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  • A ship earlier hit by Yemen’s Houthi rebels sinks in the Red Sea

    A ship earlier hit by Yemen’s Houthi rebels sinks in the Red Sea

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A ship attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels has sunk in the Red Sea after days of taking on water, officials said Saturday, the first vessel to be fully destroyed as part of their campaign over Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

    What You Need To Know

    • A ship attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels has sunk in the Red Sea after days of taking on water, officials said Saturday, the first vessel to be fully destroyed as part of their campaign over Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip

    • The sinking of the Rubymar comes as shipping through the crucial waterway for cargo and energy shipments moving from Asia and the Middle East to Europe has been affected by the Houthi attacks

    • The Belize-flagged Rubymar had been drifting northward after being struck by a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile on Feb. 18 in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial waterway linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Ade

    • Yemen’s exiled government, which has been backed by a Saudi-led coalition since 2015, said the Rubymar sank late Friday as stormy weather took hold over the Red Sea. The vessel had been abandoned for 12 days after the attack, though plans had been made to try and tow the ship to a safe port

    The sinking of the Rubymar comes as shipping through the crucial waterway for cargo and energy shipments moving from Asia and the Middle East to Europe has been affected by the Houthi attacks.

    Already, many ships have turned away from the route. The sinking could see further detours and higher insurance rates put on vessels plying the waterway — potentially driving up global inflation and affecting aid shipments to the region.

    The Belize-flagged Rubymar had been drifting northward after being struck by a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile on Feb. 18 in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial waterway linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

    Yemen’s internationally recognized government, as well as a regional military official, confirmed the ship sank. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as no authorization was given to speak to journalists about the incident.

    The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, which watches over Mideast waterways, separately acknowledged the Rubymar’s sinking Saturday afternoon.

    The Rubymar’s Beirut-based manager could not be immediately reached for comment.

    Yemen’s exiled government, which has been backed by a Saudi-led coalition since 2015, said the Rubymar sank late Friday as stormy weather took hold over the Red Sea. The vessel had been abandoned for 12 days after the attack, though plans had been made to try and tow the ship to a safe port.

    The Iran-backed Houthis, who had falsely claimed the ship sank almost instantly after the attack, did not immediately acknowledge the ship’s sinking.

    The U.S. military’s Central Command previously warned the vessel’s cargo of fertilizer, as well as fuel leaking from the ship, could cause ecological damage to the Red Sea.

    Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, the prime minister of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, called the ship’s sinking “an unprecedented environmental disaster.”

    “It’s a new disaster for our country and our people,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Every day, we pay for the Houthi militia’s adventures, which were not stopped at plunging Yemen into the coup disaster and war.”

    The Houthis have held Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014, expelling the government. Its fought a Saudi-led coalition since 2015 in a stalemated war.

    Satellite pictures analyzed by The Associated Press from Planet Labs PBC showed smaller boats alongside the Rubymar on Wednesday. It wasn’t immediately clear whose vessels those were. The images showed the Rubymar’s stern sinking into the Red Sea but still afloat, mirroring earlier video taken of the vessel.

    The private security firm Ambrey separately reported Friday about a mysterious incident involving the Rubymar.

    “A number of Yemenis were reportedly harmed during a security incident which took place” on Friday, Ambrey said. It did not elaborate on what that incident involved and no party involved in Yemen’s yearslong war claimed any new attack on the vessel.

    A satellite image taken Friday from Maxar Technologies showed new blast damage on the Rubymar not previously seen, with no other vessels around it.

    Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over the Israel-Hamas war. Those vessels have included at least one with cargo bound for Iran, the Houthis’ main benefactor, and an aid ship later bound for Houthi-controlled territory.

    Despite over a month of U.S.-led airstrikes, Houthi rebels remain capable of launching significant attacks. That includes the attack on the Rubymar and the downing of an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars. The Houthis insist their attacks will continue until Israel stops its combat operations in the Gaza Strip, which have enraged the wider Arab world and seen the Houthis gain international recognition.

    However, there has been a slowdown in attacks in recent days. The reason for that remains unclear.

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    Associated Press

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  • Trump says Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ‘absolutely’ on VP shortlist

    Trump says Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ‘absolutely’ on VP shortlist

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    EAGLE PASS, Texas — Former President Donald Trump, during a visit to the Texas border town of Eagle Pass on Thursday, said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is “absolutely” on his shortlist of potential running mates in this year’s election.

    What You Need To Know

    • Former President Donald Trump, during an interview with Fox News from Eagle Pass, Texas, on Thursday, said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is on his shortlist for vice president

    • “Yeah, certainly he would be somebody that I would very much consider,” Trump said

    • Abbott on Friday downplayed the idea, saying, “I’ve announced that I’m running for reelection two years from now, and so my commitment is to Texas, and I’m staying in Texas”

    • Abbott was not named during a recent town hall when Trump was asked about potential running mates

    There’s been a great deal of speculation about Abbott, the fiercest critic of the President Joe Biden’s border polices. Abbott, though, has largely remained mum about the possibility.

    Trump’s comments came during a joint interview with Abbott on Fox News. Sean Hannity asked the former president about the possibility, and Trump said “he’s done a great job. Yeah, certainly he would be somebody that I would very much consider.”

    “So he’s on the list?” Hannity asked.

    “Absolutely, he is,” Trump replied.

    According to the Texas Tribune, Abbott downplayed the possibility during a news conference on Friday.

    “Obviously it’s very nice of him to say, but I think you all know my focus is entirely on the state of Texas,” Abbott said. “As you know, I’m working right now on the midterm election process. I’ve already talked about that. I’ve announced that I’m running for reelection two years from now, and so my commitment is to Texas, and I’m staying in Texas.”

    Interestingly, Abbott was not mentioned by Trump about a week ago when he was asked about it during a Fox News town hall. At the time, he said his list included Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.

    The front-runner for the GOP nomination, Trump did not produce the names on his own but was rather presented them by town hall host Laura Ingraham, who said audience members suggested them. Ingraham then asked Trump, “Are they all on your shortlist?” Trump answered, “They are.”

    It’s possible other names could also be on Trump’s list. There has been speculation, too, surrounding New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, among others.

    Trump, 77, said the most important quality he’s seeking in a running mate is someone who could be a great president if something happens to him.

    Abbott, 66, has served as governor of Texas since 2015. He was Texas attorney general from 2002 to 2015 and a justice of the Texas Supreme Court from 1996 to 2001.

    Spectrum News’ Ryan Chatelain contributed to this report.

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    Craig Huber

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  • RFK Jr. qualifies for the ballot in Hawaii, campaign says

    RFK Jr. qualifies for the ballot in Hawaii, campaign says

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    Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced Friday that he has secured a place on the ballot in Hawaii. It is the third state that has granted ballot access to his We the People Party.

    What You Need To Know

    • Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said Friday he has secured a place on the ballot in Hawaii

    • It is the third state that has granted ballot access to Kennedy’s We the People Party

    • Kennedy launched his We the People paraty in late January

    • He first filed his candidacy for the Democratic party presidential imination in April 2023 but switched to run as an Independent in October

    “The process of securing ballot access as an independent presidential candidate is an uphill battle, unlike the easy path afforded to Democrat and Republican candidates,” the Kennedy 2024 campaign said in an email Friday. “While they breeze through with minimal effort, we must gather over 1,000,000 petition signatures across the nation.”

    Kennedy launched We the People in late January to get on the California ballot before the Super Tuesday primary election March 5. To do so requires a new political party to submit 75,000 signatures to the Secretary of State — a threshold his campaign has not yet met.

    To get on the ballot in Hawaii, the Kennedy campaign obtained more than three times the required number of signatures, his campaign said. Hawaii will hold its primary on August 10. RFK Jr. is already on the ballot in Utah and New Hampshire as the We the People candidate. Utah is one of more than a dozen states holding its primary election on Super Tuesday.

    Kennedy first filed his candidacy for the Democratic party presidential nomination in April 2023 but switched to run as an Independent in October last year saying the two-party political system was “corrupt” and “rigged.”

    “When I declared my independence from the two-party Washington establishment and announced my campaign for President, I knew it would be an all-out fight,” Kennedy said in Friday’s email.

