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Stop putting rhinestones on your steering wheel, federal government warns

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:51 GMT

New York (CNN) — While personalizing one’s vehicle is a long-cherished American tradition, the federal government is warning that one particular customization option can result in serious injuries in a crash. The little rhinestone bedazzled ring you’ve slapped over the manufacturer’s logo on the steering wheel has got to go.Car owners should not affix hard stick-on decorations to the center of a vehicle’s steering wheel, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in an announcement Monday. People should immediately remove any decorations they may have already put on their steering wheel, the agency said. Those decorations could become shrapnel-like projectiles in a crash, potentially causing serious, or even fatal, injury.“At least one driver suffered a serious injury that resulted in the loss of sight in one eye, when an aftermarket emblem adorned with rhinestones became dislodged from the steering wheel in a crash and hit the driver in the face,” NHTSA said.NHTSA...

After Massachusetts field hockey player is injured by boy’s shot, team captain says the MIAA ‘needs to do better’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:51 GMT

A high school field hockey captain is telling the MIAA that the state athletic association “needs to do better” and should create a league for just boys after her teammate was seriously injured by a boy’s shot during a playoff game last week.The Swampscott High School boy player’s shot struck a Dighton-Rehoboth High School player in the face, sending her to the hospital with significant facial and dental injuries, according to officials. The “traumatic” incident led to shrieks and tears all over the field hockey pitch.The viral shot from the male player is now leading to calls for gender rule changes for high school sports, especially when it comes to girls’ field hockey.In Massachusetts, a boy can play on a girls’ team if that sport is not offered in the school for the boy.“I understand that the MIAA is adhering to the Massachusetts Equal Rights Amendment, but continuously using the law as a scapegoat for criticism and issues re...

Recipe: Seaweed chips with sesame oil and sea salt

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:51 GMT

Taku Kondo is a San Francisco sushi chef-turned expert forager from Northern California who runs the popular YouTube channel Outdoor Chef Life. (See our interview with him here.) This is Kondo’s recipe for seaweed chips (or seasoning) that you can make yourself using seaweed harvested right from the ocean.First, a couple of caveats. People who try this recipe “should definitely know what they’re eating,” Kondo says. “A couple easy-to-identify seaweeds would be sea lettuce and laver (nori). In California, there are two types of seaweed that are illegal to take: eel grass and sea palm. Although all seaweed is technically edible, they’re not all good to eat.”Also, you must have a fishing license to harvest seaweed legally. “The current seaweed limit is 10 pounds wet weight,” Kondo says, “You must avoid harvesting in Marine Protected Areas. All information is available on the California Department of Fish and Wildlife website.”If you want to learn more about identifying edible seaweeds,...

Trump lashes out from the witness stand at judge, NY attorney general as he testifies in fraud trial

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:51 GMT

By JILL COLVIN, MICHAEL R. SISAK, JENNIFER PELTZ and ERIC TUCKER (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump defended his wealth and business on Monday, tangling from the witness stand with the judge overseeing his civil fraud trial and denouncing as a “political witch hunt” a lawsuit accusing him of dramatically inflating his net worth.Trump’s long-awaited testimony about property valuations and financial statements was punctuated by personal jabs at a judge he said was biased against him and at the state attorney general, whom he derided as a “political hack.” He proudly boasted of his real estate business — “I’m worth billions of dollars more than the financial statements” — and disputed claims that he had deceived banks and insurers.“This is the opposite of fraud,” he declared. Referring to New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat whose office brought the case, he said, &...

Rashida Tlaib defends pro-Palestinian video as rift among Michigan Democrats widens over war

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:51 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan has received widespread criticism for a video she posted over the weekend that was deemed offensive to the Jewish community by some, but she said her critics should focus less on the words she used than on saving civilian lives in the Middle East. “My colleagues are much more focused on silencing me — the only Palestinian American voice in Congress — than they are on ending the horrific attacks on civilians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank right now,” Tlaib said in a statement sent Monday to The Associated Press. “Instead of attacking me and distorting my words, they should listen to their constituents and call for a cease-fire to save innocent lives.”She was responding to calls from national and Michigan Democrats asking her to take down a video posted Friday, which includes a clip of demonstrators chanting “from the river to the sea.” Tlaib also said in the video “we will remember in 2024” before text appears statin...

