Month: October 2023

The United Auto Workers held off on additional strikes against Detroit Three auto plants on Friday, citing progress in talks, particularly with General Motors (GM.N), which eliminated a major sticking point in talks by allowing workers at joint-venture battery plants to be covered by a labor agreement, the union said.

“Our strike is working, but we’re not there yet,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a livestreamed update on negotiations with automakers GM, Ford Motor (F.N) and Stellantis (STLAM.MI).

Until Friday, the UAW had ratcheted up action against different automakers weekly to try to get its demands met. Threatening to strike against GM’s Arlington, Texas, plant that makes cash-cow SUVs like the Cadillac Escalade spurred GM to agree that EV battery factories would become union plants with UAW contracts, Fain said.

GM’s concession could be critical if rivals follow suit. More consumers are buying electric vehicles, and the union wants those workers to get the same protections as others as EV production expands and automakers benefit from federal subsidies to transition the United States to lower carbon emissions.

“This defines the transition to EVs,” said Harley Shaiken, labor professor at the University of California, Berkeley. “Clearly, GM’s concession on the master agreement will positively be matched by Ford and Stellantis.”

The fate of the battery plants was seen as a major sticking point in the talks. On Sept. 29, Ford CEO Jim Farley said Fain was holding a deal hostage to the battery plants.

The companies up to now have resisted including the battery plants they are building under the master agreement, arguing most were joint-venture factories with other majority owners that have to sign off on such an agreement.

“GM has agreed to lay the foundation for a just transition,” Fain said in his live broadcast, adding the company had “leapfrogged” the pack in negotiations with the UAW. He did not say whether workers at GM’s battery plants would earn the same pay as union members at other plants.

Stellantis is making progress in the talks, “but there are gaps that still need to be closed,” North American Chief Operating Officer Mark Stewart said in a letter. Ford declined to comment and GM did not immediately respond.

The pressure is rising on the three automakers as EV market leader Tesla (TSLA.O) cut U.S. prices of its Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV, intensifying its price war and further pressuring profit on all EV models that are forced to match CEO Elon Musk’s aggressiveness.

Fain said the UAW could still strike against highly profitable truck plants if progress stalls. So far, the union has avoided walking off the job at those plants.

“We know their pain points. We know their moneymakers and we know the plants they really don’t want struck,” Fain said. “And they know we’ve got more cards left to play.”

Fain has kept automakers in suspense as to whether he would order additional plants shut down, or give an automaker a pass because they had offered concessions. So far, the union has ordered walkouts at five assembly plants and 38 parts depots operated by GM and Stellantis.

Ford, GM and Stellantis have made new proposals in an effort to end the escalating cycle of walkouts.

Deutsche Bank estimated in a research note on Friday that the hit to operating earnings at GM, Ford and Stellantis from lost production has been $408 million, $250 million and $230 million, respectively.

Ford said its latest wage offer would provide raises in excess of 20% over the life of a contract. Combined with proposed cost-of-living-adjustments, workers could see close to 30% increases in pay, people familiar with the proposal said.

Fain’s Friday video addresses have become must-see events since he launched coordinated strikes at GM, Ford and Stellantis plants shortly after midnight on Sept. 15.

Fain passed over Ford on the Friday that he called for strikes against parts depots.

Last Friday, Fain called off a strike planned at a Stellantis assembly plant after the automaker delivered new proposals minutes before the scheduled start of his talk.

Friday’s monthly U.S. jobs report showed no effect from the strike, likely because it started too late in September to be captured in government surveys, but it could affect October’s report if the walkout extends to next week, when the Labor Department does its survey for the next release.

GM shares were up 2.8% late on Friday while Ford shares rose 1.5%. Stellantis shares in Milan ended 1% higher.

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(NewsNation) — Police in Vermont are searching for an “armed and dangerous” suspect after a woman’s body was discovered Thursday on a hiking trail.