    His campaign estimates it will cost about $20 million to get on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

    Kennedy has a 48% favorability rating according to the most recent Harris Poll conducted in late February. In a hypothetical matchup between President Biden, former President Donald Trump and RFK Jr. in November, Kennedy wins 18% of the vote, Biden takes 33% and Trump wins with 41%, according to the Harris Poll.

    We the People is not the only third-candidate party to seek ballot access this year. The bipartisan No Labels Initiative announced in January that it had won ballot access in 14 states and planned to win access in another 18 states by Election Day in November.

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • Richard Lewis, who recently starred on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ dies at 76

    Richard Lewis, who recently starred on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ dies at 76

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    NEW YORK — Richard Lewis, an acclaimed comedian known for exploring his neuroses in frantic, stream-of-consciousness diatribes while dressed in all-black, leading to his nickname “The Prince of Pain,” has died. He was 76.

    Lewis, who revealed he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2023, died at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday night after suffering a heart attack, according to his publicist Jeff Abraham.

    What You Need To Know

    • Comedy Central named Lewis one of the top 50 stand-up comedians of all time and he earned a berth in GQ magazine’s list of the “20th Century’s Most Influential Humorists”

    • He lent his humor for charity causes, including Comic Relief and Comedy Gives Back

    • “He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that I’ll never forgive him,” said Larry David

    • Lewis’ recurring role on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” can be credited directly to his friendship with fellow comedian, producer and series star Larry David

    A regular performer in clubs and on late-night TV for decades, Lewis also played Marty Gold, the romantic co-lead opposite Jamie Lee Curtis, in the ABC series “Anything But Love” and the reliably neurotic Prince John in “Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men In Tights.” He re-introduced himself to a new generation opposite Larry David in HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” kvetching regularly.

    “Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life he’s been like a brother to me,” David said in a statement. “He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that I’ll never forgive him.”

    Comedy Central named Lewis one of the top 50 stand-up comedians of all time and he earned a berth in GQ magazine’s list of the “20th Century’s Most Influential Humorists.” He lent his humor for charity causes, including Comic Relief and Comedy Gives Back.

    “Watching his stand-up is like sitting in on a very funny and often dark therapy session,” the Los Angeles Times said in 2014. The Philadelphia’s City Paper called him “the Jimi Hendrix of monologists.” Mel Brooks once said he “may just be the Franz Kafka of modern-day comedy.”

    Comedians took to social media Wednesday to share their thoughts, including Albert Books who called Lewis “a brilliantly funny man who will missed by all. The world needed him now more than ever” on X, formerly Twitter. Other tributes came from Bette Midler, Michael McKean and Paul Feig, who called Lewis “one of the funniest people on the planet.”

    Following his graduation from The Ohio State University in 1969, the New York-born Lewis began a stand-up career, honing his craft on the circuit with other contemporaries also just starting out like Jay Leno, Freddie Prinze and Billy Crystal.

    He recalled Rodney Dangerfield hiring him for $75 to fill in at his New York club, Dangerfield’s. “I had a lot of great friends early on who believed in me, and I met pretty iconic people who really helped me, told me to keep working on my material. And I never looked back,” he told The Gazette of Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2010.

    “I’m paranoid about everything in my life. Even at home. On my stationary bike, I have a rear-view mirror, which I’m not thrilled about,” he once joked onstage. To Jimmy Kimmel he said: “This morning, I tried to go to bed. I couldn’t sleep. I counted sheep but I only had six of them and they all had hip replacements.”

    Unlike contemporary Robin Williams, Lewis allowed audiences into his world and melancholy, pouring his torment and pain onto the stage. Fans favorably compared him to the ground-breaking comedian Lenny Bruce.

    “I take great pains not to be mean-spirited,” Lewis told The Palm Beach Post in 2007. “I don’t like to take real handicaps that people have to overcome with no hope in sight. I steer clear of that. That’s not funny to me. Tragedy is funny to other humorists, but it’s not to me, unless you can make a point that’s helpful.”

    Singer Billy Joel has said he was referring to Lewis when he sang in “My Life” of an old friend who “bought a ticket to the West Coast/Now he gives them a stand-up routine in L.A.”

    In 1989 at Carnegie Hall, he appeared with six feet of yellow legal sheets filled with material and taped together for a 2½-hour set that led to two standing ovations. The night was “the highlight of my career,” he told The Washington Post in 2020.

    Lewis told GQ his signature look came incidentally, saying his obsession with dressing in black came from watching the television Western “Have Gun – Will Travel,” with a cowboy in all-black, when he was a kid. He also popularized the term “from hell” — as in “the date from hell” or “the job from hell.”

    “That just came out of my brain one day and I kept repeating it a lot for some reason. Same thing with the black clothes. I just felt really comfortable from the early ’80s on and I never wore anything else. I never looked back.”

    After getting sober from drugs and alcohol in 1994, Lewis put out his 2008 memoir, “The Other Great Depression” — a collection of fearless, essay style riffs on his life — and “Reflections from Hell.”

    Lewis was the youngest of three siblings — his brother was older than him by six years, and his sister by nine. His father died young and his mother had emotional problems. “She didn’t get me at all. I owe my career to my mother. I should have given her my agent’s commission,” he told The Washington Post in 2020.

    “Looking back on it now, as a full-blown, middle-aged, functioning anxiety collector, I can admit without cringing that my parents had their fair share of tremendous qualities, yet, being human much of the day, had more than just a handful of flaws as well,” he wrote in his memoir.

    Lewis quickly found a new family performing at New York’s Improv. “I was 23, and all sorts of people were coming in and out and watching me, like Steve Allen and Bette Midler. David Brenner certainly took me under his wing. To drive home to my little dump in New Jersey often knowing that Steve Allen said, ‘You got it,’ that validation kept me going in a big, big way.”

    He had a cameo in “Leaving Las Vegas,” which led to his first major dramatic role as Jimmy Epstein, an addict fighting for his life in the indie film, “Drunks.” He played Don Rickles’ son on one season of “Daddy Dearest” and a rabbi on “7th Heaven.”

    Lewis’ recurring role on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” can be credited directly to his friendship with fellow comedian, producer and series star Larry David. Both native Brooklynites — born in the same Brooklyn hospital — they first met and became friends as rivals while attending the same summer camp at age 13. He was cast from the beginning, bickering with David on unpaid bills and common courtesies.

    He is survived by his wife, Joyce Lapinsky.

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    Associated Press

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  • Biden, Trump win respective Michigan primaries, AP projects

    Biden, Trump win respective Michigan primaries, AP projects

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    President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have won their respective primaries in Michigan, according to a projection by the Associated Press.

    The outcome of Tuesday’s primary was not a surprise. Both men have cruised to victory in primary contests so far this year on their way to a likely presidential election rematch this November — but important questions remain for both men based on the results in the Wolverine State, a key battleground for both parties in the general election.

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have won their respective primaries in Michigan, according to a projection by the Associated Press

    • Both men have cruised to victory in the early primary contests so far this year on their way to a likely presidential election rematch in November, but important questions remain for both men

    • Biden faces pushback from progressive activists who have protested his candidacy in order to move him to back a permanent cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, while Trump faces a resilient challenger in former Ambassador Nikki Haley — as well as questions to his appeal among general election voters

    • Next week, March 5, is Super Tuesday, when more than a dozen states and a territory will hold their primary elections, accounting for about a third of all delegates to the nominating conventions
    • Activists in Michigan set a goal of getting roughly 10,000 voters to vote “uncommitted,” a nod to the margin by which Trump won the state over Hillary Clinton in 2016, to protest Biden’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war; they easily surpassed that on Tuesday night

    For Biden, the question is the salience of a push by progressive activists to get voters to pick “uncommitted” as a form of protest to push the incumbent to back a permanent cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

    His comment Tuesday night looked beyond the uncommitted protest vote, opting instead to thank the voters for their support in the primary and to recall the 2020 election.

    “Four years ago, it was Michigan’s diverse coalition that came together to reject Donald Trump’s MAGA extremism and sent me and Kamala to the White House. Because of Michiganders, we’ve been able to work hand in hand with Governor Whitmer and the incredible Democratic leaders in Michigan’s congressional delegation to deliver enormous progress,” Biden said in a statement, celebrating Tuesday’s victory and his alliance with the United Auto Workers union. “This fight for our freedoms, for working families, and for democracy is going to take all of us coming together. I know that we will.”

