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Vice President Harris will attend COP28 climate conference in Dubai

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will join the U.S. delegation to Dubai for the annual United Nations conference on climate change, the White House said Wednesday.This weekend’s trip for COP28 appears to have been hastily arranged, since her staff recently said she had no plans to attend. White House officials did not explain the change in plans, but the announcement comes after criticism of Joe Biden’s decision to skip the summit. He’s also no longer expected to make a promised trip to Africa before the end of the year. The White House said Biden spoke Wednesday with President Mohamed bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates, which is hosting COP28. According to an official summary of the call, Biden said Harris will “showcase U.S. global leadership on climate at home and abroad” and will “help galvanize increased global ambition at this critical event.”Secretary of State Antony Blinken, special envoy John Kerry, climate adviser Ali Zaidi and clean energy adv...

Kraft debuts dairy-free mac and cheese in the US

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

Kraft Macaroni and… Fava Beans?The Kraft Heinz Co. said Wednesday it’s bringing dairy-free macaroni and cheese to the U.S. for the first time. The company said the new recipe has the same creamy texture and flavor of its beloved 85-year-old original Mac & Cheese but replaces dairy with ingredients like fava bean protein and coconut oil powder.The plant-based Kraft NotMac & Cheese, which will be rolled out to U.S. stores over the next few months, was developed in collaboration with Not Co., a Chicago startup that makes plant-based milk, burgers and other products.Kraft Heinz, which is based in Pittsburgh and Chicago, formed a joint venture with Not Co. last year. The joint venture, called The Kraft Heinz Not Co., has already released non-dairy cheese slices and mayonnaise in the U.S. It plans to add more products and begin international distribution next year.Kraft Heinz began selling vegan macaroni and cheese in Australia in 2021, but this will be the first time it’s b...

UAW will try to organize workers at all US nonunion factories after winning new contracts in Detroit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — Less than two weeks after ratifying new contracts with Detroit automakers, the United Auto Workers union announced plans Wednesday to try to simultaneously organize workers at more than a dozen nonunion auto factories.The UAW says the drive will cover nearly 150,000 workers at factories largely in the South, where the union has had little success in recruiting new members. The drive will target U.S. plants run by Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Subaru, Mazda, Volkswagen, Mercedes, BMW and Volvo. Also on the union’s list are U.S. factories run by electric vehicle sales leader Tesla, as well as EV startups Rivian and Lucid. “You don’t have to live paycheck to paycheck,” union President Shawn Fain said in a statement appealing to nonunion workers. “You don’t have to worry about how you’re going to pay your rent or feed your family while the company makes billions. A better life is out there.” The union said that Toyota’s 7,800-worker assembly comp...

Lawyer for pharma company argues against single trial in B.C. opioid damages case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

VANCOUVER — A lawyer for a pharmaceutical firm says holding a single trial in British Columbia to determine damages for each province and territory related to opioid health-care costs would be a “monster of complexity.”Gordon McKee, a lawyer for Janssen Inc. and Johnson & Johnson, told the B.C. Supreme Court that certifying Canadian governments as a class in their pursuit of damages against opioid makers isn’t manageable or preferable compared with separate trials. McKee says the judge should not certify Canadian governments as a class in the case because it would “burden” B.C.’s justice system and have a negative affect on access to justice for other potential litigants. He says other courts in the past have recognized that some class-action lawsuits are “too big to certify,” and there are enough separate issues in each province or territory that make a single trial unmanageable.McKee says individual trials specific to each jurisd...

Baby shot in head, critical after Washington Park shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

CHICAGO — A 9-month-old baby girl is in critical condition following a shooting Tuesday night in Washington Park.At around 10:55 p.m., the 9-month-old sustained a gunshot wound to the head in the 0-100 block of East Garfield. She was transported to Comer Children's Hospital in critical condition.CPD said they received a report of the incident Wednesday morning and one person of interest is being questioned by detectives.Circumstances around the shooting are not available at this time.Anyone with information can leave an anonymous tip at cpdtip.com.WGN News will update this story once more information becomes available.

2 found dead in RV fire at Morris truck stop

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

MORRIS, Ill. — Two people were found dead early Wednesday morning following an RV fire at a truck stop in Morris.At around 3 a.m., authorities were dispatched to the parking lot of Love's Travel Center, located in the 8900 block of Brisbin Road.Firefighters at the scene discovered a fully engulfed RV. The remains of two people were found after the fire was put out.They have not been identified at this time and an autopsy is scheduled for Friday morning.The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

'Don't want to die': Shannen Doherty reveals heartbreaking cancer news

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

(WJW) – Shannen Doherty shared heartbreaking news about her fight with cancer in an interview with PEOPLE. The actress said the stage 4 breast cancer has spread to her bones.Doherty, 52, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. After a mastectomy and chemotherapy, she went into remission.But the cancer returned in 2019. Doherty announced her diagnosis of metastatic stage 4 cancer in 2020. Steve Harvey thanks wife in emotional speech Earlier this year, she said the cancer had spread to her brain. A tumor on her brain was removed.The “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Charmed” star said she’s still undergoing treatment.“I don’t want to die,” she said in a recent interview with PEOPLE. “I’m not done with living. I’m not done with loving. I’m not done with creating. I’m not done with hopefully changing things for the better. I’m just not — I’m not done.”She continued, “When you ask yourself, ‘Why me? Why did I get cancer?’ and then ‘Why did my cancer come back? Why am I stage 4?’ That ...

Pedestrian dead following north Austin crash Wednesday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

Editor’s Note: The video at the top of this story shows KXAN’s morning headlines for Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023.AUSTIN (KXAN) — One person is dead following a crash between a pedestrian and vehicle in north Austin Wednesday, Austin-Travis County EMS officials said.Officials said on social media the crash happened in the 800 block of East St. Johns Avenue. That's near the North Interstate 35 Frontage Road.ATCEMS added Austin Police began life-saving measures on the patient and that EMS and Austin Fire Department crews were on the scene. In a follow-up post, ATCEMS confirmed one adult patient died at the scene.Traffic delays and closures are expected as a result of the crash. Drivers are asked to avoid the area if possible.

Austin Energy: Squirrel caused power outage in north Austin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- After roughly 4,000 customers were out of power, Austin Energy confirmed it was a squirrel who "came in contact with equipment on a transformer pole" on Wednesday, the agency said on social media. RELATED COVERAGE: Austin Energy says snake caused power outage in east, southeast Austin Although the energy company said there are special animal guards on electrical equipment, "there is no absolute way to protect" all of the equipment. AE added squirrels are the "primary cause of non-storm related power outages in just about every part of the country."Customers were without power for about one hour, AE officials said.

Video shows Frank Erwin Center demolition in full swing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:54 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Demolition of the longstanding Frank Erwin Center on The University of Texas at Austin campus is in full swing after more than four decades of memories. Demolition began in September, but KXAN crews stopped by the site Tuesday to check out its progress. The university said the demolition could last through mid-February to make way for the new University of Texas at Austin Medical Center, but that timeline could change. The new medical center was announced in August, with UT saying at the time it would invest $2.5 billion into its construction. ‘Future of world-class health care’: UT-Austin Medical Center planned at Erwin Center site Officials previously said they hope to get the medical center done by 2029 or 2030.The Frank Erwin Center originally opened in 1977 and used to be the home of Texas Longhorns basketball before closing in 2022 and being replaced by the Moody Center.