“The suspect is considered armed and dangerous,” read a statement from the Vermont State Police. “The public is urged to remain vigilant and alert for suspicious person(s) and activities and to report anything suspicious to the Vermont State Police.”

The manhunt has also urgent warnings to residents and the closure of Vermont State University’s Castleton campus.

Police said a passerby came upon the woman’s body along the Delaware and Hudson River Trail in Castletown, about 30 miles south of Middlebury, and reported it to police. Police arrived on the scene around 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Police said a witness heard gunshots and saw a possible suspect walking toward the Vermont State University campus, which is a short distance north of the area on the trail where the woman was found.

The witness described the suspect as a white male, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall, with short dark-colored hair. The man was last seen wearing a dark gray T-shirt and carrying a black backpack, according to police.

Authorities have not released the woman’s name or the name of the man suspected in her killing.

The Castleton Campus issued a shelter-in-place warning Thursday evening, according to the university’s website. The campus, which has 1,900 full-time students, canceled classes and events for Friday and extended the shelter-in-place warning, citing the “ongoing investigation.”

“We ask all employees and students not to travel to the Castleton Campus for any reason,” Michael Smith, the interim president of Vermont State University, said in a statement. He added, “This situation is deeply unsettling.”

MITCHELL, S.D. (NewsNation) — Six South Dakota high school baseball players were charged with rape following allegations of forcible sexual assault, according to the Pennington County State’s Attorney.

The six teenagers, all members of the Mitchell Post 18’s varsity baseball team, appeared in front of a judge Tuesday in Pennington County, where they all pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.

The suspects — Peyton Douglas Mandel, 17; Lincoln Charles Bates, 18; Hudson Michael Haley, 18; Karter Marcus Sibson, 17; Carter Ryan Miller, 18; and Landon Willian Waddell, 19 — were joined in court by dozens of supporters. All juveniles in this case are being tried as adults.

Haley has been accused of raping two victims and aiding and abetting. Waddell has charged with one count of rape and aiding and abetting in the rape of two victims. If found guilty, they both face a maximum sentence of 150 years behind bars.

The four other teenagers were all charged with rape and aiding and abetting. Those charges all involve the same victim. Those four could face a maximum of 100 years in prison.

Pennington County State’s Attorney Laura Roetzel confirmed to NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo that the victims were male.

The American Legion responded to the allegation in a statement, saying, “The allegations are very disturbing and are not in keeping with the traditions and the core purposes of American Legion Baseball.”

The case first made headlines in June when the Mitchell Baseball Association suspended the team and canceled several games after allegations arose.

It happened shortly after a tournament in Pennington County, which is where the alleged crimes took place.

The allegations were then taken to the State Department of Criminal Investigations because there were beliefs that local law enforcement had connections to the baseball team, Roetzel said.

That’s when investigators found that the incidents actually happened in Rapid City, South Dakota, Roetzel said, and that’s when the case was transferred under her jurisdiction.

Roetzel also said what was interesting about the case was that it was initially reported as a hazing incident, and that’s how Mitchell Baseball was treating it.

“I also think it’s very important for people to understand that I do not think that this was an isolated incident within the Mitchell Legion baseball team. I do believe that this was a culture of repeated behavior that had been going on for possibly years,” Roetzel said.

She continued, “It’s really frightening to me that they were characterizing it as hazing because you know, hazing connotates something entirely different. And this is not that. This is an actual act of sexual assault, not hazing or association.”

One of the suspects’ attorneys asked the judge to clarify whether he could attend school and school activities.

Mandel, who goes to the same school as one of the victims, was able to attend school, but the judge ordered him to stay 30 feet away from the victim.

He is also able to participate in basketball and other activities, as long as the victim isn’t involved. He is allowed to attend school events, like football games, as long as he stays 100 feet away from the victim. 

All six suspects are scheduled to be back in court February 6, 2024.

NewsNation affiliate KELO contributed to this report.

The Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad have the military presence along their shared border due to allegations both nations are attempting to disrupt the other by using rebel factions. Tensions between CAR and Chad have been strained since April, when each accused the other of being involved in violence on the border.