    Trump, on the other hand, faces a resilient challenger in former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and the challenge of trying to win over her sizable chunk of Republican voters amid questions about his strength among general election voters.

    The former president, as ever, was as confident as ever in his remarks to the Michigan GOP Tuesday night.

    “We have a very simple task: we have to win on November 5, and we’re going to win big, and it’s going to be like nothing that anybody has ever seen. It’s going to be fantastic. We win Michigan, we win the whole thing. The auto workers are with us. We have so many people with us,” Trump said. “So the date November 5, January 20, when we take over, could not come fast enough because we’re going to make America great again, greater than ever before.”

    Tuesday’s contest in Michigan is the final one before Super Tuesday on March 5, when more than a dozen states — accounting for roughly a third of all delegates to the nominating conventions — are up for grabs.

    Both campaigns will be closely watching the election results in a state that Biden, in a local Michigan radio interview on Monday, called “one of the five” that will determine the outcome of November’s election. 

    Narrowly winning the reliably blue state by just 11,000 votes over Hillary Clinton helped give Donald Trump the presidency in 2016, the first Republican to do so since 1988, but Joe Biden won it back in 2020 by more than 150,000 votes.

    But Biden faced a unique challenge in the state over his perceived handling of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. At more than 310,000 residents, Michigan has the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the United States; about half of the population of Dearborn, a populous suburb of Detroit, are Arab American.

    Activists in the state earlier this month launched Listen to Michigan, an effort aiming to show Biden that his administration must listen to the state’s voters and change his policy on the war in Gaza.

    The organization has set a goal of getting roughly 10,000 voters to vote “uncommitted,” a nod to the margin by which Trump won the state over Hillary Clinton in 2016. They easily surpassed that on Tuesday night — by 11:30 p.m., more than 51,000 “uncommitted” votes were tallied, accounting for 13.5% of the total. That said, Biden still has 80% of votes within the Democratic primary as of that same time.

    “This is not an anti-Biden campaign,” Layla Elabed, the campaign’s organizer and the sister of Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress, told CNN. “It’s a humanitarian vote. It’s a protest vote. It is a vote that tells Biden and his administration that we believe in saving lives.”

    “I was proud today to walk in and pull a Democratic ballot and vote uncommitted,” Tlaib, one of the movement’s most prominent backers, said in a message posted to social media on Tuesday. “We must protect our democracy. We must make sure that our government is about us, about the people. When 74% of Democrats in Michigan support a cease-fire yet President Biden is not hearing us, this is the way we can use our democracy to say, ‘listen, listen to Michigan.’”

    Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday said she thinks there will be a solid number of “uncommitted” votes in protest of President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

    “I think there will be a sizable number of votes for ‘uncommitted,’” Whitmer, a co-chair for Biden’s 2024 campaign, said in an interview with NBC News. 

    “I think that that’s possible,” she added when asked if the number of “uncommitted” votes will reach 10,000 – the threshold organizers of the effort have set as their goal. 

    For context, in the 2020 presidential primaries, “uncommitted” scored more than 19,000 (1.2%) votes on the Democratic side and over 32,000 (4.8%) on the Republican side. In 2016, more than 21,000 (1.79%) “uncommitted” votes were cast in the Democratic primary between Clinton and Bernie Sanders and 22,000 (1.72%) were cast in the GOP primary. 

    In 2012’s Democratic primary, in which then-President Barack Obama was running unopposed, more than 20,000 (10%) “uncommitted” votes were cast; he won the state over Mitt Romney with 54% of the vote that November in the general election.

    Despite trailing Trump in the delegate count — 110-20 ahead of Michigan — and thus far not winning any states (as of 11:30 p.m., Trump has more than 67% of the vote, with Haley trailing at just more than 27%) Haley has vowed to forge ahead with her presidential campaign.

    Haley’s campaign on Sunday touted a $1 million fundraising haul in the 24 hours following the South Carolina primary, which they said was entirely raised by grassroots supporters. Haley, a former two-term governor of the state, lost the primary but notched roughly 40% of the vote, which she has painted as a warning sign for Trump.

    “We are seeing all over the country that the Republican Party is fully divided,” Haley said at an event in Michigan on Monday. “If you have a candidate that can’t win 40% of the vote in the early states, if you have a candidate who can’t bring in independents, if you have a candidate that is driving people out of our party, then that is a sinking ship.”

    Duel for the delegates

    There are 117 Michigan delegates available on Tuesday for the Democrats. 

    There are 55 delegates up for grabs for the Republican candidates. Sixteen will be awarded by the primary on Tuesday, while the remaining 39 will be awarded at a nominating convention held on Saturday. This was in part because Democrats, who control the state government after last year’s midterms, moved the state’s primary up, which conflicts with Republican Party rules prohibiting states — except for traditionally early voting ones like Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — from holding primary contests before March 1. 

    But two warring factions within the state Republican party have each pledged to hold their own convention, leading to some confusion.

    Kristina Karamo, who ran for governor unsuccessfully in 2022 against Whitmer, was elected to lead the Michigan Republican Party last year, but was ousted earlier this year. She has refused to recognize her ouster and relinquish power, and will be holding a convention in Detroit on Saturday.

    On Tuesday, hours before the polls closed, a judge ordered Karamo to cease her efforts to remain in power, affirming her removal from the Michigan GOP. 

    Former U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, the RNC-recognized chair of the Michigan GOP, will be hosting a convention in Grand Rapids on Saturday.

    Spectrum News’ Maddie Gannon, David Mendez and Joseph Konig contributed to this report.

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    Justin Tasolides

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  • Wendy’s will start testing surge pricing on its menu in 2025

    Wendy’s will start testing surge pricing on its menu in 2025

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    The prices for a Dave’s Single, Baconator or classic Frosty dessert could fluctuate based on demand under a new plan that the Wendy’s chief executive mentioned during an earnings call earlier this month.

    The Ohio-based fast food company, which operates about 7,100 restaurants in the U.S., plans to start testing its dynamic pricing menu next year.

    What You Need To Know

    • Wendy’s will experiment with dynamic pricing on its menu in 2025

    • The fast food chain announced the plan during an earnings call earlier this month

    • The dynamic pricing plan is part of a $20 million investment the company is making in digital menus

    • Wendy’s operates about 7,100 locations in the U.S.

    It’s one component of a $20 million digital menu investment that will enable Wendy’s operators to experiment with altering prices based on how much traffic they have. The company also plans to change its menu based on time of day.

    “We are making a significant investment in technology to accelerate our digital business,” a Wendy’s spokesperson told Spectrum News.

    One of the benefits of the investment “will be the flexibility to change the menu more easily and to offer discounts and value offers to our customers through innovations such as digital menu boards, which will roll out in some U.S. restaurants.”

    The spokesperson said it expects the move to drive traffic by “providing value during slower parts of the day.”

    Starting in early 2025, Wendy’s will also test AI-enabled menu changes and so-called suggestive selling, where customers are offered recommendations based on factors such as weather.

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • Wendy’s will start testing surge pricing on its menu in 2025

    Wendy’s will start testing surge pricing on its menu in 2025

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    The prices for a Dave’s Single, Baconator or classic Frosty dessert could fluctuate based on demand under a new plan that the Wendy’s chief executive mentioned during an earnings call earlier this month.

    The Ohio-based fast food company, which operates about 7,100 restaurants in the U.S., plans to start testing its dynamic pricing menu next year.

    What You Need To Know

    • Wendy’s will experiment with dynamic pricing on its menu in 2025

    • The fast food chain announced the plan during an earnings call earlier this month

    • The dynamic pricing plan is part of a $20 million investment the company is making in digital menus

    • Wendy’s operates about 7,100 locations in the U.S.

    It’s one component of a $20 million digital menu investment that will enable Wendy’s operators to experiment with altering prices based on how much traffic they have. The company also plans to change its menu based on time of day.

    “We are making a significant investment in technology to accelerate our digital business,” a Wendy’s spokesperson told Spectrum News.

    One of the benefits of the investment “will be the flexibility to change the menu more easily and to offer discounts and value offers to our customers through innovations such as digital menu boards, which will roll out in some U.S. restaurants.”

    The spokesperson said it expects the move to drive traffic by “providing value during slower parts of the day.”

