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Southwest hit by record $140 million fine for holiday service meltdown in 2022

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:16 GMT

Washington (CNN) — The federal government is fining Southwest Airlines $140 million for last year’s historic, 10-day-long holiday meltdown that stranded more than 2 million travelers.The Department of Transportation’s announcement of its largest-ever civil penalty comes about one year after cascading issues at Southwest led to the cancelation of nearly 17,000 flights. Those flights made up nearly half of Southwest’s flight schedule during the busy holiday travel period.The agency says it levied the fine “for numerous violations of consumer protection laws during and after the operational failures,” including not communicating with passengers, failing to provide adequate customer service and not refunding passengers quickly enough.Southwest said it was “pleased” to reach the settlement with the DOT and that it is committed to delivering the highest quality of customer service. It said the agreement includes “a new, industry-leading policy to compensate customers during sign...

Steph Curry’s five-year three-point streak ends in Golden State Warriors win over Portland Trail Blazers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:16 GMT

(CNN) — Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry failed to make a three-pointer in an NBA regular season game for the first time in five years, blanking from deep in a win against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.Curry was 0-for-8 from three-point range on a poor shooting night for the two-time MVP, where he was 2-for-12 from the field and only had seven points.It was the first time that Curry had failed to make a three since November 8 2018, when he was 0-for-4 against the Milwaukee Bucks, per the NBA, bringing his NBA record 268-game stretch to an end. He is also the owner of the second-longest streak at 157 games.Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard now hold the longest active streak with at least one make from behind the arc at 101 games, per StatMuse.Curry holds the record for most made threes in NBA history after passing Ray Allen’s total of 3,358 in November 2021. In a victory against the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday, he knocked dow...

More than 50,000 without power as wind-whipped storm rolls through

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:16 GMT

Heavy rain and high winds swept through the Northeast on Monday for the second time in a week, spurring flood warnings, electricity outages, flight cancellations and school closings.The National Weather Service predicted up to 5 inches  of rain in some parts of the region. More than 245,000 power outages were reported from Pennsylvania to New York to New England, with numerous reports of trees falling on power lines. Wind gusts of up to 60 mph were forecast for the southeast New England coast, the Weather Service said.In Massachusetts, more than  54,000 homes were without power according to the state’s emergency services outage map. Communities including Newbury, Millis, Carver and Pelham are among those affected.In New York City, high winds prompted the temporary closure of the Verrazzano Bridge. It reopened later Monday morning, but with a ban on tractor-trailers and other large vehicles.Guilford, Connecticut, police said a tree fell on a police cruiser, but the officer was not in...

Bill Belichick responds to whether Robert Kraft has his back amid job status reports

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:16 GMT

If Bill Belichick is truly coaching for his job, as some reports suggest, then Sunday’s 27-17 loss to the Chiefs puts the Patriots head coach one step closer to parting ways with the organization.Belichick was asked Monday on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” if a decision has been made about his future as Patriots head coach. NBC Sports’ Tom Curran reported last week that ownership had decided to part ways with Belichick after they lost to the Colts in Germany back in Week 11. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported this weekend that owner Robert Kraft had not reached a firm conclusion about Belichick’s future and that a strong finish to the season could help him keep his job.“Nothing’s changed,” Belichick said on WEEI. “I’m going to keep — we’ve got Denver this week. Do all we can to get the team ready to play well against Denver.”The Patriots now finish the season against the Broncos, Bills and Jets. They’re 3-11 on the season and are currently slated to pick second in the 2024 NFL Dra...

Snow, flurries on the way today as temperatures drop in GTA

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:16 GMT

It’s a mild and rainy start to the work week but things will look and feel a lot more like winter by Monday evening.A temperature drop throughout the day Monday will set things up for a potentially icy and snowy evening commute, and there is a possibility we could be waking up to snow on the ground on Tuesday morning.“Rain, switching over to snow as we head into this evening,” says CityNews chief meteorologist Natasha Ramsahai. “It is going to be slick driving tonight and into tomorrow.”Monday’s guaranteed high of 6 C has already been reached as of 8 a.m. as cold air starts to move in leading to an overnight low of -4 C. Showers are expected to turn into wet flurries and then snow by the late evening.Areas in the north part of the GTA could see as much as five centimetres of snow, with up to three centimetres possible in areas south of Highway 401.Tuesday will see sun and cloud and a chance of flurries with a guaranteed high of -1 C. Things will r...

