly everywhere over the weekend. Across a trio of interviews in the European media, the Greek European Parliament member was keen to proclaim her innocence, saying she never took any of the alleged bribes that authorities say countries such as Qatar and Morocco used to sway the Brussels machinery. But she also had a story to tell even darker than Qatargate, one involving insinuations of nefarious government spying and suggestions that maybe, just maybe, her jailing was politically motivated. Her work investigating the illegal use of Pegasus spyware in Europe, she argued, put her in the crosshairs of Europe’s own governments. “From the court file, my lawyers have discov...

Mike Pence files paperwork to run for US president

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 15:13:59 GMT

Mike Pence filed paperwork on Monday to run for president, setting up an unprecedented contest between a former vice president and a former president of his own party for the nomination. His largest task will be attempting to win back Republicans who largely cast him aside following Donald Trump’s presidency.Pence’s entry into the race comes after a sometimes tumultuous two years in the political wilderness following his actions on Jan. 6 to certify the 2020 election, resisting intense pressure from Trump. He has occasionally faced boos from the MAGA base at GOP confabs in places such as a Faith & Freedom Coalition conference in Florida in 2021 and even on his home turf at a National Rifle Association meeting in Indianapolis this year.The former six-term congressman and one-term Indiana governor sees an opportunity in Iowa. There, his advisers are betting he can lavish attention and rebuild the coalition of evangelical voters that delivered caucus victories to Sen. Ted Cruz...

Biden praises Denmark for ‘standing up’ for Ukraine in war with Russia

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 15:13:59 GMT

By AAMER MADHANI (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden thanked Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Monday for Denmark’s role in a Western alliance “standing up” for Ukraine as it tries to fend off Russia’s 15-month-old invasion.The Oval Office visit kicked off the first of a pair of critical meetings Biden is holding with European allies this week that will focus heavily on what lies ahead in the war in Ukraine —including the recently-launched effort to train, and eventually equip, Ukraine with American-made F-16s fighter jets. Biden on Thursday will meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.Both Britain and Denmark are playing a pivotal role in the nascent joint international plan that Biden recently endorsed after months of resisting calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for U.S. aircraft.“There’s a shared commitment to the core values and that gives us our strength — at least that’s what...

Apple unveils sleek ‘Vision Pro’ goggles. Will it be what VR has been looking for?

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 15:13:59 GMT

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE (AP Technology Writer)CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple on Monday unveiled a long-rumored headset that will place its users between the virtual and real world, while also testing the technology trendsetter’s ability to popularize new-fangled devices after others failed to capture the public’s imagination.After years of speculation, Apple CEO Tim Cook hailed the arrival of the sleek goggles — dubbed “Vision Pro” — at the the company’s annual developers conference held on a park-like campus in Cupertino, California, that Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs helped design. “This marks the beginning of a journey that will bring a new dimension to powerful personal technology,” Cook told the crowd. Apple didn’t immediately reveal the goggles’ price, although they are expected to cost in the $3,000 range, likely limiting their appeal to a fairly narrow band of video-game enthusiasts and affluent te...