    Starting in early 2025, Wendy’s will also test AI-enabled menu changes and so-called suggestive selling, where customers are offered recommendations based on factors such as weather.

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • Wendy’s will start testing surge pricing on its menu in 2025

    Wendy’s will start testing surge pricing on its menu in 2025

    [ad_1]

    The prices for a Dave’s Single, Baconator or classic Frosty dessert could fluctuate based on demand under a new plan that the Wendy’s chief executive mentioned during an earnings call earlier this month.

    The Ohio-based fast food company, which operates about 7,100 restaurants in the U.S., plans to start testing its dynamic pricing menu next year.

    What You Need To Know

    • Wendy’s will experiment with dynamic pricing on its menu in 2025

    • The fast food chain announced the plan during an earnings call earlier this month

    • The dynamic pricing plan is part of a $20 million investment the company is making in digital menus

    • Wendy’s operates about 7,100 locations in the U.S.

    It’s one component of a $20 million digital menu investment that will enable Wendy’s operators to experiment with altering prices based on how much traffic they have. The company also plans to change its menu based on time of day.

    “We are making a significant investment in technology to accelerate our digital business,” a Wendy’s spokesperson told Spectrum News.

    One of the benefits of the investment “will be the flexibility to change the menu more easily and to offer discounts and value offers to our customers through innovations such as digital menu boards, which will roll out in some U.S. restaurants.”

    The spokesperson said it expects the move to drive traffic by “providing value during slower parts of the day.”

    Starting in early 2025, Wendy’s will also test AI-enabled menu changes and so-called suggestive selling, where customers are offered recommendations based on factors such as weather.

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    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • Biden to visit U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday

    Biden to visit U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday

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    President Joe Biden will make a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday, the White House announced, as the issue of immigration continues to be a major one ahead of the presidential election.

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden will make a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday, the White House announced on Monday

    • In his visit to Brownsville, Texas, which is adjacent to Matamoros, Mexico, Biden will meet with U.S. Border Patrol agents, law enforcement and other officials and urge Congress to pass immigration reform, according to a White House official

    • Biden has visited the U.S.-Mexico border once before amid criticism of his migration politices, traveling to El Paso, Texas, last year, but Thursday’s trip will be his first since Republicans killed a bipartisan bill that would have enacted strict immigration reform and provided funding for border security in exchange for Israel and Ukraine aid

    • In a move underscoring the importance of the immigration issue in November’s election, Biden will be visiting the border the same day as his once and (likely) future opponent: former President Donald Trump


    In his visit to Brownsville, Texas, which is adjacent to Matamoros, Mexico, Biden will meet with U.S. Border Patrol agents, law enforcement and other officials and urge Congress to pass immigration reform, according to a White House official.

    Biden “will discuss the urgent need to pass the Senate bipartisan border security agreement, the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border in decades” and “reiterate his calls for Congressional Republicans to stop playing politics and to provide the funding needed for additional U.S. Border Patrol agents, more asylum officers, fentanyl detection technology and more,” per the official.

    Biden has visited the U.S.-Mexico border once before amid criticism of his migration politices, traveling to El Paso, Texas, last year, but Thursday’s trip will be his first since Republicans killed a bipartisan bill that would have enacted strict immigration reform and provided funding for border security in exchange for Israel and Ukraine aid. Despite the fact that a conservative Republican lawmaker was involved in the negotiations, the bill was opposed by several prominent GOP members, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and former President Donald Trump, who argued that it did not go far enough to secure the border.

    In the wake of the bill’s scuttling, President Biden said he is considering taking executive action to secure the border, which drew backlash from officials on both the far-right and far-left. 

    Biden is considering executive actions to help stop the flow of migrants into the U.S. Among the actions under consideration by Biden is invoking authorities outlined in Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which give a president broad leeway to block entry of certain immigrants into the United States if it would be “detrimental” to the national interest.

    News of Biden’s trip was first reported by The New York Times.

    In a move underscoring the importance of the immigration issue in November’s election, Biden will be visiting the border the same day as his once and (likely) future opponent: former President Donald Trump.

    Sources told Spectrum News that Trump will be in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Thursday, where he is expected to deliver remarks and make the case that the incumbent Democratic president is on the defensive about the issue.

    Trump’s campaign accused Biden of attempting to “chase” the Republican to the border.

    “Biden’s last-minute, insincere attempt to chase President Trump to the border won’t cut it — Americans know Biden is single-handedly responsible for the worst immigration crisis in history,”  Trump Campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

    Biden, on the other hand, has slammed Trump and House Republicans for pulling out of the bipartisan border agreement and made clear that he will continue to lay the blame at their feet from now until November.

    “If the bill fails, I want to be absolutely clear about something: The American people are going to know why it failed,” Biden vowed earlier this month on the eve of the bill’s demise. “I’ll be taking this issue to the country, and the voters are going to know that just at the moment we were going to secure the border and fund these other programs, Trump and the MAGA Republicans said no because they’re afraid of Donald Trump, afraid of Donald Trump.

    “Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends,” he said. “It’s time for Republicans in the Congress to show a little courage, to show a little spine to make it clear to the American people that you work for them and not for anyone else.”

    Brownsville is located in the Rio Grande Valley, which often sees large numbers of border crossings.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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    Justin Tasolides

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  • Biden to visit U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday

    Biden to visit U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday

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    President Joe Biden will make a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday, the White House announced, as the issue of immigration continues to be a major one ahead of the presidential election.

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden will make a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday, the White House announced on Monday

    • In his visit to Brownsville, Texas, which is adjacent to Matamoros, Mexico, Biden will meet with U.S. Border Patrol agents, law enforcement and other officials and urge Congress to pass immigration reform, according to a White House official

    • Biden has visited the U.S.-Mexico border once before amid criticism of his migration politices, traveling to El Paso, Texas, last year, but Thursday’s trip will be his first since Republicans killed a bipartisan bill that would have enacted strict immigration reform and provided funding for border security in exchange for Israel and Ukraine aid

    • In a move underscoring the importance of the immigration issue in November’s election, Biden will be visiting the border the same day as his once and (likely) future opponent: former President Donald Trump


    In his visit to Brownsville, Texas, which is adjacent to Matamoros, Mexico, Biden will meet with U.S. Border Patrol agents, law enforcement and other officials and urge Congress to pass immigration reform, according to a White House official.

    Biden “will discuss the urgent need to pass the Senate bipartisan border security agreement, the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border in decades” and “reiterate his calls for Congressional Republicans to stop playing politics and to provide the funding needed for additional U.S. Border Patrol agents, more asylum officers, fentanyl detection technology and more,” per the official.

    Biden has visited the U.S.-Mexico border once before amid criticism of his migration politices, traveling to El Paso, Texas, last year, but Thursday’s trip will be his first since Republicans killed a bipartisan bill that would have enacted strict immigration reform and provided funding for border security in exchange for Israel and Ukraine aid. Despite the fact that a conservative Republican lawmaker was involved in the negotiations, the bill was opposed by several prominent GOP members, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and former President Donald Trump, who argued that it did not go far enough to secure the border.

    In the wake of the bill’s scuttling, President Biden said he is considering taking executive action to secure the border, which drew backlash from officials on both the far-right and far-left. 

    Biden is considering executive actions to help stop the flow of migrants into the U.S. Among the actions under consideration by Biden is invoking authorities outlined in Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which give a president broad leeway to block entry of certain immigrants into the United States if it would be “detrimental” to the national interest.

    News of Biden’s trip was first reported by The New York Times.

    In a move underscoring the importance of the immigration issue in November’s election, Biden will be visiting the border the same day as his once and (likely) future opponent: former President Donald Trump.

    Sources told Spectrum News that Trump will be in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Thursday, where he is expected to deliver remarks and make the case that the incumbent Democratic president is on the defensive about the issue.

    Trump’s campaign accused Biden of attempting to “chase” the Republican to the border.

    “Biden’s last-minute, insincere attempt to chase President Trump to the border won’t cut it — Americans know Biden is single-handedly responsible for the worst immigration crisis in history,”  Trump Campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

    Biden, on the other hand, has slammed Trump and House Republicans for pulling out of the bipartisan border agreement and made clear that he will continue to lay the blame at their feet from now until November.