El-Sissi wins Egypt’s presidential election with 89.6% of the vote and secures third term in office

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:16 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who has ruled with an unquestioned grip for the past nine years, won reelection to a third, six-year term in office, election authorities announced Monday. He ran against three virtually unknown opponents.El-Sissi recorded a landslide victory, securing 89.6% of the vote, the National Election Authority said. Turnout was 66.8% of more than 67 million registered voters. “The voting percentage is the highest in the history of Egypt,” declared Hazem Badawy, the election commission chief, who announced the official results in a televised news conference.The vote was overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on Egypt’s eastern border, which has threatened to expand into wider regional turmoil. The North African country is also in the midst of an economic crisis, with monthly inflation surging above 30%. Over the past 22 months, the Egypt pound has lost 50% of value against the dollar with one third of the country’s 105 ...

Bangladesh court denies opposition leader’s bail request ahead of a national election

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:16 GMT

DHAKA,Bangladesh (AP) — A court in Bangladesh’s capital on Monday denied a bail request from a top opposition leader who was jailed, pending investigation, following an October anti-government protest that turned violent and is therefore unable to guide his party ahead of a general election next month. Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury made the ruling during a Chief Metropolitan Court hearing where Bangladesh Nationalist Party Secretary-General,Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir appeared. The same court also denied a bail petition from another senior party leader, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, a former commerce minister.The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, is boycotting the Jan. 7 election after its demands for a caretaker government to organize the voting were not met. The party accused Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of rigging the 2018 vote and says it does not have any faith the next election will be conducted fairly. Supporters argue the election will not...

US Indo-Pacific commander is ‘very concerned’ about escalation of China-Russia military ties

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:16 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — The head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Monday he is “very concerned” about increased joint military actions by China and Russia in the region.Adm. John C. Aquilino spoke in Tokyo as another regional concern, North Korea, conducted its latest intercontinental ballistic missile test, underscoring the advancement of its capabilities.Aquilino is meeting with Japanese defense officials ahead of a joint exercise, Keen Edge 24, early next year.He urged China to stop escalating maritime confrontations with its neighbors, and said its increasing military activity with Russia is a serious concern during Moscow’s war in Ukraine.“I view it as far beyond the marriage of convenience at this point in time” he said. “If you tied DPRK (North Korea) into that, the Russia-DPRK cooperation, and the fact that the only partner of the DPRK prior to that was (China), that’s just a bad neighborhood and bad group to be in,” Aquilino said.North Korea has been pushi...

Good news: The pandemic didn’t make us meaner

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:16 GMT

In today’s Big Story Podcast, before we break for the holidays, The Big Story team decided to try to end our year on a positive note with a week of good news stories. We hope this week brings you hope, light and laughter. It might be our job to often deliver bad news, but that doesn’t mean that’s all the world is.Today: You might have thought — based on everything you’ve seen and heard in the media and through your social channels — that the pandemic turned us all into angry people, yelling at one another and throwing tantrums. We’re delighted to inform you that’s simply not remotely true, and we have the data to prove it.Dr. John Helliwell is a professor emeritus at The Vancouver School of Economics at the University of British Columbia, and a founding editor of The World Happiness report. “The most dramatic evidence we found on that was […] all over the world, people dramatically increased relative to pre-pandemic levels, the frequency which they...

BP is the latest company to pause Red Sea shipments over fears of Houthi attacks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:16 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Oil and natural gas giant BP has joined the growing list of companies that have halted their shipments through the Red Sea because of the risk of attack from Yemen’s Houthi rebels, threatening a major trade route in what is expected to have global effects.London-based BP said Monday that it has “decided to temporarily pause all transits through the Red Sea,” including shipments of oil, liquid natural gas and other energy supplies. Describing it as a “precautionary pause,” the company said the decision was under ongoing review but that it was prioritizing crew safety.Oil prices rose Monday partly over market nerves about attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis, which have targeted container ships and oil tankers passing through a narrow waterway that separates Yemen from East Africa and leads north to the Red Sea and Suez Canal, where an estimated 10% of the world’s trade passes through. The Houthis have targeted Israeli-linked vessels during Israel’s wa...