This week, the Central African Republic (CAR) army and Wagner Group mercenaries carried out a military exercise in Ouham-Fafa Prefecture near the border with Chad.

In response to growing security concerns along its shared border, Chad has increased its troop presence and patrols, collaborating with French forces in the region, amid allegations that CAR is planning to use anti-government armed groups and mercenaries. 

Chadian rebel leader Baba Ladde is reported to have been recruiting fighters from Lim-Pende in northern CAR to launch an attack against Chad.

Relations between CAR and Chad have often been tense. The two countries have accused each other of harboring armed rebels.

Charles Bouessel, a senior consultant for the International Crisis Group, said CAR is not cooperating with its neighbor in dealing with rebels trying to destabilize Chad. 

“We heard about two more Chadian groups, which tried to settle bases in the Vakaga prefecture in CAR not far from the Chadian border,” said Bouessel. “And we have seen at the beginning no response or no reaction from the Central African authority concerning these armed groups and so it raises some questions about at least the passivity of the central African authorities to arm these armed groups or even some kind of complicity.”  

Some Western countries have expressed concern about the stability of Chad.

According to the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, which tracks political violence and protest around the world, there have been 437 attacks recorded in the past 12 months in CAR and Chad, killing at least 1,000 people.

Bouessel says increased security activities along the border by CAR authorities are to pressure Chad not to work with armed groups.

“Testimony has flagged that Wagner have been providing some weapons and some equipment to arm these armed groups but from what we can assess now I doubt that the equipment delivered will be a game changer but it must be seen as a way for the Central African authority to put more pressure on Chad so that Chad accept[s] to cooperate a little bit more about all Central African rebels who are hosted in N’djamena and elsewhere,” said Bouessel. 

Professor Chacha Nyaigoti Chacha, an expert in diplomacy and international relations, says there is a pressing need for the African Union to confront the border instability between Chad and CAR.

“Central African Republic and Chad, the natives who live around the border, they are the same people, and they are made now to fight and there is conflict between two African countries, which should by now have united and made a more powerful entity that supports the livelihood of the Africans,” said Chacha. “So that’s our tragedy as African people. And our tragedy is going to continue until our leaders wake up and say enough is enough.”

The Wagner Group has been in the Central African Republic since 2018. The Russian group protects the national government and fights rebel groups, in return the group has access to the country’s mineral resources.

 

Gabon’s coup leader, seeking an end to international sanctions, says he visited the Central African Republic on Thursday to explain to its president why he seized power from Gabon’s president on August 30.

Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, the coup leader, said he told CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera that the military takeover was vital to free Gabon from a long, iron-fisted rule that failed to improve the living conditions of its civilians.

Nguema also said that the coup was intended to avoid bloodshed because, he said, Gabon’s opposition was preparing to take up arms to defend their victory that they say President Ali Bongo Ondimba stole in the August 26 election.

Touadera is the president of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, or CEMAC, a regional economic bloc with Cameroon, Chad, CAR, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Congo as members.

He also was appointed by the 11-member Economic Community of Central African States, or ECCAS, to mediate Gabon’s transition to constitutional order. ECCAS includes all the CEMAC nations as well as Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Sao Tome and Principe.

CEMAC and ECCAS suspended Gabon’s membership after the coup and condemned the use of force to resolve political conflicts.

Nguema said his trip to CAR, after visiting Equatorial Guinea and Congo, was aimed at requesting the lifting of international sanctions, which were imposed to press for a return to democratic rule in Gabon.

The military junta needs time to restore stability, ensure sustainable economic development, conduct a national dialogue and revise the electoral code before organizing transparent and fair elections to usher in civilian rule, Nguema said.

He said Gabon citizens generally support the military for seizing power without bloodshed from Ali Bongo, who took power in 2009 following the death of his father, who had led the central African country since 1967.

