WPTF News Archives - Page 8 of 91

GM recalling big pickups and SUVs because the rear wheels can lock up, increasing risk of a crash

Author: The Associated Press | Date: November 13, 2024, 9:55 am

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is recalling nearly 462,000 pickup trucks and SUVs with diesel engines because the rear wheels can lock up, increasing the risk of a crash. The recall in the U.S. covers certain Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups from 2020 through 2022. Also included are the 2021 Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban. GM says in government documents that a transmission control valve can wear out over time. In rare cases it can fail and lock up the wheels. GM says dealers will install software to monitor the valve and detect excess wear before the wheels can lock up. GM will provide warranty coverage to fix transmissions with defective valves. Owners will be notified by letter Dec. 9.… Read More

Timothy West, acclaimed British star of stage and screen, dies aged 90

Author: The Associated Press | Date: November 13, 2024, 9:47 am

LONDON (AP) — British actor Timothy West, who played wartime leader Winston Churchill on screen three times, has died, He was 90. In a statement, his children said West died in his sleep “with his friends and family at the end.” During his long career, West was a regular presence on stage and screen, his versatility allowing him to play a broad range of characters, notably the classic Shakespeare roles of Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear. West was married for 61 years to Prunella Scales, most famous for her role as Sybil Fawlty in the classic 1970s BBC comedy “Fawlty Towers”. The couple’s long romance was showcased over 10 series of Channel 4’s “Great Canal Journeys” from 2014.… Read More

Trump’s defense choice stuns the Pentagon and raises questions about the Fox News host’s experience

Author: The Associated Press | Date: November 13, 2024, 9:33 am

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has stunned the Pentagon and the broader defense world by nominating Fox News host Pete Hegseth to be defense secretary. Trump has picked someone who’s largely inexperienced and untested on the global stage to take over the world’s largest and most powerful military. The news Tuesday was met with bewilderment and worry among many in Washington. Trump passed on a number of established national security heavy-hitters and chose an Army National Guard officer who’s well known in conservative circles as a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend.” He could bring sweeping changes. Hegseth opposes “woke” programs that promote inclusion and he questions the role of women in combat.… Read More

Stock market today: Wall Street drifts as the Trump trade cools

Author: The Associated Press | Date: November 12, 2024, 4:19 pm

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting as some momentum comes out of the torrid “Trump trade” that swept Wall Street following Donald Trump’s presidential victory. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% Tuesday, coming off its latest record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 139 points, and the Nasdaq composite was flat. Smaller U.S. stocks slipped in a turnaround from their rocket ride higher after Trump’s election raised expectations for economic growth and inflation. Even Tesla, which is run by Trump’s ally Elon Musk, is on track for its first drop since before Election Day. Yields rose as trading for U.S. government bonds resumed following Veterans Day.… Read More

Driver dies after crashing on hurricane-damaged highway in North Carolina

Author: The Associated Press | Date: November 12, 2024, 4:00 pm

WAYNESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Officials say a driver has died after going around a barricade on a hurricane-damaged North Carolina highway that became a symbol of Helene’s destruction. Photos of Interstate 40 with multiple lanes washed out by Helene near the Tennessee state line garnered widespread attention after the storm. The Junaluska Community Volunteer Fire Department says emergency workers responded to eastbound Interstate 40 on Saturday night. The fire department says crews rappelled down an embankment to reach the vehicle. The driver, the only person in the vehicle, was extricated and taken to a hospital where she later died.… Read More

Trump on Day 1: Begin deportation push, pardon Jan. 6 rioters and make his criminal cases vanish

Author: The Associated Press | Date: November 12, 2024, 3:34 pm

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has ambitious Day 1 plans for when he moves back into the White House in January. His list includes starting mass deportations of migrants and rolling back Biden administration policies on education. He’s also promising to reshape the federal government by firing potentially thousands of federal workers he believes are secretly working against him. Trump wants to pardon those arrested for their role in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. And he wants to make the federal criminal cases against him go away. When Trump took office in 2017, he had a long Day 1 list, too. But not everything on that list happened right away.… Read More

FAA prohibits US airlines from flying to Haiti for 30 days after plane was shot by gangs

Author: The Associated Press | Date: November 12, 2024, 3:04 pm

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration is prohibiting U.S. airlines from flying to Haiti for 30 days after gangs shot at a Spirit Airlines flight. The bullets hit the plane when it was about to land Monday in the country’s capital Port-au-Prince, hitting a flight attendant. It was part of a wave of violence that erupted in Haiti as the country swore in its new prime minister after a politically tumultuous process. The United Nations estimates that gangs control 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince.… Read More

Trump has promised to ‘save TikTok’. What happens next is less clear

Author: The Associated Press | Date: November 12, 2024, 2:37 pm

After a tumultuous year filled with anxiety and a legal fight about its future in the U.S., TikTok may have just been thrown a lifeline by the man who was once its biggest foe. President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly pledged during his most recent campaign to oppose a ban on the short-form video app. For months, TikTok, and its China-based parent company ByteDance, have been embroiled in a legal battle with the U.S. over a federal law that forces them to cut ties or face a ban. If the courts uphold the law, it would fall on Trump’s Justice Department to enforce the statute. Trump could try different things to prevent the app from disappearing, including finding an buyer for it.… Read More

Trump picks former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel

Author: The Associated Press | Date: November 12, 2024, 2:31 pm

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel. Trump said Tuesday that Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel’s interests as it wages wars against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. “Mike has been a great public servant, Governor, and Leader in Faith for many years,” Trump said in a statement. “He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!”… Read More

Former North Carolina labor commissioner becomes hospital group’s CEO

Author: The Associated Press | Date: November 12, 2024, 12:22 pm

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s labor commissioner for nearly the past four years is the next president and CEO of the chief advocacy group for the state’s hospitals. The North Carolina Healthcare Association announced on Tuesday that it has hired Josh Dobson after a nationwide search to lead the group. Dobson succeeds Stephen Lawler, who is retiring. Dobson decided not to seek a second term leading the Labor Department in 2024. He resigned from the job the day after Republican Luke Farley won the statewide election for commissioner last week. Dobson’s political career includes leading state House health and budget committees in the General Assembly.… Read More

My Little Pony finally hits the Toy Hall of Fame, alongside Phase 10 and Transformers

Author: The Associated Press | Date: November 12, 2024, 11:59 am

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — The National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, New York, has enshrined a new class of honorees. My Little Pony, the Phase 10 card game and Transformers action figures were inducted on Tuesday. Experts voted them in from among 12 finalists that included balloons, Hess Toy Trucks, the trampoline and remote-controlled vehicles. Anyone can nominate a toy, but to make it in, toys have to inspire creative play and enjoy popularity over time. This year’s finalists also included the party game Apples to Apples, “Choose Your Own Adventure” gamebooks, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Sequence and the stick horse.… Read More

Congress returns to unfinished business and a new Trump era

Author: The Associated Press | Date: November 12, 2024, 11:01 am

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson says Republicans are “ready to deliver” on President-elect Donald Trump’s mandate, ensuring they are more prepared for a second-term agenda. Standing on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with the House GOP leadership team Tuesday, the Republican speaker said there would be no time wasted on Trump’s “America First” agenda of securing the southern border and other priorities in what he expects will be unified government, even though House control is still too early to call. “We are ready to deliver on America’s mandate,” said Johnson.… Read More