Nevada high court postpones NFL appeal in Jon Gruden emails lawsuit until January

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:51 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Nevada Supreme Court has pushed back to Jan. 10 the date for oral arguments in a contract interference and conspiracy lawsuit filed against the NFL by former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden. Postponement of the hearing, originally scheduled for Tuesday, came at the request of attorneys for who cited a scheduling conflict.Lawyers for neither side responded to email messages Monday about the schedule change.The league wants the court to reverse a state court judge’s decisions in May 2022 letting Gruden’s lawsuit proceed and not to order out-of-court talks that could be overseen by Commissioner Roger Goodell.Gruden accuses the league of improperly leaking racist, sexist and homophobic emails that Gruden sent when he was an ESPN announcer to force him to resign from the Raiders in 2021.Gruden’s emails went from 2011 to 2018 to former Washington Commanders executive Bruce Allen and were found amid emails the league obtained during an investigation into...

Zara Canada being investigated by ethics watchdog over alleged links to forced labour

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:51 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada’s corporate ethics czar says it has launched a fact-finding investigation into allegations that Zara Canada Inc. is working with companies that use forced labour in China.The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise says its investigation into the apparel company stems from allegations made by 28 civil society organizations.The organizations alleged in June that Zara Canada has supply relationships with three Chinese companies identified as using or benefitting from the use of Uyghur forced labour.The ombudsperson says Zara Canada has denied the allegations and said the complaint is inadmissible because the alleged human rights abuses do not arise from its operations. The ombudsperson added Zara Canada declined mediation, saying it does not have a commercial relationship with any factory in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.Zara is the eighth company the ombudsperson has investigated for using Uyghur forced labour in its supply chain. Other companie...

Quebec English universities promise to offer more French if tuition hike is scrapped

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:51 GMT

MONTREAL — Quebec’s English-language universities say they will ensure that more out-of-province students graduate with a knowledge of French if the government doesn’t double their tuition.The heads of McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s universities made the proposal to Quebec Premier François Legault and Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry during a meeting in Montreal today.They were convened to the meeting after the government recently announced it would increase tuition for out-of-province students to $17,000 from around $9,000 as a way to protect French.Concordia University president Graham Carr described today’s meeting as “constructive” and said he and his colleagues were told the government would respond soon.In an email to university staff, Concordia University said the plan would include a compulsory French course for out-of-province students, as well as other programs intended to help them integrate into Quebec’s culture and labour ...

Mexico’s Zapatista rebel movement says it is dissolving its ‘autonomous municipalities’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:51 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Zapatista indigenous rebel movement in southern Mexico said in a statement posted Monday it is dissolving the “autonomous municipalities” it declared in the years following the group’s 1994 armed uprising.The Zapatistas led a brief rebellion to demand greater Indigenous rights, and since then have remained in their “autonomous” townships in the southern state of Chiapas, refusing government aid programs.In the statement, dated “November” and signed by rebel Subcommander Moises, the group cited waves of gang violence that have hit the area of Chiapas that borders Guatemala, but did not say whether that was a reason for dissolving the townships. The area held by the Zapatistas includes areas near the border. There is also a possibility the changes may be related to the upcoming 2024 presidential election. The movement has run candidates in the past.“In upcoming statements, we will describe the reasons and the processes involved in taking this decision,” th...

Book Review: Tess Gerritsen writes an un-put-downable spin on espionage novels with ‘The Spy Coast’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:51 GMT

Maggie Bird just wants to relax into a quiet retirement, raising chickens in the cold little town of Purity, Maine. Even in these remote woods, though, trouble manages to find her. She’ll have to face her past if she has any hope of staying alive.Spy novel meets travelog with a murder mystery in “The Spy Coast,” Book 1 of the new “Martini Club” series. Engrossing from the get-go, Tess Gerritsen’s prose is undeniable — a true professional at sucking you right into the story.When a young spy shows up dead outside Maggie’s home, her friends immediately jump to action, recalling their former lives as CIA operatives. They may be in their 60s now, but these retirees are more than capable, exasperating Officer Jo Thibodeau. While the young police chief’s involvement in the case is an annoying obstacle for Maggie, she can’t help but be beguiled by this woman who reminds her of her former self. Jo’s constant run-ins with the self-named Martini Club promise her character will have a las...