CAR state TV showed crowds of Gabon citizens anxious to see Nguema during his visit. Some carried placards congratulating the junta leader for what they called his courage to save Gabon from the Bongo family’s nearly 60-year rule that failed to develop the oil-producing nation.

Rigobert Antah, who was among those gathered, told Gabon state TV that he is ready to return to Libreville after spending seven years in exile in CAR’s capital, Bangui.

He said he was declared wanted by Gabon’s government in 2016 for protesting when Ali Bongo claimed he had scored 49.8% of votes to narrowly defeat challenger Jean Ping, who had 48.2% of votes in that year’s presidential election.

Antah said he would be grateful if the military junta hands power to civilian rule within a maximum of two years.

Nguema did not say how much time he thinks he needs to return to constitutional rule. The military junta says it will invite Gabon’s citizens in exile for a national dialogue but did not say when the dialogue would take place.

Nguema promised to open an embassy in CAR to take care of the needs of Gabon’s citizens there.

The African Union and the United Nations also imposed sanctions to exert pressure on Nguema to hand power to civilians. France, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States also expressed concerns about the military junta taking over and asked for a return to normalcy.

Give us 5 minutes, and we’ll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

A team of eight human rights monitors, including the head of the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, has left for the small village of Hroza in northeastern Ukraine, the site of an apparent Russian missile attack Thursday that killed at least 52 people and injured several others.

The team will arrive Saturday to gather information and collect possible evidence of gross violations of international humanitarian and human rights law that might amount to war crimes. 

“According to local authorities, 52 people were killed when what appeared to be a Russian missile struck a cafe in the village, where people had gathered for a wake,” said Liz Throssell, spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“The appalling scenes from the village of Hroza in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine underscore once again the terrible price civilians are paying 20 months after Russia’s invasion,” she said.

Throssell noted that so far colleagues in the Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine have established the names of 35 people who were killed.  

They include 19 women, 15 men, an eight-year-old boy and the names of five women and one man who were injured.  According to authorities, Throssell said, “One Ukrainian soldier who was attending his father’s funeral was among those killed.”

“What is clear is that the strike is one of the deadliest since 24 February 2022, but of course it is far from being the only one,” she said. “The appalling scenes from the village of Hroza in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine underscore once again the terrible price civilians are paying 20 months after Russia’s invasion.”

This is borne out in a U.N. report published Wednesday on the human rights situation in Ukraine. 

The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country observed that “civilians continue to pay a horrendous price in the war in Ukraine, with nearly 10,000 dead and tens of thousands injured since conflict began in February 2022.”

Danielle Bell, the mission’s head, noted that “in just six months covered by this report, more than 1,000 civilians died and nearly four thousand were injured.”

Spokesperson Throssell said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk is profoundly shocked by the horrific impact of such strikes and condemns the killings.  

“He has deployed a field team to the site to speak to survivors and gather more information,” she said, noting the importance of having people on the ground “piecing together information that will allow them to establish more about what actually occurred in this village.”

She said she did not know whether there were any military targets in the area.  

“That is something that we cannot really establish right now.  But I think what is clear is that this was a village, with a small community,” said Throssell.

“Before the Russian invasion, the village’s population was about 300.  It is not clear how many residents were still living there, but with the high number of people killed, everybody in this small community has been affected,” she said.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs or OCHA said Denise Brown, the humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, was also traveling to Hroza.

“She also condemned this horrific attack that caused significant death and damage to the village of Hroza,” said Jens Laerke, OCHA deputy spokesperson.  “She is on her way to the location…to see for herself what has happened and what kind of support the U.N. humanitarian system and our partners can provide.

“We know already that yesterday; some NGOs were able to get there.  Other agencies, NGOs, and U.N. agencies are mobilizing relief to get it there.  I am told that that includes things such as non-food items, shelter maintenance kits, cash, hygiene materials as well as mental health and psycho-social support,” said Laerke.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres strongly condemned the attack on the village of Hroza in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. 

“Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international humanitarian law and they must stop immediately,” he said in a statement Thursday.