    “If the bill fails, I want to be absolutely clear about something: The American people are going to know why it failed,” Biden vowed earlier this month on the eve of the bill’s demise. “I’ll be taking this issue to the country, and the voters are going to know that just at the moment we were going to secure the border and fund these other programs, Trump and the MAGA Republicans said no because they’re afraid of Donald Trump, afraid of Donald Trump.

    “Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends,” he said. “It’s time for Republicans in the Congress to show a little courage, to show a little spine to make it clear to the American people that you work for them and not for anyone else.”

    Brownsville is located in the Rio Grande Valley, which often sees large numbers of border crossings.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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    Justin Tasolides

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  • Biden to visit U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday

    Biden to visit U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday

    [ad_1]

    President Joe Biden will make a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday, the White House announced, as the issue of immigration continues to be a major one ahead of the presidential election.

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden will make a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday, the White House announced on Monday

    • In his visit to Brownsville, Texas, which is adjacent to Matamoros, Mexico, Biden will meet with U.S. Border Patrol agents, law enforcement and other officials and urge Congress to pass immigration reform, according to a White House official

    • Biden has visited the U.S.-Mexico border once before amid criticism of his migration politices, traveling to El Paso, Texas, last year, but Thursday’s trip will be his first since Republicans killed a bipartisan bill that would have enacted strict immigration reform and provided funding for border security in exchange for Israel and Ukraine aid

    • In a move underscoring the importance of the immigration issue in November’s election, Biden will be visiting the border the same day as his once and (likely) future opponent: former President Donald Trump


    In his visit to Brownsville, Texas, which is adjacent to Matamoros, Mexico, Biden will meet with U.S. Border Patrol agents, law enforcement and other officials and urge Congress to pass immigration reform, according to a White House official.

    Biden “will discuss the urgent need to pass the Senate bipartisan border security agreement, the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border in decades” and “reiterate his calls for Congressional Republicans to stop playing politics and to provide the funding needed for additional U.S. Border Patrol agents, more asylum officers, fentanyl detection technology and more,” per the official.

    Biden has visited the U.S.-Mexico border once before amid criticism of his migration politices, traveling to El Paso, Texas, last year, but Thursday’s trip will be his first since Republicans killed a bipartisan bill that would have enacted strict immigration reform and provided funding for border security in exchange for Israel and Ukraine aid. Despite the fact that a conservative Republican lawmaker was involved in the negotiations, the bill was opposed by several prominent GOP members, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and former President Donald Trump, who argued that it did not go far enough to secure the border.

    In the wake of the bill’s scuttling, President Biden said he is considering taking executive action to secure the border, which drew backlash from officials on both the far-right and far-left. 

    Biden is considering executive actions to help stop the flow of migrants into the U.S. Among the actions under consideration by Biden is invoking authorities outlined in Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which give a president broad leeway to block entry of certain immigrants into the United States if it would be “detrimental” to the national interest.

    News of Biden’s trip was first reported by The New York Times.

    In a move underscoring the importance of the immigration issue in November’s election, Biden will be visiting the border the same day as his once and (likely) future opponent: former President Donald Trump.

    Sources told Spectrum News that Trump will be in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Thursday, where he is expected to deliver remarks and make the case that the incumbent Democratic president is on the defensive about the issue.

    Trump’s campaign accused Biden of attempting to “chase” the Republican to the border.

    “Biden’s last-minute, insincere attempt to chase President Trump to the border won’t cut it — Americans know Biden is single-handedly responsible for the worst immigration crisis in history,”  Trump Campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

    Biden, on the other hand, has slammed Trump and House Republicans for pulling out of the bipartisan border agreement and made clear that he will continue to lay the blame at their feet from now until November.

    “If the bill fails, I want to be absolutely clear about something: The American people are going to know why it failed,” Biden vowed earlier this month on the eve of the bill’s demise. “I’ll be taking this issue to the country, and the voters are going to know that just at the moment we were going to secure the border and fund these other programs, Trump and the MAGA Republicans said no because they’re afraid of Donald Trump, afraid of Donald Trump.

    “Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends,” he said. “It’s time for Republicans in the Congress to show a little courage, to show a little spine to make it clear to the American people that you work for them and not for anyone else.”

    Brownsville is located in the Rio Grande Valley, which often sees large numbers of border crossings.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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    Justin Tasolides

    Source link

  • Ex-FBI informant charged with lying about Bidens to appear in court

    Ex-FBI informant charged with lying about Bidens to appear in court

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    Alexander Smirnov, a former FBI informant charged with fabricating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden’s family, will appear in a California federal court on Monday as a judge considers whether he must remain behind bars while he awaits trial.

    What You Need To Know

    • Alexander Smirnov, a former FBI informant charged with fabricating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden’s family, will appear in a California federal court on Monday

    • A judge is set to consider whether Smirnov must remain behind bars while awaiting trial

    • Special counsel David Weiss’ office is pressing the judge to keep Smirnov in jail, arguing he is likely to flee the country

    • Smirnov is charged with falsely telling his FBI handler that executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had paid President Biden and Hunter Biden $5 million each around 2015; the claim became central to the Republican impeachment inquiry of President Biden in Congress
    • Prosecutors wrote in court filings last week that Smirnov told investigators after his first arrest that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story to him about Hunter Biden


    Special counsel David Weiss’ office is pressing U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II to keep Smirnov in jail, arguing the man who claims to have ties to Russian intelligence is likely to flee the country.

    A different judge last week released Smirnov from jail on electronic GPS monitoring, but Wright ordered the man to be re-arrested after prosecutors asked to reconsider Smirnov’s detention. Wright said in a written order that Smirnov’s lawyers’ efforts to free him was “likely to facilitate his absconding from the United States.”

    In an emergency petition with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Smirnov’s lawyers said Wright did not have the authority to order Smirnov to be re-arrested. The defense also criticized what it described as “biased and prejudicial statements” from Wright insinuating that Smirnov’s lawyers were acting improperly by advocating for his release.

    The appeals court on Sunday evening denied Smirnov’s emergency petition, refusing to block Monday’s hearing or assign the case to a different judge.

    Smirnov is charged with falsely telling his FBI handler that executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had paid President Biden and Hunter Biden $5 million each around 2015. The claim became central to the Republican impeachment inquiry of President Biden in Congress.

    In urging the judge to keep Smirnov locked up, prosecutors said the man has reported to the FBI having contact with Russian intelligence-affiliated officials. Prosecutors wrote in court filings last week that Smirnov told investigators after his first arrest that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story to him about Hunter Biden.

    Smirnov, who holds dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship, is charged by the same Justice Department special counsel who has separately filed gun and tax charges against Hunter Biden.

    Smirnov has not entered a plea to the charges, but his lawyers have said they look forward to defending him at trial. Defense attorneys have said in pushing for his release that he has no criminal history and has strong ties to the United States, including a longtime significant other who lives in Las Vegas.

    In his ruling last week releasing Smirnov on GPS monitoring, U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregts in Las Vegas said he was concerned about his access to what prosecutors estimate is $6 million in funds, but noted that federal guidelines required him to fashion “the least restrictive conditions” ahead of his trial.

    Smirnov had been an informant for more than a decade when he made the explosive allegations about the Bidens in June 2020, after “expressing bias” about Joe Biden as a presidential candidate, prosecutors said. Smirnov had only routine business dealings with Burisma starting in 2017, according to court documents. No evidence has emerged that Joe Biden acted corruptly or accepted bribes in his current role or previous office as vice president.

    While his identity wasn’t publicly known before the indictment, Smirnov’s claims have played a major part in the Republican effort in Congress to investigate the president and his family, and helped spark what is now a House impeachment inquiry into Biden. Republicans pursuing investigations of the Bidens demanded the FBI release the unredacted form documenting the unverified allegations, though they acknowledged they couldn’t confirm if they were true.

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    Associated Press

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  • Hungary ratifies Sweden’s NATO bid, clearing final obstacle to membership

    Hungary ratifies Sweden’s NATO bid, clearing final obstacle to membership

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    Hungary’s parliament voted Monday to ratify Sweden’s bid to join NATO, bringing an end to more than 18 months of delays that have frustrated the alliance as it seeks to expand in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

    What You Need To Know

    • Hungary’s parliament has ratified Sweden’s bid to join NATO, bringing an end to more than 18 months of delays
    • Those delays have frustrated the alliance as it seeks to expand in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine
    • Unanimous support among all NATO members is required to admit new countries, and Hungary is the last of its 31 members to give its backing
    • But the Monday vote cleared Sweden’s final hurdle after it first applied to join the alliance in May 2022.

