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Thousands of SoCal hotel workers go on strike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:48:40 GMT

Associated PressLOS ANGELES — Thousands of hotel workers in Southern California walked off the job on Sunday, demanding higher pay and better benefits in what the union is calling the largest strike in its history.Cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, servers, bellmen and front desk agents at hotels were picketing outside major hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties just as the summer tourist is ramping up.Last month, members of Unite Here Local 11 voted 96% in favor of authorizing the strike. The union is seeking better wages, improved health care benefits, higher pension contributions and less strenuous workloads.In addition, the union wants to create a “hospitality workforce housing fund” to help workers deal with the soaring costs of living in greater Los Angeles. Many employees report commuting hours to work because they can’t afford to live near their jobs.“Our members were devastated first by the pandemic, and now by the greed of their bosses,”...

Putin to meet with Xi & Modi, first summit since mutiny

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:48:40 GMT

By Putin Pathi | Associated PressNEW DELHI — President Vladimir Putin will participate this week in his first multilateral summit since an armed rebellion rattled Russia, as part of a rare international grouping in which his country still enjoys support.Leaders will convene virtually on Tuesday for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security grouping founded by Russia and China to counter Western alliances from East Asia to the Indian Ocean.This year’s event is hosted by India, which became a member in 2017. It’s the latest avenue for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to showcase the country’s growing global clout.The group so far has focused on deepening security and economic cooperation, fighting terrorism and drug trafficking, tackling climate change and the situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over in 2021. When the foreign ministers met in India last month, Russia’s war on Ukraine barely featured in their public remarks but the fa...

Bowen Yang’s ‘depersonalization’ struggle refers to a mental health disorder

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:48:40 GMT

When Bowen Yang recently announced that he was pausing production on his “Las Culturistas” podcast, he didn’t offer the usual reason that celebrities give when they talk about needing to take time off due to stress or “exhaustion.”Instead, the “Saturday Night Live” star was more specific and said on Instagram Story that he was suffering from “bad bouts of depersonalization,” as Rolling Stone and other outlets reported.Yang, 32, said the bouts were causing deep distress and that he was “doing my best to get better!” That’s why, he said, he needed to take a break from “Las Culturistas,” the popular pop culture podcast he has co-hosted with comedian Matt Rogers since 2016.It turns out that Yang’s situation — “depersonalization” — isn’t some condition he made up. He’s likely referring to a disorder that’s listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of M...

Why one small business owner is leaving San Francisco

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:48:40 GMT

(KRON) -- After owning a small business in the Bay Area for over 20 years, one owner tells KRON4 that the death of downtown San Francisco has pushed him out of the city. San Leandro chase ends in deadly law enforcement shooting Much attention has been focused on the big names leaving downtown San Francisco including Westfield, Nordstrom and Cinemark. However, the slow return of downtown to pre-pandemic foot traffic has also left many small business owners with high leases that they can't maintain.Roseller “Ariel” Tolentino has been involved in small businesses across the Bay Area for more than three decades. He worked at Russell's Convenience store, which has been a part of the San Francisco area since 1977. After working at Russell's for over 10 years, Tolentino then became an owner for the past 22 years. "The problem isn’t the leasing, even if they give you a break on your rent, it’s not enough," Tolentino told KRON4. "There’s not enough people coming to work anymore."Russell's...

For Norah Jones, “Little Broken Hearts” gives a lesson in making the most of a bad experience

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:48:40 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A sign of how much “Little Broken Hearts” represented a departure for Norah Jones was that she filmed not one, but two music videos for the album depicting herself as a murderer.One victim was a lying, cheating boyfriend, the other his temptress. Both ended up at the bottom of a lake.A decade after its release, the disc stands as an island in Jones’ career. It’s a little gem where she tested herself to leave a musical comfort zone to process romantic turmoil — and ended up with a concise, consistent statement that rivals some classic heartbreak albums.“I just love it,” Jones said recently. “It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever done. I also think that for people who weren’t really on board with me or my music, some of them liked it when they didn’t like the rest of my stuff, and I always thought that was kind of fun and funny.”This is Norah Jones, remember. Her sumptuous voice was everywhere in the early 2000s, songs from ...