    The vote, which passed with 188 votes for and six against, came as a culmination of months of wrangling by Hungary’s allies to convince its nationalist government to lift its block on Sweden’s membership. The government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán submitted the protocols for approving Sweden’s entry into NATO in July 2022, but the matter had stalled in parliament over opposition by governing party lawmakers.

    Unanimous support among all NATO members is required to admit new countries, and Hungary is the last of the alliance’s 31 members to give its backing since Turkey ratified the request last month.

    Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called it “a historic day.”

    “We stand ready to shoulder our share of the responsibility for NATO’s security,” Kristersson wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

    Orbán, a right-wing populist who has forged close ties with Russia, has said that criticism of Hungary’s democracy by Swedish politicians had soured relations between the two countries and led to reluctance among lawmakers in his Fidesz party.

    But the vote on Monday removed the final membership hurdle for Sweden which, along with neighboring Finland, first applied to join the alliance in May 2022, just a few months after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

    Addressing lawmakers before the vote, Orbán said: “Sweden and Hungary’s military cooperation and Sweden’s NATO accession strengthen Hungary’s security.”

    Orbán criticized Hungary’s European Union and NATO allies for placing increased pressure on his government in recent months to move forward on bringing Sweden into the alliance.

    “Several people tried to intervene from the outside in the settling of our disputes (with Sweden), but this did not help but rather hampered the issue,” Orbán said. “Hungary is a sovereign country, it does not tolerate being dictated by others, whether it be the content of its decisions or their timing.”

    Last weekend, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators visited Hungary and announced it would submit a joint resolution to Congress condemning Hungary’s alleged democratic backsliding and urging Orbán’s government to immediately lift its block on Sweden’s trans-Atlantic integration.

    But on Friday, Ulf Kristersson, Sweden’s prime minister, met with Orbán in Hungary’s capital where they appeared to reach a decisive reconciliation after months of diplomatic tensions.

    Following their meeting, the leaders announced the conclusion of a defense industry agreement that will include Hungary’s purchase of four Swedish-made JAS 39 Gripen jets and the extension of a service contract for its existing Gripen fleet.

    Orbán said the additional fighter jets “will significantly increase our military capabilities and further strengthen our role abroad” and will improve Hungary’s ability to participate in joint NATO operations.

    “To be a member of NATO together with another country means we are ready to die for each other,” Orbán said. “A deal on defense and military capacities helps to reconstruct the trust between the two countries.”

    Monday’s vote on Sweden’s NATO accession was just one matter on a busy agenda for lawmakers in the Hungarian parliament. A vote was also held on accepting the resignation of President Katalin Novák, who stepped down earlier this month in a scandal over her decision to pardon to a man convicted of covering up a string of child sexual abuses.

    After accepting Novák’s resignation, lawmakers are expected to confirm Tamás Sulyok, the president of Hungary’s Constitutional Court, as the country’s new president. He is set to formally take office on March 5.

    Some opposition parties have said they will not participate in a vote to confirm a new president and have called for direct presidential elections. But Sulyok was nominated by Orbán’s Fidesz party, which has a two-thirds majority in parliament and is expected to easily approve his presidency.

    A presidential signature is needed to formally endorse the approval of Sweden’s NATO bid, which is expected within the next few days.

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    Associated Press

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  • Tired of diesel fumes, these moms are pushing for electric school buses

    Tired of diesel fumes, these moms are pushing for electric school buses

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    Areli Sanchez’s daughter, Aida, used to be one of 20 million American kids who ride a diesel bus to school each day.

    Aida has asthma. When she was little, she complained about the smell and cloud of fumes on her twice-daily trip.

    “When she would come home from school or be on the bus, she got headaches and sick to her stomach. She said, ‘Mami, I don’t feel well, I feel dizzy,’” Sanchez said in Spanish from Las Vegas. Aida missed classes a lot when her asthma was bad. Research shows diesel exhaust exposure can cause students to miss school and affect learning.

    She was admitted to the hospital for an asthma attack in second grade, and after that Sanchez began driving Aida to school.

    What You Need To Know

    • Each day, around 20 million students in the United States ride to school in diesel-fueled school buses, exposed to clouds of exhaust linked to asthma and lung cancer
    • The buses also contribute to climate change
    • Parents have been key advocates in the push for cleaner buses, and are finally seeing progress, especially in some communities disproportionately harmed by this exhaust


    Diesel exhaust from school buses potentially affects one-third of U.S. students, their parents and educators each day, according to federal data. It’s a known carcinogen plus it contains harmful nitrogen oxides, volatile gases and particles that exacerbate lung issues. It also contributes to global warming.

    Most affected by these environmental and health issues are Black, Latino, Indigenous and lower-income communities, who often rely on buses to get to school and are also more likely to suffer from asthma than other students. Some of the biggest drivers for change are parents worried about their children.

    For Areli Sanchez’ family in Las Vegas, things continued to deteriorate.

    She felt like she had to stop working. “I didn’t know when we were going to get another call from school about another asthma attack,” she said.

    A few years after her daughter started having problems, Sanchez saw the opportunity to get involved in the nascent movement for electric buses. They don’t smell. They aren’t noisy. They cost more up front, but cost less to run and can meaningfully reduce emissions, making them a climate change solution.

    Now Sanchez has been making this case locally and beyond for four years, even taking a long diesel bus ride to the state capital, Carson City, to plead for funding from the legislature.

    Recently she started to get some traction when the Clark County School District, her district, began to swap some of its buses for electric. These still make up only a fraction of the nearly 2,000 in the fleet, but she’s optimistic.

    Some similar progress is taking place throughout the nation as a sense of urgency builds around worsening air quality and environmental injustice related to the warming climate.

    Children are generally more harmed by air pollution than adults because their bodies are still developing, and because they breathe in more air per body size than adults do, said University of Michigan epidemiology and public health researcher Sara Adar, who studies the link between health and school buses.

    “As they’re burning their fuel and as the engine is spinning, they often are releasing very, very small particles that can get deep into our lungs and cause havoc throughout the body,” Adar said.

    Kids also can spend considerable time around idling buses, she noted, lengthening their exposure to something that can permanently damage their health. Research has highlighted poor air quality inside older diesel school buses, too.

    “It’s this perpetual cycle of bad air quality,” said Lonnie Portis, a policy and advocacy manager for the activist group We Act for Environmental Justice in New York City. In hard-hit, or environmental justice neighborhoods, he said, “you’re removing at least some of that by putting electric school buses in the rotation.”

    Some school districts have switched to newer versions of diesel buses, which are more efficient and produce less pollution, as one way to reduce students’ exposure. Others, especially in underfunded districts, keep their older, more polluting vehicles.

    Much like Sanchez, Liz Hurtado, the mother of four children who ride the bus in Virginia Beach, Virginia, has spent years advocating for electric buses.

    Her oldest daughter also got headaches riding a diesel bus, and she’d drive her to school when she could, she said.

    Now a national field manager for the grassroots group Moms Clean Air Force and active in a program dedicated to protecting Latino children’s health, Hurtado appeals to school districts to buy electric buses. She schedules events for community members to see and drive electric vehicles, hosts webinars and meetings and teaches others how to reach out to legislators.

    “Knowing all of the stressors and anxiety from climate change, and the fact that this is a huge burden for our children,” Hurtado said. “That places a burden on us, right?”

    While an electric bus isn’t yet available to her, she still feels “really excited about the momentum.”

    Federal money is now the leading source of funding for electric school buses, and prioritizes low-income, rural or Tribal communities, which advocates see as a huge win. Most electric school buses on the road today have landed in those areas, according to WRI.

    “It means that we are putting the solution closest to the problem,” said Carolina Chacon, coalition manager for the Alliance for Electric School Buses, a group of nonprofit organizations that has been expanding.

    Sanchez said Aida might not get to take advantage of the electric buses, since she is now 16.

    “But other moms won’t have to worry like I did because of the fumes,” she said.

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    Associated Press

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  • Netanyahu: Cease-fire deal would only ‘somewhat’ delay offensive in Rafah

    Netanyahu: Cease-fire deal would only ‘somewhat’ delay offensive in Rafah

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    Mediators are making progress on an agreement for a weekslong cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and the release of dozens of hostages held in Gaza as well as Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, Israeli media reported Sunday.

    What You Need To Know

    • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says an Israeli military offensive in the southernmost city of Rafah could be “delayed somewhat” if a deal for a weekslong cease-fire between Israel and Hamas is reached
    • He claims that total victory in Gaza is “weeks away” once the offensive begins. Netanyahu confirms to CBS that a deal is in the works
    • Talks have resumed at the specialist level in Qatar which is one of the mediators
    • The United States is again warning its ally Israel that a military offensive on Rafah shouldn’t go forward without a plan to protect the more than 1 million civilians now sheltering there

    An Israeli military offensive in the southernmost city of Rafah could be “delayed somewhat” if a deal for a weekslong cease-fire between Israel and Hamas is reached, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, but claimed that total victory in Gaza is “weeks away” once the offensive begins.

    Netanyahu confirmed to CBS that a deal is in the works, with no details. Israeli media reported that mediators were making progress on an agreement for a cease-fire and release of dozens of hostages held in Gaza as well as Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Several Israeli media outlets, citing unnamed officials, said the War Cabinet tacitly approved it.

    Talks resumed on Sunday in Qatar at the specialist level, Egypt’s state-run Al Qahera TV reported, citing an Egyptian official as saying further discussions would follow in Cairo with the aim of achieving the cease-fire and release.

    Meanwhile, Israel is developing plans for expanding its offensive against the Hamas militant group to Rafah on the Gaza-Egypt border, where more than half the besieged territory’s population of 2.3 million have sought refuge. Humanitarian groups warn of a catastrophe, with Rafah the main entry point for aid, and the U.S. and other allies have said Israel must avoid harming civilians.

    Netanyahu has said he’ll convene the Cabinet this week to approve operational plans for action in Rafah, including the evacuation of civilians.

    “Once we begin the Rafah operation, the intense phase of the fighting is weeks away from completion. Not months,” Netanyahu told CBS. ““If we don’t have a deal, we’ll do it anyway. It has to be done because total victory is our goal and total victory is within reach.”

    He said that four of the six remaining Hamas battalions are concentrated in Rafah.

    U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told NBC that President Joe Biden hadn’t been briefed on the Rafah plan and said, “We believe that this operation should not go forward until or unless we see (a plan to protect civilians).”

    Heavy fighting continued in parts of northern Gaza, the first target of the offensive, where the destruction is staggering. Residents have reported days of heavy fighting in the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City.

    “We’re trapped, unable to move because of the heavy bombardment,” resident Ayman Abu Awad said.

    He said starving residents have been forced to eat animal fodder and search for food in demolished buildings. Northern Gaza has been largely cut off from aid, and the U.N.’s World Food Program suspended deliveries last week.

    A senior official from Egypt, which along with Qatar is a mediator between Israel and Hamas, has said the draft cease-fire deal includes the release of up to 40 women and older hostages in return for up to 300 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women, minors and older people.

    The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations, said the proposed six-week pause in fighting would include allowing hundreds of trucks to bring desperately needed aid into Gaza every day, including the north. He said both sides agreed to continue negotiations during the pause for further releases and a permanent cease-fire.

    Negotiators face an unofficial deadline of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan around March 10, a period that often sees heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions.

    Hamas says it has not been involved in the latest proposal developed by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, but the reported outline largely matches its earlier proposal for the first phase of a truce.

    Hamas has said it won’t release all of the remaining hostages until Israel ends its offensive and withdraws its forces from the territory, and is demanding the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including senior militants — conditions Netanyahu has rejected.

    An anguished wait for the families of hostages

    Israel declared war after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 hostages. More than 100 hostages were released in a cease-fire and exchange deal in November. Around 130 remain in captivity, a fourth of whom are believed to be dead.

    Families of the hostages have followed the fits and starts of the negotiations with hope and anguish.

    “It feels like Schindler’s list. Will he be on the list or not?” Shelly Shem Tov, the mother of Omer, 21, who is held captive, told Israeli Army Radio of her son’s chances of being freed in an emerging deal.

    Israel responded to the Oct. 7 attack with a massive air and ground offensive that has driven around 80% of Gaza’s population from their homes, putting hundreds of thousands at risk of starvation and the spread of infectious disease. The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza says 29,692 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, two-thirds of them women and children.

    The ministry’s death toll doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says its troops have killed more than 10,000 militants, without providing evidence.

    Doctors in Rafah struggle to treat newborns

    The war has devastated the territory’s health sector, with less than half of hospitals even partially functioning as scores are killed each day in Israeli bombardment.

    At the Emirates Hospital in Rafah, three to four newborns are placed in each of its 20 incubators, which are designed for just one. Dr. Amal Ismail said two to three newborns die in a single shift, in part because many of their families live in tents in rainy, cold weather.

    “No matter how much we work with them, it is all wasted,” she said. “There is no health improvement because of the conditions of living in a tent.”

    Netanyahu has vowed to fight until “total victory,” but is under intense pressure at home to reach a deal with Hamas to free the hostages. Police used a water cannon to disperse anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv late Saturday, and 18 people were arrested. Others protested in Jerusalem.

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    Associated Press

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  • Hundreds attend funeral for woman killed during Super Bowl celebration

    Hundreds attend funeral for woman killed during Super Bowl celebration

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    KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Hundreds of mourners attended a funeral mass Saturday for a Kansas City-area DJ who was killed when she was shot during a celebration of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory.

    What You Need To Know

    • Hundreds of mourners attended a funeral mass Saturday for Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a Kansas City-area DJ who was killed during a Super Bowl celebration

    • She was remembered during the 90-minute service as a loving wife and mother whose smile could light up a room and who saw each day as a chance for excitement and laughter

    • Some mourners worse Chiefs jerseys and they also heard a mariachi band play and sing

    • Two men are charged in her death and two juveniles face gun charges

    Lisa Lopez-Galvan was one of about two dozen people who were shot when gunfire erupted Feb. 14 outside the city’s Union Station. She was remembered during the 90-minute service as a loving wife and mother whose smile could light up a room and who saw each day as a chance for excitement and laughter.

    With her casket near the front of the Redemptorist Catholic Church in Kansas City, Missouri. mourners — some wearing Chiefs jerseys — also heard a mariachi band play and sing.

    Along with her husband and young adult son, the 43-year-old had joined an estimated crowd of 1 million people for the parade and rally. As the festivities ended, a dispute over what authorities described as the belief that people in one group were staring at people in another group led to gunfire.

    Lopez-Galvan, a music lover who played at weddings, quinceañeras and an American Legion bar and grill, was caught in the middle of it. Everyone else survived.

    Two men are charged in her death, and two juveniles face gun charges. Her family responded to the charges this week with a statement expressing thanks to police and prosecutors.

    “Though it does not bring back our beloved Lisa, it is comforting,” the statement began.

    Players and celebrities alike have reached out to her family. Pop superstar Taylor Swift, who is frequently in the stands during Chiefs games because she is dating tight end Travis Kelce, donated $100,000 to Lopez-Galvan’s family.

    And because she was wearing a Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker jersey at the celebration, he responded to requests on social media seeking help in obtaining a similar jersey — possibly so the mother of two could be laid to rest in it.

    “While the family is mourning their loss and grappling with their numerous injuries, I will continue to pray for their healing and the repose of Lisa’s soul,” Butker said in a statement.

    Rosa Izurieta and Martha Ramirez worked with Lopez-Galvan for about a year at a local staffing firm but had known her since childhood. They remembered her as an extrovert and a staunch Catholic who was devoted to her family, passionate about connecting job seekers with employment and ready to help anyone.

    And, they said, working part time playing music allowed her to share her passion as one of the area’s few Latina DJs.

    “This senseless act has taken a beautiful person from her family and this KC Community,” the radio station KKFI-FM, where she was the co-host of a program called “Taste of Tejano,” said in a statement.

    Izurieta and Ramirez said Lopez-Galvan’s Kansas City roots run deep. Her father founded the city’s first mariachi group, Mariachi Mexico, in the 1980s, they said, and the family is well known and active in the Latino community. Her brother, Beto Lopez, is CEO of the Guadalupe Centers, which provides community services and runs charter schools for the Latino community.