Former Arizona Cardinals coach Vince Tobin has died at 79

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:48:40 GMT

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Vince Tobin, who coached the Arizona Cardinals to their first playoff win in 51 years in 1998, has died. He was 79.The Cardinals said Tobin died Monday morning at his Arizona home.“Our deepest condolences go out to everyone who knew and loved Vince Tobin, and in particular his wife Kathy and their family,” Cardinals owner Michal Bidwill said in a statement. “As head coach of the Cardinals, his steady leadership was a constant and a big part of the success the team enjoyed during his tenure.”Tobin was hired in 1996 to replace Buddy Ryan and took over a team that had future Hall of Fame defensive back Aeneas Williams and quarterback Jake Plummer. The Cardinals made the playoffs for the first time since 1982 by winning their final three games of the 1998 season and beat the Dallas Cowboys for their first postseason win since 1948.Tobin went 28-43 in four seasons as Arizona’s coach. Born in Burlington Junction, Missouri, Tobin played defensive back at the...

Book Review: ‘President Garfield’ chronicles short presidency that cast long shadow

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:48:40 GMT

Writing a book about James Garfield is no easy task. The 20th president who served the second shortest amount of time in the White House is popularly known more for his assassination than what he did in office.But in “President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier,” C.W. Goodyear admirably remedies that with a book that demonstrates the long shadow Garfield’s life and legacy has left our country.The authoritative biography chronicles the life of a man who, in many ways, was one of the most well-spoken and intellectual men to hold the title of commander-in-chief. Underscoring that, every chapter opens with a different quote from Shakespeare that Garfield jotted down in his diary.But Goodyear makes the case that Garfield’s strength didn’t come from showmanship or his speeches — though some of them resonate just as much as Abraham Lincoln’s. With much of the book understandably focusing on Garfield’s time in Congress, Goodyear portrays him as someone who “emb...

Police search for missing 41-year-old man in Coconut Grove

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:48:40 GMT

Miami Police are seeking the public’s help in finding a missing 41-year-old man. On June 25, Rafael Wright was reported missing from the Coconut Grove area.He was last seen wearing a light blue shirt, blue jeans and black shoes.Wright stands at 5 feet, 9 inches tall, weighs 150 pounds, has brown eyes and brown hair. Anyone with information on Wright’s whereabouts is urged to call Miami Police at 305-603-6300.

Europe’s far-right seeks to capitalize on unrest in France

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:48:40 GMT

Far-right politicians across Europe have seized upon civil unrest in France to demand the EU toughen its migration policy.In Poland, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki used the events in France as an opportunity to justify Warsaw’s rejection of the EU’s proposed migration pact, which a majority of member countries endorsed last month but Hungary and Poland blocked at last week’s European Council summit.“Shops looted, police cars set on fire, barricades in the streets — this is now happening in the center of Paris and many other French cities,” Morawiecki tweeted during the summit. “We don’t want such scenes on Polish streets. We don’t want scenes like this in any city in Europe.”Morawiecki also blasted Brussels at a press conference on Saturday for “trying to force Poland” to accept the migration pact, which would introduce mandatory admission quotas for asylum seekers and require EU members who refuse to recieve them ...

Grandmother of teen killed in police stop calls for calm, as France sees sixth night of protest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:48:40 GMT

(CNN) — The grandmother of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, who was fatally shot by a police officer in a Paris suburb last week, has called for an end to the violent protests that have swept the country since his death.Merzouk’s grandmother appealed to protesters on Sunday, telling CNN’s affiliate BFMTV: “They should not damage the schools, not break the buses, it was the moms who take the buses.”“I’m tired,” said the grandmother, identified as Nadia by BMFTV.Nahel’s mother, she added, “doesn’t have a life anymore.”Nightly protests have erupted in cities across France and its overseas territories over the past week, with protesters expressing fury and accusations over how France’s marginalized communities are policed, and raising questions over whether race was a factor in Nahel’s death.The French government has responded strictly to the continuing violent unrest, deploying more than 45,000 police and gendarmes across the country on Sunday night alone.Over 2,000 people have been det...