    Lopez-Galvan and her two children went to Bishop Miege, a Catholic high school in a suburb on the Kansas side, and she worked for years as a clerk in a police department there.

    “This is another example of a real loving, real human whose life was taken tragically with a senseless act,” Beto Lopez said in an interview last week on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

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    Associated Press

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  • More homes listed for sale as owners seek to leverage high values

    More homes listed for sale as owners seek to leverage high values

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    More owners are listing their homes for sale as the spring buying season approaches.

    New listings were up 10% for the four weeks ending Feb. 18 compared with a year earlier, marking the largest increase since December. Sellers are trying to leverage home values that have increased 6% over the past year, according to the real estate brokerage, Redfin.

    What You Need To Know

    • Home listings increased 10% for the four weeks ending Feb. 18 compred with a year earlier

    • It was the largest increase in listings since December

    • Sellers are seeking to capitalize on increasing home prices

    • San Diego, Newark, Anaheim, Philadelphia and West Palm Beach have seen the largest year-over-year price gains, according to Redfin

    Median sales prices are continuing to increase in many cities. San Diego topped Redfin’s list of cities where homes have appreciated the most (15%), followed by Newark, N.J. (14.3%); Anaheim, Calif. (13.5%), Philadelphia (12.6%) and West Palm Beach, Fla. (12.4%).

    The three metropolitan areas that saw the largest year-over-year decreases were in Texas, led by San Antonio (-4.1%), Austin (-0.4%) and Fort Worth (-0.3%).

    Despite the increase in listings, mortgage applications fell 10% last week compared with the week prior following an uptick in mortgage rates. The average rate is now more than 7% for the first time since December.

    Pending home sales were down 7% as of Feb. 18 compared with a year earlier.

    According to Redfin, potential home buyers are more interested in properties that are move-in ready than fixer-uppers requiring more investment. With fewer prospective buyers, sellers often need to offer concessions.

    “I tell every one of my sellers to have an open mind and put on their buyer’s hat,” Redfin agent Shauna Pendleton said in a statement. “Nine times out of 10, buyers are asking for a concession in their initial offer right now, and usually the seller needs to accept the deal.”

    The most common concessions are mortgage-rate buydowns, where sellers pay a lump sum to the lender for a temporary interest-rate reduction, and for sellers to cover the sale’s closing costs.

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • AT&T says the outage to its US cellphone network not a cyberattack

    AT&T says the outage to its US cellphone network not a cyberattack

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    AT&T said the hourslong outage to its U.S. cellphone network Thursday appeared to be the result of a technical error, not a malicious attack.

    The outage knocked out cellphone service for thousands of its users across the U.S. starting early Thursday before it was restored.

    What You Need To Know

    • AT&T said the hourslong outage to its U.S. cellphone network Thursday appeared to be the result of a technical error, not a malicious attack

    • The outage knocked out cellphone service for thousands of its users across the U.S. starting early Thursday before it was restored

    • AT&T blamed the incident on an error in coding, without elaborating

    • Cricket Wireless, which is owned by AT&T, had more than 9,000 outages at one point

    AT&T blamed the incident on an error in coding, without elaborating.

    “Based on our initial review, we believe that today’s outage was caused by the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network, not a cyber attack,” the Dallas-based company said.

    Outage tracker Downdetector noted that outages, which began at about 3:30 a.m. ET, peaked at around 73,000 reported incidents. AT&T had more than 58,000 outages around noon ET, in locations including Houston, Atlanta and Chicago. The carrier is the country’s largest, with more than 240 million subscribers.

    By 9 p.m. ET, the reports on AT&T’s network were fewer than 1,000.

    Cricket Wireless, which is owned by AT&T, had more than 9,000 outages at one point but the reports had also tailed off later in the afternoon. Users of other carriers, including Verizon and T-Mobile, also reported issues but those companies said their networks were operating normally and the problems were likely stemming from customers trying to connect to AT&T users.

    During the outage, some iPhone users saw SOS messages displayed in the status bar on their cellphones. The message indicates that the device is having trouble connecting to their cellular provider’s network, but it can make emergency calls through other carrier networks, according to Apple Support.

    The Federal Communications Commission contacted AT&T about the outage and the Department of Homeland Security and FBI were also looking into it, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

    The FBI acknowledged it had been in touch with AT&T. “Should we learn of any malicious activity we will respond accordingly,” the agency said.

    The outage also raised concerns on Capitol Hill.

    “We are working to assess today’s disruption in order to gain a complete understanding of what went wrong and what can be done to prevent future incidents like this from occurring,” said a statement issued by Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Washington Republican who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Ohio Republican Bob Latta, chair of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee.

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    Associated Press

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  • Energy Dept. announces $544M loan to boost U.S. semiconductor production

    Energy Dept. announces $544M loan to boost U.S. semiconductor production

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    U.S. microchip manufacturing is getting a boost from the Department of Energy.

    On Thursday, the agency announced it will loan $544 million to SK Siltron to make silicon carbide semiconductors for electric vehicles.

    What You Need To Know

    • The U.S. Department of Energy announced it will loan $544 million to SK Siltron in Bay City, Mich.

    • The loan will help the company increase production of the silicon carbide wafers used to make electric vehicles 

    • The funding will create about 200 construction jobs and up to 200 skilled labor positions

    • More than 80% of the global superconductor industry is in Asia

    The Energy Department expects the loan to create about 200 construction jobs for the company to expand its facility in Bay City, Mich., and to create up to another 200 skilled positions through a Michigan New Jobs Training Program with Delta College.

    When complete, SK Siltron is projected to rank among the world’s top-five makers of silicon carbide semiconductors, joining Wolfspeed in Durham, N.C.; Coherent Corp. in Saxonburg, Penn.; and Xiamen Powerway Advanced Material Co. in China.

    More than 80% of the world’s semiconductor production facilities are based in South Korea, Taiwan, China and Japan, according to the semiconductor industry association, SEMI.

    Silicon carbide semiconductors are used to help EVs charge more quickly and travel longer distances than traditional silicon semiconductors.

    Increasing SK Siltron’s capacity will help electric vehicle makers secure the chips they need, the Energy Department said. EVs use about twice the number of semiconductors as gas-powered vehicles.

    “This project reinforces President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to onshore and re-shore domestic manufacturing technologies that are critical to meeting the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious goal that half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 are zero-emissions vehicles,” the Energy Department said in a statement on its website.

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • Energy Dept. announces $544M loan to boost U.S. semiconductor production

    Energy Dept. announces $544M loan to boost U.S. semiconductor production

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    U.S. microchip manufacturing is getting a boost from the Department of Energy.

    On Thursday, the agency announced it will loan $544 million to SK Siltron to make silicon carbide semiconductors for electric vehicles.

    What You Need To Know

    • The U.S. Department of Energy announced it will loan $544 million to SK Siltron in Bay City, Mich.

    • The loan will help the company increase production of the silicon carbide wafers used to make electric vehicles 

    • The funding will create about 200 construction jobs and up to 200 skilled labor positions

    • More than 80% of the global superconductor industry is in Asia

    The Energy Department expects the loan to create about 200 construction jobs for the company to expand its facility in Bay City, Mich., and to create up to another 200 skilled positions through a Michigan New Jobs Training Program with Delta College.

    When complete, SK Siltron is projected to rank among the world’s top-five makers of silicon carbide semiconductors, joining Wolfspeed in Durham, N.C.; Coherent Corp. in Saxonburg, Penn.; and Xiamen Powerway Advanced Material Co. in China.

    More than 80% of the world’s semiconductor production facilities are based in South Korea, Taiwan, China and Japan, according to the semiconductor industry association, SEMI.

    Silicon carbide semiconductors are used to help EVs charge more quickly and travel longer distances than traditional silicon semiconductors.

    Increasing SK Siltron’s capacity will help electric vehicle makers secure the chips they need, the Energy Department said. EVs use about twice the number of semiconductors as gas-powered vehicles.

    “This project reinforces President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to onshore and re-shore domestic manufacturing technologies that are critical to meeting the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious goal that half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 are zero-emissions vehicles,” the Energy Department said in a statement on its website.

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    Susan Carpenter

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